University Of Maryland University College Course Title And N

University Of Maryland University Collegecourse Title And Namewritin

University Of Maryland University Collegecourse Title And Namewritin

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE [course title and name] WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER IN A PRACTITIONER DISCIPLINE Introduction : As a university student you have likely written research papers for some of your classes. A research paper is a specific type of academic document for which there are conventions, standards, and expectations. In the past, most university courses and programs were in purely academic disciplines (e.g. English, Chemistry, History). Increasingly, however, universities also offer courses and degree programs in practitioner disciplines.

A practitioner discipline is one in which the subject matter being studied is knowledge of, and the ability to work in, a specific profession. Practitioner disciplines cover a wide range of professions, from engineering and environmental science to homeland security, law enforcement, and the management of fire and rescue services. Research papers are of particular importance in practitioner disciplines because they often provide a bridge between the purely academic research and the application of that research in actual practice. This poses certain challenges to you as the writer of such a paper; you have to interpret the results of academic research and determine whether and to what extent those results tell something about the profession.

Courses in practitioner disciplines are designed and taught exactly like courses that are more academic in nature: there are required readings, assignments, exercises, and so on. This means that research papers are very often required, particularly in more advanced (300- and 400-level) courses. There are, however, some special considerations that a student must keep in mind when writing a research paper for such a course. Audience Writers are always encouraged to consider the audience for a written document. In the case of a purely academic research paper, the audience is likely to be a professor (or a group of professors) specializing in the academic discipline.

This means the writer can be confident that the audience will be familiar with the main principles and bodies of literature and research within the discipline; this audience will also have a deep understanding of research methodologies and techniques. In a practitioner discipline, however, the concept of audience may need to be broadened. You may be asked, for example, to consider the possibility of a more general audience for the research paper. For example, your potential audience may include people who are professionals in the field but who do not necessarily have advanced academic degrees or training. This means they may know a great deal about the profession but not about the academic basis for some aspects of the profession.

Think of engineering, for example. A person who received a bachelor’s degree in engineering and who is now working as an engineer probably understands the principles of engineering quite well. However, he or she may not be aware of the research being conducted by professors of engineering at various colleges and universities or in large private sector organizations, nor of how the knowledge created by that research is transferred out to the professional at large. For this reason, audience analysis is an especially important first step in the process of writing a practitioner discipline research paper. Sources In your academic writing you have undoubtedly used sources such as books and articles in academic journals.

In writing for a practitioner discipline, you will continue to use such sources. You will also, though, sometimes use sources that are more professional than purely academic in nature. For example, in the field of emergency management a writer may consult an academic journal such as The American Journal of Emergency Medicine , as well as a more professional source such as the website of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). It is important to remember that there are differences between these types of sources. An academic journal typically reports on research that has been conducted according to strict standards of oversight.

Further, the material published in an academic journal has been peer-reviewed ; that is, before publication it has been reviewed by other researchers and specialists to ensure the research methodology is sound and the results are reasonably accurate. By contrast, material published for professional purposes may be more descriptive in nature; that it may relate real-world experiences in the field rather than purely academic research into a problem. Also, professional material is unlikely to have gone through the peer-review process. This does not mean that the information is necessarily unreliable; it does mean that you must be careful when drawing conclusions from specific information to broader, more general situations (see Guidelines for Analytical Reading in the Course Content area).

Topic One of the most challenging parts of writing a good research paper in a practitioner discipline is the selection of an appropriate topic. This is especially important given the very large amounts of information, both academic and professional, that may be available in a given subject area. Ideally, your topic will be broad enough to allow you to use a variety of sources in your research, while specific enough for you to be able to frame an argument or an assertion about it. Let’s consider an example. Suppose you are writing a paper for an environmental management class, and your instructor would like you to tackle the issue of the agricultural and horticultural uses of biosolids such as sewage sludge.

It’s tempting, at this point, to title your paper “The Agricultural and Horticultural Uses of Biosolids.†If you do that, though, you’re going to run into trouble during your research; there is so much information available that you’ll likely be overwhelmed. Besides, even if you managed to get through all that information your paper would still be largely descriptive (you’ll just be describing the uses of biosolids in those situations) rather than analytical in nature. Instead, suppose you look at the topic and try to narrow it down a bit. For instance, are there any important differences between fertilization practices in agriculture and horticulture? A little bit of research will tell you that there most certainly are differences, given that the end products of agriculture are intended for human consumption.

