BUL 6810 RESEARCH PAPER/CASE STUDY AND PRESENTATION 2021
CASE STUDY SELECTED
Monette v. Manatee Memorial Hospital – Florida Worker’s Comp case
Step 1: Select a case
As soon as possible, during the first week of class, you’ll want to select your choice of case study topic. Possible case study topics are listed at the end of the syllabus and in Canvas. Pick your case based on interest and also based on your own time schedule. You will be glad later in the semester if you select a topic early in the semester. If you select a topic late in the semester, please start working on it early. The case study and presentation are due at the end of the week (Friday night before midnight) of the week it’s listed.
Please sign up for your one case on the sign-up sheet in Canvas, on a first signed up, first served basis. Please check the sign-up sheet to see the cases already selected.
Step 2: Find the actual, entire case, and credible supplementary material and any updates
You must access the entire case, not just the excerpt in the textbook, or case briefs or summaries online. When one starts researching, it may take a great deal of time at first to find the information needed, but with practice, it becomes easier and quicker. The library’s webpage is an excellent source of resource material. You may find your case through the library’s web page through databases available free while you are a student, such as Westlaw or Lexis-Nexis. Supreme Court cases are at the U.S. Supreme Court’s web page, supremecourt.gov. Other federal and state court’s webpages also have the cases. Findlaw also has cases and statutes at findlaw.com/casecode/. There are also other free reputable sources to find cases such as justia.com/cases.
When doing research, please remember that primary sources, i.e., the law itself, or the actual cases and statutes, are much more important than secondary sources, or what the media says that the law states. We will emphasize this throughout the class, but when getting a start on your research, remember to always go to the primary source, that is the actual full case itself, whenever possible. Secondary sources vary in their accuracy. In the experience of prior MBA students, Wikipedia is a risky source to use, because it occasionally has incorrect or outdated information.
Step 3: Organize, write, and edit your case study paper
This project has many learning objectives, including getting you ready for your thesis in a year. Please use APA format since you will use APA for your thesis in a year.
Below is a suggested format for the research papers. This is just a suggestion, though, and different papers may vary depending on the topic.
Title page – The APA Manual says, have a title, plus a byline (author’s name) and institutional affiliation. So, at the beginning, have the title of your case study, and your name and institutional affiliation. My suggestion in addition is, also include a copyright notice (we’ll discuss why this is important later in the course):
Copyright 2021 your name, or © 2021 your name
The APA Manual discusses the abstract. An abstract is not required for this case study paper, but it will be required for your thesis.
Introduction – The APA Manual discusses the introduction, which is required for this paper. The APA Manual discusses the introduction as an overview of your paper. You may want to write this last, or towards the end of the writing process, as you may not know initially exactly where your paper is headed. In the case study, you may want to deviate a bit from the formality of the introduction required by the APA Manual for your thesis. In the case study paper, you’ll catch the reader’s attention, perhaps with a quote or a scenario, and get the reader intrigued and involved with your topic. You may want to tell the reader (me) why you wrote this particular paper. Give the reader a "roadmap" of what’s coming in the paper, and perhaps tell the reader what is not covered in the scope of the paper.
Body of the paper – The APA Manual discusses a Methods and a Results section. The case study is different, and you will discuss your case, instead. The body of your case study paper is the heart of your paper. You’ll want to give a factual, objective discussion of the issue(s), case(s), statute(s), and/or other issues related to the topic. A chronological explanation of what has happened (the facts of the case) is usually very helpful, instead of skipping around. But, be careful that the facts don’t read like a timeline. You’ll want to discuss how the case proceeded through the court system. If yours is a U.S. Supreme Court case, briefly discuss what the district court held, then what the appeals court held, and most importantly, what the Supreme Court held, and why. The most important level of court to discuss is the precedent-setting level. The other sections may be shorter. In the body, you’ll also want to discuss the legal issues involved.
Be sure that you are fair and balanced, giving both or all sides of an argument. It’s fine to have strong opinions on issues; I do, too. But one is a much better negotiator or advocate when one is able to understand, and if necessary, refute the arguments on the other side of an issue.
Be sure to use paragraph breaks; sometimes writers have paragraphs that last a page or more, and this is really difficult for the reader to follow. The APA Manual discusses writing style and stresses clear communication. Express yourself smoothly and precisely, in an orderly manner, using an appropriate professional tone. In giving a narrative, past tense works best. Be both concise and precise.
The APA Manual suggests headings, and I agree. Headings could be, “District Court,†“Court of Appealsâ€, and “U.S. Supreme Court,†for example. This helps your reader to know what level of court you are discussing.
