Suggestions/Tips for MKTG 4731 Project

Here are some ideas that will help you get a better grade on your report. They are in no particular order -- just as I thought of them. I'll keep adding to this list as we go through the semester.

Background Research

  1. When I am grading the report, I usually start with your section on "References" at the end of the paper so I get an idea of how much effort you put into doing the library research necessary to find related studies. Make sure you spend some time digging up studies that are relevant to your experiment. A good place to start is with the Influence text. Exactly what aspect of the principle are you planning your experiment on? Find the studies that Cialdini has cited at the back of the text. Those will lead you to other references which you should get, and so on. However, don't forget the fact that there may be more recent studies on the topic. But after you have pursued the studies you identified from the Cialdini text, you will be in a much better position to use appropriate keywords to search through databases such as ABI/Inform and FirstSearch. Also, a great resource once you find one "classic study" on your topic is to use a "reverse citation search" on the Social Sciences Citation Index found at the Web of Science (UMD library electronic resources).  So, in summary, do a lot of library research, and start with the references in your Cialdini text. I expect you to find academic research (published in research journals). AT the very least, you should have about six academic references (beyond the references to and in the Cialdini text).
  2. Related to the above issue -- keep your background research relevant to your experiment. Remember, the objective of doing the background research is to "build a case" for your hypotheses. It makes no sense for your experiment to be on, say, authoritative uniforms, but your background research to be on titles and trappings, for example (even though they are from the same chapter). By doing background research, you are identifying what has been done on your research topic in the past and explaining why you expect the results you do in your experiment.  READ the studies you are citing.  Then see how these studies write the background research section.  Try and follow that style.  you will N OT find academic research articles simply list study after study.  Rather they will integrate the findings of past research into meaningful subheadings related to the topic of their experiment.  This is the easiest way for me to see that you have not done a lot of reading of past research - your background research section is written nothing like the standard format followed in academic research articles.
  3. Always cite the references appropriately in the text of your paper. Whenever you use any material from one of the studies your background research uncovered, cite it at the end of the sentence. NEVER take an entire sentence or paragraph from a published study and put it in your paper without putting it in quotes and identifying the source. If I find passages in your paper that have been inappropriately copied from a published source or poorly cited, I will consider it a case of plagiarism and give the paper an automatic F.  READ THIS DOCUMENT ON HOW TO CITE PAPERS AND AVOID PLAGIARISM. The best format for your cites is the one used by the Cialdini book. For example, if I was referring to a paper Cialdini published in 1988, I would place it as follows at the end of the sentence (Cialdini, 1988). That is, use the last name of the author, a comma, a space, and then the YEAR in which the paper was published. Look at the back of the Cialdini book to see how you should list your references at the end of the paper.

Method and Results

  1. It is important for you to follow the guidelines for informed consent.  Informed consent is not merely an announcement of the study, but a clear statement that participation is voluntary and that there is no negative impact to deciding not to participate. Explain how you satisfied informed consent in the method section of your paper.
  2. Make sure you do appropriate statistical tests on your findings. Usually, most experiments require a t-test or a chi-square test. Make sure you get some help from someone familiar with statistics to ensure the tests are done appropriately.
  3. Although this is not carved in stone, most marketing research uses a p-level of 0.05 as its level of significance. Differences significant at the 0.10 level are usually called "marginally significant."
  4. Don't forget to discuss the MARKETING/BUSINESS implications of your experiment.  Given this principle, what are now the business-related implications of this principle?  This is an important part of your report and presentation, so don't forget it.

Paper Layout & Format

  1. The outline I have provided is a fairly good outline for you to follow, but you may have to modify as per your needs. I like papers that use several headings and subheadings to organize the paper meaningfully. Don't just ramble on about what each study found - organize the research around meaningful topics.  I hate papers that do not use any headings and subheadings. Also, one of my pet peeves is papers without (a) a table of contents and (b) page numbers. Please remember to include these elements. Finally, spelling, grammar, and physical appearance of the paper DO matter. Please put some effort into the presentation of your paper.
  2. Please use some binding that makes it easy for me to lay the paper flat while reading it.  I do NOT like the "clip" covers that tend to fall apart when I try to open the report and lay it flat on the table.  Here is a test - after your paper is done, open it in the middle and lay it flat on the table.  Does it stay open on the page to which you opened it?  If not, don't use that binding.  Even simply stapling the pages on the top left corner is better than most of the clear-cover bindings you will find.
  3. DON'T FORGET:  The grading of all papers and assignments is a subjective judgment.  Everything you can do to make the paper easier to read (well organized, well written, no grammatical/spelling errors, solid content, etc.) will affect your final grade on this project.
  4. Make sure you understand how to cite other research papers in your paper and to make sure you don't paraphrase or copy someone else's work and get accused of plagiarism.  Follow this link to a document our department has prepared on referencing, citing, paraphrasing and other ways to avoid plagiarism.
  5. Make sure you read some of the journal articles you cite.  Most journal articles (academic research) have a similar style and organization.  You generally can't go wrong by following the format of most academic journal articles which report experimental research. They will usually do a good job of integrating the background research (rather than just reporting what each of a series of studies said), and providing details on method, sample, procedure, stimuli, results, discussion, and conclusions.  It is usually quite clear to me if you have not read enough research papers to be able to follow this style.

What to Turn In With Your Paper (in a separate envelope)

When turning in your final report, make sure you include:

Essentially, you need to submit all the information I need to replicate the results of your experiment.

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