GRADING RUBRIC FOR THE CRITIQUE

SPRING 2018

MSC 300 is an Inquiry course, which requires a special research project as part of its curriculum.

Choose any business-related paper from the general business journal literature (accounting, sales, marketing,

operations research/analytics, business medical services, business software development, etc.) Suitable journals

include Harvard Business Review, CrossTalk, Interfaces, University of Chicago Journal of Business, etc. Not

acceptable publications are popular magazine articles, trade association magazine articles, or newspaper

articles. Meet with the instructor if there are any questions about the suitability of the paper and source.

i.

Make a copy of the journal paper and attach to the back of your critique. Include a page

showing the Cover and Table of Contents from the journal you chose.

ii.

Write an explanation of the hypothesis the author was testing in plain English. Use of

statistical symbols such as ho will not be acceptable. Assume your audience is middle

management who are not experts in statistical methods.

iii.

Write your critique of the conclusions the author drew using plain English. You may either

agree or disagree with the conclusions and/or methods used by the author.

Grading

_____ 1. Was the selected journal paper business oriented. 5 pts.

_____ 2. Was the selected journal paper from an academic journal. 6 pts. (Zero points if not

from an academic journal.)

_____ 3. Is there a copy of the selected journal paper attached to the back of the critique. Did

it include a page showing the Cover and Table of Contents from the journal chosen. 4 pts. (Zero

points if not from an academic journal.)

______ 4. Was the journal paper a recap of the author’s research that made a new contribution

to the body of knowledge, as opposed to a “report” which accumulated already existing

knowledge. The body of knowledge contribution may be either substantial or small. 8 pts.

_____ 5. Was the student’s critique free from statistical jargon and symbols, and written in

plain English easily understandable by a middle manager who does not have an analytics

background. 5 pts.

_____ 6. Did the student’s critique contain an explanation of the author’s hypothesis. 4 pts.

_____ 7. Did the student’s critique of the author’s conclusions include a discussion of the

research methods the author used to draw his or her conclusions. 5 pts.

_____ 8. Was the student’s critique of the author’s conclusions logical and based on data or

other facts, and not based on opinions such as often found in editorials, social media postings,

popular discussions, etc. Were the sources of the data/other facts references footnoted. 5 pts.