document forms the Final Dissertation brief

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Dissertation Brief / Checklist

This document forms the Final Dissertation brief. It draws on all material already presented, e.g. the module handbook and lecture materials. As such, it does not present any new information, however, it pulls it all together into one brief to help you check you are fully responding to the marking criteria / meeting our module’s learning outcomes. The brief is presented as a checklist in large part, and it is recommended you go through your own work and tick the checklist to ensure all criteria are met.

Please note, the final word count must be between 12,000 (+/-10 %). Please note you will be penalised if your final word count (excluding references and appendices) is +/- this final word count.

Title Cover Page

• Is your title succinct?
• Does it clearly communicate what your dissertation is about?
• Is your title provided in a 24pt font or above?
• Is your name and initials, if relevant, and student number provided?
• Have you stated: Dissertation submitted in part requirement for the award of [e.g. MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND (your degree title)]
• Have you provided month and year of submission, i.e. December 2019?
• Have you stated your supervisor, i.e. Supervised by: (Name of Supervisor)

Acknowledgements

• Do you want to acknowledge anyone who supported you during your dissertation? NB. This is optional.
• If you choose to provide acknowledgements, title this section as Acknowledgements and place between Abstract and Table of Contents.

Table of Contents

• Are all your main headings and subheadings included?
• Have you provided page numbers for each of the above?
• Have you included your appendices as part of your contents?

List of Tables

• Are all your table numbers and titles included?
• Have you provided page numbers for each table?
• In the main body have you placed the table title above the table?

List of Figures

• Are all your figure numbers and titles included?
• Have you provided page numbers for each figure?
• In the main body have you placed the figure title below the figure?

List of Abbreviations

• Does your dissertation require a list of abbreviations? If so, provide a list of abbreviations.
• You do not require definitions of abbreviations that are pervasive in the literature, based on the assumption that most readers will already be aware of their meaning.

Glossary of Terms

• Does your dissertation require a glossary of terms? If so, provide a glossary of terms table, i.e. Word in left column, Definition in right column.
• You do not require a glossary of terms that are pervasive in the literature, based on the assumption that most readers will already be aware of their meaning.

1.0 Introduction

• Does it clearly state your research question (optional), the overall aim of your dissertation and your specific research objectives?
• Have you expressed the overall aim of your dissertation in no more than 3 sentences?
• Does your introduction briefly explain the background to your dissertation?
• Have you fully justified and cited references to communicate the importance of your research?
• Did you outline the structure of your dissertation at the end of your introduction?
• Optional: If relevant and deemed essential to your thesis, have you provided very brief background information to discussed organisation (as mentioned, if relevant). If so, ensure it contains very brief, highly relevant and essential information only.

2.0 Literature Review

• Have you introduced your literature review with a clearly stated overall aim(s)?
• Does your literature review’s introduction clearly delineate the parameters of your review and importantly why?
• Does your review’s introduction provide a succinct indication of the flow, i.e. the structure of the review? NB: Parameters and Flow can be combined.
• Does your main chapter body critically review key and recent academic journal articles on the area of theory you are investigating?
• Have you kept industry sources to a minimum?
• Are all citations (as with every chapter) cited according to Harvard Referencing System?
• Have you explained and critiqued what others have written on the subject? Have you included the main contributors to your research area?
• Have you critically reviewed the key concepts, ideas, trends, arguments in your research area?
• Is your Literature Review clearly organised into relevant themes?
• Have you constructed strong arguments, i.e. they are supported in that you have used evidence that is convincing and objective, and supports your claims; your arguments are balanced, i.e. the argument considers all the different perspectives, and comes to a reasonable conclusion based on those perspectives; and is logical, i.e. the argument is clearly and consistently reasoned.
• Have you provided sufficient depth and breadth to your literature review?
• Have you provided numbered sections (and sub-sections) to structure your chapter? Are they numbered appropriately, i.e. 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.2, etc.?
• Does each section clearly address a distinct topic?
• Is each section highly relevant to your research topic?
• Have you used transitions to wrap up the idea from a previous section and introduced the idea that is to follow in the next section?
• Have you used effective signposting tactics?
• Importantly, have you wrapped up your literature review with a conclusion? Every dissertation is unique, but could include a summary of major agreements and disagreements; a summary of general conclusions that are being drawn; a summary of where your thesis sits in the literature; if relevant, identified research gaps.
• Have you updated your literature review since you received feedback from your preliminary submission? You must show that you responded to this feedback.

