Term Project

Post date: Dec 09, 2012 4:47:9 PM

The principal assignment for the course is a term paper (due one week after the last class) that reports the results of an empirical study. Empirical means that you actually obtain and analyze data. Ideally you would collect the data yourself, but given the amount of time available, it is ok to use data that have already been collected.

Make sure that the paper answers a clear research question -- it cannot be an aimless application of techniques learned in class. Ideally, the project would have both an inductive step (generating theory from data) and a deductive step (testing hypotheses derived from theory). However, one or the other is ok. IMPORTANT: Avoid toy projects that are too trivial to ever be published. The data you use might be trivial (e.g., collected in a class) but the ideas must not be. Empirical consulting projects, in which you use research methods to diagnose an organizational problem and prescribe a solution based on the diagnosis, are also welcome.

The paper may be done collaboratively if the project is more ambitious than a single person could handle.

Also, you should consult the University of Kentucky Office of Research Integrity to see if your project needs IRB approval, and do what ever is necessary on this front. Please share what you learn about this process with others in the class so that everyone learns this key competence.

If you want to see what other students have handed in in the past, see the sample papers page.

At a glance:

• • Paper should be 20 to 40 pages long, double spaced, 12-point font

  • Due one week after last class, in electronic form only