1. Introduction
The assessment for the dissertation makes a significant contribution to your final honours degree mark as it is a double module and is therefore of major significance in determining your degree classification. You will spend a considerable amount of time on your dissertation and you should therefore pursue a topic in which you are especially interested. The topic chosen must relate to Business Studies and whilst it is not restricted to the set of subjects undertaken in your degree studies, it could involve, for example, the examination of a business problem or situation, it must provide an opportunity to bring to bear upon it the studies and subject areas covered in the course.
The dissertation is a communication of a piece of academic work which demonstrates, within the context of existing knowledge, an understanding of a particular problem together with evidence of original, critical and analytical thinking. The investigative work will probably, but not necessarily, include the collection of a considerable amount of data, both primary and secondary. The data will be analysed and used to support a logically structured argument. The work you do must be original; i.e. it must not repeat previous work done by you or by others. The work must be analytical in nature and the examiners will be looking for evidence of analytical skills in the written documentation and for evidence of how your work fits into a wider academic perspective.
2. The Research Process
2.1 Dissertation Supervision
The dissertations are co-ordinated by the Dissertation Co-ordinator who will suggest possible areas of study and who will nominate a Dissertation Supervisor who will be assigned to each student for the period of the dissertation.
2.2 Choice of Topic
By the end of the summer term you should select an area of study which you wish to pursue for your dissertation and as part of the Research Methods module you will have submitted a detailed research proposal and been graded on it. You must adhere to this proposal unless you receive the express consent of your dissertation supervisor to alter or amend it. If as a student you are entering the third year directly then you will be required to submit an outline of your research ideas. This outline should include:
Title - a working title should be submitted which clearly indicates the content of the dissertation.
Aims - an overall statement of the nature of the original research.
Objectives - the specific questions you will expect to answer in your dissertation. You may wish to indicate how these questions break down into sub-questions.
Methodology - identification of the ways you will operationalise your objectives.
This outline should be approximately 600 words long.
2.3 Dissertation Timetable
It is essential that you manage your time well in writing a dissertation as it can pass at an alarming pace. It is particularly important that you follow some form of timetable so that you can set milestones by which you and your supervisor can assess your progress. Certain of these milestones are termed key stages and must be met. Failure to meet a key stage will result in the loss of marks (see marking scheme). You must ensure that you allow enough time to write up the dissertation and also to get it typed or word-processed and bound by the submission date, the first day of the summer term.
The following is a suggested timetable, you may deviate from this but you should then substitute one of your own and agree it with your supervisor. You may not, however, deviate from the key stage elements within this timetable:
MONTH DEADLINES OTHER WORK
June Title and Outline General Reading
September/October/ Write draft chapter on theory Focus reading; letters, requests,
November and literature arrangements for visits etc.
December KEY STAGE Make visits, collect data, Hand in literature review Write up fieldwork notes, interview
by Monday of last week of notes etc.
autumn term
Complete fieldwork
January/February Write first clean draft Maps, diagrams, typing arrangements
March KEY STAGE
Provide supervisor with
Draft of dissertation two weeks
Prior to Easter vacation.
Hand dissertation to typist/
Or do it yourself
BUT
correct first draft
correct second draft
final check
Throughout the year you should regularly meet with your supervisor so that he/she may monitor your progress and advise you. Meetings with your supervisor should be arranged to suit your mutual convenience. You should observe the normal courtesies with regard to attending appointments promptly or advising the supervisor of any changes you wish to make.
You are required to acknowledge that at least three of these meetings have taken place by signing a declaration to this effect. This is set out at the end of this booklet.
2.4 Literature Survey
Before you begin your investigation you should check systematically through the literature relating to your subject area to see what has already been published. This will indicate current trends in your chosen area and ensure that your work is original and not a duplication of someone else's work. Consider the scope of the literature you wish to search carefully. Use textbooks, journals and abstracts to get an overview of your subject. A bibliography of your subject may already have been published. The site librarian will show you how to undertake this work. The library staff of the Institute have always been extremely supportive to students undertaking dissertations and you must not abuse their good nature by making unreasonable demands.
It is particularly important that you use the major abstract journals. Abstracts provide an index to all major journals in their subject area. Many abstracts contain not only the full details of where the article can be found but also a summary of it.
You can find a list of all the articles quoting a particular key article in the Citations Indexes. Ask the librarian for help on this.
Books, particularly recently published books, in your subject area can be particularly valuable. The librarian can help you trace books on particular subjects. M.Phil. and Ph.D. theses are listed in the Index of Theses and can usually be borrowed through the Inter-Library Loans service.
Ongoing research in your field can be traced through "Current Research in Britain" available in the reference section of the library.
You may be able to do part of your literature search using the CD-ROM based database systems in the library or via on-line searches. You will be using keywords to find references and must prepare a list of search terms and synonyms in advance. On-line searching is extremely expensive and accesses the same information as printed abstracts which you should have searched first.
Having done your initial literature survey you are ready to finalise the precise nature of your investigation and the specific objectives knowing the background of your chosen area of study. Update your literature study at intervals throughout your research and particularly before you write up the final dissertation to ensure that you keep track of what is happening in your area.