A key thing to discuss is why this case matters, what I call the “so what†factor, or the implications of the case. After you discuss your case and what the highest court held, I then want a subjective analysis of what you think, what could have been done or what should be done, what other businesses and business and healthcare professionals can learn from this case, and recommendations and predictions. This analysis section is a very important part of your case study paper. Again, it is getting you ready for your healthcare analysis paper/thesis in your last, capstone class.
Conclusion – Wrap it all up. William Zinsser, author of "On Writing Well," states that if your reader has stuck with you thus far, you owe your reader a strong conclusion.
Reference list – I’m looking for an extensive list of substantive resources. Again, your “primary source†is the actual full case. Use APA format for your references.
If you’re discussing a case, give me the name of the case and the case’s citation, which includes indicators of the court and the year. This information is always found at the beginning of the case, even if the case is retrieved electronically from a credible source such as Lexis-Nexis or findlaw.com. Don’t just say, “findlaw,†and don’t give me the randomly generated URL from Lexis-Nexis (it’s not used consistently and will be regenerated in the next search), because the reader won’t be able to find your source.
A very important part of writing is revising and editing. The APA Manual suggests, and I agree, that after you have written your paper, then put it aside, and come back to it and edit and revise. Don’t turn in a rough draft. The grade includes a grammar and writing component. Please proofread. Check the suggestions your word processor makes, and there may be additional corrections. The APA Manual has extensive suggestions on issues such as punctuation and spacing.
The paper may be double spaced with any normal font and margins. The papers typically run seven to ten pages, double spaced.
To avoid plagiarism, a serious Student Code violation, cite in-text very frequently to your sources. Even if you paraphrase, still cite to the original source of your material. A reasonable number of small quotes is also acceptable. When quoting, be sure to either put the direct quote in quotation marks, or single space and indent five spaces, plus cite your reader to where the quote came from. One of the most difficult parts of my job is dealing with plagiarism, and I don’t like to do it, and the sanctions are very high. So always cite to others’ words or ideas. Cutting and pasting is not acceptable, unless done sparingly, indicating to the reader that this is a direct quote by putting the quote in quotation mark, and in-text cite plus put the source in your references. Our assignment dropbox usesTurnitin, which has a similarity score, which I check, and you should too. One wants a low similarity score, below 30% for this paper (and below 20% for your thesis in a year). Turnitin is set up so that if you submit early, you may check your similarity score, and take the paper down to revise and resubmit before the deadline. It takes up to 24 hours to generate a new similarity score, however.
The APA Manual states that if a quote is longer than 40 words, put it in a block of text, indented. Your papers may have appendices, not counting towards the page limits. For example, if you have long quotes, such as from a statute such as the Affordable Care Act, put it in an appendix, and paraphrase in the text and refer the reader to an appendix.
Step 4: Prepare your presentation
The grade for the case study also includes a presentation. Class members learn a great deal of valuable information from watching other class members’ presentations in the Discussion Board. Presentations should be approximately 6-7 minutes.
The problem you may have as you prepare is not that you won’t have enough to talk about for that time, but rather that it’s hard to condense all the material down to that time. Remember to focus your presentation on the key points and take-aways you want your class members to know and remember about your case. Practice your presentation before taping.
You will tape your presentation in Zoom. It’s essential to master this technology now, because in a year, you will be presenting to healthcare executives in Zoom, in the capstone course. One benefit to being in the online cohort is that you can practice your presentation repeatedly before posting in the Open Discussion Board. Know your presentation well enough that you can talk to your class, but don’t make your presentation sound over-rehearsed. Remember to keep eye contact with the camera on your computer. Please don’t read your presentation. Please make power point slides or other visuals for the presentation.
Instructions for taping in Zoom, putting it in YouTube, and posting the YoutTube link to the Open Discussion Board are on Canvas. Tips for taping in Zoom are to be sure we can see you and your presentation slides, and hear you. Make sure your microphone is turned on. Record your presentation. When you have a meeting you want, put it in YouTube, and post the YouTube link in the Open Discussion Board. The paper and slides must be turned in through the assignment links, and the YouTube link of the presentation must be posted in the Open Discussion Board, all before midnight on the Friday of the week the presentation is scheduled.
When you are satisfied with your final presentation, please view it and write and email me a brief self-critique. What went well, and what do you need to continue to work on? My prior MBA students have found this to be both a very valuable and very painful self-analysis.
Finally, if you have any questions in our class, concerning the case study or presentation or presentation or anything else, please contact me!
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