Your task for the first assessment is to (1) comprehensively describe your topic of interest; (2) persuade your reader
that the topic has broader impacts to orgs, workers, society, and theory; and (3) justify your specific choice of topic
using the principles described in the unit’s readings. These three elements of your assessment map onto the first
three criteria in the assessment rubric (shown on pp. 14-15 of the unit outline).
Recommended structure:
• Use the first section (1-2 paragraphs) to describe your research topic comprehensively. Define the
phenomenon of interest (and note if people seem to disagree meaningfully on the definition). Describe the
phenomenon to us so your readers can understand and visualize what’s going on. Share trustworthy
statistics on the prevalence and importance of the phenomenon. Tell us about what the research says are
the causes or antecedents of the phenomenon, as well as the established effects of the phenomenon for
people, organizations, and stakeholders. Tell us about contexts in which the phenomenon is more (or
less) common. Use at least 10 recent, high-quality scholarly journal articles on the substantive topic of
interest (alongside other trustworthy sources, like government statistics and policy reports).
• Use the second section (1-2 paragraphs) to explain the broader impacts of your research topic. Sell us on
the importance of the topic. Show us the economic impact of the phenomenon ($$ values are always
highly compelling!). Are lives at stake? How many lives might be lost because of the phenomenon? What
are the impacts on people’s livelihoods and/or well-being? In what way is the topic especially timely
today—how is it relevant to the big, hairy, audacious problems that face society today? Sell us on the
idea and why it matters