Syllabus - Institutional Effectiveness & Analysis : Florida...

BUS 385/485: Human Resource Management Thesis (SPRING/AUTUMN 2002) PAGE 1

TENTATIVE CALENDAR TENTATIVE CALENDAR (WHITE PAGE)(WHITE PAGE)................................................................................................................22

COURSE SYLLABUS COURSE SYLLABUS (WHITE PAGES)(WHITE PAGES)......................................................................................................................33

FORMAT FOR ASSIGNMENTS FORMAT FOR ASSIGNMENTS (WHITE PAGE)(WHITE PAGE)..............................................................................................55

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC (WHITE PAGE)(WHITE PAGE)..............................66

CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND COLLECTING ARTICLES CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND COLLECTING ARTICLES (PURPLE PAGES)(PURPLE PAGES)............77

GUIDELINES FOR SUMMARIZING ARTICLES GUIDELINES FOR SUMMARIZING ARTICLES (GREEN PAGES)(GREEN PAGES)............................................1010

ESTABLISHING AUTHORSHIP ESTABLISHING AUTHORSHIP (PINK PAGES)(PINK PAGES)..........................................................................................1212

SAMPLES OF REFERENCES FROM APA’S SAMPLES OF REFERENCES FROM APA’S PUBLICATION MANUAL (TAN PUBLICATION MANUAL (TAN PAGES)PAGES)....................................................................................................................................................................................................1919

REFERENCE CITATIONS IN TEXTREFERENCE CITATIONS IN TEXT (YELLOW PAGES) (YELLOW PAGES)........................................................................2121

WRITING A THESIS PLAN WRITING A THESIS PLAN (BRIGHT PURPLE PAGES)(BRIGHT PURPLE PAGES)....................................................................2323

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUMMER LITERATURE REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUMMER LITERATURE REVIEW (BRIGHT GREEN PAGES)(BRIGHT GREEN PAGES)............................................................................................................................................................................................................................2626

REVISED THESIS PLAN REVISED THESIS PLAN (BRIGHT PINK PAGES)(BRIGHT PINK PAGES)....................................................................................2929

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THESIS ORAL PRESENTATIONINSTRUCTIONS FOR THESIS ORAL PRESENTATION (BRIGHT YELLOW PAGES) (BRIGHT YELLOW PAGES)............................................................................................................................................................................................................................3333

DIARY OF SEARCH TERMS DIARY OF SEARCH TERMS (WHITE PAGES)(WHITE PAGES)..............................................................................................3838

SAMPLE THESIS (bright red page)...........................................................40


TENTATIVE CALENDARTENTATIVE CALENDAR

Read the appropriate sections of this thesis manual prior to the dates listed below. Refer to the APA Publication Manual (5th edition) as needed.

DATE ASSIGNMENT READING

01-15 Course introduction and preliminary topic selection White pages

01-22 Conferences (Bring thesis topic and research articles) Purple pages

01-29 Topic selection/Business practices article discussion Green & Pink pages

Chapter 3

02-05 Conferences (Bring business practices articles) Tan & Yellow pages

02-12 Business practices paraphrase due Chapter 1Context/History article discussion

02-19 Conferences (Bring context and history articles)

02-26 Context/history paraphrase due Chapter 2Theory article discussion

03-05 Conferences (Bring theory articles)

03-12 Theory paraphrase due Chapter 2Legal article discussion

03-19 Conferences (Bring legal articles)

03-26 Easter Break - No class

04-02 Legal paraphrase due Chapters 4 & 5Evaluation/effectiveness article discussion

04-09 Conferences (Bring evaluation/effectiveness articles)

04-16 Evaluation/Effectiveness paraphrase due Bright pagesThesis/Research plan discussion

04-23 Conferences (Bring an outline/draft of thesis/research plan)

04-30 Thesis/Research plan due

05-07 Conferences (Discuss summer research plans)


COURSE SYLLABUSCOURSE SYLLABUSInstructors: Mr. Ronald Collins Office: 329G Hoffman Phone: 588-7281

Dr. Thomas Pusateri Office: 187 Hennessy Phone: 588-7226Course objectives: This seminar is designed to enhance the professional skills of candidates for the Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management: skills in library research, critical reading, oral and written communication, and accurate interpretation and application of relevant theories and methods used in human resource management. You will develop these skills by conducting preliminary research for a thesis in human resource management (to be completed during Autumn 2002 at Loras College).Thesis content: During this pre-thesis course you will conduct independent library research on several areas related to your thesis topic. We expect each thesis next semester to: introduce an issue of concern to human resource management, providing an

introductory assessment of its current social, psychological, business, technological, legal, governmental and/or international contexts;

follow the issue’s historical development through relevant literature in business, legal, and psychological journals;

discuss social/psychological theories and research pertaining to the issue; elaborate on current and future laws and government policies that affect business

practices associated with the issue; describe current business policies and practices addressing the issue; and discuss evaluation research that will permit you to articulate a position concerning the

most rational viewpoint(s) and/or likely future of research and practice on this issue.

COURSE AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES: During this pre-thesis course, you will locate articles of relevance to each of the areas of your thesis as described above. We will spend approximately two weeks on each area of your thesis. For each two-week period, we will roughly follow this schedule of activities: We will meet as a class to discuss the upcoming research assignment. Some classes

will be devoted to providing you the opportunity to discuss your development and progress towards conducting research on your thesis topic. Other classes will involve exercises designed to improve your skills in areas such as gaining access to relevant materials in the library, creating a reference list, and citing and paraphrasing articles.

You will then conduct library research to locate relevant journal articles; In the following week, you will schedule a conference with your advisor, during which

you will present the results of your research and select an article for paraphrasing; You will paraphrase the main points of the article and submit your paraphrase at the

end of the two-week period.


Methods of assessment and evaluation: The advisors will provide you written feedback on the quality of your library research and on the content and format of your paraphrases of selected articles. At the end of the semester the advisors will assign a letter grade to your work that will reflect the quality of your library research, written assignments, and classroom participation.A = Exceptional progress, beyond that expected

from the typical student in this course. The student has located several relevant journal articles per area that exceed expectations for breadth and depth of research at this stage in writing a thesis. The student demonstrates considerable depth and breadth of knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by the quality of all or nearly all of the student’s paraphrases of articles and the student’s contributions to student-teacher conferences. The student meets deadlines, hands in assignments in nearly perfect format, and writes clearly and concisely. The student contributes frequently and insightfully to classroom discussion. The advisors expect the student to have little or no difficulty in locating additional relevant articles during the summer and in writing a quality thesis.

B = Adequate progress, which meets the progress expected from the typical student in this course. The student has located relevant journal articles per area that meet expectations but may lack some breadth or depth of research in one or a few areas. The student demonstrates some depth and breadth of knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by the quality of the student’s paraphrases of most articles and the student’s contributions to student-teacher conferences, but the student may have some difficulty with one or a few areas of the thesis. The student meets deadlines, hands in assignments with a few tolerable format errors, and generally writes clearly and concisely. The student contributes occasionally and with some insight to classroom discussion. The advisors expect the student to have some or minimal difficulty in locating additional relevant articles during the summer and in writing an acceptable though not outstanding thesis.

C = Progress is below expectations for the typical student in this course. The student has located only a few relevant articles, or the student’s research contains too many irrelevant, redundant, or brief articles. The student demonstrates some deficiency in the depth and/or breadth of knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by less than adequate quality of the student’s paraphrases of articles and the student’s difficulty in contributing to student-teacher conferences. The student has some trouble meeting deadlines, hands in assignments with several format errors that detract from the quality of the assignment, and does not write clearly or concisely enough to communicate effectively. The student rarely contributes to classroom discussion or the quality of those contributions is lacking. The advisors expect the student to have considerable difficulty in locating additional relevant articles during the summer and in writing an acceptable thesis.

D = Progress is well below expectations. The student’s research is too shallow, irrelevant to the topic, and/or limited in scope to too few areas of a thesis. The student demonstrates neither depth nor breadth on knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by poor quality paraphrases of articles and the student’s considerable difficulty in contributing to student-teacher conferences. The student misses too many deadlines, hands in assignments with extensive format errors, and writes poorly and/or plagiarizes from the articles. The student rarely if ever contributes to classroom discussion. It is unlikely that the student will be able to conduct independent research during the summer and will probably not be able to submit an acceptable thesis. (This is, in effect, a failing grade for this course.)


Disclaimer: The instructors reserve the right to change the course policies and course calendar if events during the semester warrant such change. We will notify you of any such changes during class.


FORMAT FOR ASSIGNMENTSFORMAT FOR ASSIGNMENTSInstructors' expectations of student performance: We expect you to submit all thesis assignments on time, in the appropriate format, and with appropriate content. If you have a legitimate reason for missing an assignment (e.g., a serious illness or emergency), notify us as soon as possible. Follow APA format for all assignments, which is summarized below.

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Chapter Two (pp. 31-76). Follow the guidelines for improving writing style (e.g., orderly

presentation, smooth expression, avoiding jargon), grammar (e. g., parts of speech), and reducing bias in language (e. g., gender, age, race, sexual orientation).

Chapter Three (pp. 77-214). Follow guidelines on pp. 77-111 for punctuation (e. g., periods, commas), spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, italics, and abbreviations. Later parts of this chapter may be relevant if you include figures, tables, or personal communications

Chapter Four (pp. 215-281). Follow guidelines for your reference list and citing references.

5.01 Paper (p. 284). Use 8 1/2 x 11 heavy white bond paper.5.02 Typeface (pp. 285-286). Use 10 point or 12 point Bookman, Times Roman, or Courier.

The type must be dark, clear, unsmeared, and readable. Use an ink-jet or laser printer.

5.03 Double-Spacing (p. 286). Maintain 1/4 inch between each line of text.5.04 Margins (p. 286-287). Use 1-inch margins on all four sides of each page to produce 6

1/2 inches of text per line and no more than 27 lines of text per page. Do not right-justify text; the right margin should be jagged. Do not hyphenate at the end of a line.

5.05 Order of the Manuscript Pages (p. 287). Submit your final thesis pages in the order identified in the manual, but replace the "abstract" on page 2 with a Table of Contents.

5.06 Page Numbers and Manuscript Page Headers (p. 288). Number all pages consecutively in the same typeface as the rest of the paper in the right margin of a header. Include your name and the date of the assignment as a "manuscript page header" immediately preceding the page number so that everything in the header is flush right on the page.

5.07 Corrections (pp. 288-289). There should be no errors and no manual corrections (e.g., pencil or pen marks) on any assignment you submit. Edit your paper prior to printing the copy you intend to submit. Eliminate spelling, grammar, typing, and other errors.

5.08 Paragraphs and Indentation (p. 289). Indent the first line of a paragraph five to seven spaces (be consistent throughout the paper). Paragraphs must contain at least two sentences and should be no longer than 3/4 of a page.

5.10 Headings (pp. 289-290; also see pp. 114-115). Use Three Levels in your thesis: chapter titles (Centered, Plain Text, and Capitalized), major sections (Flush Left, Italicized, and Capitalized) and subsections (Indented, italicized, capitalized like a sentence and ending with a period, with text immediately following in the same paragraph.).

5.12 Seriation (p. 292). Do not include any lists in your thesis, so ignore this section.5.13 Quotations (pp. 292-293). Do not quote directly from any article unless you have

been specifically permitted to do so by your instructors (e.g., you need to quote part of a law or policy). Your paper must summarize and discuss your reference materials


in your own words. Cite your sources, paraphrase their contents, and do not quote them.

Identifying your assignment: Include your name and date of the assignment in a manuscript page header (see above). Provide a title for your assignment centered in the first line of text. Double-space after the title, type a paragraph indentation, and begin typing the assignment.References and citations: Include references for all assignments where relevant. Cite your references in the text for that assignment. Use APA format for all references and citations.


RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOOSING YOUR TOPICRECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOOSING YOUR TOPICYour first and probably most important decision for this course is to select a thesis topic. You will conduct research and write about a major topic of relevance to human resource management. Consider the following:Choose a topic that interests you. You will conduct research and write about one topic for a full year. Select a topic that interests you, probably one you discussed in your HRM courses and/or your job experiences.Choose a topic that will be easy to research. Begin your research by locating several texts in human resource management, employment law, employee selection and evaluation, training, compensation and benefits, etc. Also examine the following handbooks (among others) in Wahlert Library:

Dunnette, M. D. & Hough, L. M. (Eds.). (1990). Handbook of industrial-organizational psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Ferris, G. R., Rosen, S. D., & Barnum, D. T. (1995). Handbook of human resource management. New York: Blackwell.

Hansen, C. P., & Conrad, K. A. (Eds.). (1991). A handbook of psychological assessment in business. New York: Quorom Books.