You can now focus your research a bit on any aspects of biosolids that relate to human health. It won’t take you long to discover that there is quite a bit research on health-related issues with biosolids; for example, you’ll find a number of articles on research into the presence of heavy metals such as cadmium in sewage sludge. At this point, you’ve refined your topic to something like “Health and Safety Issues in the Agricultural and Horticultural Uses of Biosolids.†This is a more manageable topic in that you can use the research you find to draw a distinction between agricultural and horticultural uses of the substances. You can continue refining your topic based on your research and on the particular curriculum of your course, e.g.

“The Need for Regulation of Biosolids Usage in Agriculture,†or perhaps “Guidelines for Handling Biosolids in the Management of Public Lands.†A refined, well focused topic not only aids you in evaluating and using your research but also helps ensure that you can write a paper that meets the expectations of length, number of sources, and so on.

Presentation : Like all research papers in university courses, those in practitioner disciplines are expected to follow the formatting requirements of a particular style guide such as that of the American Psychological Association (APA). The style guidelines cover not only the structure of your manuscript but also the format for citing sources. If you are asked to use the APA format then, as a general rule, your paper should consist of the following four elements: 1. The Title Page . The title page of your paper has three parts: · The , which is an abbreviated version of your paper’s title (for example, if your paper is entitled “Alien Abduction as an Emerging Human Resources Issue†your running head could be “Alien Abductionâ€). The running head should be placed in the upper left-hand corner of your title page. Note: the running head should also appear in the upper left-hand corner of every page of your paper, opposite the page number (see below); · The full title of the paper, which should be centered on the page; and · Your name, and either the institution’s name or (if requested by your instructor) the course number. 2. The Abstract . The abstract is a short (no more than 120 words) summary of your paper. The abstract should be by itself on page 2 of your paper (remember to include the running head in the upper left-hand corner before the page number). 3. The Body of the paper. In a practitioner paper this section should include an Introduction that describes the question or problem being studied; a description of the research that you reviewed, and a Discussion of how the research informs a resolution of the question or problem. On the first page of the body (usually page 3 of your paper) put the full title at the top of the page (centered and two lines below the running head/page number). The title should be double-spaced from the first line of your first paragraph. On every page of the body include the running head in the upper left-hand corner and the page number in the upper right-hand corner. 4. The References Page(s) . Here you will list all the various books, articles, web pages, and other sources that you cited in your paper. This page (or these pages) should also have the running head in the upper-left and page number in the upper right-hand corner. The sources you use in your paper generally must be cited in two ways: 1. Parenthetical Citation . This is citation of the source in the text of your paper where the idea, passage, or direct quote is introduced . APA parenthetical citation normally consists of three items: · The author’s last name; · The year of publication of the source document; and · The page number (if you are citing a specific passage in the source document) or paragraph number when a work is not paginated. Let’s say that, in the body of your paper, you wish to paraphrase a statement made on page 117 of Bernadette Macey’s 1999 book The Role of Abnormal Psychology in Organizational Theory . The parenthetical citation, which would appear right after your paraphrase, would probably look like this: (Macey, 1999, p. 117). 2. Reference Citation . Reference citations are those that appear on the References page(s) of your paper. These citations require a bit more information; the general elements are: · The author’s last name and initial of first name; · The date of publication; · The title of the author’s specific work; · The journal, book, or other source document (if the work you are citing is part of a larger document); and · The publication information. In our example from above, Macey’s book would appear on the References page as follows: Macey, B. (1999). The Role of Abnormal Psychology in Organizational Theory . Baltimore, MD: Maryland University Press. Please note that these items can vary considerably depending upon the type of source document. This is especially true of documents obtained electronically. You can view some examples of the APA citation for different types of sources on UMUC’s Library website at Conclusion : Research papers in practitioner disciplines are very similar to those in more purely academic areas. When preparing such a paper it is worth paying special attention to the audience for the paper, the sources you will use in your research, and the need to have a suitable, well-focused topic for the paper. Version Control: Draft III 10/18/ UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE GUIDELINES FOR ANALYTICAL READING Introduction : We live and work in a world that is absolutely saturated with information. This was true years ago before the widespread availability of information technology; that technology, however, has increased both the amount of, and the accessibility to, information dramatically. Overall, this increase in information is a good thing, in both our personal and professional lives. However, not all information is of the same value to us.

Some of what we encounter in print and on the Web is useful, reliable information, while some is not. If the responsibility of you, as the reader, to read in an analytical way in order to determine the value of the information contained in the documents you read. What is Analytical Reading? There are many definitions of the word “analyze†and the related words “analysis, analytical,†and so on. For our purposes, analytical reading can be thought of as “reading in such a way as to determine the accuracy, reliability, and value of the information contained in the document.†Let’s look at an example.

