Capstone Project – Public AdministrationUniversity Writing CenterFall 2012

Recommended option

•Analytical paper▫Considers what already exists regarding project or issue in internship or work site to recommendation

Analytical paper

• Identify problem/issue

•Review existing literature ▫(not just phone calls)

• Identify theoretical models

•Synthesize literature, theory and problem

•Make recommendation(s)

Option 2

•Research study▫requires primary data collection and analysis to address the problem

Research paper• Identify problem/issue • Research design• Literature review• Data collection

▫Methodology (surveys, interviews, etc.)▫Population

• Data analysis• Conclusions

• NOTE: may require IRB approval

Why Cite?•Academic conversations and writing are based on research and on what people believed before

•Challenge - must maintain your voice

•Provide citation information as courtesy

Samples

Although it took some time, we found “a multitude of salvageable materials by looking in the junk yard.”1

Smith and Johnson note the advantage of going to junk yards for reusable materials.2

1. John Smith and Amy Johnson, Benefits of Visiting Junk Yards (Chicago, IL: Trashcan Press, 2004), 18.

2. Smith and Johnson, Benefits.

Review of literature•Review of related literature

•Situates current research in the existing field(s) to show its contribution, significance, or solve problem

Review of literature▫Blends the information from the sources

▫Does not rely on quotations, paraphrases instead

▫Uses Turabian Style

Educational funding for technology

Student Needs

Facility Resourc

es

Staff Needs

Clustering – Visual

Spreadsheet

Bibliographic Citation Funding for student needs Funding for staff needs Funding for facility needs

 Kathleen Johnson, Educational Funding (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication 2008).

Funding recommendations for high school programs

 Funding sources for faculty development

Funding sources for adding school space

Ryan  Newman, Uses of Funding. Journal of Education, 14 no. 2, (2007), 18-22.

 Funding recommendations for high school honors programs    Funding for new buildings

 Joshua Martin Smith, Dollars and education (Boston: Jossey-Bass, 2005).  

 faculty development to expand critical thinking  

       

Sample

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~ozge/documents/publicservicemotivation.pdf

Organizational Behavior Concept Paper Ozge Ileri

Most of the initial research on PSM has focused on indicators of motivation and tends to explore the public-private sector dichotomy in the context of intrinsic1 versus extrinsic reward systems (Mann 2006). Public employees value intrinsic motivators more than private-sector employees (Perry and Wise 1990; Crewson 1997; Frank and Lewis 2004). Rainey (1982) asserted that serving the society and the public interest matters more to public than private employees. Crewson (1997) found that high pay matters less to public than to private employees. Naff and Crum (1999) suggested that employees with higher PSM are less likely to consider seeking private sector employment. Frank and Lewis (2004) pointed out that public sector employees do value useful, helpful, interesting jobs more (and high-paying jobs with good advancement opportunities less) than those in the private sector.

Sample • Learner-centered perspectives, identified as

important by Duffy and Kirkley (2004), are present in adult education, educational psychology, ISD, and feminist literature. Adult educators note that the Kolb Model (1984) identifies four different learning style preferences and has been used in many different disciplines (Garner, 2000) to improve the effectiveness of learning environments (Ross and Lukow 2004).

Sample Kastman-Breuch and Racine (2000) concur with Monroe (1998), who argues that an online space changes the nature of the client/tutor interactions and, therefore, believes it will become necessary to re-evaluate tutoring strategies and pedagogies for online environments. Leander (2000) notes there is a shift in roles from the traditional tutor-directed structure to a more learner-centered style, adding that sometimes there are the added benefits of having a wider number of responders if the forum is more of a chat environment.

Methodology •What are you going to do?

▫Type of study

•How are you going to do it?▫Participants▫Data collection▫Data analysis

THINK RECIPE!

Findings•Present your data – organized logically▫Themes▫Research questions▫Statistical significance▫Visual representations

JUST THE FACTS – NO ANALYSIS AT THIS POINT

Conclusions/Discussion

•Identify organizational pattern ▫Use headings to separate the information

▫Present only one point at a time (although you may need to reference previous points)

▫Briefly set up and wrap up each discussion section

Recommendations

•Based on what you found, what should be done to remedy the problem, etc.?