Jones, J. W., Steffy, B. D., & Bray, D. W. (Eds.). (1991) Applying psychology in business: The handbook for managers and human resource professionals. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Do the texts and handbooks include your topic in their tables of contents and/or their indices? Are there sufficient pages (i.e. approximately five to ten pages in each of several texts or handbooks) devoted to your topic? Do the texts/handbooks contain several citations and references on your topic? It is usually better to choose a topic that has some historical significance rather than a topic that only recently emerged. It may be difficult to conduct research on recent topics, particularly when you attempt to locate evaluation research. If you could not find your topic discussed in sufficient depth in texts or handbooks, we advise you to select a different topic.Choose a topic that is easy for you to understand. Read the sections of the texts and handbooks that are relevant to your topic. Do you understand the issues being discussed in these sections? Locate and scan some of the articles cited by the texts and handbooks. Are these articles easy to locate in Wahlert Library, and are they relatively easy for you to understand? Conduct an electronic search using ProQuest and PsychInfo; are there articles on your topic?Choose a topic that is relevant to past, current, and future practices in human resource management. You will conduct research on the history, current practices, and future direction of your topic. Select a topic that has a major impact on human resource management. Not only will this probably make your research easier to conduct, but you will also develop expertise that will help you prepare for job interviews and your career.


CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND COLLECTING ARTICLESCONDUCTING RESEARCH AND COLLECTING ARTICLESSelecting journals. Most articles for your thesis should come from relevant business, psychological, and legal journals. Here is a partial list of the journals many students have used for previous theses, along with recommendations of journals to avoid.

Acceptable business journals Acceptable psychological journalsAcademy of Management Journal American PsychologistAcademy of Management Review Annual Review of Psychology Employee Relations Journal Human FactorsHRMagazine Journal of Applied Psychology Industrial & Labor Relations Review Journal of Business and PsychologyJournal of Management Organizational Behavior and HumanMonthly Labor Review PerformanceOccupational Health and Safety Personnel PsychologyOrganizational Dynamics Psychological BulletinPersonnel Acceptable legal journalsPersonnel Journal American Business Law JournalPersonnel Administrator Employment Law JournalTraining Journal of Individual EmploymentTraining and Development RightsTraining and Development Journal Labor Law Journal

Avoid the following journals/magazines (except for background information)Business Week Forbes Fortune Inc. Industry Week TimeNewsweek Nations Business Wall Street Journal Working Woman

Copying articles. When you copy an article, it is important to copy all of the information you will need to create a reference for the article. This includes:(1) the initials and last name(s) of the author(s);(2) the article’s title;(3) its publication date (year, possibly month and day);(4) the journal’s title and its volume number (if a volume number is provided);(5) the page numbers for the article; and (6) its reference list if it has one.Many students have located useful articles by searching for the references (secondary sources) cited in the articles that they’ve read. If the article is part of an edited book, provide the full reference for the book (names of the editor, book title, publication date, city, and publishing company) as well as the name(s) of the author(s) and the title of the article.

Copying from an electronic database. If you are using one of the electronic databases (e.g., ProQuest or PsychInfo) to copy articles, prefer the “image” version of the article as it appeared in the journal itself over the “full text” version of the article. Often, the “full text” version contains numerous typographical errors and may not contain relevant tables, graphs, or other material that you could use in your thesis. The “image” version prints more slowly but will give you all the information you need. Also, be certain to collect all the information you will need to produce a full reference for the article.


Contacting professional organizations. There are several national professional organizations related to human resource management that you may contact to obtain information about your thesis topic. Many of these organizations have web sites where you can locate information for your thesis. Some of the best web sites on human resource management are maintained by the following societies:

Society for Human Resource Management: http://www.shrm.org/American Society for Training and Development: http://www.astd.org/Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/

These sites may also provide links to other useful sites. There may be other organizations specifically related to your thesis topic that maintain their own websites.

Contacting business organizations. You should contact a few businesses in the Dubuque area and speak with representatives from their human resource departments. Take advantage of our association with human resource professionals through Tri-HRA. These contacts may give you ideas for your thesis topic and may also be willing to provide you written materials (e.g., written policies, sections of employee handbooks, technical reports) relevant to your topic. The contacts may also direct you towards journals, newsletters, government publications, or other documents related to your thesis. As you conduct your library research, you may find that one or more articles refer to a national organization that has developed a practice or conducted research on your topic. Or you might locate some organizations by using Google! or another Web search engine. Locate the Web site for the organization; it may contain information relevant for your thesis. You may also want to contact the organization's human resource office as soon as possible; the HR department may send you relevant materials that you may use in your thesis.

Locating vendors. Many organizations or government agencies are "vendors" that provide consulting services, selection tests, training programs, or other services related to your thesis. Many of these vendors maintain Web sites with descriptions of their services, and the best also provide evidence of the success of their programs. Locate vendors relevant to your thesis and use the information available at their Web sites in your thesis. You may also want to contact these vendors directly; they may provide you sample materials useful for your thesis.

Finding context articles. In order to find articles that provide a relevant context to your thesis, you may need to expand your research and look for general articles on the current status of human resource management. Consider broad issues and look for articles that might discuss any of the following, depending on how relevant they are to your thesis. Demographic changes (age, sex, race, etc.) in the workforce that affect your thesis

topic; The effects of the technological changes and/or the global economy on your thesis

topic; Changes in the laws that affect business practices relevant to your thesis topic; Personnel issues (e.g., productivity, absenteeism, turnover, employee theft, accidents,

basic skills of employees, needs for training) that connect to your thesis topic; Social-psychological factors (e.g., work-family stress, employee relations, motivating

employees, employee group dynamics) that directly pertain to your thesis topic.

Finding historical articles. The handbooks listed on Page 7 of this manual may include some historical information about your topic. You may also be able to find historical information on your topic by consulting several issues of the Annual Review of Psychology. This journal publishes reviews of research in several areas of human resource management (e.g., personnel selection, training, organizational behavior) approximately every four years per area. By examining several years of these reviews, you may construct an historical review of the research interests in your topic. You may scan through the Business


Periodicals Index and identify the first year your thesis topic appeared as its own entry. You could then locate the first article(s) cited in Business Periodicals Index and/or count how many articles appeared each year over the past few decades. Identify the earliest articles you can find via electronic database searches (e.g., FirstSearch and PsychInfo). Categorize the types of articles that appeared in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s or other historically relevant periods; did the major issues changes from one historical period to another?

Finding psychological and legal theory articles. Once you have identified an appropriate context for your thesis topic and have found articles directly related to your context, you should have less difficulty locating articles directly related to the psychological and legal issues related to your topic. Many of these articles should appear in the psychological and legal journals listed earlier. Use the electronic databases PsychInfo as well as citations and references in textbooks and handbooks to locate theoretical articles in psychological journals. Use the electronic database Lexis Nexus or explore the table or contents and index of a textbook in employment law to locate legal articles relevant to your topic. Consult with your advisors if you are having difficulty locating these types of articles.

Finding evaluation articles. There are three common types of evaluation articles most students include in their theses: Surveys, case studies, and research studies. The research literature for many thesis topics includes all three of these types of articles. However, it may be easier to find evaluation articles for some thesis topics than for others. These articles may be located by consulting texts or handbooks, by scanning the reference list of articles on your topic, and by electronic database searches (eg., FirstSearch, PsychInfo). These types of articles may be difficult to read because they often contain statistical analyses. Consult with your advisors if you are having difficulty finding or reading evaluation articles for your thesis.

Surveys. Many professional organizations conduct surveys of their members. For example, the Society for Human Resource Management conducts reader surveys in their journal, HRMagazine, and their newsletter, HRFocus, and the American Society for Training and Development includes training surveys at their web site and in their journal, Training and Development. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports surveys related to human resource demographics and business practices. Scan the websites of these organizations or contact the organizations directly to locate surveys on your topic.

Case studies. One of the best sources for articles on business practices in particular organizations is Personnel Journal. This journal often writes case studies on organizations that have won awards for their business practices. Personnel Journal is available on FirstSearch via WilsonSelectPlus. We recommend that you conduct an “advanced search” through the current files and back files of WilsonSelectPlus, searching for the word “Personnel Journal” in the “publication title” and your thesis topic in any other field of the files. Try variations of this with other journals that contain articles relevant to your topic. Other journals (e.g., HRMagazine, Training and Development) also publish case studies.

Research studies. The psychological journals (e.g., Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology) are the most common sources for research studies, although these types of studies may also appear in professional journals such as HRMagazine and Training and Development. The electronic database PsychInfo is one of the best sources for research studies.

Specific journals related to your topic. There may also be one or more journals specifically related to your thesis topic. These journals may publish surveys, case studies, and/or research studies on your topic. They may also have articles of contextual, historical,


legal, or other relevance to your topic. If you locate one or more of these specific journals, spend some time browsing the tables of contents over the last few years and scan several of the articles.


GUIDELINES FOR SUMMARIZING ARTICLESGUIDELINES FOR SUMMARIZING ARTICLES

Most of what you write for your thesis will be based on your interpretation of articles that you have read concerning your thesis topic. We do not want you to quote directly from any articles. Instead, we want you to discuss the articles in your own words, citing (referring to) the authors in your discussion of their articles. Here are some guidelines for summarizing and interpreting articles.Introducing the Article

Provide an introductory sentence or two that sets a context for your summary and interpretation of the article. This context will be written in your own words and will help your reader understand why you feel the article is important to your thesis. The context will also serve as a transition from earlier material in your thesis to the material you want to introduce from the article. For your paraphrases in the pre-thesis class, write a sentence or two explaining the reasons you feel it is important to use this article in your thesis.Summarizing the Article

Provide a summary of the major reasons the author(s) of the article had for writing the article. Cite the author(s), using each author's last name and identifying the date of the article. For most of your articles, you will probably need to summarize all or most of the main points discussed by the author(s). Some articles, however, may contain one or a few sections that are most relevant to your topic; focus your summary on the most relevant information for the purpose of your assignment.

Focus on the main points in your primary source (the article you have read), and avoid summarizing secondary sources (the sources cited in the article). Sometimes authors will discuss and cite previous articles; these citations are known as secondary sources. It is usually inappropriate for you to cite or summarize secondary sources. If you believe a secondary source would be useful for your thesis, locate it (using the reference provided by your primary source) and read it.

Your summary must be written in your own words. It must neither take sentences directly from the article, nor must it mimic the sentence structure used in the article. Both of these are forms of plagiarism, and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Instead, explain in your own words and in your own sentence structure the major issues discussed by the authors of the article. For the pre-thesis class, your summary should be approximately three-quarters of a page to two full pages of double-spaced text. Here are some guidelines for developing an appropriate summary of an article that should help you avoid plagiarism:

Taking notes while reading an article. As you read an article, do not use a highlighter, and don't underline sentences in the article! Instead, jot notes on a separate sheet of paper or in the margins of your copy of the article. Write these notes to yourself in your own words, explaining why you feel the article is useful for your thesis. You will most likely use these notes when you write your summary. That way you won’t have to reread the entire article.

As you read the article, ask yourself why the author(s) wrote the article. Did they conduct a study (survey, case study, research study) and were they reporting the results of this study? Were they reviewing a series of studies or cases in an attempt to reach a conclusion? Were they most interested in recommending a business practice or procedure? Avoid the temptation to focus on individual sentences out of context of the entire article. Sometimes the authors may have to explain a position they disagree with prior to explaining their disagreement. If you focused on their explanation, you would end up misunderstanding their major point.


How to find the major points of an article. Clues to the major points of an article may be found in several areas of the article. If the article has an abstract, the authors have provided you with a summary of their major points. Many articles have headings and subheadings that may serve as clues to the authors’ positions and concerns. The introductory paragraphs of an article usually serve as a context for the authors’ major points, but be careful: It is possible that the authors are setting up a position they disagree with in order to explain their own position later in the article. While some authors will explain their main point in the first paragraph of their articles, many authors will delay explaining their major points until several paragraphs into their articles (near the end of their introductory section). The midsection of the article probably contains the major points; scan this section and attempt to summarize what is most essential to the authors’ positions. Although the final paragraphs of an article may summarize the main points, sometimes authors may introduce new issues that are less related to their major points, so be careful about using the ending as a summary of the entire article.

Avoid simple lists and bullets. Some of the articles you find will be written poorly or are written in a way that is not appropriate for a thesis. One of the most common errors students make when summarizing an article is that the student simply provides a list of topics without sufficient explanation that would help a reader understand the importance of the topics in the list. Avoid summarizing articles by simply listing one topic after another, particularly if the article itself contains such a list or if the headings of the article might form such a list. It might be important to discuss some of the parts of the article, but simply presenting a list isn't very helpful to your reader. Instead, consider focusing on the most important information from the article (or a list in the article) and explain your choices as you write your summary. For example, if your article contains a long list of recommendations or steps, attempt to summarize the list by categorizing them into major topics and/or discuss only the most important parts of the list.

In addition to avoiding lists, avoid using bullets, numbers, or letters to present information. It is better to write in full paragraphs instead of bulleting information. Although some of your articles may use bullets, you should not use bullets in your thesis.Concluding the Summary

When you write your thesis, you will also write a concluding sentence or sentences that will expand on the importance of the article you just summarized and/or serve as a transition to the next article. For the pre-thesis class, try to write one or two sentences that expand on the usefulness of this article for your thesis. You may want to relate the article to one or more of the other articles you’ve read and/or summarized in your research.


