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Disclaimer: The information contained in this handbook is correct at the time of your receiving it but the University, while retaining proper regard for the interests of students who have begun their programmes, reserves the right to alter the programmes or the timetable if the need arises.
Section 1
General Notes
Introduction
All students who have successfully completed the taught element of their MSc are required to write a dissertation. The main aim of this handbook is to set out the core information for students and supervisors that is needed to successfully complete the dissertation.
Formal work on the dissertation should not be commenced until a decision has been made by the Board of Examiners that a student may proceed to the dissertation stage. Since the relevant meeting of the Examination Board is not usually until the end of June, students are advised that they may informally start work on their dissertation, at their own risk, as soon as they have finished their Semester 2 examinations.
It should also be noted that the dissertation cannot be formally commenced until the MACE 60050, Project Management Research Methods (PMRM) unit has been successfully completed.The PMRM unit, which is wholly assessed by coursework, has been designed to provide an introduction to the process of undertaking the dissertation. This unit therefore aims to promote the development of abilities, such as critical evaluation, required to carry out a research assignment within the area of project management.
As an initial step in the preparation of the dissertation, it is crucial to draft a programme to help you to plan your work. Ensure that you include the dissertation submission date in your plan, and include at least one week for final proof reading, assembly, printing and binding.The time needed for binding should be checked in August. This programme should then be used as a working document to monitor your progress.
When developing your programme of work it is important to allocate set periods of time to different stages of your work. This will allow you to plan your time and activities to aim for an outcome which fulfils the aims and objectives that you have set. Remember the topic area you have chosen is the vehicle that you use to show the examiners that you have achieved a satisfactory level of competency in a range of high level skills. The dissertation is a crucial element of your degree programme. It is therefore important to plan carefully. Remember that you will find it difficult to produce a good dissertation without a substantial commitment of time and effort.
It is very important that an appropriate level of effort is put into the dissertation. The dissertation element carries 60 credits which equates to about 600 hours of effort. It is unlikely that an adequate dissertation can be produced with a main text of less than 10,000 to 15,000 words. The main text word count would normally exclude tables of data, captions and other ancillary content such as the preliminaries (title, contents page, abstract etc.),bibliographies, tables, appendices, and so on.
What are the characteristics of a dissertation?
A dissertation is an individual, significant, investigative piece of academic writing which enables a student to explore a topic of his or her choice. The activity of preparing a dissertation facilitates the development of advanced intellectual skills such as critical analysis and other skills such as time management and clarity of communication. The main characteristics of a dissertation are listed below.
• It is a continuous piece of academic writing which is clearly structured and arranged into chapters, sections and paragraphs as appropriate for the topic.
• The purpose of the contents is to develop a reasoned argument, or series of related arguments, to address the aim and its supporting objectives, which the student has selected for their dissertation.
• The argument or arguments within a dissertation should be set within an appropriate context which is derived from a review of published literature relevant to the dissertation topic.
• The argument or arguments developed must be supported by evidence which is obtained through the analysis of the material gathered during the investigation.
• The various arguments, perspectives and evidence debated in the main body of the dissertation should result in conclusions and recommendations, which are appropriate to the original aims and objectives of the dissertation.
Critical analysis is a core activity when undertaking any dissertation. It should therefore be remembered that critical thinking and critical writing are crucial to developing a reasoned argument and underpin the activity of critical analysis. The quality of any piece of academic writing, such as a dissertation, and the validity of any conclusions will depend on the level of critical thinking and the clarity of communication.
Helpful information is found in the following texts.
Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument
Stella Cottrell
2005
Palgrave Macmillan
Thinking Skills
John Butterworth and Geoff Thwaites
2005
Cambridge University Press
Sources of information: the potential for empirical research
All dissertations will be based in part on a review of the published literature relevant to the chosen topic. Whilst the investigation of some topics can be adequately carried out based solely on an extensive review of published literature, many topics will be best addressed by a review of the relevant published work together with other research activity such as empirical1 work, simulation exercises, or analysis of data provided by industry (where available), or, in exceptional circumstances by the supervisor, or the meta-analysis of existing research studies and other published reports. Whatever methods are used within the dissertation, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure these are appropriate and that any necessary data or other information is obtained.
Students and supervisors should be aware that all research involving human beings must be undertaken in compliance with the university’s policies on the ethics of research on human beings. This means that appropriate approvals must be obtained prior to undertaking activities involving data collection or other research on human subjects. Since the relevant approvals process may be lengthy, appropriate allowance for this will need to be incorporated within the programme of work for the dissertation.
The literature review should encompass the current knowledge and understanding of a particular topic area or issue, together with its background and other related factors such as context and established theory. This should provide the basis for a critical evaluation and analysis leading to the posing of research questions or hypotheses, the validity of which can then be tested.
