Report
Project
Report Guidelines
As part of the requirements to be fulfilled for the award of the diploma of Post Graduate Diploma in Management, students are expected to undergo a research project and present a dissertation on the same in their Sixth Trimester. This document contains details of expected practices with respect to the research project and dissertation submission. Clearly general guidelines such as these may not cover all circumstances. Particular emphasis and minor adjustments may be necessary in individual cases. Such adjustments are to be brought to the notice of the faculty and only on their approval it should be incorporated in the thesis. It is thus imperative that students consult their faculty members for specific advice and guidance on matters pertaining to the design and content of their study and of course, the reporting of it.
PART 1: THE DISSERTATION
1.1 General Framework of the Dissertation
The following outline is indicative of the overall structure of a dissertation. Clearly it will have to be adapted to the particular study you have carried out.
Title Page
Declaration
Certificates (if any)
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
CHAPTER 2 Literature Review
CHAPTER 3 Methodologies
CHAPTER 4 Findings and Analysis of Data
CHAPTER 5 Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations
References
Appendices
1.2 Word Length
The total length of the dissertation is 15,000-20,000 words (40-60 A-4 size pages). This length is exclusive of title and contents page, figures, tables, appendices and references.
1.3 Plagiarism
Plagiarism, that is, the willful representation of another person’s work, without the acknowledgement or the deliberate and unacknowledged incorporation in a student’s work of material derived from the work (published or otherwise) of another, is UNACCEPTABLE and will incur the penalty of outright failure.
1.4 Planning Your Work
You are advised to begin working on your dissertation immediately . The lectures in Research Methods held during the third trimester of your course are useful in helping you to plan background material and to choose your methodology. You should see your supervisor on a regular basis – at least once every week in the beginning. It is also advisable to start working as soon as possible. Do not worry if you feel that your material is not good enough, almost all early material is weak at the beginning. Starting to work at an early stage will enable your supervisor to see what direction you are taking, where your weaknesses are and give you constructive advice and you will gain confidence from this feedback.
1.5 The Role of Supervisor
1. Suggest some general areas of research for consideration and where possible, any examples of current research relevant to the topic. 2. Discuss possible directions for the study and advice on aims and objectives 3. Be available for regular meetings
4. Examine written work and provide constructive criticism. It is not the responsibility of the supervisor to correct spelling mistakes, etc. other than to point out these are present: nor is it the duty of the supervisor to organize the presentation content of the work, although advice may be provided if enough work has been submitted. 5. Make student aware of inadequate progress or any other facts which could impede the completion of a successful piece of work. 6. Mark the dissertation, confer with the Departmental Research Committee and submit the allotted marks to the office. 1.6 Responsibilities of Students
1. It is your responsibility to make appointments on a regular basis. If you are facing difficulty in arranging appointments you must contact the Head of Department. 2. Provide written work for your supervisor to comment on; maintain your own progress. 3. Submit your written work in advance of your appointment in order that your supervisor has time to offer you constructive criticism. 4. Comply with the regulations as detailed in this document.
PART 2: STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL
2.1 Introduction
Although there is no single way of structuring a project or dissertation proposal the following structure identifies the areas which should be addressed within the proposal. If all of these areas are considered as part of the proposal then the actual research project should be more coherent and your research should be more productive. The areas to consider in the research proposal: The research question/problem/topic/hypothesis
Introduction and rationale for research
Research Objectives
Research Methods
2.2. The Research Proposal
The areas covered in the research proposal are expanded below.
Title Page
Proposed Title
Name of Student
Course
Supervisor’s Name
The Research Question/Problem/Topic or Hypothesis
identify your area of research keeping it broad enough to embrace existing literature; but Sufficiently narrow to allow a detailed investigation
The area identified could form a working title
Introduction and Rationale for Research
explain why you think this is a valid research topic
What will the research contribute to the field?
Research Aim and Objectives
The aim of the dissertation should indicate what you wish to achieve The objectives are a list of goals which must be completed in order to satisfy the aim (usually about 6) Eg. to provide a state of the art review to determine how a particular market operates to establish a typology to assess the impact of something
Research Methodology
choose methods which will al low you to meet each of the objectives listed above; justify your methods chosen and the disadvantages of the methods rejected try to use a mix of methods
PART 3: SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE DISSERTATION
What follows is an attempt to provide you with some rules, and some helpful advice on an acceptable practice. However you are still advised to consult your tutor for more specific advice in relation to your dissertation.