ESTABLISHING AUTHORSHIPESTABLISHING AUTHORSHIPadapted from Paul C. Smith of Alverno College (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)Most of this was written by Smith, but the examples have been changed to be more relevant to Human Resource Management and a section on citing secondary sources has been added.

Expected OutcomesThe purpose of this article is to introduce your to the standards for establishing authorship of written works. After reading and understanding this article you should: understand the definition and gravity of plagiarism. know how to apply academic standards for establishing the source of ideas in a paper

(citation of sources). know how to apply academic standards for establishing the source of exact wordings in

a paper (direct quotation). understand when quotes are appropriate and when a paraphrase would be more

appropriate. know how to provide an adequate paraphrase for a short piece of writing. Plagiarism: Definition and PenaltiesIt is probably safe to assume that you already know that it's unethical for you to pay another student to write a paper that you then claim as your own work and turn in for a course project. Any time a student represents work done by someone else as her or his own, that student has committed an act of plagiarism. When an instructor discovers that a student has done so, that instructor can no longer assume that any of the work the student has turned in is her or his own. A minimum penalty would be to fail the student, with the more severe penalty of dismissal from the college a strong possibility....You need to know that this intentional form of claiming another's work as one's own is only one end of a spectrum of offenses, and that milder forms of plagiarism carry severe penalties as well. For example, if you write a paper using your own words throughout except for a single paragraph you took from your textbook, you must put that paragraph in quotation marks and provide a citation for the book as well as the page number from which you took the quote. Failure to do so is plagiarism. When an instructor discovers this form of plagiarism, that instructor can no longer assume that the rest of that student's work is her or his own. A minimum penalty of course failure is again called for - even if the instructor believes that the student did not intentionally misrepresent the source of the work. The issue is not intention, but whether or not the course instructor can in good conscience certify that the student has demonstrated the course outcomes. Hence it is vital that the instructor know that the student knows how to correctly indicate which ideas and words are her or his own, and which she has taken from some other source. Ignorance of the rules of citation and of quoting does not make plagiarism 'ok'. CitationsWhen you read textbooks, academic books, and journal articles, you often see something like these sentences from page 309 of DeSimone and Harris's (1998) texbook, Human Resource Development:

It is estimated that 18 million Americans have a serious drinking problem and that alcohol is involved in 47 percent of industrial accidents (Symonds et al., 1991). While it is commonly assumed that between 5 percent and 10 percent of all workers are alcoholics (Weiss, 1987), accurate figures are difficult to come by (Hollinger, 1988; Weiss, 1987).


This excerpt contains three citations, Symonds et al. (1991), Weiss (1987), and Hollinger (1988). DeSimone and Harris (1998) provide the following references in their References:

ReferencesHollinger, R. C. (1988). Working under the influence (WUI): Correlates of employees'

use of alcohol and other drugs. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 24, 430-454.Symonds, W. C., Ellis, J. E., Siler, S. F., Zellner, W., & Garland, S. B. (1991, March 25).

Is business bungling its battle with booze? Business Week, 76-78.Weiss, R. M. (1987). Writing under the influence: Science versus fiction in the

analysis of corporate alcoholism programs. Personnel Psychology, 40, 341-355.You've seen this citation practice many times, and maybe you've even used it in your own papers. It is important that you understand exactly what citations like these tell the reader. The citation "(Hollinger, 1988)" in this example simply tells the reader who did the study described. In other cases, the citation may tell the reader whose ideas are being described. The following example appears on page 201 of DeSimone and Harris's (1998) textbook.

Evaluation of training costs compares the costs incurred in conducting an HRD program to the benefits received by the organization, and can involve two categories of activities: cost-benefit evaluation and cost-effectiveness evaluation (Cascio, 1987).

This excerpt contains a citation, which in this case tell the reader whose ideas are being expressed. Despite the fact that the words are written by DeSimone and Harris, they are using the ideas of Cascio (which can be found in Cascio's original words in the source cited). It is essential that you recognize that you need to give such citations when you discuss ideas you found in others' work. The citation says to the reader "these are not my ideas. I found them in work done by others, and am simply using them in my work". It is equally essential that you recognize that these citations are not exact quotes from the original work. Despite the fact that DeSimone and Harris directed the reader to Cascio's work, if these were Cascio's own words, this sentence would constitute a piece of plagiarism. The citation says to the reader "these are not my ideas", but it does not say "these are also not my words". Compare this to the following example from :

Yang et al. State that as long as one can make the assumption that "any effects of training on the proxy are due to the effects of training on the target (i.e. training target proxy)… it is possible to make inferences about the effects of training on the target criterion from a study using the less expensive proxy criterion” (p. 652).

In this case, the quotation marks say to the reader "These ideas are Yang et al.'s, and so are the words used to express them." The authors are not claiming either ideas or words as their own. I cannot overstate the importance of understanding this distinction. Failure to put quotation marks around exact quotes constitutes plagiarism - you are claiming to have written something that you did not write. Even if you never intended to make such a claim, you have committed an act of misrepresentation that calls into question all of your work. QuotationsWhen you use someone else's exact words, you must take appropriate steps to inform the reader that you are doing so. In general, this means that you must enclose the quotation in quotation marks, and provide a reference that includes the page number. The exact rules are as follows:

Material directly quoted from another author's work or from one's own previously published work, material duplicated from a test item, and verbatim instructions to participants should be reproduced word for word.


Incorporate a short quotation (fewer than 40 words) in text, and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks.Display a quotation of 40 or more words in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit the quotation marks. Start such a block quotation on a new line, and indent it five spaces from the left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph). Type subsequent lines flush with the indent. If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each five spaces from the margin of the quotation. (APA, 1994, p.95)

As you can see, there are exceptions to the rule that quotations must be in quotation marks - but in those instances, there are other clear indicators to the reader that the words are not the author's own. It should be apparent that the previous three paragraphs are the words of the APA (from the Publication Manual, 5th ed.), and not my own. What tells the reader that is the indent, and the reference including page number. Had I omitted either of these elements, I would have committed an act of plagiarism, as it would not be clear to the reader that these words are not my own. The quote from the Publication Manual is an example of a long quotation. As it points out, the rules for a short quotation (fewer than 40 words) are slightly different. For such a quotation, you must use quotation marks, and put the quote into your own text (rather than setting it off with blank lines and indents). Here is an example from page 50 of DeSimone and Harris's (1998) text:

Two such teamwork issues are trust and cohesiveness. Trust is the "reciprocal faith one has in the behaviors and intentions of others (Kreitner & Kinicki, 1995, p. 342).

This example shows the format for short quotes (fewer than 40 words - 11 in this instance). The quotation marks and the page number in the reference indicate to the reader that the ideas and the words are Kreitner and Kinicki's, and not DeSimone and Harris's. In summary, there are simple specific rules for indicating that you (the paper's author) are using another's words as well as ideas. You will be expected to follow these rules faithfully when you use another's words. Quoting and ParaphrasingHaving learned how to correctly quote sources, you may find yourself tempted to write papers consisting mostly or even entirely of quotes. If you turn in such a paper, you'll probably find that your instructor returns it without reading it. While it does take some understanding to identify relevant quotes, and to put them into a meaningful order, your instructors generally expect much more from you. We expect the depth of understanding that can only be demonstrated by expressing ideas in your own words. Hence you will be expected to paraphrase (put into your own words) the important points you gather from your resources.Before we look at the particulars of paraphrasing, we need to answer a question: How do you know whether to quote or to paraphrase? The general rule is to use a quote only when the exact wording of the original source is important. Here are two examples from page 38 of DeSimone and Harris's (1998) text:

Self-efficacy can be defined as "people's judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances. It is concerned not with the skills one has but with judgments of what one can do with whatever skills one possesses" (Bandura, 1986, p. 391).

which is followed immediately by the following sentences:A shorthand way of looking at self-efficacy is that it is a person's judgment of the likelihood that he or she can successfully perform a particular task or activity. Self-


efficacy beliefs are malleable and can be influenced by one's accomplishments, observations of others, verbal persuasion, and physiological states (Bandura, 1977).

Notice that DeSimone and Harris used Bandura's exact words in the first example, but paraphrased Bandura's ideas in the second example. DeSimone and Harris's paraphrase gets the idea across clearly in the second example. In the first example, because they are providing a definition and want to express Bandura's own views on the issue, they chose to give Bandura's exact words. Providing an exact definition often requires quotations, in the interest of avoiding the problem of misreading a theorist's views. In general, you should find yourself using relatively few exact quotes. It would be perfectly reasonable in most cases to hand in a major research project with no quotes whatsoever. A good rule of thumb for your papers should be "when in doubt, paraphrase". ParaphrasingIf correct citation and quotation practices are sciences, paraphrasing is a bit of an art. There are no hard-and-fast rules for paraphrasing. You must instead develop a 'feel' for it. I'll try to provide some examples of what constitutes an adequate paraphrase and what constitutes an inadequate paraphrase. Here are examples of paraphrases of the article "New workforce requires new priorities" (1992) which appears on the next page.

Unacceptable version. Note how similar the phrasing and word choice is to the original. This is a form of plagiarism. (The examples are single-spaced so they fit on one page to facilitate comparisons. You will double-space your own paraphrases of your articles.)

Despite recent cutbacks and cost-saving measures because of the recession, training remains a top priority in most companies ("New workforce," 1992). Two-fifths of the 455 companies surveyed by the Olsten Forum on Human Issues and trends reported increases in their T&D budgets in 1991, and two-fifths said their budgets stayed flat. The companies reported spending less than $500 per year for training of each nonexempt employee and less than $1500 per exempt employee. Most companies offered training in management and leadership skills (73%), computer skills (64%), and customer service skills (56%). Sixty-five percent stated that writing skills needed enhancement among their applicants and current employees, followed by communication skills (62%) and customer service skills (59%).

Acceptable version. The article's main points are summarized using phrasing that does not mimic the article itself. Note, too, that the paraphrase begins with an introductory sentence before the article is cited, and the paraphrase ends with a sentence that attempts to connect this article to other material discussed in the thesis.

Many companies are increasing their investment in training. According to a 1991 survey of 455 companies conducted by the Olsted Forum on Human Resource Management ("New workforce," 1992), forty percent of the companies surveyed increased their training budgets over the past year, compared to only sixteen percent who reduced their training budgets. On average, these companies spent $500 per nonexempt employee and $1500 per exempt employee each year on training. The most common forms of training currently offered by at least half of the companies surveyed included management-leadership skills, computer skills, and customer service skills. When asked to report what types of training they felt needed to be offered more extensively in the future, a majority of the companies reported that skills in written communication, interpersonal communication, and customer service were the most essential training needs for their future and current employees. These companies' concerns for enhancing employee skills in communication and customer service suggest that the companies agree with Goldstein's (1990) predictions of training needs by the year 2000.


New Workforce Requires New Priorities(from page 13 of the January 1992 issue of HRFocus; two figures were not reproduced)

Despite all of the cutbacks and cost-saving measures prompted by the recession, employers know they must plan now for tomorrow’s shortage of skilled labor. Their solution: Increase training and development today.

“Companies cannot compete in today’s economy if they do not keep their workforces well trained and updated on new skills,” said Stuart Olsten, president and chief operating officer of the Olsten Corporation, a Westbury, N. Y.-based provider of temporary personnel.

To see how companies spent their training and development dollars during the past year, the Olsten Forum on Human Resource Issues and Trends surveyed 455 companies. The following results were reported in Olsten’s Skills for Success Survey.

Training and development budgetsDespite the rocky economy, training remained a top priority at most companies. Two-fifths of the

companies surveyed reported increases in their T&D budgets during the past year, and another two-fifths said that budgets remained flat. Only 16 percent of the companies saw decreases.

Most of the participating companies reported spending less than $500 a year to train each nonexempt employee and less than $1,250 a year for each exempt employee. Companies that used outside vendors for training reported even lower costs.

Training programsAlmost four-fifths of the companies had in-house training facilities or skills development

programs. Seven out of 10 companies used outside training vendors and consultants. More than half made use of both in-house and outside training resources. Other training resources included employee-to-employee instruction, local schools/college programs, and self-training manuals or computer software.

“We are just beginning to understand and act on the idea that once you hire someone, you cannot assume that no additional training is necessary,” a survey respondent noted.

Most of the companies offered training in management/leadership skills (73 percent), computer skills (64 percent) and customer service skills (56 percent). Other popular training programs focused on interpersonal skills, self-development, quality management and safety.

“The types of programs we found in place mirror the priorities of [today’s corporate] environment,” said Sue Fredericks, assistant vice president of training and development at Olsten.

Workplace literacyDespite such emphasis on training, many companies still need to increase the scope of their

basic skills training. Only 6 percent of the companies offer training for English as a second language, and less than 5 percent provide training for re-entrants to the workforce, such as homemaker and retirees.

Although companies want employees who can write, speak and work well with customers, many workers have come up short of company expectations. Sixty-five percent of the companies indicated that written communication skills needed enhancement among current and prospective employees, followed by interpersonal communication skills (62 percent) and customer service skills (59 percent). Other areas that need enhancement include skills in computer usage, technology, organization, cross-cultural communication and basic math.

