Masters Dissertation Writing and Assessment Criteria

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Masters Dissertation Writing and Assessment Criteria

Contents

The instructions and advice here generally apply to both full time and part time students. Please note the deadlines for full time and part time students are different, and all students should agree a plan of work and key dates with their supervisor.

1. Objectives of the dissertation………………………………………………………………………… 3
2. Assessment criteria…………………………………………………………………………………………. 4

Masters Dissertation assessment criteria……………………………………………………. 6

3. Planning your work……………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Research Proposal………………………………………………………………………………………… 10

4. Supervision…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
5. Choosing a topic and dissertation title………………………………………………………. 15
6. Ethical approval and risk assessment…………………………………………………………. 18

Using (ERGO) Ethics Research Governance Online……………………………………. 21

7. Structuring your dissertation………………………………………………………………………. 27

The introduction chapter…………………………………………………………………………….. 27

The main body of your dissertation…………………………………………………………… 28

Type (a) Literature based (concept clarification and development)……….. 28

Type (b) Empirical research (investigations)……………………………………………… 29

Type (c) Applications (Action Research)…………………………………………………….. 33

A useful chapter structure for action research dissertations…………………. 33

The ‘Conclusions’ chapter…………………………………………………………………………… 34

8. Presentation…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 34

Avoiding breaches of academic integrity…………………………………………………… 35

References……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 38

Length of the dissertation…………………………………………………………………………… 39

Appendices and the use of background/basic material………………………….. 39

Page layout……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 41

Dissertation Format……………………………………………………………………………………… 42

Binding…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 43

9. Submitting your dissertation……………………………………………………………………….. 43

Late Submission……………………………………………………………………………………………. 44

10. Results…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 45
11. Recommended reading…………………………………………………………………………………. 45

Appendix One – Suggested Key Dates and Process for Dissertation: full time students…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 47

Appendix Two  Dissertation Schedule Template………………………………………. 48

Appendix Three – Ethical Guidelines for Research………………………………….. 49

Appendix Four – Research Proposal…………………………………………………………… 51

Appendix Five – Example Title Page…………………………………………………………… 53

Appendix Six – PGT Dissertation Resources (2016)………………………………….. 54

1. Objectives of the dissertation

The dissertation involves an extended, independent investigation of a topic of your own choosing and the preparation of a 15,000 word dissertation describing your work.

Preparation of a dissertation requires you to:

• Identify a suitable topic for study;
• Design and undertake an appropriate investigation strategy;
• Identify and access useful sources of information;
• Ensure that you have ethical approval if appropriate;
• Ensure that you undertake a risk assessment;
• Plan and manage an appropriate schedule of work;
• Liaise with your supervisor;
• Write a well-presented

Essentially, the dissertation is a test of your ability to create, on your own initiative, a text which demonstrates a Masters level understanding of a particular issue. You will be assigned a supervisor to advise you on how to approach the dissertation work, but it is your responsibility to manage and undertake the necessary work independently.

2. Assessment criteria

In your dissertation you should draw on concepts, techniques and frameworks from your previous studies to:

• State clear purpose and objectives for your research. You will need to clearly state what you are going to do (your aim) and how you are going to do it (your objectives). Excellent dissertations should also provide a convincing argument that justifies why your research is important!
• Review and discuss appropriate and relevant literature. You will need to show that you have identified and critically analysed the most important literature to develop your understanding of your topic and justify your
• Select and implement an appropriate research methodology. You will need to justify why you have chosen your research method (e.g. questionnaire survey, case study, semi-structured interview etc.) and demonstrate that you have applied the method to avoid any bias in the data you
• Collect and analyse primary and/ or secondary research data that adds to knowledge about your chosen research
• Develop findings and conclusions that reflect what you have found from your analysis, identify any limitations or areas for further study and relate your findings to central themes and Excellent conclusions sections should demonstrate a high level of critical reflection, and integrate your own arguments justified by the literature and the data you have collected.
• Present your dissertation using clearly-written academic English, appropriate figures and illustrations, and accurate referencing (see section 8 for detail on how to present your dissertation).
• Structure your dissertation in a logical and coherent way using appropriate chapter headings and

Dissertations will be assessed according to the general characteristics set out in the following table.

Masters Dissertation assessment criteria

Not all criteria may apply to all types of dissertation. And the criteria may have different weightings, depending on type.

