Page 65 - The Human Resource Development - New Student Orientation Handbook (REVISED)

The Human Resource Development
Orientation Handbook and Research Guide

Research Guide

The purpose of this section of the research guide is to provide you with an understanding of
the key sections of your seminar paper and what you need to know to start your thesis.

As a candidate in the Master of Human Resource Development at BSU, you must complete a thesis
and have it accepted by the Department before you can graduate. The HRD program is actually
designed to assist you in this endeavor. In HURD 806 Research and Analysis, Interpretation and
Proposal Writing you will complete Chapters 1 and 2 of your seminar paper. Once you have 30
credits in the HRD program, you can take HURD 880 Integrative Seminar. In HURD 880 you will
complete Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of your thesis.

Your seminar paper is unlike any project you have worked on in the HRD program so far. It is an
in depth investigation of a Human Resource Development area of research.

Chapters

As mentioned earlier, your thesis will have 5 chapters. The thesis chapters are Chapter 1:
Introduction, Chapter 2: Survey of the Related Literature, Chapter 3: Design of the Study, Chapter
4: Analysis of the Data, and Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations. Each chapter
is unique and has a purpose:

 Chapter 1 is used to set the stage for your study. You will write an Introduction and establish
a Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Need for the Study, a Research
Question, a Design of the Study, identify limitations/delimitations, and define terms. The
Design of the Study must address the study's population, sample, procedures and techniques,
instrumentation, and data analysis methods.

 Chapter 2 must present a thorough and comprehensive report of the literature related to your
seminar topic. In addition, Chapter 2 should focus on why the study and its findings may be
of value.

 Chapter 3 is the Design of the Study and is an accurate and detailed description of the
research project. This chapter is an elaboration of the population, sample, procedures and
techniques, instrumentation, and data analysis that you first presented in Chapter 1.

 Chapter 4 is the Analysis of the Data. It presents a thorough and complete analysis of the
findings of the study.

 Chapter 5 is the Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations. The purpose of this chapter
is to summarize the data and present conclusions.

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