Almost four-fifths of the respondents stated that their need for workers who are skilled in these areas increased during the past five years. Almost one-third said that their need increased substantially.

Corporate support for continuing education also remained strong. Approximately nine out of 10 respondents reported that their companies reimbursed employees for taking job-related courses at outside educational institutions. Seven out of 10 companies reimbursed job-related degree programs, and six out of 10 reimbursed certification/accreditation programs sponsored by professional organizations. Almost half of the employers, however, tied reimbursement to the grade their employees received.


Notice that in both cases the reference was provided ("New workforce," 1992). This work is still the source of the ideas, even if not directly quoted. The inadequate paraphrase is not really the student's own words, but rather just the original author's words rearranged a bit (with a few words omitted). If you were to turn in a paper containing this paragraph you would have committed an act of plagiarism. It should be apparent that a person could write such a paragraph without really understanding the original article at all. The author of the adequate paraphrase, on the other hand, must have understood the article. The meaning of that article is captured in the paraphrase, but the words used to express that meaning are the student's own. Authors should not include material that they do not understand.Paraphrasing Secondary SourcesThe authors of an article you read may include their own citations of sources they consulted in writing their article. The article you are reading is a 'primary source' and the citations within that article are 'secondary sources' for your thesis. For most of your thesis, you should paraphrase the ideas in the primary source and you should not cite nor paraphrase secondary sources. Instead, if you believe a secondary source will be useful for your thesis, you should locate it and read it. The authors of your primary source should provide a reference for all of their secondary sources to help you locate the articles you want to use.There are times when a secondary source may not be easily available to you, but you would like to discuss the secondary source in your thesis. For example, DeSimone and Harris (1998) include the following lengthy quote from an article by Sackett and Mullen (1993):

We would like to offer the proposition that statistical conclusion validity needs to take first priority in applied training evaluation research. The question, Is there a difference between trained and untrained groups? needs to be answered before addressing, Can the difference be attributed to the training intervention? What follows from this proposition is that it may be reasonable to trade off internal validity for statistical conclusion validity. (p. 623)

For the sake of this example, let's assume you tried but could not locate Sackett and Mullen's (1993) article (which, in fact, is readily available in our college's library). However, you would like to paraphrase Sackett and Mullen's ideas and give them credit, even though you read about their ideas in DeSimone and Harris's textbook. Here is how you can paraphrase their ideas and cite both primary source and secondary source appropriately:

Sackett and Mullen (as cited in DeSimone & Harris, 1998, p. 197) suggest that statistical conclusion validity should be the most important form of validity in designing research to evaluate training programs.

Note that the paraphrase is written in different words than used by Sackett and Mullen, and note that DeSimone and Harris are cited as the primary source. You would include a reference for DeSimone and Harris in your reference list, and you would not include a reference for Sackett and Mullen since you never actually read their article.Summary1. Whenever possible, paraphrase instead of quoting. Quotes are really only appropriate

when the original source's exact words are important to the content of your paper. This is why you'll find so few quotes in psychological publications.

2. Paraphrasing means more than just changing a few words around here and there. A paraphrase is your own words - the kind of thing you could write two days after reading the original source, without having the original source in front of you. A paraphrase nonetheless requires a reference to the original source

3. If you must quote, you must follow the appropriate format for quotations, giving the original source's exact words, and a reference to the original source....


4. Focus on the ideas presented by your primary source. Avoid discussing secondary sources unless you cannot locate the article and the ideas are not described in sufficient detail in your primary source. If you do cite a secondary source, also cite your primary source and include the primary source (not the secondary source) in your references.

Other Uses of Quotation MarksYou may at times find yourself confused by authors who put quotation marks around single words or short passages, but do not indicate whose words are being quoted. Quotation marks are occasionally used for purposes other than those indicated above. For example, the APA Publication Manual requires authors to put quotation marks around the exact words used in instructions to subjects in research projects ("Now push the blue button to indicate that you see the signal light..."). Quotation marks are also used to indicate that a word does not have its normal meaning. For example, "Customer-contact employees must be able to understand each customer's needs so that they can 'shape' expectations" (DeSimone & Harris, 1998, p. 266. The quotation marks around "shape" (known as "scare quotes") suggest that the word 'shape' has a distinct meaning in this sentence, probably similar to the word 'influence.'

ReferencesAmerican Psychological Association (1994). Publication manual of the American

Psychological Association. Washington DC: Author. Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavior change.

Psychological Bulletin, 84, 122-147.Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Prentice-Hall.Cascio, W. F. (1987). Costing human resources: The financial impact of behavior in

organizations (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: PWS-Kent.DeSimone, R. L., & Harris, D. M. (1998). Human resource development (2nd ed.). Fort

Worth, TX: Dryden Press.Hollinger, R. C. (1988). Working under the influence (WUI): Correlates of employees'

use of alcohol and other drugs. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 24, 430-454.New workforce requires new priorities. (1992, January). HRFocus, 13.Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (1995). Organizational Behavior (3rd ed.). Homewood, IL:

Irwin.Sackett, P. R., & Mullen, E. J. (1993). Beyond formal experimental design: Towards

an expanded view of the training evaluation process. Personnel Psychology, 46, 613-627.Symonds, W. C., Ellis, J. E., Siler, S. F., Zellner, W., & Garland, S. B. (1991, March 25).

Is business bungling its battle with booze? Business Week, 76-78.Weiss, R. M. (1987). Writing under the influence: Science versus fiction in the

analysis of corporate alcoholism programs. Personnel Psychology, 40, 341-355.Yang, H., Sackett, P. R., & Arvey, R. D. (1996). Statistical power and cost in training

evaluation: Some new considerations. Personnel Psychology, 49, 651-668.


SAMPLES OF REFERENCES FROM APA’S SAMPLES OF REFERENCES FROM APA’S PUBLICATION PUBLICATION MANUALMANUALfrom American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: APA.

Your reference page should be typed with all references double-spaced an in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author with the title References centered and at the top of the page. Here are page references in APA’s Publication Manual for the most common examples of references that you might use for your thesis.

PRINT REFERENCES:

JOURNAL ARTICLE, ONE AUTHOR (see page 240)

JOURNAL ARTICLE THREE AUTHORS (see page 239)

MAGAZINE ARTICLE (see pages 241-242)

DAILY NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, NO AUTHOR (see pages 242-243)

AN ENTIRE BOOK (from page 248)

AN ARTICLE OR CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOK (from page 204)

ELECTRONIC REFERENCES

INTERNET ARTICLES BASED ON A PRINT SOURCE (from pages 271-272)

MULTIPAGE DOCUMENT, NO DATE (from page 273)

ELECTRONIC COPY OF A JOURNAL ARTICLE RETRIEVED FROM A DATABASE (from page 279) Note: Use this format if you found and printed a copy of an article using ProQuest, FirstSearch, PsycInfo, or any other electronic database.

The next page provides a sample reference page. Note that the word References is used for the title and the references are in alphabetical order by the first author's last name. Everything is double-spaced, and all references are set in "hanging indent" format.


References

Beck, C. A., J., & Sales, B. D. (2001). Family mediation: Facts, myths, and future prospects.

Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Borman, W. C., Hanson, M. A., Oppler, S. H., Pulakos, E. D., & White, L. A. (1993). Role of

early supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology,

78, 443-449. Retrieved October 23, 2000 from PsychARTICLES database.

Greater New Milford (Ct) Area Healthy Community 2000, Task Force on Teen and

Adolescent Issues. (n.d.). Who has time for a family meal? You do! Retrieved October 5,

2000, from http://www.familymealtime.org

Herman, L. M., Kuczaj, S. A., III, & Holder, M. D. (1993). Responses to anomalous gestural

sequences by a language-trained dolphin: Evidence for processing of semantic

relations and syntactic information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122,

184-194.

Kandel, E. R., & Squire, L. R. (2000, November 10). Neuroscience: Breaking down scientific

barriers to the study of brain and mind. Science, 290, 1113-1120.

Massaro, D. (1992). Broadening the domain of the fuzzy logical model of perception. In H. L.

Pick, Jr., P. van den Broek, & D. C. Knill (Eds.), Cognition: Conceptual and

methodological issues (pp. 51-84). Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association.

Mellers, B. A. (2000). Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences. Psychological

Bulletin, 126, 910-924.

New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The

Washington Post, p. A12.

VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of

resources by psychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-

123. Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://jbr.org/aricles.html


REFERENCE CITATIONSREFERENCE CITATIONS IN TEXT IN TEXTIf you make a statement in your paper, you must document it; you must cite the study (or studies) you are using to support your point. For this thesis, do not use footnotes, and avoid using direct quotations unless you have cleared the use of those quotations with your instructor. Instead, you should paraphrase (write in your own words) what is said in your articles, citing the articles in one of the following ways. The APA Publication Manual provides several examples of how to include reference citations in your thesis. Refer to pages 207 through 214. Here are some highlights1. One Work by One Author (refer to section 3.94, pp. 207-208 of the APA

manual)Version 1: Massaro (1992) demonstrated that students who participated in small discussion groups got higher exam grades than those who were taught in large lecture sections. Massaro also indicated... <Use the last name of the author followed by the year in quotes; if you cite in this format again in the same paragraph, you can omit the date.>Version 2: Students who participated in small discussion groups got higher exam grades than those who were taught in large lecture sections. (Massaro, 1992). <The whole citation appears in parentheses at the end of the sentence with the author's last name followed by a comma and the year of the article; a period ends the sentence.>Version 3: In one study (Massaro, 1992), students who participated.... <Similar to version two, but the citation appears in the middle of the sentence, not at the end>As you can see, there are several ways to cite the same source. Select the first version when you want to give more credit to the author and if you intend to continue discussing the author's work in upcoming sentences (continuing to refer to the author by last name only). Use the second or third version if it is less important to give credit to the author.

Cite your source immediately, in the very first sentence when you begin to discuss the material from the source.

2. One work by Multiple Authors (refer to section 3.95, pp. 208-209 of the APA manual)Version 1 (two authors): Beck and Sales (2001) reported… <When the authors' names appear as part of the sentence, use the word "and">

Version 2 (two authors): One experiment reported… (Beck & Sales, 2001)... <When the entire citation occurs in parentheses, use an ampersand "&">Version 3 (three to five authors): First citation: Herman, Kuczaj, and Holder (1993) or (Herman, Kuczaj, & Holder, 1993); Subsequent citations: Herman et al. (1993) or (Herman et al., 1993)Version 4 (six or more authors): Cite only the last name of the first author followed by et al. and then the date: Either Herman et al. (1993) or (Herman et al., 1993).

3. Groups as Authors or Works with No Author (see sections 3.96 and 3.97, pp. 209-211)Use one of the following formats if you don't know the name(s) of the author(s):

Organizations: Greater New Milford Area (n.d.) -- or -- (Greater New Milford Area, n.d.)Article titles: "New drug" (1993) -- or -- ("New drug", 1993)


(more examples appear on the next page)


4. Two or More Works Within the Same Parentheses (see section 3.99, p. 212)If you make a statement that is supported by more than one source, the citation might be:Several articles (Beck & Sales, 2001; Herman, Kuczaj, & Holder, 1993; Massaro, 1992) suggested that....When you cite more than one reference, alphabetize the references according to the first author and separate the references by a semicolon.

5. Citation of a work discussed in a secondary source (see #22 on p. 247).You will probably encounter the situation in which you read a summary of an experiment in a book and want to cite it. You should attempt to obtain the original study (summaries in books can be inaccurate); but if you cannot do that, use the following convention. If in a book by Stevens (1975) you have come across a study by Johnson (1972) that you wish to cite, write:One study indicated… (Johnson, as cited in Stevens, 1975)Johnson (as cited in Stevens, 1975) indicated that…In your reference list, include only the reference for Stevens (1975). Do not include

Johnson.6. Specific Parts of a Source (see section 3.101, pp. 213-214 of the APA manual)

If you would like to cite a particular page, figure, or table in a book, do so as follows:Johnson (1972, p. 72); Johnson (1972, pp. 10-20); Johnson (1972, Chapter 5); Johnson (1972, Figure 1); Johnson (1972, Table 4).

7. Using exemplary citations. In many instances, you might find literally dozens of studies with essentially the same findings. When this occurs, you may (and should) only want to cite a few exemplary references. Do so as follows:Numerous studies indicated… (e.g., Johnson, 1972; Stevens, 1975).The abbreviation “e.g.” means “for example” and indicates to the reader that you are only giving some of the references. Place the references in alphabetical order by first author.


WRITING A THESIS PLANWRITING A THESIS PLAN

Before you leave for summer, you will submit a plan for the organization of chapters

in your thesis. In this plan, you will specify the major issues you intend to address in each

chapter of your thesis. You will also identify for each chapter the one or two best articles in

your current reference list that will be most useful in writing that chapter. In addition, you

will discuss for each chapter the type of research you will need to conduct during the

summer to be prepared to write that chapter when you return to school in Autumn 2002.

Most students will write theses that will contain five chapters that focus on the

following topics:

Chapter 1. Current context and historical origins of the thesis topic.

Chapter 2. Psychological and/or legal theories most relevant to the thesis topic.

Chapter 3. Business practices or policies related to the thesis topic.