3.1 The Abstract
An abstract should provide an overview of your study in all its aspect s. It should be around 250-300 in words and should answer the following questions. What does this research set out to do and why?
How did it seek to do it?
What are the general findings?
What d o these suggest?
What conclusions are reached?
What are the implications of these?
3.2 Acknowledgements
In this section you should express thanks to those who assisted you in your research. These should be kept to a minimum and include academic supervisors and people who participated in the fieldwork, any funding bodies and so on.
3.3 Introduction
In the introduction you should introduce the reader to the background of the study and the nature of the problem being considered. It should therefore set the study in context explaining why this study is important, highlighting significant issues, problems and ideas. The basic purpose this section is to provide the reader a basic idea of what the subject area of the dissertation its contents. 3.4 Literature Review
In the dissertation students are expected to provide a critical review of the existing literature (published and unpublished) on the research area being investigated. This does not mean that you have to indicate every book and article that has been written on the subject but any you do read should be referenced appropriately. Nevertheless your review should indicate that you have studied existing and recent work in the field. The literature review should be:
Relevant: Literature used should support your arguments relating to your research question and aim and objectives of the study. It should uphold methodology. In some cases you may need to discuss literature review and its relationship to methodology in a separate chapter. Up-to-Date: Recent literature (not older than five years) is recommended unless you are referring to classical works in your field of study. Sources used have to be in their majority primary sources, secondary referencing may be used.
Comprehensive: Demonstrate that you have read extensively without being over-inclusive. Develop your ability to employ summary statements and to synthesize.
3.5 Methodology
The purpose of this chapter is to indicate what you actually did in your research so that your reader may evaluate the design procedure and findings of your study. The methodology section should be wellstructured, written in concise, matter-of-fact manner and should provide answers to the following questions: What actually happened?
How?
To whom?
With what result?
How were problems deal t with?
Approach to data?
The following is an outline of the Methodology Section
Statement of Research Problem
What is the aim of the research study?
What are its major objectives?
Any hypothesis constructed?
Criteria for Sample selection
Who are the research units?
Characteristic s of sample units?
What is the Sampling frame?
What is the method of Sample selection?
Number of total sample units?
Review of Data Collection Methods
Why were the data collection methods you chose the best suited to fit your research question? From which geographic data was collected?
What was the period of data collection?
How Primary Data was collected? A detailed description of research conducted, design of the tool, description of fieldwork, you also need to mention any specific procedures used. What secondary data was used? How does it feed into the current research? Pilot Study(if any)
To whom was the study administered?
What changes were made to the research tool?
Methods of Analysis-
Briefly explain how you propose to analyze the data,
If computer software is going to be used, a description of the type of software has to be included. Limitations
What were the limitations of this study and how did you overcome these limitations? 3.6 Presentation and Analysis of Data
In the presentation of data you are to present the major findings of your research in a summarized form and the details of the analyses which have been performed. The content and style depend on the nature of the research method chosen, but in the case of both quantitative and qualitative studies, the object is to present the data collected to answer the research questions. You are required to seek guidance from your supervising faculty for preparing this section. 3.6.1 Presentation and Analysis of Qualitative Research
1. Presentation of data is mainly descriptive and this is usually presented in a chronological order. 2. Analysis of data i s conducted through the identification of themes. The research tools in qualitative research include open-ended descriptions, transcripts of interviews, essays and observations. These produce a mass of data which sometimes can be difficult to sift. A useful way to process this data is to keep the research question(s) in mind, to read through the data a couple of times until particular issues or themes present themselves. These can be suggestive of a structure for presenting the descriptive data. 3. Evidence is usually in form of quotations from the subjects being studied, discussions of people involved, illustrations, photographs – the variations are unlimited. 4. You may find that there is evidence of difference of opinion.Include variations in opinion and describe poles of belief. Theseadd richness to qualitative research. 3.6.2 Presentation and Analysis of Quantitative Research
1. As a preliminary to working out results, any test given must be scored, data inputted into the appropriate computer program and additional material gained from the sample must be sorted out. This is often purely mechanical work, and it takes time but must be done accurately.