Bibliography

•List of sources consulted and used •Acknowledges work of other scholars

GENERAL NOTES: • Starts on new page• Double spaced• Uses hanging indent• Alphabetical order

Appendices •Materials that contribute to document but

cannot be included in text▫Too large▫Supplemental

GENERAL NOTES:• Labeled with letters (Appendix A, etc.) • Separate documents• Must be referenced in document

Important tips

CONCISE AND DIRECT = POWERFUL

•Short, logical, and direct sentences•Subject and predicate format

▫The subject is what (or whom) the sentence is about, while the predicate tells something about the subject.

•Lead into the idea and the support it

Consider

•Audience•Readability•Potential use(s)•Balance of analysis and recommendations

▫What already exists and based on that what should be done

Revise

•Clarify and connect ideas•Organize ideas in logical pattern•Incorporate visuals•Include all required components•Meet usability•Cite all sources

Edit

•Examine the overall aspects of the document at sentence/word level▫Fragments, run-on sentences, comma splices

▫Incorrect word use (frequently happens when using electronic thesaurus)

▫Subject/pronoun agreement

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ACTION:A CASE STUDY OF DEKALB

Jim StudentAdvanced City Government PSPA 683

January 19, 2011

Formatting

•1” margins on all sides•Times New Roman or Palatino•12 pt for text and 10 for footnotes•Footnote numbers are superscripted•Double space except block quotations,

table titles, and individual bibliography entries

•Page numbers at bottom in center of page

ExampleCity of DeKalb Government (bold)

Departments in City’s Organization (not bold)

Public Works (bold)

Street Repair Services (not bold)

Reporting potholes. The first step is… (not bold)

Citation style

•Uses footnotes or parenthetical citations in-text

• If multiple sources, put in one note with semicolons (;) between them

Citation style

•Uses bibliography for overall source list, but you do not have to include▫Newspaper articles▫Bible or sacred work▫Dictionaries/encyclopedias▫Reviews/abstracts/pamphlets▫Unpublished interviews and personal

communication▫U.S. Constitution▫Legal cases

Books•Footnote1. John Smith, The Truth about Writing: From Word Choice to Document (DeKalb, IL: Semicolon Press, 2005), 418.

BibliographySmith, John. The Truth about Writing: From

Word Choice to Document. DeKalb, IL: Semicolon Press, 2005.

Articles

Footnote1.Jane Eyre, “Victorian Love Stories,” Writers Guild Journal 204, no. 3 (June 2008), 45.

BibliographyEyre, Jane. “Victorian Love Stories.” Writers

Guild Journal 204, no. 3 (June 2008): 41-82.

Online JournalFootnote1.Jane Eyre, “Victorian Love Stories,” Writers Guild

Journal 204, no. 3 (June 2008), http://www.wgj.org. (accessed September 14, 2010).

BibliographyEyre, Jane. “Victorian Love Stories.” Writers Guild

Journal 204, no. 3 (June 2008): 41-82. http://www.wgj.org. (accessed September 14, 2010).

Newspapers

Footnote1.Editorial, Daily Chronicle, January 3, 2011.

2.Samuel Sentence, “Writing Styles Changing,” Grammar News, June 14, 2003.

Or weave into sentenceIn an article published on June 14, 2003, in the Grammar News, Samuel Sentence notes that…

Interviews/Personal Communication

Footnote34. John Smith, interview, Interview with legal case worker, June 3, 2010.

40. John Smith, email message, Interview with legal case worker, June 3, 2010.

Websites

Footnote19. DeKalb City Planning Commission, “Marketing Plan,” City of DeKalb, http://www.marketingplan/cityofdekalb.org. (accessed March 9, 2009).

Public documents

Footnote38. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The Mutual Security Act of 1956, 84th Cong., 2d sess, 1956, Rep. 2273, 9-10.

BibliographyU. S. Congress. Senate Committee on Foreign

Relations. The Mutual Security Act of 1956, 84th Cong., 2d sess, 1956, Rep. 2273.

Legal Cases

Footnote169. United States v. Christmas, 222 F.3d

141, 145 (4th Cir. 2000).