Guidelines for Individual Dissertation

What am I required to do in this assignment?

You are required to produce an individual dissertation based on your own research. This must be a fully referenced, researched and academically valid and reliable (Specialist Project) dissertation .

The dissertation must develop the ideas from your proposal based on your further research, supervisor feedback and discussions. You cannot resubmit previously submitted work.

Detailed guidance on each section will be given week by week in class. The work must be your own and you must use the general structure to each section detailed within the Masterclass teaching.

Layout of the final Report (the dissertation)

The word count of the final report should be 8,000 words (+/- 10%). The layout of most projects should follow a standard structure:

University header page (BREO template provided)

·The name of the department and University
·Any statements of confidentiality (page ii).
·The stated aims and objectives
·What it looked at (the business problems)
·How it looked at it (research methods, concepts, models)
·What was found
·The limitations of the research
·What conclusions can be drawn, and recommendations made.

·The detailed aims and objectives
·Identification of the business problem
·What the report intends to achieve
·The conceptual/theoretical framework to be used
·Any definition of terms (if no Glossary)
·The general methodology to be used in the investigation
·Background history, if necessary

Please note this should be reflective not descriptive

Your reflection must be based on the process of your report development; what you have learned, your ability to relate theory to practice. How your skills have developed, your ability to relate the dissertation learning to your future career path.

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

Submit your work through BREO by the deadline required

·To have received ethics committee approval
·Demonstrate sufficient understanding of the process of carrying out a research project by completing all the chapters of the dissertation  
·Demonstrate appropriate understanding of your chosen project evidenced by literature review, data analysis and discussion
·Demonstrate the ability to develop, plan and implement an academically valid and reliable project by designing a robust research methodology and then carrying out and reporting on the research
·Evidence critical reasoning using Harvard style of referencing

Note (1): All students must have submitted, and had approved, an ethics form before they can start research. Research carried out / submitted without ethics approval will not be marked.  

Note (2): Turnitin will be used for all submissions to check for plagiarism. We also reserve the right to initiate a viva voce examination if we have concerns regarding the originality of your submission. You need to be available for a viva if called following the submission of your work. Non-attendance counts as non-submission.

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

We will be filling this section in together in class on week 5: make sure you have downloaded/printed out the Assignment Brief and bring it to the session with you.

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?
The unit is based on independent study, requiring you to be responsible for the management and direction of the research, project supervisors are assigned to oversee and guide you through the process. The proposed topic is agreed by yourself and respective supervisors and should relate to a specific Business Management issue as well as being of interest to you.

The supervisor-supervisee relationship is managed by you, and you are provided with the opportunity for 4-hour individual contact with your supervisor over the dissertation process. You drive the project with the supervisor acting as a support mechanism.
A one-hour master class is provided via the local tutor that addresses issues that are relevant to all students. Broadly topics covered may include:

Identifying topics
Literature Review
Academic Writing
Research Design
Qualitative data analysis
Quantitative Data Analysis

How will my assignment be marked?

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit.