administrative theory essay questions final exam

This is my final exam, they are short essay response questions about Administrative Theory. We have to agree on a time and day we are both able to agree on doing the exam so I am able to open up the exam and post the questions on here. Thank you.

Instructions

As was suggested in the previous module’s written assignment activity, the Literature Review section is where you investigate and report what other researchers have discovered and written about your topic. Simply put – the Introduction allows you to explain what your report is about in general terms, but the Literature Review allows you to expound on your idea by utilizing the findings of previous research in order to substantiate your claims.

Each and every time you make a claim, you need to back it up in the literature. This doesn’t mean you need to have a citation for every sentence – only those where you state something as fact. This is important, because the credibility of your research is gauged by the strength of your research findings. I’ll say that again: The credibility of your report is determined by how strongly you have been able to substantiate your claims via other researchers. And, because this aspect of your report is so important, the credentials of those researchers whom you cite is also important. This is why we in the academe insist on you students using “peer-reviewed” or “refereed” sources. Such works are written and published by one or more authors, but the works are vetted through a number of other researchers who function as fact-checkers, in order to validate the material prior to publication. More about this aspect of research will be covered in the next tutorial.

For now, however, observe how I did this in my own doctoral dissertation (i.e. my 120-page report).

Perceived self-efficacy is a self-generated internal assessment of whether or not one can produce given levels of attainment despite varying degrees of difficulty – the strength of belief in one’s ability to complete a task and/or achieve a goal (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001; Dahlstrom, Dudo, & Brossard, 2012; Gist, 1987; Jago, Sebire, Edwards, & Thompson, 2013). In the case of pedestrian travelers,it pertains to the belief in a traveler’s agentive abilities to navigate the surrounding environment, which includes factors such as the stamina to walk a particular distance or being able to overcome perceived hazards or a strenuous travel environment. It combines an affirmation of capability with the strength of that belief (Bandura, 1997). The aforementioned predictors of walking find commonality in perception; and people’s perceptions have been found to be impacted by mass media (Abioye, Hajifathalian, & Danaei, 2013; Cavill & Bauman, 2004; Moeller, de Vreese, Esser, & Kunz, 2014). While it can be argued that the true measure of the effectiveness of media is the degree to which it influences a targeted audience (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976; Cavill & Bauman, 2004; Mogg & Enis, 1974; Wirtz, 2009), media can nonetheless convey conflicting messages, exerting influence over multiple audiences albeit in different ways. Take, for example, road safety campaigns. Some campaigns portray horrific traffic scenarios, presented in a deliberately sensational manner. Such ads are designed to appeal the viewer’s senses in order to educate travelers about the consequences of unsafe, irresponsible travel behavior, to frighten them into compliance with traffic laws. Hoekstra and Wegman (2010) write, “there is a firm belief in the ability to ‘scare people straight’. The idea is that when fear is aroused, people will become more motivated to accept the message and recommendations presented in a campaign” (p. 82).

As you read through the passage above, you’ll see I’ve added colors to show which claim is associated with which author(s).

The passage begins with a claim, highlighted in bold yellow. The claim is a definition of the term “perceived self-efficacy”. You may have noticed the passage is not in quotation marks: That’s because I made this up, based on information I derived from articles written by the authors cited at the end of the sentence (highlighted in light yellow). Moving on, note that Bandura wrote in 1997 about things that pertained to one’s affirmation of capability (i.e. “can I do this…?”). To be honest, he didn’t write about walking or any form of transportation – he wrote about belief and ability. However, after I formed my argument, I simply searched for related concepts and discovered the works of Dr. Albert Bandura. After reading a few of his abstracts, I found that some of his findings from his previous experiments were quite similar to what I was writing about. Ultimately, I was able to use what he wrote to substantiate what I was saying in my report.

The other color combinations may help you to see other claims I made, and how I substantiated those claims.

I would add, the last citation (in pink and salmon) provide you with an example of how to cite a direct quotation (i.e. a passage I borrowed directly from the other researcher’s works “word-for-word”). In this instance, you MUST include the page number from where you found the quote!

I leave you with this short YouTube video, which includes some strategies you may find helpful as you begin to write.