Spring, 2009 EDLD 606
Leadership, Inquiry and Research, Part II
3 Units
Lea Hubbard, Ph.D lhubbard@sandiego.edu 619-260-7818
Office Hours: By appointment Course Description The second semester of Leadership, Inquiry and Research focuses on the justification of research through critical analysis and synthesis of empirical literature. Because success in academic writing requires a great deal of socialization and practice into its conventions, the course is built around formative writing assignments that prepare students to write the type of critical and fluent review of literature required for the dissertation. Students are encouraged to explore potential topics that may be developed for the dissertation, however, they are not expected to settle upon their thesis topic and question in this course. Course Objectives: Aligned with Learning Outcomes: 1. Write critical fluent reviews of literature. 2. Justify research questions through the identification of gaps and/or problems in existing literature. 3. Link relevant foundational academic disciplines (e.g. anthropology, history social psychology, sociology, sociolinguistics, philosophy) to questions about leadership. 4. Consider alternatives to traditional social science research methods in studying leadership. 5. Use APA reference style proficiently. Course Requirements/Activities Most of class time is spent in focused discussion of cases and in textual analysis. Students are expected to attend class prepared to discuss in depth assigned readings and cases. Class participation is extremely important to individual and class learning and thus students will be graded on their active engagement in the class. In addition to weekly reading assignments, there will be oral and written assignments related to the readings and class discussions. The written assignments will be short but should be wellconceived and well-written. The written assignments are designed to be cumulative in the sense that earlier assignments will provide the foundation for later ones. The final written assignment will encompass work done over the course of the semester. The final assignment will include: 1) the identification of a significant research question in leadership in the student’s area of interest 2) a comprehensive review of the existing literature on
the subject which, includes relevant works, articulates important variables and phenomena relevant to the topic 3) a clarification of inconsistencies and tensions in the literature and the beginning of the development of a theory with more explanatory and predictive power, clarifying the scope and limitations of ideas previously posited and posing fruitful empirical investigations and/or identifying and suggesting research that will pursue unresolved problems 4) a suggestion of the student’s own methodological choice with justification for this method. Textbook and Readings Booth, W., Colomb, G., Williams, J. (3rd edition). The Craft of Research. Chicago: University of Chicago. Press. Other course readings are available on-line through electronic reserve via the Copley Library. The password is “hubbard”. Calendar of Course Topics and Assignment Due Dates January 28th Introductions, Overview of Course Objectives, Discussion of topics of interest. Defining Inquiry Research Justification February 4th Introduction to Literature Reviews Bring a one-page (double spaced) description of a specific research topic that you wish to investigate. Please include title, description of the topic that delineates its focus and scope (a potential question you would like to study) and a brief description of the significance. Read for discussion – • Booth et al. Chap. 3-6 • Creswell, J. (2009). (3rd Ed). Review of the Literature. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oakes: Sage Publications. (Chap 2). February 11th Dissecting Literature Reviews on Leadership •
Heppner, P.P. and Heppner, M.J. (2004) Setting the Stage for the Thesis or Dissertation. Writing and publishing your thesis, dissertation and research. Belmont, CA: Brooks/ Cole-Thomson Learning.
Written Assignment #1: Outline the literature review in one of these articles (5%) •
Dickson, M., Den Hartog, D., and Mitchelson, J., (2003). Research on Leadership in a cross-cultural context: Making progress and raising new questions. Leadership 2
Quarterly. 14. Pp 729-768. •
York-Barr, J. & Karen Duke (2004). What do we know about Teacher Leadership? Findings from two decades of Scholarship. Review of Educational Research Vol 74, (3) pp. 255-316.
February 18th More Dissection! •
Hannah, S.T., Avolio, B., Luthans,F., Harms, P.D. (2008) Leadership Efficacy: Review and future directions. Leadership Quarterly. Vol 19. (6) pp. 669692
•
Booth et al. Part 3 Chap 7-10 for discussion of Claims, Evidence and Warrants
Written Assignment #2: Bring two articles that deal with your topic that will shape your work. Outline the literature review of each of your articles. (5%) February 25th Claims, Evidence and Warrants? Can we find the Claims, Evidence and Warrants In: • Boote, D. , Beile, P. (2005). Scholars Before Researchers: On the Centrality of the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Preparation. Educational Researcher. 34 (6) pp 3-15 •
Yukl, Gary (2008). How leaders influence organizational effectiveness. Leadership Quarterly (19) Pp.708-722
Written Assignment #3: Compare and Contrast your two articles (you should include a comparison of their findings and if relevant, their methodologies). (5%) March 4th Using An ethnographic approach to research Ethnography--- focus is on learning about the culture of an organization/group to understand leadership. It helps to answer the question: How do ideologies and beliefs shape leadership? •
Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P.(1983) What is Ethnography? And Insider accounts: listening and asking questions. Ethnography: Principals in Practice. London: Tavistock Publications.