2. The data presented must not be in their raw form. Only summarized data should be presented. The only time you would ever describe data on individual subjects is when you have done a case study.
3. In this section, the task i s to summarize data meaningfully, through the use of descriptive statistics. These include mean scores, medians, ranges, standard deviations, correlation coefficients and so on. 4. Visual presentation is very important in quantitative research. Graphs, tables, histograms, bar graphs are simple ways in which to present condensed data but they are also very effective. 3.7 Discussion of Results and Conclusions
1. This chapter should draw together all the issues of the research and link back to the aim and objectives which were outlined in the Introduction and Methodology. Have the aims set at the beginning been met? If not, why not? 2. Evaluate how your findings bear on issues or points raised in the Literature Review. 3. What are the implications arising from the findings. Be careful with your generalizations and your interpretations. Recommendations should be based on evidence. 4. Do you have suggestions for future research in this area?
3.8 References
Full details of all the books and journal articles cited or referenced throughout the dissertation should be included in this chapter. A reader should be able to identify the exact source and refer to it directly. References should be complete in all respects and arranged in alphabetical order. Text references should appear as follows:
“Recent works from (Alba et al., 2005, Keller and Kotler, 2006) show that...” Journal references should be listed as follows:
Prof TV RamRaj (2006),"Blog Marketing”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol 36 (9), pp. 3-7. Books should be referred as follows:
V Venkata Raman, G Somayajulu (2005),"Customer Relationship”, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited. 3.9 Appendices
The Appendices should include selective, supplementary material which is distracting when placed in the main body of text. Only material which is necessary for a full understanding of your study should be included. These include important forms, questionnaires or interview schedules, description of equipment or settings, tables and lists of data supportive of the study.
PART 4: SOME OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
4.1 Presentation Layout
4.1.1 General Text:
Text should be double-spaced using printing on both sides of the pages and duly numbered. However, new chapters, sections, etc. should start from odd numbered pages. Font
Times New Roman, size 12, Justified (both left and right) alignment In-text emphasis
Use italics or bold typeface
Paragraphs:
0.5” First line indentation Double line spacing with 12point space after paragraph Page Margins:
Top: 1”; Bottom: 1”; Inside: 1.5”; Outside: 1” (Mirrored layout) Page numbers:
Centered at the bottom of the page
Roman numerals (i, ii,…) should be used from the pages preceding Table of Contents (excluding the title page) The main body of the text (where the Introduction) commences on Page 1 The pages included in Appendices/Annexure are to be numbered in Roman numeral s (I, ii,…) 4.1.2 Headings:
Chapter Headings size 16 in bold typeface
Sub-Headings size 14 in bold typeface
Main Chapter headings in block capitals
Chapter headings left justified at the top of a new page
All other headings justified and followed by a single line space Use sub-headings together with a numbering system used in this document thus giving structure to your work.
4.1.3 Quotations:
Single line-spacing
Indented left and right
Justified left and right
Must include author name, date and page number referring to the parent text
4.1.4 Tables, Figures etc.,
Must be numbered according to the chapter (eg. Table 5.1 means that it is located in Chapter 5 and that it is the first table presented and discussed in this chapter) Must have a title at the top and key (legend) underneath
The table title must be set in sentence case (only first letter in capital) as follow: Table 5.1 Summary of sample characteristics
Only the Table index number should be in bold. Rest of the title should be in plain text (as illustrated above) 4.2 Typing and Proof Reading
Always proof read your copies for good grammar and presentation before handing your work to your supervising faculty. Special attention should be made to the final draft of your dissertation. Be prepared for the unexpected such as hard disk failure, loss or corruption of CDs and printer failure. Use back-up disks and always keep (updated) hard copies of your work in case of an emergency! 4.3 Binding
Two copies of the dissertation are to be submitted. These two copies should be spiral bound . It is the students' responsibility to organize the binding and make sure that the copies are ready before the submission date. The copies will be signed by the supervising authority only in the binded format.