It is important to ensure that the sources of data and the methods by which data are collected and analysed are appropriate. An important part of the dissertation will involve the consideration of alternative methods by which to undertake the dissertation and a justification of the chosen method or methods. Whatever methods are involved in the collection and assembly of data, including those data drawn from published literature, these then becomes the basis for critical evaluation and analysis. The extent and quality of critical analysis will illustrate your level of understanding of the topic and associated theoretical ideas and your ability to develop new insights into the material and to formulate conclusions. In addition, effective arguments should be put forward to underpin your deductions and conclusions.Reflective thinking and questioning are core activities which underpin critical analysis.
What is your role and what is your supervisor role?
A supervisor is allocated to each student. His or her role is to provide guidance as you develop your dissertation. The respective roles of the student and supervisor are outlined in Appendix A. Remember that the dissertation is your own work, therefore you plan, develop and organise the work yourself.
The MACE 60050 PMRM unit on Blackboard includes a dissertation group?section that should be used to keep in contact with your supervisor. You should access it frequently to check for messages. Your supervisor will arrange an initial meeting early in the dissertation period, and subsequently will arrange a meeting schedule, once you start full-time work on the dissertation. You are expected to comply with the meeting schedule. You should maintain regular contact with your supervisor, keeping him or her informed of your progress.
Remember that each supervisor will have other commitments and therefore they need to plan any meetings with you in advance. If for some reason you are unable to attend an arranged meeting you should notify your supervisor as soon as is possible, informing him or her of the reasons for your non-attendance. You are also expected to prepare in advance for each meeting. When appropriate, your supervisor may arrange group meetings to discuss generic aspects of the preparation of the dissertation.
In general, your supervisor will be happy to read draft chapters and comment on them. You will be expected to consider the comments made and undertake any rewriting or revisions as necessary. Remember however that your supervisor is not an editing service! You should not expect your supervisor to correct errors in the use of English. It is crucial, however, that the written text is clear, coherent and comprehensible. If you need help with your written English you should make arrangements to get support and advice, such as attending the English Language Support classes (free to all students) provided by the University Language Centre.
You must ensure that any draft chapters are given to your supervisor at an agreed time, so that there is ample time for your supervisor to read and comment on them. You should,therefore, plan to complete the bulk of your investigations and analysis so that you leave yourself enough time to draft, redraft and edit your work.
During the writing-up period you can continue to carry out research to fill in gaps in the information. It usually takes a substantial period of time and considerable effort to draft,redraft, edit and complete the writing up of the dissertation.
Remember a dissertation is the outcome of your own work. You are expected to show a high level of initiative, motivation and organisation. You are therefore responsible for the following.
The planning and organisation of data collection and methodology adopted
Obtaining necessary approvals for any research activity involving human beings
The content of the dissertation, its quality, appropriateness and presentation
Maintaining regular contact with your supervisor
Planning your time to meet deadlines
The role of a supervisor is to provide general advice and guidance on the following.
The development of the dissertation scope and structure
The standards required, for example, the level of critical analysis
The methodology to be adopted
The appropriateness of the presentation Meeting the submission deadline
The submission deadline is 4.00pm on Monday 5th September 2011. You are to submit two bound copies of the dissertation, at a venue to be confirmed, and an electronic copy via the
Turnitin tool in the MACE 63000 Dissertation unit on Blackboard. Your work must be planned so as to meet the dissertation submission deadline. Situations such as computer system failures, loss of a USB, or failure of printing facilities are not normally acceptable excuses for a late submission.
During the development and preparation of your dissertation it is crucial that you ensure that you back-up your files on a regular basis. Ideally you should keep copies of your dissertation in three places: for example on a USB and on a writeable CD or elsewhere. Make sure that you synchronise these to ensure that you never overwrite the latest copy with an earlier copy of your work. It is better to store each chapter as a separate file whilst editing your work.
In rare cases there may be exceptional circumstances which may affect the progress of your work on your dissertation; for example you may need to ask for an extension of time due to illness or some other circumstance. You must let your supervisor know if you envisage any difficulty in completing the dissertation by the 5th September 2011.
If you envisage a problem in completing on time, you should complete the application for extension to the prescribed period of the programme of study?form immediately (a copy of which you can get from the Programme Administrator). You must attach evidence to the form to support your request for an extension of time. You must then ask your supervisor to sign the form to support an extension of time.
Your supervisor cannot authorise an extension of time, but can support your application and suggest how much time you may need to compensate for the effects of the mitigating circumstances. You should return the completed form to the Programme Administrator so that your case can be considered by the Mitigating Circumstances Committee prior to the dissertation submission deadline date. You and your supervisor will be informed whether your request has been approved or not, and what the new deadline date for your submission will be.