3.0 Methodology

• Have you succinctly introduced this chapter with a clear purpose and overview of chapter structure in 2 or 3 short paragraphs?
• Have you clearly stated your overall research question (optional) and aim?
• Have you restated and justified each of your specific research objectives? NB. Justification should include how each objective will help answer your research question and/or achieve overall aim.
• Philosophy: Have you provided a brief overview of key research paradigms, e.g. positivism, critical realism and interpretivism, and fully justified which research philosophy your study will adopt?
• Research approach: Have you stated/justified your choice of approach i.e. deduction, induction, abduction, retroduction. NB: Philosophy and approach can be around half a page if communicated succinctly.
• Methodological choice: Have you stated and justified your methodological choice, e.g. quantitative, qualitative; mono, mixed, multi?
• Research strategy: Have you stated and fully justified your research strategy, e.g. survey, experiment, (social media) content analysis, observation (ethnography/netnography), in-depth interviews etc.
• Time horizon: Have you stated the time horizon of your study?, e.g. is it cross-sectional or longitudinal; is it simultaneous or sequential? Have you stated the dates/date range you implemented your research strategy?
• Techniques and Procedures: Have you fully described your research techniques and procedures to a level that would allow replication?
• Have you discussed how your questionnaire/interview questions were developed, and the rationale/purpose behind each question?
• Have you stated your population and sampling frame?
• Have you described your sample, e.g. demographics, and sample number? NB. This is not a result and should be described here as demonstrated in research papers.
• Have you stated/justified your data analysis techniques and procedures?
• Have you wrapped up this chapter with a few sentences to help you transition to the next chapter?
• Have you provided numbered sections (and sub-sections) to structure your chapter? Are they numbered appropriately, i.e. 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2, etc.?

4.0 Results & Discussion

• Does it provide a very brief introductory overview/flow/structure of chapter?
• Is it structured throughout in a highly logical order?
• Does it demonstrate depth of analysis and your ability to comment critically / discuss the data you have collected?
• Have you used graphs, tables, charts or emergent themes, as relevant to your research, in a constructive, effective manner?
• If quantitative, have you undertaken relevant statistical analyses to support research claims? If qualitative, have you used quotes to support key findings?
• Have you critically reflected on the extent your research findings answer your research question and achieve dissertation aim and research objectives?
• Have you commented on how well your analysis has answered those questions or solved those problems?
• Have you discussed your findings in the light of what you discovered in your literature review? Did your research confirm the literature? Contradict it? Enhance it?
• Have you wrapped up this chapter with a few sentences to help you transition to next chapter?
• Have you provided numbered sections (and sub-sections) to structure your chapter? Are they numbered appropriately, i.e. 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.2, etc.?

6.0 Conclusions (& Recommendations)

• Have you highlighted the key issues to emerge from your dissertation and, in particular, any new implications, revisions or minor modification of the original concepts?
• Have you briefly and selectively stated whether you accomplished your aims and how?
• Have you discussed the limitations of your research and indicated areas for further research?
• If appropriate, have you made recommendations in light of your aims and objectives? If so, ensure they logically follow on from your conclusions.
• Have you provided numbered sections (and sub-sections) to structure your chapter? Are they numbered appropriately, i.e. 5.1, 5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.2, etc.?

• Is your Dissertation overall word count 12,000 (+/- 10%), excluding TOC, TOT, TOF, References and Appendices?

• Is it formatted according the module handbook guidelines, e.g. 1.5 line spacing.

7.0 Personal Reflection

• Have you made sure your reflection is between 600-800 words in length?
• Did you make sure you are have properly reflected on your learning and evaluated the application of said learning?
• Have you made sure that your text is evaluative and self-critical as well as reflective?

References

• Have you referenced every reference source you cited in dissertation according to Harvard Referencing System?
• Have you double checked every reference cited in dissertation is listed under References?
• Are references presented in an alphabetical order?

Bibliography (if relevant)

• Have you referenced those resources that you did not cite in the main body of your dissertation, e.g. a website?
• Have you referenced every source according to Harvard Referencing System?
• Are bibliography sources presented in an alphabetical order?

Appendices

Please ensure you have included the following appendices at the back of your dissertation.

• Appendix 1: record sheet for three supervisor record meetings
• Appendix 2: research ethics approval form – signed
• Appendix 3: Topic Agreement Form – signed
• Appendix 4: Copy(ies) of research instruments

Please Note: You must keep all data collected and materials in a file – you may be invited at any time to submit this separately.

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