•
Atkinson, P., Coffey, A., Delamont, S., Lofland, J and Lofland, L (2001). Ethnographies 3
of Work and the Work of Ethnographers. Handbook of Ethnography. London: Sage Publications. March 11th Spring Break- No Class Continue to Develop your Literature Review and Read an ethnography of your choice on your topic. Prepare a presentation and report - anticipating that this ethnography will be included in your lit review.
March 18th (15%) Due: Assignment # 4 - Presentation and Report on your ethnography answering this set of questions: 1) Describe the topic, and question that the ethnographer set out to answer 2) Describe the methodology used (what and how did he/she study it?) 3) Was this study put into a larger literature review context? What gap did it fill? 4) What were the findings? 5) In what ways does an ethnographic approach in general and this one in particular help to address the issues you are investigating. March 25th – No Class, individual meetings with Instructor Work on Written Assignment #5- Using the articles you have gathered on your topic (including the ethnography, if relevant to the subtopic) –use at least 3 pieces of research - write a 5 page paper on one of the sub-topics in your literature review that you have discovered. Due April 1st (And that’s not an April fool ☺) Revisions will be due April 15th. April 1st Due: Written Assignment #5 - 5 page paper on lit review sub-topic (15%) Using a Case Study approach to research Read: • Yin, Robert (2003) Case Study Research: Design and Methods. (3rd Edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage. Pp 1-19 • Plowman, D., Solansky, S., Beck, T, Baker, L., Kulkarni, M., and Travis, D.(2007). Intergroup leadership: The role of leadership in emergent, self-organization. Leadership Quarterly 18 341 – 356 • Whyte, W. (1993). Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pp3-51 and 255-276.
April 8 – Using an Historical approach to research Assignment #5 returned with feedback- revisions due April 15th A Historical Research Approach – focuses on understanding the formulation of certain ideas or practices, trends, and differences over time to understand a subject like leadership. 4
•
Goodwin, D. (date) Team of Rivals: The Political Genus of Abraham Lincoln. Selected Chapters
April 15 Assignment #5 Revisions due No Class - meet with Instructor to discuss second subtopic April 22 Using Sociological Theory to guide research and/or generate meaning • •
Portes, A. (1998). Social Capital: It’s origins and applications in modern sociology. Cohen, D, and Prusak, L. (2001). In Good Company: How Social Capital Makes Organizations Work. Selected chapters
Due Assignment #6: 5 page paper comprising a different subtopic that will be included in your final literature review. (15%) April 29 Writing It Up Feedback on Assignment #5 • •
Booth, W. et al. The Craft of Research. Chapter 11, 12 and 13—Writing Tips Creswell. Chapter 4. Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations
Discussion of writing and combining subtopics in a lit review. • Creager, P. (2007). “Building Management Bench Strength: A qualitative look at a job rotation program.” • Gallant, T. (2006). Reconsidering Academic Dishonesty: A critical examination of a complex organizational problem. May 5 Student presentations May 12 Student presentations *Due: Final Assignment -Literature Review (15-20 pages). (40%)
Assessment Plan/Grading Criteria/Rubric 1) Outline (5%) 2) Outline (5%) 3) Comparison (5%) 4) Ethnography pres and report (15%) 5) First 5-pager with seminal resources cited (15%) 6) Second 5-pager with seminal resources cited (15%) 7) Final Assignment (Literature with resources/apa style) 40% 5
Coverage
Synthesis
Methodology
Significance
Rhetoric
Rubric for Evaluating Literature Review 1-2 3-4 5-6 Did not discuss the Discussed the literature Justified inclusion and criteria for inclusion and included and excluded exclusion of literature exclusion from review Critically examined the Did not distinguish what Discussed what has and state of the field has not been done has and has not been Topic clearly situated in Some discussion of done broader scholarly broader scholarly Topic not placed in literature literature broader scholarly Some mention of history Critically examined literature history of topic of topic History of topic not Key vocabulary defined Discussed and resolved discussed ambiguities in Reviewed relationships Key vocabulary not definitions among key variables discussed Noted ambiguities in and phenomena Key variables and literature and proposed Some critique of phenomena not new relationships literature discussed Offered new perspective Accepted literature at face value Research methods not Some discussion of Critiqued research discussed research methods used methods. to produce claims Critical appropriateness of research methods to warrant claims. Practical significance of research not discussed. Scholarly significance of research not discussed Poorly conceptualized, haphazard
Practical significance discussed. Scholarly significance discussed.
Critiqued practical significance of research Critiqued scholarly significance of research
Some coherent structure
Well-developed, coherent
Note: This rubric is adapted from Doing a Literature Review by Christopher Hart, 1999. London, SAGE Publications.
6