3. Structuring your dissertation

A key feature of any dissertation is the way in which it is structured or organised. Structure is important because it dictates the topics discussed and the order in which they are discussed. A good structure can considerably enhance the finished quality of a dissertation; a poor structure usually means a poor dissertation regardless of the quantity and quality of the work that went into writing it. Characteristics of good dissertation structure include:

• The order of discussion is natural and logical to any
• The order and nature of discussion are readily apparent from the contents page, which shows chapter titles and major sub-headings that are clearly
• Headings and sub-headings are informative, and reflect accurately and concisely the discussion they
• Discussion and analysis develops progressively through the In many cases a “hierarchical” structure is appropriate, with early chapters giving a general overview and later chapters giving a more detailed discussion of specific topics.
• Repetition of points is minimal. The existence of repetition is invariably a sign of poor

The introduction chapter

All dissertations should have an effective introduction whatever form the dissertation work takes (literature review, empirical investigation, an application etc.). An introduction could usefully include the following:

• A brief explanation of the nature and significance of the dissertation topic, and the problems or issues implicit in the dissertation title. Some contextual statistics/general information may be useful

• What your interest/motivation for working on this topic is (for example, relevant previous work experience, or personal links with a company or issue).
• The objectives of your
• An outline of the approach/methodology you have
• An overview of the line of argument your dissertation will follow (not simply a list of what each chapter contains).

The main body of your dissertation

The structure of your dissertation is likely to vary depending on whether your dissertation is primarily (a) literature based, (b) empirical research, (c) an application of theory (or concept). Type (b) dissertations also involve type (a) work, and type (c) dissertations involve both type (a) and type (b) work.

Type (a) Literature based (concept clarification and development)

Dissertations are expected to involve some personal contribution by the student. In empirically based dissertations this presents no difficulty, but where reviews of the literature are involved the need for significant personal contribution is easily forgotten. When reviewing literature, or indeed whenever referring to literature, you should critically analyse the literature. Always be critical of what you read. Always try to comment on the relevance, value, shortcomings or advantages (as appropriate) of cited references. Unless you attempt some individual assessment of cited literature, your efforts at citing the literature will attract minimal marks.

A dissertation based entirely on a review of literature is not an easy option. It generally requires in-depth study of a particular body of literature, intelligent summarising of key aspects, critical reflection on research, and an attempt at synthesis and concept development in the chosen area. The nature of chapters will be highly dependent on the subject being studied. It is usually best to use chapter headings, which reflect themes within the selected topic rather than the type of literature (e.g. text books, papers, empirical work, theoretical studies, websites, etc.).

In general, introductory material covered in your degree programme modules should be summarised only briefly to allow attention to be focused on more advance/deeper treatment of the topic (see also notes on presentation later).

Type (b) Empirical research (investigations)

Empirical research usually involves some form of systematic data collection, subsequent analysis, followed by discussion of findings and how this relates to the literature.

Dissertations involving the collection and/or processing of data require careful planning given the time available, to: (a) identify data required; (b) check the availability of data; (c) obtain data; (d) analyse data.

Do not be too ambitious in what you hope to achieve. Such dissertations are often very interesting and very successful, but problems collecting and analysing data can easily restrict the scope of project work. Supervisors are aware of these potential difficulties and will advise you.

Data can take many forms. It may be data that you originate yourself through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups or direct observation of live processes. Case studies or other dissertations involving contact and interviews with organisation managers require careful preparation. Consult with your supervisor at an early stage about contacting organisations or requesting information from organisation representatives.

A particular question, which must be considered early in this type of dissertation, is ‘Who are you going to ask?’ A dissertation on the marketing strategy of say a major retail chain maybe interesting, but unless you have access to key managers in the organisation, you are unlikely to be able to speak to people who have the answers. Also you will need to consider why people should give their time to answer your questions and whether they are prepared to give you information in terms of commercial security.

Alternatively, you may want to make use of data compiled by other people, such as company accounts, data sets, reports, or published surveys. In the latter case you will usually be extracting specifically selected data items for your work.

If your dissertation requires you to analyse numerical (quantitative) data then you will need to learn how to handle statistics. Microsoft Excel is a good choice for simple analyses, but in some cases you will need to use a more sophisticated program such as Minitab or SPSS, all of which are freely available on the University network. You will need to use the help files, books and websites and advice from yoursupervisorandfellowstudentstolearntousetheseprograms,unlessyouare alreadyfamiliarwiththeiroperation.

In terms of qualitative data, analysis needs to be no less thorough than for quantitative data and although there are computer programmes to assist in this analysis (NVivo) it is usually quicker to do this manually. However rigour is still needed and data analysis can take far longer than statistical techniques. For example interviews will need transcribing and the transcripts coded using criteria for analysis you have devised and then relevant quotes extracted to form the basis of your discussion.