Chapter 4. Evaluation research related to practices or policies discussed in the thesis.

Chapter 5. Concluding remarks (recommendations based on the evaluation chapter and/or

future directions).

Depending on your thesis topic, it may make more sense to combine materials in

Chapters 3 and 4 (e.g., if you intend to discuss two major business practices and prefer to

discuss the evaluation research within each chapter), to alter the order of some chapters

(e.g., for some topics it makes sense to discuss legal issues after discussing the business

policies), or to change the standard order in some other way. Talk with the instructors

during your conferences to determine the best strategy for your thesis topic. The format

for this assignment appears on the back of this sheet.


Your name Date of assignment 1

Your Thesis Topic

Write one sentence in which you identify the major issue you intend to address in

your thesis. Write this as a statement, not a question. Be as specific as possible about the

issue; don’t just repeat the topic but expand on the major issue you would like to serve as

the focus of your thesis and your research. Be certain to focus the sentence on how the

topic is directly related to the major function(s) of human resource management (e.g.,

recruiting, selection, training, compensation, performance appraisal, discipline, planning).

Talk with your advisors about the focus you would like to take in your thesis.

Chapter 1. Proposed Title for your First Chapter

Write a brief title for the major content of each chapter and include it in a heading

like the one above (left margin, underlined, major words capitalized). Write a paragraph of

between three to six sentences in which you do each of the following. Identify the major

issues or topics you currently know you will need to cover in this chapter. As you write, cite

and briefly discuss the contents of some articles in your references that will be useful as

you write this chapter. Identify the types of information and articles you will need to locate

during the summer to improve the content of this chapter.

For this assignment, you may use first person singular (refer to yourself as “I”),

because you are providing us with your plan for organizing your current/future research. In

your writing, focus on the issues and topics related to your thesis; these issues and topics

should be discussed in several of your articles. Avoid the temptation of writing about one

article after another, as if the articles had no connections to each other. Your writing

should flow logically from one issue to the next.

Chapter 2. Proposed Title for your Second Chapter

When you have finished discussing Chapter 1, double-space and write a proposed

title for Chapter 2. Describe the contents of Chapter 2, repeating the instructions for

Chapter 1 for the first four chapters of your thesis. You probably won't have ideas for

Chapter 5 yet.



References

When you have written a paragraph for each chapter, include your current list of

references, beginning those references on a separate sheet of paper. Use APA format for

references (consult APA's Publication Manual, 5th edition).


INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUMMER LITERATURE REVIEWINSTRUCTIONS FOR SUMMER LITERATURE REVIEW

We recommend you type this literature review prior to returning to class in Autumn:

For your summer literature review, identify at least 25 references (there is no upper limit) relevant to your thesis. At least fifteen references should be found in academic and professional journals, and most references should be lengthy (at least 6 pages). Books, shorter journal articles, and articles from other periodicals (e.g., Business Week, Time) may be included but should be much fewer in number than references from journals.

Type the references in alphabetical order following APA format found in the 5th edition of the Publication Manual. A sample of this format appears on the next two pages. Identify the three or four references most relevant to your thesis with a check mark () to the left of the references. Your advisor will meet with you after this assignment is graded to discuss each of the references you checked. Be prepared to provide specifics on those three or four references, but also be familiar with the general information contained in the other references you selected for your literature review. Your literature review will be evaluated according to these criteria:

(1) Number of references: The more you have, the better.(2) Relevance of references: Does each fit logically into your thesis?(3) Breadth of coverage of references: Are most references from academic and

professional journals? Does the combination of references cover the history, psychology, business practices, evaluation research, and laws relevant to your thesis?

(4) Familiarity with references: Can you discuss each reference?(5) Correct format: Are references in correct APA format? Do they contain any

errors in punctuation or spelling?NOTE: Your first major thesis assignment after you return for Autumn 2002 will require you to create a plan for writing your thesis. This requires you to identify the references that are most relevant to your thesis and to categorize your references into appropriate sections of your thesis. We recommend that you consider this assignment prior to submitting your literature review so that you can think about the likely organization of your thesis. Think about categorizing your references as you find them. Ask yourself, "How will this reference fit in my thesis?" and jot down an answer to this question on the article itself or on an index card. These steps will greatly facilitate your progress in the next assignment and throughout the course.

HINT: A simple way to alphabetize your references is to type all of them in a Microsoft Excel file. Include the entire reference in the first column of an Excel worksheet. You could then use the second column (and perhaps other columns) to keep notes on each reference (e.g., the chapter for which the reference is most relevant, whether or not you actually cited the reference as you write your thesis, etc. To alphabetize the list, select the entire spreadsheet, and then select Data Sort from the menu. Choose to sort the list by Column A. You can then copy Column A to your thesis.



Literature Review

Athey, T. R., & McIntyre, R. M. (1987). Effect of rater training on rater accuracy: Levels-of-

processing theory and social facilitation theory perspectives. Journal of Applied

Psychology, 72, 567-572.

Bernadin, H. J., & Buckley, M. R. (1981). Strategies in rater training. Academy of

Management Review, 6, 205-212.

Fox, W. M. (1990). Improving performance appraisal systems. In F. Maidment (Ed.).

Annual editions: Human resources 90/91 (2nd ed.). Guilford, CN: Dushkin.

(Original work published 1987)

Jako, R. A., & Murphy, K. R. (1990). Distributional ratings, judgment decomposition, and

their impact on interrater agreement and rating accuracy. Journal of Applied


Lowe, T. R. (1986, January). Eight ways to ruin a performance review. Performance

Journal, 60-62.

Mount, M. K., & Thompson, D. E. (1987). Cognitive categorization and quality of

performance ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72, 240-246.

Rice, B. (1990). Performance review: The job nobody likes. In G. R. Ferris, K. M. Rowland,

& M. R. Buckley (Eds.), Human resource management: Perspectives and issues (2nd

ed.).(pp. 181-187). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (Original work published 1985)

Smith, D. E. (1986). Training programs for performance appraisal: A review. Academy of


Williams, K. J., DeNisi, A. S., Meglino, B. M., & Cafferty, T. P. (1986). Initial decisions and

subsequent performance ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 189-195.



Yammarino, F. J., Dubinsky, A. J., & Hartley, S. W. (1987). An approach for assessing

individual versus group effects in performance evaluations. Journal of Occupational



REVISED THESIS PLAN (AUTUMN 2002)REVISED THESIS PLAN (AUTUMN 2002)

A revised thesis plan will be one of the first assignments you will complete during

the beginning of the Autumn 2002 semester. Early next semester, you will submit a

literature review (see previous assignment), which will serve as the references for your

revised thesis plan. Successful completion of this assignment should lead to the following

outcomes:

a) An understanding of the macro organization of your paper. This includes the

identification and organization of the major sections/chapters. The chapters may be

revised as you begin writing your thesis.

b) Understanding and articulation of the issues within each major section/chapter.

c) Understanding of your research progress. You should be able to identify where your

articles will be useful and where you need additional research.

The following pages provide an example of what your revised thesis plan should look like

when you submit it for review.



Revised Thesis Plan

1. Write a brief and meaningful summary statement of each chapter of your thesis.

Your thesis plan will identify and describe each chapter of your thesis. Identify each

chapter with a meaningful sentence, preceded by an Arabic numeral. The following are

poor examples of this type of summary: "Introduction to performance appraisals"; "History

and background of AIDS". These statements don't say anything. Your sentence should

summarize what you intend to discuss in this chapter of your paper. This sentence should

be similar to the thesis sentence you wrote for your entire thesis.

2. Write one paragraph for each chapter identifying the major issues of that chapter.

Immediately after the summary, describe that chapter of your thesis in a brief

paragraph (about ½ to ¾ page per chapter). The summary should be a complete, yet

concise description of the issues you will discuss in this chapter. A poor example of a

summary would be: "In this section of my thesis, I intend to examine the history of OSHA

and its procedures." This statement is too general. Provide specific information that

demonstrates your understanding of the issues relevant to your thesis. Cite articles (using

correct APA format), where appropriate.

3. Categorize the articles in your references.

Along with your thesis plan, submit both your original literature review and an

updated version of your references. We will compare the two lists to determine what

progress you have made in locating appropriate references. Update your references by

omitting unnecessary references and including new references relevant to your thesis.

Alphabetize the updated list, combining old and new references in one list. Title your

updated list

"References". For each reference, identify the chapter of your thesis to which that

reference is most relevant by writing the appropriate Arabic numeral in the left margin next

to the reference. The third page of this example contains a sample of what your reference

page should look like.)



We will evaluate your plan using the following criteria:

a) Chapter topics. Have you identified the major chapters? Is the organization of the

chapters logical?

b) Chapter issues. Have you identified and articulated the issues within each chapter?

Is your discussion of the issues relevant and complete?

c) References. Have you filled the gaps in your research with relevant articles that

expand both the breadth and depth of coverage of your thesis?


References



Jako, R. A., & Murphy, K. R. (1990). Distributional ratings, judgment decomposition,

and their impact on interrater agreement and rater accuracy. Journal of Applied



Journal, 60-62.



(Continue like this, listing all your references and indicating the relevant chapters in the left

margin.)

2

4

1, 3

2


INSTRUCTIONS FOR THESIS ORAL PRESENTATIONINSTRUCTIONS FOR THESIS ORAL PRESENTATIONAt the end of the Autumn semester, you will make a 20-25 minute oral presentation

of your thesis to the class using a Microsoft Power Point slide presentation as your only

source of notes. Talk with your thesis advisors well in advance of your presentation. They

will assist you in selecting relevant material from your thesis to include in your

presentation. What follows are some recommendations for organizing your presentation

along with some expectations about what should and shouldn’t occur during the

presentations.

Organizing your Oral Presentation

Most students select between two different types of oral presentations. One type is

an overview of all or most of their thesis chapters, in which they cover the highlights from

each chapter. If you have five chapters in your thesis, expect to develop a four- to five-

minute presentation on each chapter. Select one or two important concepts from each

thesis chapter, the concepts you believe would be most interesting to the class. Elaborate

on each of these concepts, providing citations in your presentation where appropriate.

Other students choose to focus their thesis presentation on one or two of their thesis

chapters (typically Chapters 2, 3 or 4). If you choose to do this, it is still advisable for you

to present some material from Chapter 1 that sets the context and historical relevance of

your thesis. Expect to take about four to five minutes presenting the context, and then

divide the remainder of your oral presentation time on the chapter(s) you selected.

Using transitions. In either case, help your audience follow the organization of your

presentation. Your first Power Point slide should include your name, the title of your

presentation, and the date of the presentation. Open your talk with an overview of your

presentation, an outline of which should appear on your second Power Point slide. Do not

just read the contents of this slide; instead, provide a brief description of each section of

your talk.


Each section of your talk will then appear on one or more Power Point slides,

depending on the extent to which you intend to elaborate on each section. Include

sufficient information on each slide (with appropriate citations) that will assist you in

discussing each section to the class, but avoid the temptation of including too much

information on each slide. You must not simply read your talk from the Power Point slides;

instead, you must be able to describe each section of your talk in a conversational format

that is not obviously memorized.

During your talk, develop transitions that will inform your audience that you are

concluding one section of your presentation and beginning the next. Build in natural

pauses into your presentation, typically between sections of the presentation. You may

want to mentally count to 5 or 10 when you deliberately want to pause. Create your Power

Point slides in a way that will help you develop natural transitions from one section of the

talk to the next. Your presentation will be graded on its informativeness, organization, and

clarity.

Handouts. Provide your audience with a handout with your name, the presentation

date, your thesis topic, and the most relevant references you would recommend other

students should read if they want more information about your thesis topic. After each

reference, provide a one- or two-sentence description of why you believe the reference

would be useful for other students to read. Keep the handout short, one side of a page, if

possible, and no more than three pages. If you would like to include a brief outline of the

sections of your talk, you may do that, but keep it very brief! Otherwise, students will tend

to read and will not listen to what you’re saying.

If there is a table, figure, or sample policy that you would like the students to refer to

during your talk, you may include it in the handout and/or as a Power Point slide with an

appropriate citation of its source. Distribute handouts before you begin your presentation.

If you wish to provide an audiovisual (e.g., a filmed or CD-ROM example of a training

program) during your presentation, keep it brief (no more than 3 minutes) and connect it to


your presentation. At least one week prior to your presentation, talk with your thesis

advisor for his approval of any handouts or other materials that you would like to use in

your presentation.

Some Do’s and Don’ts for your Oral Presentation

Your oral presentation should be based on your library research, so it is important

for you to cite your sources during your presentation. Refer to the authors by their last

names. You don’t need to cite the dates of the articles as you talk, but the dates could

appear on your Power Point slides where appropriate). If you are discussing theories,

recommendations, or opinions from your articles, let the audience know the name(s) of the

author(s) whose thoughts you are summarizing. If you discuss research studies or case

studies, identify the authors who conducted the research, and provide some background

concerning the rationale of the study and why it is relevant to your oral presentation, the

procedures used in the study, the major results of the study, and the implications of this

study for the topic of your oral presentation. Include sufficient but brief details on your

Power Point slides. Try to include a bare minimum of information on the slides; otherwise

your audience will be reading more than listening to what you say. One rule of thumb is "4

X 4": Try to limit each slide to no more than four lines under each heading with no more

than four key words per line.

