Conceptual Reasoning 2: Reading and Writing

Conceptual Reasoning

It has come to my attention that reading assignments are taking an inordinate amount of time; students are concerned about plagiarism (i.e., unknowingly violating rules); and they may be insufficiently distinguishing between description versus analysis in their reading and writing.  Here are some recommendations.

How to read (for speed and comprehension):

1. Never read any course materials, articles or book chapters, from first line to last line. Professional materials are not stories, not read descriptively, and not read to fulfill an obligation.
2. Read the abstract, introduction and conclusion (first).
3. Analyse course materials, looking for specific information: concepts, definitions, and logic structure.
4. Identify boundary / context limitations (e.g., interpersonal leadership vs. leadership at a distance - through social media).
5. As a secondary concern, review any applications of the logic to data (e.g., examples or case studies).
6. Compare treatments of concepts, definitions and logic structure across readings.  You may consider constructing a table: left column for concepts; middle for definitions, logic, context; and right column for personal notes / insights.

How to write as a scholar & professional:

1. Analyze the lecturer's instructions for key concepts and questions.  What is the lecturer asking?
2. Demonstrate a scholarly understanding of these concepts in any written assessment or exam question, including defining concepts and referencing appropriate course materials.  
3. The greatest concern about plagiarism will arise when you're interacting with, or borrowing from, course materials. 
4. Identify any boundary conditions: "My analysis will focus on X in such-and-such context, and not address issues pertaining to Y or alternative contexts."  Lecturers appreciate the clarity of structure.
5. Quite often the lecturer will require you to apply course concepts to data (e.g., reflection on a personal experience or case study) with a specific context. 
6. Analyze the data (case study) using your conceptual understanding; do not describe.  This should be entirely your work, with references included only to back up your arguments. 
7. ***Remember, separate your scholarly analysis of the concepts from your application of concepts to data!

A student once asked, "Yeah, but how does this relate to the real world?"  My response, "You call it the real world; I call it messy data."  

Your job as a business professional is to abstract away from the noise and confusion (e.g., excess immediate, irrelevant information + opinion); structure the problem in a professional literature; and follow the recommended analyses to find a solution.  Ideally, you will back up any argument you create with data (quantitative analyses + interviews with industry experts) from the real world.