Whatever, the source of your data, you will need to explain and justify, thoroughly and in detail, exactly what specifically selected data has been extracted, why that data is required, and how that data has been extracted. You should treat data extracted from published sources in the same way as data you might have originated yourself for the purposes of presentation, analysis, and critical evaluation.

Irrespective of the formal tests applied to data collected, it is extremely important that the quality of the data under consideration is assessed, and that this is recognised in the dissertation itself. This is good practice, as it draws attention to any weaknesses in the analysis, and alerts the reader to the possible uncertainties underlying the conclusions. In addition, identifying the weaknesses in the analysis provides useful indicators for future research. The final conclusions may be used as a basis for identifying specific actions in an organisation, consequently it is only fair that organisational decision-makers should be made familiar with any inherent limitations of the work, and hence the possible risks of acting on the research results.

A useful chapter structure for dissertations based on empirical research is:

• Introduction – including objectives of your research (as outlined above).

• Literature review – clarify relevant concepts, extent of current understanding,

and outstanding problems/issues by discussing prior research (mainly academic). In reviewing the literature that underpins and influences your empirical research, do not simply write a number of summaries of other people’s work, but identify the general themes, or differences between writers, in the explanations advanced. Make sure you evaluate the relevance, reliability and validity of your citations. The work of others will not help or support your work and analysis unless their research is relevant, reliable and valid. Most importantly, make sure that you relate that consideration of themes to what you are doing. State in your chapter/section the relevance of the work you are commenting on, or to which you are referring, to your own work. If you cannot identify the relevance it probably is not relevant.

• Methodology – given the literature review, rationale for the research and its objectives; a description of the methodology adopted (Why? What? When? How? Who is involved?). For example in respect of questionnaires or interviews:
  • explain your reasons for choosing this methodology rather than some other approach, including the pros and cons of the approach you adopt;
  • explain the rationale for the questions asked, relating this to your literature review, and giving reasons for the questionnaire structure adopted (multiple choice, Likert scales etc.) Provide a complete list of questions either in the text or in an Appendix;
  • explain who was involved, how and why they were

• Results and analysis – present results in as complete, clear and helpful way as possible, analyse results in a useful way, critical commentary on the quality of responses and the reliability/limitations of

• Discussion of implications – relate your findings back to the literature review, discuss similarities and differences. Explain the implications of your findings for managers and decision

• Conclusion (see below)

Type (c) Applications (Action Research)

Applications involve making use concepts/techniques/frameworks to propose or demonstrate ways of improving the performance of some organisation activity. Generally application orientated dissertations involve a case study drawing on a live organisation context or a detailed, literature-based case study. Such dissertations rely less on a comprehensive review of a body of literature, and more on identifying and applying pertinent concept/techniques/frameworks from the literature. The quality of such dissertations then depends on:

• how effectively the problem/issue has been explored;
• the appropriateness of concepts/techniques/frameworks selected;
• the use made of these concepts/techniques/frameworks;
• the discussion of limitations of your analysis and conclusions and further development of concepts/techniques/frameworks.

Dissertations of this kind offer great opportunities for originality and creative thinking. They can often involve elements of both type (a) and (b) dissertations, that is, some reference to relevant literature and the collection of empirical data.

A useful chapter structure for action research dissertations is:

1. Introduction (see above).
2. A general conceptual discussion of problems/issues, scope of relevant literature (see above).
3. A suitably   detailed   description of  the  problem/issue   context   (eg   key organisation features).
4. The specific problem/issue context examined in detail. Critical commentary on underlying causes of existing problems and the nature of issues that management are, or should be, concerned
5. Application of concepts/ techniques/ frameworks to address, clarify, and improve the current
6. Discussion of difficulties in making future changes, the possibility of recurring issues, or further, new
7. Conclusions (see below).

Note that titles for chapters other than the Introduction and Conclusions chapters will depend on the specific topic and context, and you may want to add additional chapters to improve the structure where the topic warrants this. The guiding principle should be to use chapters and titles that are helpful and informative.

The ‘Conclusions’ chapter

All dissertations need a useful, conclusion chapter that adds value, rather than merely summarises previous chapters. A perfunctory, single page summary of the dissertation inserted at the end of your dissertation will serve little purpose, and create a poor impression!  Useful points to cover in the Conclusions chapter are:

• A brief summary of key points made in the
• A ‘so what?’ section which discusses the implications of the dissertation for: (a) a given organisation context, (b) organisations in general and (c) concept/theory/technique development. There may also be implications for Government
• Limitations of the scope, quality, and validity of the analysis undertaken in the dissertation.
• Suggestions for further
• Personal reflections on the difficulties in designing and carrying out your empirical work (if any), and in writing the dissertation. Personal lessons

8. Presentation

You can find examples of how previous students have presented their dissertations in the Dissertation Library available from the ‘SBS PGT General Info’ or ‘Dissertation’ modules on Blackboard.

