Women in Law Enforcement/ Male Dominated Profession
Prepare a 35-40 page (body) research-based paper based on the research proposal you submitted in BUS 4020 on a topic of interest in the field of public administration.
Your Capstone Draft, while titled a ‘draft,’ should be a fully complete research paper with all sections below; it should be carefully edited and proofread. It is a draft only in the sense that you will receive feedback on your draft and have the opportunity to make revisions prior to submitting it as your Capstone.
Final Paper
Your Capstone Draft should include the following sections:
Title Page
Name, Capstone Paper title, date, instructor, APA running header.
Abstract
Usually 150 to 250 words.
Briefly describes:
Main objectives of the research.
Methods (What did you do?).
The most important results (What did you find out?).
Major conclusions and significance (What do your results mean? So what?).
Introduction and Research Questions
Include the research questions that will be addressed.
Rationale for the research.
Definitions of any terms or key concepts.
Literature Review
Describes the main bodies of existing knowledge and literature related to the research questions.
Includes peer-reviewed articles, evidence-based practitioner articles, best practice case studies and credible think-tank reports.
Summarizes and evaluates the literature related to the research questions.
Describes strengths and weaknesses of previous studies.
Methods
Does not repeat previous information.
Explains how data was gathered and generated.
Explains how data was analyzed.
Does assume reader understands the material – i.e., does not include explanatory material, which should be done in the earlier sections of the paper.
Is written in past tense with emphasis on the actual research, not the author’s activities.
Results
Describes how the research questions were addressed and what was found.
Includes material that visually represents research findings in terms of graphs, tables, diagrams, and charts.
Summary
Clearly and succinctly reviews the results in relation to the research questions.
Conclusion
Explains how the information can be applied to a specific situation or a broader context.
Appendices
Include any instruments used in the research.
Additionally, here is a suggestion that one of my professors gave me for my paper:
I have a suggestion regarding how you describe the organization; rather than ‘male dominant’, or ‘male dominated’ use instead: ‘Historically police work has been thought of as a predominantly male occupation.’
The terms ‘dominant’ and ‘dominated’ have other meanings which are not what you are really intending when you describe police organizations. What you are really ‘talking about’ are occupations. For instance, whereas police work may have been historically thought of as predominantly a male or masculine occupation, teaching has been historically thought of as predominantly a more ‘female’ or ‘feminine’ occupation.
The value structures of these two very different types of organizations may be characterized, therefore, by being based on more masculin
