Introduction and background to the research

МВА ДИПЛОМНАЯ РАБОТА

 

LAYOUT OF THE DISSERTATION

 

The Dissertation is a communications instrument and you should pay particular attention to ensuring that you communicate to the reader exactly what your original research was about. As part of the exercise you are required to present your Dissertation in a standard manner, as you would if you were submitting an article to a journal, and in a particular number of words. This is part of the discipline of the Dissertation work. The Dissertation should be organised in the following format:

 

       Title Page

       Signed Statement

       Abstract

       Acknowledgements

       Contents

       List of Abbreviations

       List of Tables

       List of Figures                                                             

Introduction and aims and/or objectives                                     

       Literature Review                                                                            Methodology                                                                            

       Results /Analysis                                                                                 

       Discussion                                                                                     

       Conclusions and Recommendations                                                                     

       Appendices

       References

 

Each section should begin on a separate page. Any deviation from this format must be discussed with and agreed by your supervisor. In many cases, especially for Dissertations based solely on desk/secondary research, more indicative titles should be used as the relevant chapter headings rather than rigidly using “Results”, “Discussion”, and so on.

 

TITLE PAGE

           

This must contain the full Dissertation title, your full name, the qualification for which the Dissertation is submitted, (e.g. BA (Hons) Business and Management) the name of the institution (Cardiff Metropolitan University) and the date (month and year only). The title should be a concise and accurate description of the content of the Dissertation.

 

SIGNED STATEMENT

           

Following the title page there should be a page on which you sign a statement that the work included within the Dissertation is your own work except where appropriately referenced. If you include the work of others without proper acknowledgement it is regarded as plagiarism and is an extremely serious academic offence. You must not submit all or part of your Dissertation as part of any coursework for any other module. This is an unfair practice and is also very serious; it may result in the marks for one or all of the modules concerned having their marks reduced to zero.

 

Declaration:

“I declare that this Dissertation has not already been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. It is the result of my own independent research except where otherwise stated”.

 

ABSTRACT

           

An accurate summary, covering one A4 page and including the aims and scope of the research, the organisation and content of the Dissertation, methods of investigation, the main findings and conclusions reached. The abstract should be written in the past tense and in the third person passive, e.g. “A SWOT analysis of the current status of the company was made. This concluded that...”. Please include the total Dissertation word length at the end of the abstract.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

           

All people who have helped either in the research or writing up of the Dissertation must be acknowledged, e.g. supervisor, librarian, interviewees, parents, typist, external assistance, etc.

 

CONTENTS

           

This should be a tabulated list showing each section of the Dissertation and the page number at which that section begins. If the sections are subdivided then a numbered entry for each subsection should also appear in the contents. The chapter and section headings, shown in the contents, should be short but as informative as possible, rather than sensational. A good contents list should give a clear picture of the nature and scope of the study.

 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

A list of abbreviations is often necessary in a Dissertation for the convenience of the reader. In addition, when an abbreviation is used for the first time in the text it should be enclosed in brackets and preceded by the full term, e.g., the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE). The use of abbreviations should be kept within the reasonable limit.

 

LIST OF TABLES

This should contain the number of each table, its title and the page number on which it appears in the text. Tables are used to display numbers or facts in a way which allows the reader to glean the requisite information as easily as possible. They are also used to list non numeric data, often but not exclusively, for clear comparison. Tables should be numbered consecutively within the Dissertation and the number and title should be displayed clearly at the top of the table while the source(s) of the data, where necessary, should be given at the bottom of the table. The table should be accompanied by a verbal summary in the text which explains and reinforces the points made in the table and is positioned close enough to the table to allow the reader to check his/her understanding of each point made.

 

LIST OF FIGURES

 

This should contain the number of each figure, its title and the page number on which it appears in the text. Figures may be pie charts, bar charts, histograms, scatter charts, diagrams, maps or photographs. As with tables they should be numbered consecutively through the text and have the number and title clearly displayed at the top of the figure and source at the bottom. Again, they should be integrated as much as possible with the text, that is placed near to the relevant passage and referred to in the text itself. All figures should be of a good reprographic standard. 

 

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH

 

The introduction should set the scene and be used as a guide to the finished structure of the Dissertation. It should outline the chosen topic, demonstrate why the topic is interesting and important, identify the nature and aims or hypotheses of the research, and show how the approach taken in the study is an advance on previous work. One of the criteria for success is the relationship between a student’s ability to define a research question and then to answer it. The findings at the end may be useful and well-supported, but if they do not answer the question which the examiner thought was being taken on at the beginning, then the Dissertation may not be rated highly.

 

In order to guide a reader through the argument as clearly as possible, it is usual in the introduction to summarise in turn the purpose and content of each chapter briefly. A diagram which shows the relationships of the principal phases of the research and the form of the main argument can be useful to map out the territory and the route before the reader begins. In summary the introduction will set the context of the study. It answers questions such as: why do this study? Why now? Why me? Why there?  It should seek to answer other questions as follows:-

 

       -      Is there a problem?

       -      What is it?

       -      Why does it need to be solved?

       -      What is your hypothesis? (if appropriate).

       -      Who will benefit from your investigations?

       -      In what sense will they benefit?

       -      In what sense will my contributions add to what is already known?

 

Also in the introduction it is a good idea to state, in general terms, how you are going to solve the problem, eg. collect data, analyse data. i.e. What is my data collection strategy? By what methods? eg., a case study approach. What are the constraints or limitations of the study? A good way to end the introduction is to state the Dissertation objectives and/or aims. However, a statement of the aims and/or objectives could be placed at the end of the literature review depending on the type of research undertaken and after consultation with your supervisor.

LITERATURE REVIEW

This is a review of what is already known and a review of the main themes or issues. It considers past research and studies and articles from relevant journals, books, newspapers, etc. It is a summary of what other people have written and published around the theme of your research. It is very important that you acknowledge the authorship of other people’s work using the Harvard system of referencing. Please read the recommended E books and text books in the recommended reading to understand what a literature review is and how to structure it.

 

METHODOLOGY

 

This section explains the Research framework: What I did. How did I do it? Why did I do it that way?

This is a description and evaluation of the methods, techniques and procedures used in the investigation. It describes the scope and aims of the Dissertation in some detail. It is also very important that you JUSTIFY the methods used. To obtain ethical approval you will also be required to justify your methods

 

Having selected your research method(s) you should also describe how you implemented the methods(s) and identified the sampling frame, eg. for a questionnaire you may initially use a structured interview to identify issues and to draw up a pilot questionnaire which can be refined before being used in the actual survey. Is it a postal questionnaire, a self-completion questionnaire, or whatever? Why? In addition, you need to identify at this stage the statistical techniques you will use for the analysis of the data. This will help you to identify the types and levels as well as the amount of data you will need to collect, eg. qualitative or quantitative data, and nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio levels of data. Sampling is a key area and the selection of appropriate samples must be discussed and agreed with individual supervisors. Incorrect selection of samples can lead to the whole project being flawed.

 

At this point it is important to identify the difference between the two main types of research, quantitative research and qualitative research.