Main Objective of the assessment The aim of this module is that of allowing you to conduct a piece of research including the identification of the research enquiry, data collection and analysis and the presentation of the results. The dissertation module, through the supervision of an academic member, develops you as an independent learner and brings together the knowledge and skills gained in the programme for the analysis of a specific business problem. The module provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas: (A) Knowledge and Understanding 1. To critically evaluate relevant research and scholarship within the field of within the field of Human Research Management and Organisational Studies. Cognitive (thinking) Skills 2. To choose and apply within a chosen business context appropriate techniques and enquiry, given the research problem (or question) addressed. 3. To propose, present, and critically evaluate a set of recommendations as possible solution to the research problem addressed (or an answer to the research question) (C) Other Skills and Attributes (Practical/Professional/Transferable) 4. To communicate complex ideas and concepts in a clear, concise and articulate manner. Description of the Assessment The Dissertation consists of 13,000 words (this word limit does not include references or appendices but everything else) and, the ethical approval needs to be included in the Appendix. Format • Dissertations must contain no more than 13,000 words, as measured by the standard word count available on Microsoft Word. This includes all the text starting from Chapter 1 (anything before the first word of chapter 1 does not count) but excluding the list of References list and the Appendices (if any). • Dissertations should have appropriate spacing (either single-line spaced or 1.5 line spaced), with a 3.5cm left-hand margin (to allow for binding) and 2.5cm top and bottom margins. • The recommended fonts are: Arial (or any other standard, modern font) or Times New Roman (should you prefer a more ‘traditional’ font). Text should be in 11 or 12 point. Chapter headings should be larger, that is, in either 12, 14 or 16 point. • Insert a page number at the bottom of the Dissertation in Word, click ‘insert page number’. • Chapters, sections and sub-sections should be numbered using standard report formats (for example, ‘Chapter 1: Introduction’; ‘1.1 The research problem’). • The title page should include: Dissertation title, your student ID number. All title page text should be centred and presented in 18 point Arial font. • The Abstract should be no more than 250 words, summarising the whole Dissertation and highlighting your key findings. • It is essential to provide references for ALL source material that you use in your Dissertation using the Harvard format (for example, books, articles, reports, newspapers, webpages). This includes citing sources in the text and providing full references in the list of References. Additional guidance on how to cite/reference can be obtained from the Library. • Chapter 6- ‘Reflective account on own learning’ is a compulsory element for the CIPD accreditation and must contain 1,000 words. Structure The precise structure and presentation of your Dissertation will depend in part on the research and the approach that you have adopted. The following structure is typical (‘typical’ does not mean ‘required’): • Cover sheet. However, if you forget to do this, you will not lose any marks, so there is no need to ‘take back’ any version and upload a new one if you forget. As long as we have your student ID number on the front, this is sufficient in order for us to identify your work (this is the point of the coversheet). • Title page • Abstract (the equivalent term in business reports is ‘Executive Summary’). • Acknowledgements • Table of contents page • List of figures page • List of tables page • Chapter 1: Introduction. This chapter is likely to include: background to the research area, problem definition/research gap, and Dissertation outline. • Chapter 2: Literature review (you may insert a more meaningful title, based on the research area). It is unlikely that you will need two chapters for this, but if you do, then you are free to do so. This guidance, in this document, assumes that you will not (because, normally, you do not). • Chapter 3: Research methods. Here you present and justify your research approach, method used, and the rest, that is, what data was gathered, and when, how). • Chapter 4: Results/Findings. Here you present your analysis and the results/findings from the data that you gathered). Chapter 5: Discussion/conclusion/recommendations Here you summarise the whole piece of research, highlight what you have found/what contribution your study has made, state the limitations, set out the future work andstate the practical or other implications to research and/or practice. In this chapter you must produce: 1)a realistic, timely and effectively justified implementation plans for your recommendations and changes; 2) Reasoned cost implication for point 1 above. Evidence is provided of how much each recommendation is likely to cost and a clear understanding is demonstrated of how likely the organization is to be able to bear this cost. 3) A discussion of the potential resistance to recommendations and implementation plan proposed and how this might be overcome. (Costing of re-commendation plan can be included in the Appendix). Chapter 6: Reflective account on own learning: (1,000 words): In this section you should aim to provide evidence of your personal learning and development. You should demonstrate an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Setbacks also represent opportunity for learning and personal growth. If you have had experience of them in the dissertation process, you should discuss how you overcame them and how they changed your way of thinking/behaving. You could include a Personal Development Plan) • • References (Harvard referencing style). • Appendices (this may include, say, the questionnaire or other instrument used, the letter from the Research Ethics Committee). There is no fixed allocation of words for particular sections/chapters; it is a matter of judgement (your judgement, not ours), within the overall word limit. When initially allocating a word length to your chapters (and also when editing chapters at a later stage), you should take into account the kind of research you have undertaken (for example, some research questions may justify slightly longer literature reviews; largely quantitative research studies may require fewer words in the Results/Findings chapter, as findings can be summarised using graphs). Costing of re-commendation plan can be included in the Appendices. Appendices should be used for relevant material that cannot be inserted in the main text without disturbing the logical flow that are cross-referenced in the Dissertation. • Data Set: students do not have to submit their data set with the Dissertation. However, they must be able to produce data set (eg. statistical spreadsheets for quantitative studies and transcripts or other materials for qualitative studies) on demand. We recommend that you read several research methods textbooks, focusing on relevant chapters, and use these sources to support your arguments in the Dissertation You can also learn a lot about research – including theory, concepts, evidence, methods, and presentation – by reading examples of published academic research (for example, journal articles, dissertations, theses and reports). Just one warning: remember that other researchers may follow different sets of guidelines (for example, for report structure and referencing), to those specified for this Dissertatio