2.5 Aims and Objectives
This will be contained in your original outline of the dissertation though it may need amendment as the work proceeds. It is important to bear these aims and objectives in mind throughout the research period so that you can ascertain whether or not they are being attained. The aims and objectives of the dissertation need, of course, to be clearly expressed within the dissertation itself.
2.6 Methodology
The objectives need to be operationalised and this process is described in your Methodology section explaining how you decided to answer the questions set in your objectives. There may be only one way that you can achieve some objectives, e.g. by observation, by a structured interview or by a questionnaire and therefore you should describe this method. For other objectives there may be several ways in which you could achieve them. You should describe the decision making process and explain why you selected your chosen path. You may use several different research methods to achieve your objectives.
Having selected your research method(s) you should describe how you implemented the method(s) and identified the sampling frame, e.g. for a questionnaire structured interview to identify issues, drawing up of pilot questionnaire and refinement of the final version before completion. Is it a postal questionnaire, a self-completion questionnaire or whatever?
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 amount of data you will need to collect. You can get lots of clues about how data is analysed from your literature survey.
2.7 Data Collection
Collecting the data is a time consuming process. The quality of the data you collect will determine the quality of your resultant argument.
2.8 Data Analysis
The data will have to be analysed and this will require you to use a general-purpose statistical package such as MINITAB or even a spreadsheet package. Check that you understand how you will carry out the analysis before you embark on data collection. If you are in any doubt consult your dissertation supervisor.
3. Writing Up Your Dissertation
3.1 Layout of the Dissertation
The dissertation is a communications exercise and you should pay particular attention to ensuring that you communicate to the reader in an effective way. As part of the exercise you are required to present your dissertation in a standard manner and in a particular number of words, in this case approximately 10,000. If you wish to present your work in a different format to a third party for some reason, e.g. as a management report/executive summary, then you must do this separately and not allow yourself to be dissuaded from the following guidance given in this documentation.
The dissertation should be in the following format:
Title Page
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Contents Page
List of Tables and Figures
Introduction
Secondary Information - the literature survey
Primary Information - the collection of evidence or data (if undertaken)
Analysis
Conclusion
Appendices(if required)
References
Each section (chapter) should begin on a separate page.
3.2 Title Page
This has to be produced according to a standard format - details will be supplied to you at a later date. The final title must, however, be a concise and accurate description of the content of the dissertation.
e.g. An Evaluation of Japanese Management Techniques as Applied in Wales.
It should be noted that the title need not necessarily be the phrased in exactly the same language as the research proposal. Indeed it is unlikely to be so.
3.3 Abstract
An accurate summary, usually under one page in length. It should include the aims and objectives, the scope of the work, the organisation and content of the dissertation, methods of investigation and criteria used, the main findings and conclusions reached. The aim is to give the reader an understanding of the nature of the dissertation. The abstract should be written in the past tense and in the third person passive,
e.g. ...consequently a questionnaire was conducted. This concluded that...
3.4 Acknowledgements
All people who have helped either in the research or writing up the dissertation must be acknowledged, e.g. the librarian, supervisor, typist, external assistance, etc.
3.5 Contents
This should be a tabulated list showing each section (chapter) of the dissertation and the page number at which that section begins. If the sections are sub-divided then a numbered entry for each sub-section should also appear in the contents list.
1. Introduction
2. Management Theories
2.1 General Theories of Management
2.2 Japanese Theories and Practice
3. Japanese Practice in Wales
4. Analysis
5. Conclusions/Recommendations
3.6 List of Tables and Figures
This should contain the number of each Table/Figure, its title and the page number on which it appears in the text.
Tables used to display numbers in a way, which allows the reader to glean the requisite information as easily as possible. Tables should be numbered consecutively within the document and the number and title should be displayed clearly at the top of the table. The table should be accompanied by a verbal summary in the text which 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.
Figures these may be pie charts, bar charts, histograms, scatter charts, diagrams, maps or photographs. As for tables they should be numbered consecutively through the text and have the number and title clearly displayed at the top of the figure. Again, they should be accompanied by a verbal summary reinforcing the main points made. All figures should be of a good reprographic standard.
3.7 Introduction
This should set the scene. It should clearly set out the aims and objectives of the dissertation, your hypothesis, so that the reader can see clearly whether this has been attained. You may wish to include in the introduction a sub-section on your methodology or if it is to be rather complex a separate section could be devoted to it. Wherever it occurs it should be a concise description of the operationalisation of your objectives i.e. how you decided to answer each objective. Evidence of reasoned choice of research methodology should be made. Description of how you implemented that methodology selected your sampling frame collected the data and analysed the data together with details of statistical testing.
3.8 Secondary Information
There should be a satisfactory survey of any literature, which may cast light upon the dissertation and its objectives. This should be undertaken before any other work such as data collection. Successful completion of this is a key stage in the dissertation process.
3.9 Primary Information
There should be some collection of evidence or data or some special consideration about the particular problem or situation under investigation.
3.10 Analysis
The problem or situation should be analysed in the light of the background reading and literature survey together with any new evidence or data collected. Any limitations of the data and/or analysis should be clearly shown and you may identify how your methodology or data could have been improved e.g. collecting more data, tightening the sample frame.