Suppose you’re reading an article on emergency management and you come across the following statement: “There is a well-known correlation between increased disaster preparedness training and decreased casualties during a disaster.†The average reader would likely accept this statement at face value and continue reading. After all, it seems to make sense and, besides, the author of the article presumably knows what she’s talking about. The analytical reader, on the other hand, would be more likely to respond to this statement with “Whoa, just a minute here. Has such a correlation actually been demonstrated? Who demonstrated it, and how, and when? And what does the author mean by ‘well-known?’ Well known by whom? Emergency management professionals? The general public?†As you can see from this example, the analytical reader does not simply accept the contents of a document at face value. Instead, the analytical reader demands that the author demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the information. The analytical reader also judges how the valuable the information may be in to his or her (the reader’s) specific needs and situation.

Guidelines for Analytical Reading In order to read in an analytical manner, a reader should focus on three broad characteristics of the document being read: 1. The Author – Who is the author of the document? Does the person have the necessary expertise, education, training, etc. in the subject to be able to speak with authority? Is it somehow to the author’s benefit that the statements in the document are believed and acted upon? 2. The Intention – What is the author’s purpose in writing the document? Is she trying to persuade others to believe and act upon the information, or is her goal just to present the information for the consideration of others? 3. The Argument – How does the author argue the main point(s) of the document? Are the arguments grounded in appropriate logic and reasoning? Are they supported by suitable evidence? Let’s look at each of these characteristics separately. The Author : Before reading the document, find out what you can about the author. In some cases this is relatively easy; for example, if you’re reading an academic or professional journal there is often some biographical material about the author attached to the article. If the author is listed only as “Dr. Jane Smith, Professor of Public Administration, University of Central Maryland,†then it may be necessary to look her up online to get a sense of her credentials, her previous research and publications, and so on. In the case of documents you find through other sources, such as Web searches, it can be more difficult to check on the author; in some instances, the author may not be named at all. You can, however, evaluate the source website. For example, if your search brings you to a document on the FEMA website ( ), you can probably be confident of the reliability of the document. On the other hand, if your search brings you to a Wikipedia entry on the same topic, then you would do well to be much more skeptical of the accuracy and reliability of the information.

The Intention : People write for various reasons. Scholars write to share the findings of their research with other scholars. Professionals write to engage others in their field in discussions of important topics. Public officials write to gain support for policy actions or initiatives. Underlying all these reasons is the notion of persuasion.

In almost all academic and professional writing the author seeks to persuade his audience to accept the information and, in many cases, to act upon it. This is perfectly normal and understandable. However, the author’s belief in the truth and importance of what he’s writing can sometimes lead him into errors of judgment, especially when it comes to presenting (or failing to present) evidence. For this reason, it’s a good idea to try to determine how “invested†the author is in the argument of the document; specifically, does the author stand to benefit in some way from acceptance of the argument? The Argument : As you read the document, consider how the author is presenting and supporting the main argument(s). Observe how the author presents evidence to support an assertion or recommendation, and think about how reliable and suitable that evidence is. Let’s go back to our example from above: “There is a well-known correlation between increased disaster preparedness training and decreased casualties during a disaster.†If the author fails to provide the evidence that supposedly supports such a correlation, then you can reject the argument unless you yourself are aware of the evidence. In such a case, the author may well be offering an opinion , rather than a fact . If the author does provide evidence to support the correlation, then you, as an analytical reader, are obligated to evaluate the evidence yourself.

Was there a research study that demonstrated the correlation? If so, who conducted the study? Was it a team of experts from FEMA, or was it a consulting firm that specializes in delivering disaster preparedness training? What disaster was studied? What type of training was conducted prior to the disaster?

Analytical readers also pay careful attention to the underlying logic of an argument. Logic follows certain rules; when authors deviate from those rules (either intentionally or unintentionally) the argument becomes less reliable. Deviations from the rules of logic are called “logical fallacies.†An example of a very common logical fallacy is the so-called “false cause†fallacy: the assumption that one event causes another simply because it occurred first: “In 2007 the city of Laurel Pines installed 30 new high-intensity streetlamps in its downtown area. This action led to a 17% decrease in the rate of violent crime in the area over the next three years. Therefore, we should also install additional streetlamps in our downtown area in order to lower our crime rate.†This is an instance of the false cause fallacy.

The author did not prove that the installation of the streetlamps was the sole cause of the decreased crime rate. Perhaps, during the same time period, the city hired five new law enforcement officers, or launched a special crackdown on trouble spots in the downtown district. An analytical reader would expect the author to demonstrate, with credible evidence that the first action caused the second. Conclusion : Analytical reading is not something we’re born knowing how to do. It has to be learned, and it takes time and effort. The time and effort are worth it, though, as we seek to make the best use of the tremendous amount of information we must handle in our personal and professional lives.