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MPA
8002 |
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Project Notes: The Appendix As students formulate the MPA 8002 project and envision developing the various sections and especially Exercise #1 (the organizational analysis section), the question arises concerning what materials the students should include in the project. One way students can deal with resolving the issue of what should be included is to judge whether the individual bits and scraps of data are fundamental to or supplementary to the text. If the former, students should include these data within the text because the reader cannot develop a comprehensive understanding of the text without considering these data. If the latter, students should relegate these data to an Appendix that is to be placed at the end of the text in Exercise #2. The rationale is simple: these data serve only to supplement the discussion and do not add anything substantive to it. If students choose to include an Appendix in their projects, they should consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001, 5th ed.) about how this is to be completed. A second question arises concern how students should present substantive data within the text itself. For example, assuming that in the text the students identify the organization type using a theoretical model (e.g., Mintzberg's machine bureaucracy [1979]), embedding an organizational chart in the section provides a concise way to depict various departments and role incumbents as well as their relation to each other in the organizational hierarchy. Likewise, a stand-alone timeline inserted in the context section or as a sidebar along the left, right, or bottom margin can provide an effective visual portrayal of key events and actors in the organization's history as these currently impact organizational functioning, as describe in the context section. Then, too, a graph can provide a good, summary depiction of salient data so that the context section needn't express these data using text. That having been said, a chart, timeline, or graph may be helpful for the reader to develop a comprehensive understanding of the organization. It might be just as wise for students to discuss the content that would be summarize on a chart, timeline, or graph in the context section. This choice has more to do with the students' creativity, interest, and ability to communicate content in a clear, compelling, and convincing style than it has to do with a "right" or "wrong" way to present data. The choice of style (text versus a chart, timeline, or graph) is a judgment for students to make. The critical issue students must contend with, then, involves how to best present the most salient data in the most effective way while, at the same time, keeping the project as brief as possible. One rule of thumb students should consider is: Do not duplicate in charts and sidebars what is in the text itself. Also: Relegate to an Appendix what is explanatory but not necessary. References
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