Identification of Nonadaptive MBA Writers Through the Use of Linguistic Analysis |
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| Authors: | James J Divoky Mary Anne Rothermel |
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| Institution: | Department of Management, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-4801, e-mail: , |
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| Abstract: | Samples of formal business reports and business memos were obtained from MBA students in multiple disciplines. The samples were analyzed in terms of their relative cohesion, concreteness of wording, causal relationships, intentional referencing, and readability. A classification function based on these measures was then used to identify entering MBA students as using either a memo or report style of writing, based on their personal statements and GMAT analytical writing essays. Documents for these students from the beginning and end of their academic programs were similarly analyzed. We found that students who are initially classified as report writers consistently produce documents of that quality throughout their programs. Moreover, we also found that, if memo writers do not quickly adapt their style of writing, they tend to produce documents using a memo style without regard to the type of document being requested. |
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| Keywords: | Linguistics Readability Writing Rubrics |
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