Week 3

This week, you will select an agency for, and begin the preliminary research associated with, completing your Final Project. Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the complete instructions for the Final Project, “Organizational Budget Plan,” in Week Six of this course. Then, carefully review the San Diego Police Department and California Department of Corrections scenarios (available in the online classroom) and choose one that will be the topic for your Organizational Budget Plan in Week Six. To conduct accurate research for the Annotated Bibliographies, you should focus on peer-reviewed journals, other scholarly resources, and/or professional resources (Links to an external site.) that are considered to have reliable information. Do not use sources from the popular press such as Time, Newsweek, or Wikipedia.

After selecting either the San Diego Police Department or the California Department of Corrections as the agency upon which you wish to focus, you will research and draft an annotated bibliography of four peer-reviewed, scholarly, and/or professional articles published within the last 10 years. At least one each of the articles must include information on public finance and budget management and/or preparation. These articles, in addition to the textbook, will be used as the basis for your organizational budget plan. (There is a Sample Annotated Bibliography (Links to an external site.) in the Ashford Writing Center for additional assistance.)

Each annotation within the annotated literature review should consist of the following:

• Create a full title citation of the article in APA format according to the standards established by the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
• Create an annotation containing at least four full sentences describing the contents of the article and how it relates to your chosen agency's organizational budget plan. Explain the elements of public finance as they are discussed in the article(s). Explain the basics of budget management and/or preparation described in the article(s).
• It may be helpful to ask yourself the following basic questions as you prepare your annotation:
  • Who wrote the article? Is there any mention of their specific level or area of expertise?
  • What was the purpose or rationale of the research?
  • What methodology was used?
  • What were the results?
  • How does the research contribute to the field as a whole?

The Annotated Literature Review

• Must be three to five double-spaced pages (750 to 1250 words) in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least four scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.