During your oral presentation, you will not be allowed to read from your thesis and

you will not be allowed to memorize your presentation. You must develop an oral

presentation, which demonstrates that you have developed sufficient expertise to talk

extemporaneously on your thesis topic, using your Power Point slides as your only notes.

We will not accept thesis presentations that are read or memorized.

Audience Behavior

Please treat the presenters as you would like to be treated when you present. Dress

up on all days of oral presentations, whether you are presenting or not. Arrive early to

class so that you do not distract a presenter by coming in late. Maintain eye contact with


the presenter, except when you would like to take notes concerning possible questions or

comments you would like to offer at the end of the presentation.

After each presentation, we will allow 10 to 15 minutes for the audience to ask the

presenter questions or offer comments. All class members are expected to ask such

questions. Try to ask relevant questions that ask the presenter to go beyond the material

from the presentation. Don’t just ask the presenter to repeat information that you should

have heard if you were listening. When you can, offer a relevant comment concerning how

the presentation is related to material from your own thesis topic, from previous classes

you took, or from your job experiences. You will receive a grade for participation based on

the quality and frequency of your questions and comments.


Your name Managing contingent employees Presentation date

Annotated references

1. Caudron, S. (1994). Calculating the cost of contingent workers. Personnel Journal, 73,

48b-48c.

This is an excellent article that talks about why so many businesses follow one another.

American businesses have witnessed the management issues – from diversity training and

total quality management to the current issue of contingent staffing. Caudron discusses

how to calculate the cost effectiveness of contingent workers. In order to strengthen an

organization’s flexibility, Caudron suggests taking a closer look into how to “evaluate the

true productivity” of contingent workers.

2. Golden, L., & Applebaum, E. (1992). What was driving the 1982-88 boom in temporary

employment? Preference of workers or decisions and power of employers. American Journal

of Economics and Sociology, 51, 168-175.

This article discusses the changing demographic composition of the workforce within

the 1980s. This empirical study focuses on several variables such as foreign competition

and labor costs. The authors correlate these variables to the dramatic rise in temporary

employment levels.

3. Olmstead, B., & Smith, S. (1989). Creating a flexible work place. New York: Amacom.

Olmstead and Smith describe the outer rings of contingent employment and place them

within three categories: Temporary employees, independent contractors, and leased staff.

They give you a basic understanding as to why contingent employees exist.


DIARY OF SEARCH TERMS DIARY OF SEARCH TERMS (make several copies of the next (make several copies of the next page)page)

Search Engine. Keep a record of the Date and identify the Search Engine you used.The following search engines are available at <http://www.loras.edu/~LIB/>. Library Catalogs. Identify the library (e.g., Loras College, other library) you searched. Journals, Magazines, Newspapers. Identify the specific search engine you searched.

Here are some recommendations (but you might want to try others as well): FirstSearch. This engine gives you access to several different databases, so

identify the databases you're using. The most useful databases to include: WilsonSelectPlus. Contains full-text articles from journals like Business &

Health, HRMagazine, Journal of Management, Monthly Labor Review, Personnel Journal, and Personnel Psychology

ArticlesFirst Gives access to other journals not in WilsonSelectPlus but doesn't contain full-text articles. You can still locate the libraries that have the article and get the articles through interlibrary loan.

ProQuest Direct. Check "Search Guide" for help using this search engine. Prefer the "Image" (camera-only) version of an article over "Full text".

PsycInfo. This engine will help you find articles on psychology theories and research related to your topic.

Lexis Nexus Academic Universe. This engine will help you find articles on business and on legal research related to your topic.

Government Information. The link to GPO Access may help you locate government documents or regulations related to your thesis topic.

Web Searching. You can use search engines like Google! or search directories like Yahoo to locate Web sites of businesses, government agencies, or professional societies (e.g., Society for Human Resource Management) that may contain information relevant to your thesis topic.

NOTE: This list is far from exhaustive. Don't restrict your search strategies to this short list.

Search Terms. Keep a record of the specific search terms you use in your search. Some search engines have advanced strategies for searching information. Some engines allow you to use a ? or a * to search for multiple words (e.g., employ* or

employ? may help you find articles with words like employee, employer, or employing. Some engines allow you to put words in quotations to look for a specific phrase (e.g.,

"safety training") that can help you narrow your search to the most relevant articles. When you look for specific topics, consider adding terms to narrow your search further.

For example, when looking for articles on: Evaluation research: Include "evaluat*" or "evaluat?" or "research" or "study" Laws and regulations: Include "legal" or "law" or "regulat*" or "regulat?" Psychological theories: Include "psychol*" or "psychol?" or "theor*" or

"theor?" Business practices: Consider terms like "employ*" or "employ?" or "select*" or

"select?" (for selecting, selection) or "train*" or train?" (for training, trainer).These are only examples. Consult with your instructors for ideas that might work well for your thesis. Keeping a record of what works or doesn't work will help you save time later.

Notes on Search. Keep notes on your search strategies. How many articles did your find? Was the search too general or too specific? Are there specific authors or journal titles or additional search terms that you keep finding and that would be useful for future searches? If you find an article that is particularly useful, you may be able to print out the article or its description. Or you may even be able to save the article or its description on your


computer. You might want to note what you did when you found an article (e.g., that you printed it, that you ordered it from interlibrary loan, or that you saved it to disk).


Search Engine

Search Terms Notes on search

Date

Date

Date

Date

Date

Date

Date

Date

Date

Date


SAMPLE THESISSAMPLE THESIS

1

Center the Title of your Thesis and

Capitalize all Major Words in your Title

Type your name here

Thesis in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management

Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa

Autumn Semester 2002

2

Table of Contents

Page

Chapter 1. General Formatting Instructions and Writing about the Context

and History of your Thesis. 3

Chapter 2. Writing about Psychological Theories, Legal Issues, and Business Ethics. 7

Chapter 3. Writing about Business Practices. 11

Chapter 4. Writing about Evaluation Research. 14

Chapter 5. Title of Chapter 5, Capitalizing all Relevant Words. 20

References. 22

Appendix A. Medical Associates Drug and Alcohol Use Policy. 24

Appendix B. Provide a Title for Appendix B (if you include Appendix B). ##

Footnotes. 25

Table 1. U. S. Civilian Body Dimensions: Females/Males aged 20 to 60 in Centimeters. 26

Table 2. Provide a Title for Table 2 (if you include Appendix B). ##

Figure 1. Provide a Title for Figure 1 (if you include Figure 1). 27

Figure 2. Provide a Title for Figure 2 (if you include Figure 2). ##

Notes: Special instructions will appear in thisin this sample document. Follow the format exactly when you type your thesis chapters. On the title page, notice that the page number 1 appears one inch below and to the left of the upper-right edge of the page, that the page number is typed in the same font as the rest of the thesis, and that each page is numbered consecutively. Notice also the location of information on the title page and the use of capitalization. On the table of contents page, notice the format of each chapter heading (its capitalization and the appearance of a period at the end), and notice that all page numbers are right-justified. Also notice the order of information that appears in the thesis: chapters, references, appendixes, footnotes, tables, and figures. You may or may not have appendixes, footnotes, tables, or figures in your thesis. If you omit any of these, the others retain the order above. We included lines for Appendix 2, Table 2, and Figure 2 to show you the order of materials in your thesis.

3

Chapter 1. General Formatting Instructions and Writing about the Context

and History of your Thesis

This chapter provides instructions for formatting the final draft of your thesis. It also

includes guidelines for writing the first chapter of your thesis, in which you will provide the

context and history for your thesis topic.

General Formatting Instructions

There is a sample document in the Publication Manual on pages 258 through 268.

Your thesis will vary somewhat from this sample. Your title page will contain different

information and a slightly different format (e.g., you will not have a running head or a

caption in your page headers). Instead of having an abstract page, you will have a table of

contents page. Do not write an abstract page for your thesis. You will also not have an

author note page. Otherwise, you should follow the format described in the Publication

Manual and demonstrated in the sample document. If you have questions about

formatting, please consult with your thesis adviser.

Type all information using the same font style and size. The order of pages in your

thesis is as follows. (Note: We do not want you to use bullets, underlining or boldface in

your thesis. We use them in this sample document to make the information easier for you

to follow.)

Title page (see sample, numbered page 1) Table of contents (see sample, numbered page 2) Thesis chapters (begin each chapter on a new page) References (begin on a new page) Appendixes (begin each appendix on a new page) Footnotes (begin on a new page, listing them all together on the same page) Tables (begin each table on a new page; each table should fit on one page) Figures (begin each figure on a new page; each figure should fit on one page)

4

Writing your Introductory Chapter

The introductory chapter should provide a context for and include a discussion of

the historical development of your topic. Suggestions and guidelines to help you get

started and organize this chapter are listed below.

Introduction

The introduction should introduce and provide a context for your paper.

Introduction. Clearly state the central issue or focus of your thesis within the first

paragraph. This will be similar to your thesis sentence. Sometimes students begin with a

brief case study or example to attract the reader's interest in the topic. If you do this, be

sure to articulate your thesis sentence clearly and directly for your reader. Introduce your

thesis in one or two paragraphs that appear immediately after your chapter title and

immediately before your first heading in the chapter.

Context. Discuss the importance of your topic to business and human resource

management. Your topic might be important because of its financial impact (costs,

revenues, profit), and/or HR outcome impact (attraction, performance, satisfaction,

attendance, retention, safety/health), and/or impact on HR activities (HR planning, job

analysis, selection, training, compensation, labor relations). Also consider the broader

societal contexts that may pertain to your thesis topic, such as demographic (age, sex,

race) changes in the workforce, and/or the global economy, and/or technological changes

that may affect HR practices.

As you search for articles relevant to your context, you will probably have to go

beyond the specific topic of your thesis. Look for general articles that discuss current

concerns related to human resource management. You may be able to locate some of

these articles by examining the introductory sections of relevant chapters in human

resource textbooks. Another source is to browse through a year or two of the most recent

issues of HRMagazine, Training and Development, Personnel Journal, or some other

magazine/journal in human resource management that discusses general issues. There

5

may also be relevant context information on web sites related to human resource

management, for example, http://www.shrm.org/ and http://www.astd.org and

http://stats.bls.gov/blshome.html

History

This section should describe the origin and historical development of your topic.

Origin. Discuss the origin of your topic in either a HR or other context. Your

discussion should emphasize the reason(s) or rationale for the origin. This section will be

brief if the origin was not in a business or HR context, i.e., military.

Business/HR origin. If the origin was not in a business/HR context, you must discuss

the origin of your topic in business practices. Focus on reasons and rationale for this

section also. For some topics, you should be able to locate articles on businesses,

government societies, or professional societies that started or developed practices related

to your topic. You may also be able to locate articles on how prevalent certain practices

were at different times in our society. Several organizations (e.g., Society for Human

Resource Management, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and American Society for Training and

Development) have conducted surveys of human resource managers at various times to

assess the prevalence of various human resource practices. Locate surveys related to your

thesis topic.

In a similar vein, some of your thesis topics have specific professional societies or

government agencies (at the federal, state, or local level) that are relevant to your thesis.

When and why did these organizations and agencies begin? What is their basic mission,

and how did the organization contribute to the historical development of your topic? Some

of these organizations also publish journals specifically related to your thesis topic. If such

a journal exists, seek out its first issue and see if there is an article introducing the origins

and purpose of the journal.

Development/evolution. Describe the evolution of your topic from its origin in

business to its current usage. Discuss important and relevant changes in practice, theory

6

and law. Keep your focus on business changes rather than military, education or

government/public changes. Emphasize the impetus/reasons for the changes, i.e. social,

economic, and/or political reasons. Do not discuss current business practices since that

will be the focus of another chapter.

Try to locate the first few articles (or early articles) about your topic that were

published in academic or professional journals. For some of your topics, the Annual Review

of Psychology may provide you a history of the research that has been conducted on your

thesis topic. The Annual Review is a yearly journal in book format that publishes reviews of

research in psychology. Approximately every four years, the reviews are updated. There

are a series of articles on Selection, Performance Appraisal, Training and Development, and

Organizational Behavior, with each topic appearing approximately once every four years.

You may be able to trace the history of research for your thesis topic through this resource.

Another possibility is to examine the Business Periodicals Index and locate the first time

your thesis topic appeared as its own entry. Locate the first articles written about your

topic and describe their contents. You can then scan through later issues of Business

Periodicals Index, counting the number of articles about your topic that appeared each year

and/or describing how the content of those articles changed over time.

Some topics would also benefit from an overview of changes (e.g., demographics,

laws, and technology) that had an impact on your thesis topic. Here again, as in your

context, you might have to go beyond the specifics of your thesis topic to search for

relevant articles.

Additional Notes about Formatting

Notice the location and formatting of page numbers, chapter titles, and headings in

this sample document. You will be expected to use the same format in your thesis. Notice

also that each chapter starts with an introductory paragraph immediately following the

chapter title and prior to the first major heading. In addition, there is at least one

paragraph that separates headings from each other. Ideally, you should have at least two

7

paragraphs between headings of the same level. Notice also that each chapter begins on a

new page.