If your situation means that more than 2 weeks extension is required, you probably will need to apply for an Interruption of Studies - please see either the Programme Director or Programme Administrator for more information on this.
How will the dissertation be assessed?
The two bound copies of the dissertation are distributed for marking within a week or two of submission in September. Each dissertation is then marked independently by two people(your supervisor and a member of academic staff), using the marking criteria which you will be provided with. A 慴lind marking system?is used, whereby neither marker knows what the other marker has given. The two independent marks are then collated and checked. Where there is a difference of more than 10 percentage marks the dissertation will be marked by a third examiner, who may be the External Examiner.
When the marks are collated in November 2011, the Board of Examiners as a whole (which includes all academic members of staff, the dissertation supervisors and external examiners), will take the final decision on the dissertation marks and award an overall final classification for the programme of study, which is based on the results of the taught element and the dissertation mark. If you are successful, you will graduate from the programme and may attend the graduation ceremony in mid-December 2011 (date to be confirmed).Below is a table of the general descriptors for specific dissertation classification mark ranges. This information should be read in conjunction with the marking criteria given in Appendix C.You will need to read these carefully to ensure that you are fully conversant with the，dissertation requirements.
Note that Table 1 below relates only to the dissertation element, and that to be awarded a distinction or a merit for the MSc you need to achieve the required level in both the taught element and the dissertation. Please refer to the Programme Handbook for the detailed rules on progression and award classification.
Referencing and its importance
Your dissertation is set in the context of previous research and will also be informed by ideas that you have read or heard about. Referencing is the way that you acknowledge work that is not your own, ideas that have been formed by reading others’ work and research that has previously been conducted. Citing published literature and sources also adds authority and provides evidence for the arguments that you are advancing in your work.
Plagiarism, a form of academic malpractice, is when an idea or the written word is taken from another’s work, an author or source without adequate acknowledgement and referencing. In other words, plagiarism is when you copy passages or ideas from another source and present them as your own. Therefore all illustrations, diagrams, text and ideas, which are derived from the specific outcome of someone else's work should be referenced.
Copying of material without acknowledgement, namely plagiarism, is one of the worst crimes in the academic world and is regarded extremely seriously by the University. It may lead to a zero mark for the plagiarised work that is submitted and could lead to disciplinary action being taken by the University.
In every subject area there is a core of fundamental information, which is generally known and does not require to be referenced. If in doubt as to whether you should reference particular information, ask. Please read the ‘Guidance to students on plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice’ on the University’s website, and the information in the Programme Handbook.
Academic work must be referenced (or cited) correctly. It is crucial therefore, when reading and making notes, not only to summarise the main points made in the text, but also to make a note of any quotations or facts and write down the reference for each of these. You can then use your notes directly as the basis for drafting your dissertation.
Academic work should be built on the work of others, but any sources used have to be referred to in the text and listed in the references. Referring to the work of others is not only about giving the people whose work you use the credit they deserve; it also allows your work to be evaluated and provides evidence for your arguments and conclusions. The content and any arguments and conclusions therefore need to be supported by reference to published work. Any statements, data, diagrams, illustrations, opinions, ideas, or conclusions that are taken from any existing source must be acknowledged, whether this material is directly quoted, paraphrased, summarized, or adapted.
Each citation requires a reference that is listed at the end of the work; this gives the full details of the source item and should enable it to be traced. The reference list of works cited is included at the end of an academic document, in alphabetical order by author. The reference list also includes additional details such as the title and publisher.Keeping accurate records of your references is sound academic practice and citing references properly in your writing is a skill that should be mastered. Full details of any works that you do use can be kept in a notebook or via a computer programme such as Endnote.Academic work will often also include a bibliography; this lists additional relevant items or sources that have been used but are not directly referred to in the text. Including a bibliography shows that you have read widely beyond the items you have cited.There are number of different ways of citing or referencing your work. Citing can be done in the main text, in footnotes or endnotes. A good way of finding out how to reference is to read academic papers and books in your area. The most important element in referencing is to be consistent. There are several different systems for referencing work by others. For your dissertation the Harvard System should be used.
References may be from work presented in journals or newspaper articles, government or industrial reports, books or specific chapters of books, research dissertations or theses, material from the Internet etc. A general guide to the Harvard and Numeric referencing systems is available via the John Rylands Library website at:
A good detailed guide is produced by the Anglia Ruskin University at:
The following document from the University Website should also be studied.
Bibliographic citations
In addition to studying the above you are strongly advised to work through the following Blackboard unit.
MACE69010 Library and Information Skills
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