As part of the requirements to be fulfilled for the award of the diploma of Post Graduate Diploma in Management, students are expected to undergo a research project and present a dissertation on the same in their Sixth Trimester. This document contains details of expected practices with respect to the research project and dissertation submission. Clearly general guidelines such as these may not cover all circumstances. Particular emphasis and minor adjustments may be necessary in individual cases. Such adjustments are to be brought to the notice of the faculty and only on their approval it should be incorporated in the thesis. It is thus imperative that students consult their faculty members for specific advice and guidance on matters pertaining to the design and content of their study and of course, the reporting of it.
PART 1: THE DISSERTATION
1.1 General Framework of the Dissertation
The following outline is indicative of the overall structure of a dissertation. Clearly it will have to be adapted to the particular study you have carried out.
Title Page
Declaration
Certificates (if any)
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
CHAPTER 2 Literature Review
CHAPTER 3 Methodologies
CHAPTER 4 Findings and Analysis of Data
CHAPTER 5 Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations
References
Appendices
1.2 Word Length
The total length of the dissertation is 15,000-20,000 words (40-60 A-4 size pages). This length is exclusive of title and contents page, figures, tables, appendices and references.
1.3 Plagiarism
Plagiarism, that is, the willful representation of another person’s work, without the acknowledgement or the deliberate and unacknowledged incorporation in a student’s work of material derived from the work (published or otherwise) of another, is UNACCEPTABLE and will incur the penalty of outright failure.
1.4 Planning Your Work
You are advised to begin working on your dissertation immediately . The lectures in Research Methods held during the third trimester of your course are useful in helping you to plan background material and to choose your methodology. You should see your supervisor on a regular basis – at least once every week in the beginning. It is also advisable to start working as soon as possible. Do not worry if you feel that your material is not good enough, almost all early material is weak at the beginning. Starting to work at an early stage will enable your supervisor to see what direction you are taking, where your weaknesses are and give you constructive advice and you will gain confidence from this feedback.
1.5 The Role of Supervisor
1. Suggest some general areas of research for consideration and where possible, any examples of current research relevant to the topic. 2. Discuss possible directions for the study and advice on aims and objectives 3. Be available for regular meetings
4. Examine written work and provide constructive criticism. It is not the responsibility of the supervisor to correct spelling mistakes, etc. other than to point out these are present: nor is it the duty of the supervisor to organize the presentation content of the work, although advice may be provided if enough work has been submitted. 5. Make student aware of inadequate progress or any other facts which could impede the completion of a successful piece of work. 6. Mark the dissertation, confer with the Departmental Research Committee and submit the allotted marks to the office. 1.6 Responsibilities of Students
1. It is your responsibility to make appointments on a regular basis. If you are facing difficulty in arranging appointments you must contact the Head of Department. 2. Provide written work for your supervisor to comment on; maintain your own progress. 3. Submit your written work in advance of your appointment in order that your supervisor has time to offer you constructive criticism. 4. Comply with the regulations as detailed in this document.
PART 2: STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL
2.1 Introduction
Although there is no single way of structuring a project or dissertation proposal the following structure identifies the areas which should be addressed within the proposal. If all of these areas are considered as part of the proposal then the actual research project should be more coherent and your research should be more productive. The areas to consider in the research proposal: The research question/problem/topic/hypothesis
Introduction and rationale for research
Research Objectives
Research Methods
2.2. The Research Proposal
The areas covered in the research proposal are expanded below.
Title Page
Proposed Title
Name of Student
Course
Supervisor’s Name
The Research Question/Problem/Topic or Hypothesis
identify your area of research keeping it broad enough to embrace existing literature; but Sufficiently narrow to allow a detailed investigation
The area identified could form a working title
Introduction and Rationale for Research
explain why you think this is a valid research topic
What will the research contribute to the field?
Research Aim and Objectives
The aim of the dissertation should indicate what you wish to achieve The objectives are a list of goals which must be completed in order to satisfy the aim (usually about 6) Eg. to provide a state of the art review to determine how a particular market operates to establish a typology to assess the impact of something
Research Methodology
choose methods which will al low you to meet each of the objectives listed above; justify your methods chosen and the disadvantages of the methods rejected try to use a mix of methods
PART 3: SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE DISSERTATION
What follows is an attempt to provide you with some rules, and some helpful advice on an acceptable practice. However you are still advised to consult your tutor for more specific advice in relation to your dissertation.
