The Anatomy of a Research Paper: A Journal Club Lab - Einzelansicht

+++ The first session will take place during the second week of the semester, on Thursday, April 23rd. +++

Evidence-based work is particularly important for social scientists, who deal with complex social problems (in the public sector). Such work can increase the likelihood that methods and principles used in practice will have the desired/a desirable effect, improving the quality of public services for people, who are often in vulnerable and precarious situations, or organizational measures such as HRM. Journal clubs are a long-established method of quality improvement that is used in particular by healthcare professionals to critically examine relevant literature and be up to date.

In this course we want to learn the anatomy of a research paper, i.e. how to read a scientific paper, and gain confidence in critiquing published studies.

Although strategic human resource management (SHRM) has successfully linked HR practices to improved organizational performance, the research is one-sided: Researchers have focused primarily on how to make employees feel "committed" and largely ignored how to manage them through "control." Our Journal Club Lab aims to bridge this gap by familiarizing you with the public management and administration debate on HRM and the distinction between high-commitment and high-control HRM systems.

We want to...

• ... promote your ability to assess research evidence in terms of its practical usefulness.
• ... promote your critical thinking and reflective skills with regard to newly acquired knowledge.
• ... promote your collaborative learning skills to facilitate systematic knowledge exchange, encourage perspective changes and promote constructive dialogue.
• ... use research-based learning to develop methodological, factual and judgmental competence.
• ... strengthen the transfer of theory into practice.

If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Nicolas Drathschmidt or our student assistants.

It is preferable (but not mandatory) for applicants to have some familiarity with public management.

To pass the course:

1. One homework on HRM systems
2. Acting as paper expert in one session. The expert will be conducting and supervising a journal club session in the format of a World Café.
3. Written summary of one journal club session

Module examination: oral exam (30min + 15min preparation time) on the content of the journal club sessions.

Schedule (preliminary)

1. Intro
2. Characteristics of good research papers
3. The 5 C's of a paper
4. Literature Search & State of Research
5. High-commitment vs. high-control HRM systems
6. Journal Club: (Public Service) Motivation
7. Journal Club: Recruitment
8. Journal Club: Leadership
9. Journal Club: Turnover
10. Journal Club: Flexibility
11. Wrap-Up
12. Oral Exam