Final Summative Assignment- Corporate Social Responsibilty

n this summative assignment you will develop a substantial draft of

an article that you may wish to continue working on after the course is

completed with the goal of submission to a peer-reviewed journal for

publication. You will be demonstrating in-depth knowledge of the current

literature in your chosen field. A selection of current topics has been

developed throughout the weekly assignments in this course. The

specific area you choose should reflect your interests and your passion

for making a difference. The focus of the paper can be one of the

following: the area of your dissertation; an area in which you want to

become an expert, complementing your dissertation research; or an area

in which you want to develop specific expertise for offering consulting

solutions to organizational and industrial problems. Focus on a topic

that has significance for global organizations and the application of IO

psychology theories.

While much of the article draft in Week 6 should read like a
completed work, it will not be complete in all sections — a few
sections may need to be sketched. In those instances, a plan for
completion of those sections and appropriate rationale should be
provided.

You must select from two types of articles, A or B, for this assignment:

1. Critical review of and contribution to the literature on a current
   and global issue. This normally will include a focus on critique or
   expansion or new application of theory.
2. Contribution to gathering and understanding of data on a current and
   global issue. A great deal of your review of the literature will be
   completed in this course. You will select a research design and
   methodology during this course, but you will not be able to complete any
   gathering of primary data during this course, nor will you be able to
   apply statistical analysis to any data. Our six-week time frame does not
   make this possible.

Both options focus on a current issue or trend in IO psychology that
is important to you. You may be contributing a critique of theory, a
proposal of theory, a critical analysis of data gathered by others, a
proposal to better explain data that has been gathered, or a proposal
with gaps in the data on an important or interesting issue. There are
other possibilities as well.

Article Content

• Research the journals that are suitable for the topic and approach
  you will take in developing your article draft. Each journal has its own
  style, format, and topical interests. Some journals have specific
  length restrictions. Some only consider articles with a certain type of
  methodology. Many journals have this information in their issues. Know
  your audience when attempting to publish. Keep this in mind when
  writing your article.
• Focus your article as either (A) a critical analysis of one or more
  current articles in the literature, or as (B) proposed research for a
  specific issue in the current literature. You do not have to do the
  primary research during this course. You do need to discuss in detail
  the sort of research you will perform — either quantitative or
  qualitative — and the sort of research method you will structure.
  Regardless of which option you choose, you will need to develop an
  excellent analysis of current literature in your topic.
• What particular theory or theories will pertain to your work, and
  how will your work impact the theory? Are you setting out to advance
  this theory into a new area of application or are you setting out to
  show that the theory does not apply to your selected area of
  investigation?
• It is useful to look at recent dissertations on your selected topic
  as well as recent published research. ProQuest provides access to
  dissertations.
• Your draft article should be 4500-5000 words, not including the cover page and references page.
• You will need to have your work in approved APA format (even though your target journals may use other styles).
• The reference list is very important. It should be (briefly)
  annotated in the paper. Your list demonstrates the depth, breadth,
  quality, and integrity of your research. As an expert in the field, you
  do not want to be open to criticisms of shoddy research. For this
  assignment you should collect at least 12, but preferably 15 or more
  justifiably relevant references.
• While more difficult, developing a model or tool to assess a wide
  range of literature or a whole type of interventions, can be
  particularly satisfying, and can impress journal editors in your field.
  You do not have to develop a model here, but you might want to discuss
  an idea for one as part of your draft.
• Writing style must be impeccable when the goal is publishing. While
  this is a draft, your writing skills will influence editors either
  positively or negatively.
• If your research methodology will require any surveys or interviews,
  you should draft these for this assignment, but you do not have to
  complete them. The course timeframe does not allow this.
• If you are selecting a quantitative method, indicate which sorts of
  tests you might perform on the collected data. If you are selecting a
  qualitative method (phenomenology, grounded theory, etc.), specify which
  one and why.
• Discuss what you have done in order to address all or some of these
  items: reliability, validity, accuracy, analytic integrity, and logical
  consistency.
• Overall, your draft should be “complete” in the sense that it covers
  all of the areas of the proposed article, without, however, sending or
  administering any testing or measurement that will be involved.