M8a1: final capstone research paper | LA498 capstone | Excelsior College

Topic:  The effects of Social media on interpersonal communications ethics 

Note: As we outlined in Module 7, all of your previous work serves as the construction materials from which this final research paper is built. The sequence of activities for creating your final paper that we recommended last week is repeated here. Be prepared to edit, rearrange, and rewrite your paper multiple times. The final integrated paper will probably be 4,500-6,000 words. Note that it is due on Wednesday rather than at the final Sunday (11:59 PM ET). This will enable your instructor to prepare your final paper for use in both final course grading and competency scoring within the window provided by the College.

Instructions: Begin by organizing your work in the order of the scaffolded assignments: Research Proposal, Literature Review, Diversity and Ethics. Add to those the transcript of your oral presentation as well as copies of the feedback and suggestions provided by faculty and classmates. Make sure you have APA citation information for all the additional scholarly sources you’ve gathered since your initial Literature Review.

Create a new document to hold the sections for your final paper. You should be ready to finalize those section headings now. You cannot simply insert minor changes to the original papers. Each draft section must be thoroughly revised and rewritten to incorporate the feedback provided as well as additional scholarly sources necessary to fully support your thesis. Your revised work must reflect clear evidence of improved research, writing, analysis, synthesis, and argument development skills.

Begin your document by drafting a working thesis for your final paper. Be prepared to edit after you’ve completed all sections of the final paper. Leave your introduction section empty for now. (As E.M. Forster said, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”)

1. Copy/paste in your revised/rewritten Literature Review. Your revised work must present a comprehensive overview of the contemporary research studies and other recent scholarly articles examining the topic approved by your instructor (a minimum of 7-9 relevant scholarly articles in this final version). If appropriate, your review may also include a limited number of discipline-specific reports from industry or government agencies. When using industry-related sources, be mindful of the potential bias involved and examine that in your review. Include additional scholarly sources as needed with appropriate citations. We expect you to expand the sources from your original Literature Review with other peer-reviewed sources specific to diversity and ethics.
2. Draft a transition to move the reader from your Literature Review to your Diversity and Ethics section. Be sure you state the problem you are examining and its significance.
3. Copy/paste in your revised/rewritten Diversity and Ethics paper. Be sure you touch on all the required elements of that scaffold step, but be prepared to move the information around. Possibly some of what you wrote will work better in the introductory or concluding sections of the final paper, and that’s fine, so long as it’s covered! The resulting section will summarize who’s affected by the problem, key differences found in your examination of multiple perspectives, and the significance of such differences. 
4. Draft a transition to move the reader from your Diversity and Ethics section to your final section.
5. Write a final, new section in which you advocate the most equitable solution to the problem examined. Draw upon the scholarly sources in your previous sections to substantiate your position. If necessary, provide further support with government reports and studies as well as non-governmental organizational reports and studies.
6. Based on the work you’ve developed thus far, review and revise your working thesis.
7. Draft a comprehensive introduction for your paper. Your original Research Proposal could be helpful here.
8. Draft a conclusion that fully wraps up all themes and ideas presented in all the sections.
9. Draft an Abstract that provides a preview of the entire paper in about a paragraph.
10. Build your comprehensive reference list in correct APA format.

The result of these steps should be a very rough draft of your final paper. As you further revise and refine it, keep in mind this basic framework that your final submission should follow:

The final submission you work on and submit on the final Wednesday should follow this basic framework:

• Abstract
• Introduction (250-300 words)
  • Provide overview with significance of the issue related to field of study
• Literature Review (1,000-1,500 words)
  • Build upon Scaffold Step #3
  • Conclude this section with concise statement of the problem based upon the literature
• Diversity & Ethics
  • Cultural perspectives & inequities (1,000-1,200 words)
    • Analyze competing entities including disenfranchised/vulnerable groups
    • Address issues such as ingroup favoritism, intergroup bias, etc. 
    • Integrate Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory in analyzing perspectives
    • Summarize cultural perspectives and perceived inequities
  • Ethical implications (1,000-1,200 words)
    • Analyze decision making and actions, social responsibility, applying specific ethical theories
    • Identify possible pathways to equitable solutions
    • Summarize compelling ethical issues
  • Proposed solution (1,000-1,500 words)
    • Advocate most equitable, ethical solution to meet needs of vulnerable, disenfranchised
    • Draw upon scholarly sources & previous sections to substantiate position
    • Provide further support with government reports & studies, NGO reports & studies
  • Conclusion (250-300 words)
  • Reference list

Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor.

Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Submit Assignment” in the upper right corner. Click on “Browse,” browse your computer, and select your file. Click “Open” and verify the correct file name has appeared next to the Browse button. Enter your comments, if any, in the Comments area. Click on “Submit Assignment.”