8

Chapter 2. Writing about Psychological Theories, Legal Issues and Business Ethics

In each of your theses, you will need to make some contact with relevant

psychological theories, legal issues (federal/state laws and court decisions), and topics in

business ethics that apply to your thesis topic. For some of you, psychological theories and

legal issues may be of historical importance; such discussion should appear in Chapter 1 of

your thesis. For others, psychological theories and legal issues may set a context or may

be important to discuss prior to discussing business practices. In this case, your discussion

of theory and law would probably best be located either in Chapter 1 (to set up context) or

Chapter 2 (to set the stage for discussion of business practices in Chapter 3). Talk with Mr.

Collins and/or Dr. Pusateri about the best organization for your thesis topic. Some theses

should also explore topics of business ethics and the business policies that follow from

those ethics.

Writing About Psychological Theories

Ideally, you should locate one or more primary references for each of the theories

you intend to discuss. These references are likely to appear in psychological journals such

as the Journal of Applied Psychology or Personnel Psychology, although some theory

articles appear in professional journals such as HRMagazine and Personnel Journal. One

way to find these references is to scan through the relevant theoretical sections of texts in

human resource management and psychology, locating the texts' citations and references

for these sections.

You will summarize the main assumptions and points of your primary references. In

your summary, you will include a section in which you discuss why the theory is directly

related to your thesis topic. This may appear before, after, or during your discussion of the

basic assumptions and points of the theory.

It is best if you rely on primary references and not other people’s summaries of

these references. A primary reference will be written by the researcher(s) whose name(s)

are directly associated with the theory. For example, Victor Vroom is a primary researcher

9

for the application of expectancy theory to business practices. The primary researcher(s)

are the ones whose names and articles are frequently cited in other articles that you have

found. If you do not have articles that frequently cite such researchers, you probably have

not done a thorough enough job of locating references for your thesis.

Once you have summarized the main assumptions of the major psychological

theories, you should refer to them when appropriate within your thesis. For example, some

business practices may be examples of applications of psychological theories. In the

business practices section of your thesis, point out how a specific business practice is

consistent or inconsistent with a psychological theory that you have discussed. Here is a

concrete example: Many training programs rely on trainees watching videotapes,

discussing the tapes as a group, and then attempting to role-play what happened in the

videotapes. These training programs rely on the principles of social learning theory. If you

were presenting this type of training in your section on business practices, you could

discuss the connection between this training and social learning theory (which you should

have discussed in an earlier section of your thesis).

If you are uncertain which psychological theories apply to your thesis, or if you are

unsure of where you should discuss them in your thesis, make an appointment with Dr.

Pusateri and/or Mr. Collins to give you ideas.

Writing About Legal Issues

Most thesis topics involve some understanding of relevant legal issues. The most

common issues in human resource management include equal employment opportunity or

nondiscrimination in business practices, individual rights of employees (safety, health-

related concerns, rights to privacy, due process, etc.), and the rights of employers to

conduct their businesses as they deem proper within the constraints of the law. If your

thesis should address these or other legal issues, consider including the following three

components.

10

Legal context. If law is important to your history and context sections in Chapter 1,

you should identify the specific historical and cultural events that relate to your legal

issues. For example, if your thesis requires discussion of equal employment opportunity,

identify how and when relevant issues of nondiscrimination emerged in relation to your

thesis topic (e.g., there are different historical/cultural events that led to nondiscrimination

laws for ethnic minorities, older workers, disabled workers, and pregnant workers). If your

thesis requires you to make international comparisons, discuss relevant differences

between the legal policies of the United States and other countries.

To locate law-related articles, search Lexis Nexus (which is available on the Web site

for Loras College's library). You should also consult textbooks in employment law. Dr.

Pusateri subscribes to the Journal of Individual Employment Rights that contains articles on

legal issues for several topics; ask him how to gain access to this journal.

The most relevant laws (statute law) and policies. The legal context described

above should set the stage for discussion of the most relevant federal, state, or

international laws and/or government policies (e.g., OSHA or EEOC regulations) pertaining

to your thesis topic. Your discussion of the context (described above) should explain why

the laws/policies were necessary and what led to their passage. Your discussion of

the laws/policies themselves should provide a description of the major components

(statutes) of the law/policy. For example, if you were to discuss OSHA, you should

describe which types of businesses must abide by OSHA's policies, how OSHA defines a

safe workplace, how OSHA reviews workplaces for compliance with the law, and how

business who have violated the law are fined, among other components. Often, you will

need to define specific terms as they pertain to the law/policy (e.g., the terms “business

necessity” or “reasonable accommodation” have appeared in several laws relevant to

human resource management).

You are advised to get a copy of the law/policy itself so that you can read it and

comment on the most relevant components of the law/policy for your thesis topic. The

11

federal government also prints publications related to several laws/policies. The Loras

College librarians can assist you in locating copies of laws and government documents

once you know which laws you're interested in examining. Because some laws/policies

may be difficult to read and understand, you may seek sources that attempt to interpret the

laws/policies for HR professionals; give preference to articles in HR journals that interpret

the laws and court cases over articles appearing in law reviews.

Relevant court cases (case law). Federal and state laws are written by legislative

bodies, but are often interpreted by the courts. For example, some court decisions may

have helped define what is, and isn’t, a “business necessity” or a “reasonable

accommodation.” Locate the most relevant court cases for your thesis topic. Ideally, you

should obtain a copy of the actual decision rendered by the court. You may need to rely on

secondary sources, but be aware that secondary sources only offer an interpretation of the

court’s decision and may not emphasize what you need to emphasize.

When writing about a court case, provide the following information. Set the context

for the case by describing the circumstances that led to the case (what business was

involved, who filed the suit, what events led up to the suit being filed, and why is this case

relevant to your thesis topic). Discuss the legal theory offered by the plaintiff (the person

or entity who filed the suit) and the legal theory offered by the defendant (the person or

entity being sued). Discuss the court’s decision and provide the court’s rationale for the

decision. For some court cases, there may be a majority and a minority position in the

court. If the minority position is relevant, you may wish to discuss this position. Discuss

the implications of this court’s decision for your thesis topic (e.g., how has the decision

affected business practices or policies). You may find some articles in HR journals that

attempt to interpret court cases.

Writing About Business Ethics

There may be ethical concerns related to your thesis topic where there a no current

laws or government policies that mandate business practices. The Journal of Business

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Ethics may have some articles that discuss ethical issues relevant to your topic. Talk with

Dr. Pusateri or Mr. Collins for assistance with identifying ethical issues for your thesis topic.

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Chapter 3. Business Practices

For most theses, this will be the second chapter (third chapter if you have a theory

and/or legal chapter). Current business practice logically follows your discussion of the

historical development of your topic. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how your

program, policy or practice is being used in business/HRM today. Keep the focus on

business practices rather than governmental or educational practices. Some ways of

locating relevant articles are to (1) use the WilsonSelectPlus and ArticlesFirst search

engines in FirstSearch (available from the Loras College library's Web page), (2) use a Web

search engine like Google! to locate organizations or vendors that conduct your practice,

(3) search for examples in human resource management textbooks and then locate the

primary sources for those articles, and (4) consult with local human resource professionals

for information.

Following are some of the issues that you may discuss in this chapter. Not all of

these issues or questions may apply to your thesis. In addition, some issues important to

your thesis may not be listed. The issues and questions are intended as a guide only.

Further, you may want to organize your chapter differently from the list below.

Purpose or Objective

What is the program intended to accomplish? What are the needs that the program

attempts to satisfy?

Description of Methods or Strategies

What different types of programs are being used? Describe the different types of

programs (short examples and/or case studies would be helpful). What are the general

advantages and disadvantages of the different program forms?

Extent and Types of Applications

How many businesses are using the various types of programs? Surveys often

provide this type of information, especially from professional organizations such as SHRM.

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What types of businesses are using it? For what types of jobs or employees is the program

used?

Costs, Development and Implementation

What are the typical costs of the various programs? Are the programs developed in-

house or purchased from vendors? Why? How is the program implemented? What

procedure is used? What are some recommendations for how the program should be

implemented?

Locating Information Concerning Business Practices

One way to locate information about business practices is to contact business

organizations that perform the practice or national organizations and agencies (e.g.,

"vendors") that develop or recommend specific practices or policies. Some of your articles

may mention a national business that is well-known for its practices (e.g., AT&T's

assessment centers) or policies (e.g., Levi Strauss's policy on AIDS). Visit the organization's

Web site or contact the organization's human resource office by locating the address and

phone number in the library (a librarian may assist you in locating this information). Ask an

employee in the human resource office if the organization can send you any internal

documents (e.g., company newsletters, pages from an employee handbook, articles or

reports) related to your topic.

We recommend you contact national organizations as early in the year as you

possibly can, and ideally no later than during the summer. Some businesses are more

cooperative than others in providing information to students. Some may promise to send

you information but may get too busy or forget to send the information. If you contact a

business, do so with courtesy, and be certain to write a thank-you note to the employee

who assisted you.

We also recommend you contact human resource professionals in local businesses,

agencies or organizations. Some members of the Tri-State Human Resource Association

may be willing to share information about their organization's practices or policies. If you

15

contact local businesses, it would be ideal to obtain printed information from the

organization (such as internal documents) that you can cite in your thesis. We discourage

you from simply interviewing the person and assuming that you can use your recollection

of the interview.

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Other Issues

If you do not plan a separate legal chapter, you might include a brief discussion of

legal issues in this chapter. You could make some international comparisons in this

chapter. What is being done in other countries?

You may also want to include information about specific products (e.g.,

psychological tests, structured interviews, training programs) sold by vendors to

businesses. Refer to the last section of Chapter 4 for more information about locating

information about and discussing these types of products.

Note that we moved the section heading "Other Issues" to the top of this page, even though it would have fit on the previous page. Don't end a page with a section heading. Instead, move the section heading to the next page.

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Chapter 4. Writing about Evaluation Research

In each of your theses, you will need to discuss research that evaluates the success

of business practices that you describe in your thesis. Your skill at describing evaluation

research is often an indication of the quality of your thesis, as it helps to differentiate an

“A” thesis from a “B” thesis. Not only should you describe various business practices, but

also you should evaluate the success of those practices by discussing relevant research.

Evaluation research goes beyond just a listing of recommendations - it provides evidence of

the success or failure of a specific business practice. Evaluation research may be located in

psychological journals (e.g., Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology) and

some business periodicals (e.g., Harvard Business Review, Personnel Journal, Training &

Development). Several professional societies (AFL-CIO, American Management Association,

American Society for Training and Development, Society for Human Resource

Management) and government agencies (Bureau of Labor Statistics, OSHA, US Chamber of

Commerce) have conducted evaluation research; visit their Web sites or contact them for

relevant publications. There may also be specific organizations that focus on your thesis

topic; used a search engine like Google! or consult your instructors for assistance in

locating these types of organizations.

Types of Evaluation Research

There are five common types of evaluation research that you may include in your

thesis: case studies, surveys, research studies, narrative summaries of prior research, and

meta-analyses. Each of these is briefly described below.

Case study. A case study is a full-length article (not just a few paragraphs) that

describes (a) a problem that a real business faced in human resources (b) the development

and implementation of one or more interventions (business practices or policies) to address

the problem and (c) a discussion of the results of those interventions (which may include

employee attitude surveys, data on relevant outcome measures such as changes in

absenteeism or turnover rates, and cost-benefit analyses). This type of article is often

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written by a human resource director or consultant who developed the intervention, or it

may be a report written by a reporter from a journal/magazine who visited the business.

Survey. A survey is a full-length article (not just a paragraph or two) in which the

author(s) describe the rationale, distribution, and results of a questionnaire they sent to

people in business. Some surveys are sent to human resource managers across several

businesses to determine the frequency and adequacy of various business practices, while

other surveys are sent to employees in one or more businesses to assess their attitudes

towards such business practices.

Research study. A research study is a full-length article (not just a paragraph or two

in another article) in which the author(s) conducted an experiment or quasi-experiment in a

research laboratory or business setting. Articles that describe either attitude surveys and

research studies generally follow a similar format. The author(s) (a) provide a summary of

past research related to their study, which usually ends with a description of the purpose

of their own study, (b) describe the method (procedure) they used to collect data, (c)

summarize the results of their study, and (d) provide a discussion of their findings and

the implications of those findings for the reader.

Narrative summary. A narrative summary is an author's summary of several

research studies on the same topic. The author is not reporting on a specific research

study, but instead is attempting to draw conclusions based on previous research studies.

Typically the author of a narrative summary will provide some examples of research that

support a particular program or policy, some examples of research that fail to support the

program or policy, and possibly some research that is inconclusive about the program or

policy. Within the article, the author will provide a conclusion concerning the apparently

contradictory evidence. If you find a narrative summary, discuss how the author located

the studies that appear in the summary, provide a brief and general description of the

types of studies the author included in the summary, and focus on explaining the author's

conclusions and the supporting evidence the author provides for those conclusions.