3.1 The Abstract
An abstract should provide an overview of your study in all its aspect s. It should be around 250-300 in words and should answer the following questions. What does this research set out to do and why?
How did it seek to do it?
What are the general findings?
What d o these suggest?
What conclusions are reached?
What are the implications of these?
3.2 Acknowledgements
In this section you should express thanks to those who assisted you in your research. These should be kept to a minimum and include academic supervisors and people who participated in the fieldwork, any funding bodies and so on.
3.3 Introduction
In the introduction you should introduce the reader to the background of the study and the nature of the problem being considered. It should therefore set the study in context explaining why this study is important, highlighting significant issues, problems and ideas. The basic purpose this section is to provide the reader a basic idea of what the subject area of the dissertation its contents. 3.4 Literature Review
In the dissertation students are expected to provide a critical review of the existing literature (published and unpublished) on the research area being investigated. This does not mean that you have to indicate every book and article that has been written on the subject but any you do read should be referenced appropriately. Nevertheless your review should indicate that you have studied existing and recent work in the field. The literature review should be:
Relevant: Literature used should support your arguments relating to your research question and aim and objectives of the study. It should uphold methodology. In some cases you may need to discuss literature review and its relationship to methodology in a separate chapter. Up-to-Date: Recent literature (not older than five years) is recommended unless you are referring to classical works in your field of study. Sources used have to be in their majority primary sources, secondary referencing may be used.
Comprehensive: Demonstrate that you have read extensively without being over-inclusive. Develop your ability to employ summary statements and to synthesize.
3.5 Methodology
The purpose of this chapter is to indicate what you actually did in your research so that your reader may evaluate the design procedure and findings of your study. The methodology section should be wellstructured, written in concise, matter-of-fact manner and should provide answers to the following questions: What actually happened?
How?
To whom?
With what result?
How were problems deal t with?
Approach to data?
The following is an outline of the Methodology Section
Statement of Research Problem
What is the aim of the research study?
What are its major objectives?
Any hypothesis constructed?
Criteria for Sample selection
Who are the research units?
Characteristic s of sample units?
What is the Sampling frame?
What is the method of Sample selection?
Number of total sample units?
Review of Data Collection Methods
Why were the data collection methods you chose the best suited to fit your research question? From which geographic data was collected?
What was the period of data collection?
How Primary Data was collected? A detailed description of research conducted, design of the tool, description of fieldwork, you also need to mention any specific procedures used. What secondary data was used? How does it feed into the current research? Pilot Study(if any)
To whom was the study administered?
What changes were made to the research tool?
Methods of Analysis-
Briefly explain how you propose to analyze the data,
If computer software is going to be used, a description of the type of software has to be included. Limitations
What were the limitations of this study and how did you overcome these limitations? 3.6 Presentation and Analysis of Data
In the presentation of data you are to present the major findings of your research in a summarized form and the details of the analyses which have been performed. The content and style depend on the nature of the research method chosen, but in the case of both quantitative and qualitative studies, the object is to present the data collected to answer the research questions. You are required to seek guidance from your supervising faculty for preparing this section. 3.6.1 Presentation and Analysis of Qualitative Research
1. Presentation of data is mainly descriptive and this is usually presented in a chronological order. 2. Analysis of data i s conducted through the identification of themes. The research tools in qualitative research include open-ended descriptions, transcripts of interviews, essays and observations. These produce a mass of data which sometimes can be difficult to sift. A useful way to process this data is to keep the research question(s) in mind, to read through the data a couple of times until particular issues or themes present themselves. These can be suggestive of a structure for presenting the descriptive data. 3. Evidence is usually in form of quotations from the subjects being studied, discussions of people involved, illustrations, photographs – the variations are unlimited. 4. You may find that there is evidence of difference of opinion.Include variations in opinion and describe poles of belief. Theseadd richness to qualitative research. 3.6.2 Presentation and Analysis of Quantitative Research
1. As a preliminary to working out results, any test given must be scored, data inputted into the appropriate computer program and additional material gained from the sample must be sorted out. This is often purely mechanical work, and it takes time but must be done accurately.
