You will start to construct your final research paper due in week 8. The final paper will be at least 10 pages. This does not include the title page, abstract or the reference page. This week you will choose your topic and one scholarly article.

Instructions

Your first assignment in this course is simple but very important. You need to select a specific area of interest in the field of organizational behavior (from among the options below) that you will use each week as you engage the different methods and processes of research. You will use the topic you select each week throughout the duration of the course, so select a topic (from the list) that you are interested in studying.

At the end of the course you will have a useful collection of documents (and increased knowledge) pertaining to one area of management research.

The following topics are typical of the theoretical areas associated with organizational behavior research. Select one topic and use it EVERY WEEK as the subject of your inquiry in the location of pertinent scholarly articles in the APUS Online Library:

· Organizational culture and communication

· Styles of leadership and your organization

· How to change the status quo to a new model

· Ethics and organizational culture

· Technology, organizational behavior and your organization

· Job Satisfaction in your organization

· The physical environment in your organization and how it affects organizational behavior

· Trends in organizational behavior and how to adapt it in your organization

· Other ideas? Contact your instructor

There may be a particular theoretical area of organizational behavior that interests you, but is not included on the list above. Send a message to the professor to gain approval to use it prior to completing this assignment.

DETAILS:

1. Make sure to utilize your topic of interest for the course.

2. Find a journal article that presents scholarly research associated with the topic. At this early point in the course you are asked to "jump right in" and utilize the online library to locate an appropriate scholarly journal article that presents research concerning your topic. Note that you may access the APUS Online Library and get help with scholarly research from the school. The APUS Online Library has a great orientation video (click here) to help you get started. The APUS Online Library also provides a specific guide for how to research in the library (click here).

Keep in mind that scholarly research involves solving problems. If your article does not present qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research then you do not have an appropriate research article. Again, for the purposes of this assignment you want to intentionally find a research article that contains one of the three methods of research: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods.
Save the article to your computer to have as a reference and also to attach to the professor when your paper is completed.

3. Write a short paper (450-600 words) that demonstrates a brief analysis of the scholarly research article you selected. You are to write your paper in such a way as to answer the questions/issues below. However, do not include the list on your paper. Instead, let the items guide the content expressed in your paper, which should be in typical paragraph form. Because of the shortness of the assignment, several of the items may be contained in a given paragraph. Be precise and you will be concise.

• After a brief introductory sentence. Tell whether the title is appropriate to the focus of the study. (Note: select an actual research study; avoid selecting a lecture on a topic. Research studies involve the collection and analysis of data, whereas lectures on a topic typically discuss a variety of research studies and do not provide the details of data collection and analysis.)

• State the problem. Is the problem clearly stated? Does the problem have a theoretical rational? How significant is the problem studied in the research?

• Is there a review of the literature? If so, is the literature relevant? Summarize (in a couple of sentences) the review of the literature.

• Fully and completely describe the research method that was used to attack and answer the problem. Was the research method used to solve the problem qualitative or quantitative, or both? What instruments were used to answer the problem? Was there a sample used? If so, how was the sample selected?

• State the hypothesis/questions or objectives. Were they stated clearly?

• Are there any probable sources of error that might influence the results of the study? If so, have they been controlled?

• What were the statistical or evaluative (quantitative/qualitative) techniques used to analyze the data? If so, were they appropriate? Note: There are many scholarly articles in appropriate journals that inform your topic. However, not all of them will describe research that evaluates data. Make sure that your selected article includes the evaluation/analysis of data. If you are unsure, this is the time to contact your professor and discuss it.

• Summarize the results. How clearly were the results presented?

• What are the limitations of the study? Are they stated?

• Summarize the conclusion(s). Are the conclusions presented clearly? Does the data support the conclusions? Does the researcher over generalize the findings?

• How can the results and conclusions presented in this study be applied in your particular field of study or work environment?