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Meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a full-length article in which the author(s)

conducted a review of previous research to determine if any patterns exist in the results of

those studies. The format of this article is similar to the format of a narrative summary.

The author(s) will (a) describe their purpose for conducting the meta-analysis, (b) identify

how they located the previous research articles used for the meta-analysis, (c) summarize

the results, identifying the major trends of the previous research, and (d) discuss the

implications of these results for the reader. Discuss each of these points in your thesis.

How to Summarize Evaluation Research

For most evaluation research articles, you should provide no more than one or two

paragraphs (¾ to 1 ½ pages) in your thesis. A few of these articles may be important

enough for you to discuss more fully, but we would prefer you to discuss several relevant

evaluation research articles, and to make connections among them, as opposed to just

summarizing a few articles at length. Include in your summary the following information.

The author's purpose for the study. Why did the author(s) of the article conduct

their research? Authors typically describe their purpose near the end of the first part

(introduction) of their articles. Typically, the author(s) will summarize previous research

(setting up a context for their study) before discussing the purpose of their own study.

Don’t confuse the previous research with the purpose of the study you are attempting to

summarize. If you believe that a previous study discussed by the authors may be relevant

to your thesis, find the original article and don’t just summarize what these authors had to

say about it. You should be able to summarize the purpose of the study in one to three

sentences.

Major procedures used in the study. How did the author(s) conduct their study?

This is usually described in a section entitled “Method” in most evaluation research articles.

Provide sufficient details that will help a reader of your thesis understand the basic

procedures used by the researchers to conduct their study. Avoid providing unnecessary

details. For example, in an attitude survey, you should report the type of people surveyed

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(were they human resource managers, employees, or someone else), the location they

were surveyed (were they mailed the questionnaires at their offices, interviewed, contacted

at another location, etc.), the final number of people who actually responded and whose

data were useable (you don’t have to report the number of people who were initially

contacted), and the major questions on the survey to which they provided responses. Don’t

provide unnecessary details (e.g., the sex or age or race composition of the sample, the

type of scale used) unless these details really make a difference in interpreting the results.

You should evaluate the procedures in one to four sentences, depending on the complexity

of the study.

Major findings from the study. What were the basic results of the study? This is

usually discussed in a section entitled “Results” and will probably be the most difficult

section to read and summarize. Your task is to find the most important and meaningful

results of the study that will be useful for your reader to understand. It isn’t important for

you to identify the type of statistic used in the study. A basic rule is that you should

understand what you’re writing. If you don’t know what a specific term means (e.g.,

“corrected for attenuation”), you have absolutely no reason to include it in your summary

of the results. If you need help interpreting the results, talk with Mr. Collins or Dr. Pusateri

prior to summarizing the study. You should be able to summarize the major findings in one

to five sentences.

Implications of the study for your thesis. Why are the results of this study important

to your thesis? The authors will probably describe the major implications of their study in

the first few paragraphs of their “Discussion” or “Conclusion” section. Typically, the last

few paragraphs of the article will be less relevant for your summary, because the authors

usually discuss their own plans for future research. That’s not important for your paper.

Instead, here is where you should begin to make connections between this study and other

material that you present in your thesis. Discuss how and why the results of this study are

important for your reader to understand, that is, how do they shed light on the major focus

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of your thesis? Do they confirm or contradict other studies or recommendations that you

described in other sections of your thesis?

This type of information usually will not be included in the article itself. Instead, it

will be up to you to interpret accurately the importance of your research. This is why your

skills at summarizing evaluation research is usually a deciding factor in the difference

between a “B” thesis (the student provides good summaries of articles, but does not

provide enough articulation of the implications and connections among the articles) and an

“A” thesis (not only does the student summarize articles well, but the student articulates

quite well how the articles fit together and their implications for the thesis topic). Discuss

the implications in about one to three sentences.

Psychological Tests, Structured Interviews, and Training programs

Your thesis topic may require you to discuss and conduct research on one or more

psychological tests, structured interviews, and/or training programs used by businesses.

For example, if your thesis focuses on the selection and/or training of employees, there

may be psychological tests, structured interviews and/or training programs that businesses

use to improve the quality of their decisions. Some of your articles may identify these

tests, interviews, and programs by name. Many organizations (called 'vendors') that

develop and market tests, interviews, and programs have web sites that discuss their

products in detail. Search the WWW to locate the vendor, read their literature concerning

their product, and report on your findings in your thesis. You may also contact the vendor

directly and request a sample of the product. When you discuss the product in your thesis,

you should provide information about (a) the vendor's stated purpose for marketing the

product, (b) sample items from the product, (c) the vendor's evidence for the effectiveness

of the product (e.g., research studies that support the product's effectiveness). Cite the

vendor, and realize that vendors are promoting the sales of their products and may not be

unbiased. You should also attempt to locate independent reviews of the product (e.g., from

Mental Measurements Yearbook, Test Critiques, or from reviews appearing in trade or

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professional journals. Conduct an electronic search for the product in ProQuest and/or

PsychInfo to locate review articles and research studies that used the product.

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Chapter 5. Concluding your Thesis

The final chapter of your thesis will probably be your briefest chapter, somewhere

between four and six pages. There are several possible ways to conclude your thesis.

Some students discuss the possible future of their thesis topics. You may find some articles

that discuss future trends in demographics, technology, government regulations,

international competition, or other factors that will have an impact on the human resource

practices and policies that you've discussed in your thesis. If you find such articles, discuss

their contents and draw out the implications for the likely future of your topic.

Another way to conclude your thesis is to offer recommendations for human

resource practices and policies related to your thesis topic. Not every business should

conduct every human resource practice or include the same policies. For examples, not

every business can afford to have an on-site child care center (due to the start-up costs,

liabilities, and perhaps even the demographics of their workforce), nor should all

businesses draft an AIDS policy (in fact, many businesses prefer not to have a specific

policy for a specific medical condition). What factors should be considered when a business

examines the practicality and utility of changing their human resource practices and

policies? Such factors as demographics of the workforce, economic conditions, size of the

business, geographic location, and local or global competition may enter into a business's

decision to keep, add, or abandon a specific human resource practice. You may find

articles that make such recommendations, or you may have to draw out the implications

from what several of your articles imply. Consider including these types of

recommendations in your final chapter.

A third strategy is to include discussion of some related topics that don't fit very well

into the body of your thesis but may be of interest to human resource professionals. For

example, some students discuss the current impact of human resource information

systems in theses on interviewing or recruiting; the information didn't fit in well in earlier

chapters, but they felt readers of their theses should be made aware of the impact of

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technology on the practice. If you find some articles that are of potential interest to your

thesis but don't connect well with other information, consider discussing those articles in

your final chapter.

Notice that we do not want you to simply summarize your previous chapters in your

final chapter. There is no need to provide a summary. Instead, move your thesis forward

by considering such topics as future trends, recommendations, or related information that

you have not covered in previous chapters of your thesis.

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References

Athey, T. R., & McIntyre, R. M. (1987). Effect of rater training on rater accuracy:

Levels-of-processing theory and social facilitation theory perspectives. Journal of Applied




DeSimone, R. L., & Harris, D. M. (1998). Human resource development (3rd ed.). Fort

Worth, TX: Dryden Press.

Fox, W. M. (1990). Improving performance appraisal systems. In F. Maidment (Ed.).

Annual editions: Human resources 90/91 (2nd ed.). Guilford, CN: Dushkin. (Original work

published 1987)

Jako, R. A., & Murphy, K. R. (1990). Distributional ratings, judgment decomposition,

and their impact on interrater agreement and rating accuracy. Journal of Applied



Journal, 60-62.



Rice, B. (1990). Performance review: The job nobody likes. In G. R. Ferris, K. M.

Rowland, & M. R. Buckley (Eds.), Human resource management: Perspectives and Issues

(2nd ed.).(pp. 181-187). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (Original work published 1985)

Smith, D. E. (1986). Training programs for performance appraisal: A review.

Academy of Management Review, 11, 22-40.

Williams, K. J., DeNisi, A. S., Meglino, B. M., & Cafferty, T. P. (1986). Initial decisions

and subsequent performance ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 189-195.

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Yammarino, F. J., Dubinsky, A. J., & Hartley, S. W. (1987). An approach for assessing

individual versus group effects in performance evaluations. Journal of Occupational


Notice that references appear in alphabetical order and are typed in APA format as described in the Publication Manual. Most students who receive grades of B in this class have at least four full pages of high-quality references; students who receive grades of A typically have at least six pages of high-quality references.

Only include primary references in your reference list. Every reference must appear as a citation in your thesis chapters, and every citation must have a reference. Use references for information that is readily available from a library or electronic source. Use footnotes for information that is available by writing or contacting a business, organization, or agency but is not readily available otherwise.

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Appendix A

Medical Associates Drug and Alcohol Use Policy

Purpose:

To help Medical Associates maintain a drug-free, healthful, and safe workplace.

Scope:

All Clinic Employees.

Statement of Policy:

It is Medical Associates desire to provide a drug-free, healthful, and safe workplace.

To promote this goal, employees are required to report to work in appropriate

mental and physical condition to perform their jobs in a satisfactory manner.

While on Medical Associates premises and while conducting business-related

activities off Medical Associates premises, no employee may use, possess,

distribute, sell, or be under the influence of alcohol or engage in the unlawful

manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of illegal drugs.

Violations of this policy may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including

immediate termination of employment. Such violations may also have legal

consequences…. (Appendix would continue like this until its end. It would be

followed by information about its source.)

From: Medical Associates Clinic Handbook, 1993, Dubuque, IA.

Note: Most Appendices will be more than one page long and will include information that is tangentially related to discussion in one or more chapters of your thesis. If you have only one Appendix, title it and refer to it as simply "Appendix". If you have more than one appendix, refer to them by letters (Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.). Be certain to discuss relevant material from each Appendix in your thesis, referring your reader to the appropriate Appendix during your discussion. There is an example at the end of this sentence (see Appendix A).

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Footnotes1Publication provided by the American Association of Retired Persons, "How to train

older workers," 1993. To obtain a copy, write to AARP, 601 E. Street NW, Washington, DC,

20049.2Publication provided by the American Association of Retired Persons, "How to

recruit older workers," 1993. To obtain a copy, write to AARP, 601 E. Street NW,

Washington, DC, 20049.3See Footnote 1.4This information is from Louis Harris & Associates, Inc. (1979) Study of American

Attitudes Toward Pensions & Retirement: A Nationwide Survey of Employees, Retirees, and

Business Leaders. Commissioned by Johnson & Higgins. Copies of the report are available

by contacting…

Use footnotes for information that you obtained by contacting a business, agency, or organization and that is not readily available from the library. The information should be printed (e.g., a pamphlet or report). Do not rely on conversations or interviews for your thesis; instead, everything you write about in your thesis must be available in a printed format. As you write your footnotes, provide sufficient information so that your reader will know how to contact the business to obtain the same information you relied on in writing your thesis. This may include an address, the name of a contact person, a telephone number, or a WWW address.Footnotes are numbered consecutively in the order they appear in your thesis. Notice how the third footnote refers back to the first footnote. Use this format if you refer to the same source of material in more than one section of your thesis.

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Table 1. U. S. Civilian Body Dimensions: Females/Males aged 20 to 60 in Centimeters.

Percentiles

Height 5 th 50 th 95 th

Eye 149.5/161.8 160.5/173.6 171.3/184.4

Shoulder 138.3/151.1 148.9/162.4 159.3/172.7

Elbow 93.6/100.0 101.2/109.9 108.8/119.0

Adapted from: Kroemer, K. H. E., & Price, D. L. (1982, July). Ergonomics in the office:

Comfortable work stations allowed maximum productivity. Industrial Engineering, 75.

Note that the information in this table is adapted from a table in an article that is cited at the bottom of the table. Tables should fit on one page and should be typed in the same font as the rest of your thesis. Each table is numbered, starting with Table 1, in the order that you intend to discuss them in your thesis. If you only have one table, you should still refer to it as Table 1.

If you want to include some data from one of your articles, you can reproduce the most relevant information in a table like this sample one. You don't have to include all of the information from the original table, but do include the most relevant information. Be certain to cite the source and page number(s) for the table at the bottom of your table. If you include only some of the information from the original table, cite it with the words "Adapted from" (see the example above). If you include the entire table from your original source, cite it with the word "From".

Discuss the relevance of the table's contents in your thesis and refer to the table in your discussion (see Table 1). Here is another way to refer to tables. Table 1 contains anthropometric data for females and males, aged 20 to 60, which human factors engineers may use in designing office equipment for the "average" employee.

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Figure 1. Percentage of Training Time, Instructor-Led Classroom.

From: Bassi, L. J., & Van Buren, M. E. (1998). Sharpening the leading edge [Feature article

posted on the World Wide Web]. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and

Development. Retrieved January 4, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.astd.org/CMS/templates/index.html?template_id=1&articleid=20940

A figure may be a chart, graph, photograph, picture, sample advertisement, or any other graphic that doesn't qualify as a table. A figure should fit on one page within the one-inch margins of the page, and it should fit between its title and its reference. Be certain to provide the full reference for your figure. The reference should look like an APA reference or a footnote, whichever is more appropriate.

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