Good presentation is important because it ensures that all your hard work is efficiently and effectively communicated to the reader. It implies neatly set out work; a well-organised, clear and logical structure; and clear, understandable analysis. In particular, it is important to ensure that you:

• Write good, clear, grammatically correct English without spelling mistakes. Students are reminded of the English Language support available
• Make use of chapters, helpful headings, and subheadings to structure your work clearly. Numbering chapters is a good idea, and numbering sections within each chapter can be helpful. Don’t forget page numbering
• Format pages, headings and paragraphs to make the text easy to
• Clearly cite ALL sources of information and list FULL details of ALL cited sources in a list of
• Logically order material across and within individual
• Tables, graphs and figures are effective ways of presenting data, especially in the results and analysis sections of your dissertation. You should label tables and figures clearly and refer to them consistently in the table of contents and text of your
• If possible, try not to split tables over two pages. You may need to use a slightly smaller font in tables, or format column headings to read vertically in order to do this.

Avoiding breaches of academic integrity

By now you should be very familiar with the requirement for academic integrity in all the work you do. Given the nature of the dissertation, it is particularly important that you are careful to avoid breaching academic integrity in your dissertation. In previous years students have received significantly reduced marks (in some cases zero) as a result of breaching academic integrity, with consequent significant implications for achieving their qualification overall.

Use of quotations

In general, it is usually better to paraphrase, or summarise concisely, important key points from the literature, rather than rely on numerous direct quotations from various sources. Direct quotations are best used sparingly for particularly well worded or significant observations. The exception is where you are discussing the findings from interviews you have conducted, when it can be useful to illustrate issues or arguments with carefully selected quotes from interviewees.

Keep the following points in mind when using material from other sources:

• Select material intelligently. Use direct quotations only when the author’s wording is necessary or particularly effective. Quotations should give weight to your argument. In general, do not select quotations that only repeat points you have already made. Quotations that make general, broad statements are usually pointless.
• Be sure to integrate all ideas from other sources into your own discussion. Introduce direct quotations with your own words. After quoting, explain the significance of
• If you are using material cited by an author and you do not have the original source, introduce the quotation with a phrase such as “as is quoted in…”

Just as it is important to indicate where you are making use of other people’s work in your dissertation, it is also important to indicate clearly your own contributions. If you are developing arguments of your own or drawing inferences from published material, make it clear that this is your own work. Otherwise you may not get credit for this and it may appear that you have simply failed to properly cite someone else’s ideas! If you are reinterpreting or building on someone else’s work explain what you are doing and why it is desirable, perhaps including some criticisms of the source arguments. For example, you may wish to modify a framework or diagram drawn from the literature as part of your analysis/discussion. In such cases you might cite the original source using the citation ‘(adapted from X, year)’, and then explain how and why you have modified the source material.

Most students do not set out to plagiarise the work of others. You can prevent this happening by being more organised when you gather relevant information for your work and by learning how to cite references properly.

References

It is essential that you indicate clearly throughout your dissertation the source of any material you use, be it papers, textbooks, websites, interviews, newspapers, questionnaires, etc. This applies to all text, diagrams, data, tables, and appendices in your dissertation.

Footnotes may look professional, but are not usually very helpful and are best avoided.

Length of the dissertation

Dissertations should not normally exceed 15,000 words. This should be about 45 typed pages, using Arial size 12 font and 1.5 line spacing. You are likely to be penalised for significantly exceeding the above limit, and in any case there is no merit in making the dissertation longer than it should be.

The length should be commensurate with presenting a systematic, readable, but concise account of the work done. Superfluous material and text will attract minimal marks whatever the length of the project.

Conversely, it is not advisable to submit a dissertation significantly shorter than 15,000 words, as you risk not including enough quality material in your dissertation to achieve a pass.

Appendices and the use of background/basic material

Appendices are not normally counted in the word limit and can be a useful way of including background material or supporting evidence that cannot be referenced in other ways. Appendices are not a dumping ground for material that you are uncertain how to use and you should be critical about whether the material adds value to your dissertation. Markers may use appendices for background and context to your dissertation and to verify evidence of your research, but they are unlikely to award marks directly for content in the appendices. You should therefore think carefully about whether to include material or not.

Appendices may contain detailed quantitative, statistical and/or qualitative data, which might be important for further reference but is not directly related to the main thrust of your argument. You might well include a copy of your questionnaire

or interview protocol here, if it has not been included in the main body of the text. The attention of the reader should be drawn to the content of the appendices at the<