Annotated Bibliography

The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your understanding of the
various sources of information business decision makers should use when evaluating
options (courses-of-action) for mid- to long-term decisions.As discussed in class
throughout the term, information can come from a variety of primary and secondary sources.Primary information is typically collected and used for the purpose of the instant decision, while secondary information comes from other sources – and is used for a variety of decisions and purposes.

Each student will be assigned a typical business research question/scenario and expected to provide a description of the sources of information they would use to address the issue.

The project will have two parts.The first will be an examination of the known material (e.g., past research) relating to the subject.The second will be the development of primary research to address in the information gap(s) that relate to the specific problem situation.

The first thing you must do is formulate your research problem as best you can (the original problem statement may be vague, if so seek clarification).Then identify the information you would need to answer the question; that is, don’t answer the question, but rather, identify the information/knowledge that would help you to answer the question.Once that list is complete, you should identify sources of that information.If you try to identify the sources first, you usually end up answering the wrong question (committing an “error of the third kind.”).

Note: both parts of the project will be subjected to TurnItIn (see turnitin.com).Details will follow.

Part I – Annotated Bibliography (20% of course grade, due session #5)

This part of the assignment will consist of an annotated literature review.

Sources should include published empirical research relating to the subject (e.g., peer reviewed academic articles), trade journal articles, industry reports, government reports, and/or third party information sources (e.g., Hoover’s online).If sources with known bias are used (e.g., company websites), the bias must noted and the source be properly counter-balanced with other perspectives providing an alternative view.

Format/Outline

1. Introduction:An explanation of the decision to be made (or problem solved or issue addressed).A description of the intended consequences of the process.
2. Source List: A description of the sources of information that will be utilized in reaching the decision.(See below)
3. Conclusion:A summary that ties together the sources of information to demonstrate a comprehensive covering of the relevant information.As part of the conclusion, a more formalized and specific problem statement will be developed, along with a testable hypothesis.

Content/Detail:

A minimum of eight sources will be researched and described. (Note: while the use of press releases and news media summaries is permitted, they will not count toward the required sources.)

For each source, you will need to demonstrate the relevance of the material to the decision to be made.That is, you should determine how “credible”— think pyramid of evidence — the source is as it relates to the problem.If the source reports on primary research (e.g., an empirical study), then you will need to describe/summarize that research and provide an assessment of its results – including an evaluation of the conclusions.For all secondary sources, you should identify any sources of “bias” and report on how the bias may affect the conclusions.

I will evaluate each source (and your description of it) individually as to its relevance to the decision to be made (and your formulation of the decision to be made).That is, it will be evaluated as to what information it provides that will enable an informed decision to be made.

I will evaluate the collective body of sources to the extent that they, as a group, are likely to provide the necessary information to make an informed decision.

Style:

Reports for both MBA programs and employers must be error free.They must be written using complete sentences, appropriate paragraph structure, and include properly spelled words.

The paper must be written in a professional style: third person (no “I” or “we”) and reflect an unbiased perspective.The document must have a logical flow. In this case, the sources should be presented in an order that builds an argument.The conclusion should “connect the dots.”

The sources shall be properly referenced using APA format (see: public folders/Providence Campus/The Graduate School/APA Basic Manual for a brief description of the required citation format).

See the following sites for descriptions and examples of annotated bibliographies:

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm

http://www.library.mun.ca/guides/howto/annotated_bibl.php

Attached are the example and the research question you will be researched and wrote about please read these before you start to write. Thanks.