In order to obtain a Masters degree you must prepare, submit, and pass a dissertation. Apart from this regulation requirement there are a number of reasons why the dissertation is a very important part of your studies. Perhaps a more attractive way of stating this is to say that it allows you an opportunity to demonstrate, at an advanced level, several important intellectual and practical skills. These skills are valued by employers and as the dissertation is your own work it is proof that you have mastered them. In fact, sometimes your dissertation will help you to obtain an interview or find the position you want.
The dissertation is not a taught component/section and this means that the research and writing up of your findings is very much an individual effort that allows you to demonstrate both organisational and time management skills. You will have further honed your research skills and techniques and deepened your understanding of at least one major area of business and/or business related areas. Other high level skills which will be developed and improved include evaluation, synthesis, and critical thinking. Finally, a well-written dissertation enables you to demonstrate communication and presentation skills.
When you submit the copy of your dissertation you may be asked to submit, either on disk, using Word, or in manuscript, your working papers which have formed the basis of your dissertation; for example, copies of articles, working notes and summaries, completed questionnaires and tapes or notes of interviews. These may provide the basis for a viva voce should that be necessary. These will be returned to you after the assessment process is complete.
The dissertation must be prefaced by an abstract. This is not an introduction but a summary which outlines the plan and argument of the dissertation. It should include brief details of the methodology employed. The abstract should not be longer than 300 to 400 words (one page). It should be included immediately after the title page and it will be examined as part of the dissertation.
Table of Contents
An outline of the whole project in list form, setting out the order of the sections, with page numbers. It is conventional to number the preliminary pages (abstract, table of contents) with lower case Roman numerals (i.e. (i), (ii), (iii) etc.) and the main text pages (starting with the first chapter) in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) as shown below.
Contents Page
List of Tables i
List of Figures ii
List of Abbreviations iii
Acknowledgements iv
Chapter 1 (Title) 1
1.1 (First Section heading)
1.2 (Second etc.)
1.3 (Third)
List of tables and figures
You can present a list at the beginning of your dissertation/ project of the tables and figures you have included.
Forms of Dissertation
The final form your dissertation takes will depend on the topic and the approach you take for the presentation of the data. Two examples are:
Example A
Chapter 1 – Introduction An explanation as to what the Dissertation is all about and why it is important. The research questions or hypotheses.
Chapter 2 – Literature Review A critical analysis of what other researchers have said and where your topic fits in. The theoretical framework.
Chapter 3 – Methodology Why certain data was collected and how it was collected and analysed.
Chapter 4 – Results A presentation of your research results.
Chapter 5 – Analysis and Discussion Analysis of your results showing the contribution to knowledge you have made and acknowledgement of any weaknesses/limitations in your work.
Chapter 6 – Conclusions/Recommendations A description of the main lessons to be learned from the study and what future research could be carried out.
Chapter 7 – References and Bibliography References are a detailed list of sources from which information has been obtained and which has been cited in the text. The bibliography is a detailed list of other sources you have used but not cited.
Appendices – Detailed data referred to but not shown elsewhere.
Do remember that clear writing makes a good impression. If your grammar is poor, sentence construction clumsy, and spelling bad, then your communication with the reader will also be affected. You will not be penalised for poor English unless it is so bad that the meaning of what you have written cannot be understood.
You are required to use the following format:
- Use A4 size paper only.
- Type 1.5 or doublespaced. (You may want to use single spacing for indented quotes, footnote materials and the bibliography).
- Use one side of paper only.
- Margins should be approximately:
- 3 cms on left hand side of page to allow for binding.
- At least 1 cm on the right hand side
- 3 cms top and
- Pages should be numbered in a single sequence from the contents page onwards.
- Short quotations can run in the text within single quotation marks (double quotation marks reserved for quotations within quotations). Quotations longer than about 30 words should be set in from the side of the page (normally the indent should be more than the paragraph indent).
- Always write in complete sentences. Do not resort to note form.
- Do not use abbreviations in the text unless they are for the organisations documents etc which are commonly initialised or referred to by acronyms eg. LIC
- All abbreviations must be explained when they first appear and included in the front of the document following the contents page and the list of tables and figures.
Example B
You may wish to elect to write a descriptive type of dissertation that looks for patterns, ideas and hypotheses. If you do the quality of the dissertation will depend on:
- How thoroughly the issues are covered.
- How closely the facts relate to the original research question.
- Whether the data collected provides valuable and new information that is a contribution to knowledge.
- Whether the research could be built upon by future writers.
- The extent to which creativity has been used in building the narrative.
Your Dissertation assessment criteria
The criteria for assessing your dissertation are shown below. They are:
Introduction – Is the abstract adequate? Is there a clear purpose and rationale for the study? Clear set of objectives / research questions?
Research Design & Methodology – Was research design and methodology discussed? Was the approach appropriate?
Use of Literature / Sources – Was the range suitable and adequate? Has a critical review of the literature been adopted? Has the student made a ‘link’ between existing literature and their own research?
Results, analysis and interpretation of data – Has the data been accurately presented and analysed or are the findings merely a description? Appropriate theory applied? Interpretation – Has the student made reasoned judgements on their findings?
Conclusion & recommendations – Are conclusions reasoned? Do they correspond with the objective(s) of the dissertation? Has the student reflected on the extent they have achieved their objectives? Was limitations and future research discussed?
Presentation – structure & language, Referencing (there are many referencing styles followed by the universities all over the world like Harvard Style, APA, OSCOLA and MLA etc. whichever style is preferred by your university, you must use it consistently throughout your dissertation) correctly applied, appropriate use of tables/diagrams.
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