2. The data presented must not be in their raw form. Only summarized data should be presented. The only time you would ever describe data on individual subjects is when you have done a case study.
3. In this section, the task i s to summarize data meaningfully, through the use of descriptive statistics. These include mean scores, medians, ranges, standard deviations, correlation coefficients and so on. 4. Visual presentation is very important in quantitative research. Graphs, tables, histograms, bar graphs are simple ways in which to present condensed data but they are also very effective. 3.7 Discussion of Results and Conclusions
1. This chapter should draw together all the issues of the research and link back to the aim and objectives which were outlined in the Introduction and Methodology. Have the aims set at the beginning been met? If not, why not? 2. Evaluate how your findings bear on issues or points raised in the Literature Review. 3. What are the implications arising from the findings. Be careful with your generalizations and your interpretations. Recommendations should be based on evidence. 4. Do you have suggestions for future research in this area?
3.8 References
Full details of all the books and journal articles cited or referenced throughout the dissertation should be included in this chapter. A reader should be able to identify the exact source and refer to it directly. References should be complete in all respects and arranged in alphabetical order. Text references should appear as follows:
“Recent works from (Alba et al., 2005, Keller and Kotler, 2006) show that...” Journal references should be listed as follows:
Prof TV RamRaj (2006),"Blog Marketing”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol 36 (9), pp. 3-7. Books should be referred as follows:
V Venkata Raman, G Somayajulu (2005),"Customer Relationship”, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited. 3.9 Appendices
The Appendices should include selective, supplementary material which is distracting when placed in the main body of text. Only material which is necessary for a full understanding of your study should be included. These include important forms, questionnaires or interview schedules, description of equipment or settings, tables and lists of data supportive of the study.
PART 4: SOME OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
4.1 Presentation Layout
4.1.1 General Text:
Text should be double-spaced using printing on both sides of the pages and duly numbered. However, new chapters, sections, etc. should start from odd numbered pages. Font
Times New Roman, size 12, Justified (both left and right) alignment In-text emphasis
Use italics or bold typeface
Paragraphs:
0.5” First line indentation Double line spacing with 12point space after paragraph Page Margins:
Top: 1”; Bottom: 1”; Inside: 1.5”; Outside: 1” (Mirrored layout) Page numbers:
Centered at the bottom of the page
Roman numerals (i, ii,…) should be used from the pages preceding Table of Contents (excluding the title page) The main body of the text (where the Introduction) commences on Page 1 The pages included in Appendices/Annexure are to be numbered in Roman numeral s (I, ii,…) 4.1.2 Headings:
Chapter Headings size 16 in bold typeface
Sub-Headings size 14 in bold typeface
Main Chapter headings in block capitals
Chapter headings left justified at the top of a new page
All other headings justified and followed by a single line space Use sub-headings together with a numbering system used in this document thus giving structure to your work.
4.1.3 Quotations:
Single line-spacing
Indented left and right
Justified left and right
Must include author name, date and page number referring to the parent text
4.1.4 Tables, Figures etc.,
Must be numbered according to the chapter (eg. Table 5.1 means that it is located in Chapter 5 and that it is the first table presented and discussed in this chapter) Must have a title at the top and key (legend) underneath
The table title must be set in sentence case (only first letter in capital) as follow: Table 5.1 Summary of sample characteristics
Only the Table index number should be in bold. Rest of the title should be in plain text (as illustrated above) 4.2 Typing and Proof Reading
Always proof read your copies for good grammar and presentation before handing your work to your supervising faculty. Special attention should be made to the final draft of your dissertation. Be prepared for the unexpected such as hard disk failure, loss or corruption of CDs and printer failure. Use back-up disks and always keep (updated) hard copies of your work in case of an emergency! 4.3 Binding
Two copies of the dissertation are to be submitted. These two copies should be spiral bound . It is the students' responsibility to organize the binding and make sure that the copies are ready before the submission date. The copies will be signed by the supervising authority only in the binded format.
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