Dissertation Guide

Richard Osborne/Steve Priddy

October 2011














1

Figures, words, pages, time

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Practical word length: 15,000-20,000 words, excluding
references, notes, appendices
Words on a page: 400 words (so, practical length of dissertation
text: 40+ pages)
Writing time length at 1,000 words day on average: 15 days but
beware some parts are tougher to write than others
Length by section varies a lot, but average
Abstract: up to a page
Introduction: 4 pages
Formulating Research Question(s), Aims and Objectives: Day 1 of
Programme onwards (keep a diary)
Review of Literature: 14 pages
Research Methodology: 8 pages
Results and Analysis of Results: 12 pages
Conclusions and Recommendations: 4 pages
Review of Literature time: 4-6 weeks
Fieldwork time: 4-6 weeks
Writing up fieldwork time: 2 weeks









2

HOW to write a dissertation.

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This is a practical guide to help you develop, write and complete a successful MBA
dissertation.

This guide assumes that you havent written a dissertation before and covers all of the
basics.

Using research methods textbooks is still necessary but this guide will show you each step
of the process.

The basic rule is to follow the guidelines, be systematic and understand that writing a
dissertation is a particular way of producing an academic piece of work, which is very
different to just writing an essay. The main difference is that a dissertation is a structured,
thorough argument that shows your ability to do research.

It is really like constructing a large Lego building you need an idea (a plan) of the whole
thing, then a guide to how all the bits fit together and then make sure you have all the right
pieces in the right order and bingo you then have a nice neat temple ready to go.




A flow chart of your ideas can be useful as a way of planning the structure of your
dissertation.

Start by finding the topic that really interests you.

Then find a supervisor who will show you the ropes.
3

The Cover Titles and Titling

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You can do a great deal with a title think of how a great title catches your eye:-

War and Peace what do you think this book is about?

The title of your dissertation should be as clear as it is possible if you get this right you are
well on the way.

An examination of the use of Facebook in marketing campaigns for teenage clothes
This is a good title because it tells you exactly about how, when and where the topic will be
developed.

A study of employee performance

This is a bad title because it could be about almost anything.

How to write your title-
1. Play around with several options
2. Dont just repeat your research question wheres the point in that?
3. Be adventurous, but try and find a very specific question!
4. Key words may be useful a critical evaluation, a case study, a longitudinal study











4

Here are some good titles off the top of our heads:-

Flying High? The evolution of British Airways corporate strategy 2000-2010
Shopping Around: Credit Card Switching Behaviour in the UK 2000-2010
Raising Our Sights the Changing Business Model of Optician Service Provision in
the UK
Supply Chain Management in the UK Clothing Business: Next plcs future
strategy
Charity Begins at Home the Evolving Role of the Third Sector on UK High Streets

Here are some that are not so good:-

Corporate Social Responsibility at Tescos/BP/Shell etc.
A Case Study of BPs Oil Crisis in 2010
The Causes of the Global Banking Crisis
Delivering the 2012 Olympics on Time and in Budget
What went wrong with the Millennium Dome?



Can you see why these are not so good as titles? (Answer: They are vague, general and
very hard to answer if not impossible).

Here is the worlds clearest research question- An examination of the bio-mechanics of
the human finger. (This was a Ph.D)

The worlds worst research question -What were the causes of the global financial crisis
and the sub-prime crisis and the after-effects?




5

A good research question is:

1. Clear and simple
2. Has a defined scope.
3. Can be answered.
4. Is achievable in the space/time of the process.

Do not start on your dissertation until you have a good research question and you
understand what research is about. Planning is vital.






So:

To begin your dissertation you will need-

A topic.
A research question. (Which is a question).
A title.
Some Keywords that define what your topic is (vital for the literature search)
A general research approach (called methodology)
A basic idea of how to conduct research (which you will be taught in research
methodology).
A plan of how to complete the research.
Some information about the topic.
A supervisor who will guide you through the process.







6

Making the Research Question, Aims and Objectives, formulating Hypotheses

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What is a research interest?

Here are some examples: - and notes on the difficulties.

Interest Comments
Investment Banking Deeply researched; difficult to get access to
because people are rich and self-important
SME and Entrepreneurship Researched; difficult to get access to people
because they are so busy; often country
specific issues
Banking Crisis Deeply researched; access problems see
investment banking above; highly complex
and often country specific
Low Carbon Futures Emerging research area; high degree of
uncertainty
Corporate Finance Deeply researched; access problems
because of confidentiality issues; needs
fresh perspectives
Financial Literacy Very poorly understood; needs much
cleverer research design; central area of
public policy in most countries
Risk Management Access problems; danger of case study
approach; saturation point e.g. B.P.
Privatisation Overlooked nowadays; good questions still
to be answered around implementation and
rationale; difficulties of access because
politicised
ICT Vast area; widely studied, poorly evaluated;
beware the Cloud
HRM Vast area, rightly widely researched; still
interesting fringe areas such as pension
provision and administration
CSR Much hot air; access difficulties because
corporations only tell you what you want to
know
Tescos Research at saturation point
FDI Growing and important area of research;
needs fresh perspectives; central area of
public policy
Airline Business Models Access problems leads toward quantitative
research; why would you invest in an airline?
Hedge Funds Horrendous access problems by definition
they are private
Implementation of Accounting Standards Growing area, particularly with IFRS
implementation
Supply Chain Management and Procurement Growing in importance as global rebalancing
continues
Operations Management Means everything to everyone

And so on


7

So transforming an interest in to a question

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A research interest is a wide, vaguely defined area, expressed in a paragraph;it may lead to
a question.

A good research question is narrow, tightly defined, expressed in a sentence, must lead to
an answer, and is essential to answer

Good, and not so good research questions:
Good Not So Good
What role does corporate social
responsibility play in a small chain of organic
food cooperatives?
(my best friend is a manager at one of the
branches)
What role does corporate social
responsibility play at Tescos
(I have never worked there and know none
of the senior directors)

How does a bank reward its staff without
giving them bonuses?
(my best friend is the manager at one branch
of Handelsbankken who pride themselves on
a different model of staff remuneration)
Did perverse incentives to senior staff at the
UKs 4 largest banks contribute to the
banking crisis?
(I have no colleagues in senior positions at
the big 4 banks)
How well do family farmers manage cereal
price volatility over the long term in the UK?
(my father is a longstanding family farmer in
East Anglia a region renowned for cereal
growing)
What trading positions do hedge funds adopt
on soft commodities in an economic
recession?
(I dont know anyone who works for a hedge
fund)
How effective is audit in uncovering fraud in
public finances in Rikstein?
(My uncle is Auditor-General in Rikstein)
What is the extent of bribery, money
laundering and corruption in Rikstein?
(I dont know any senior police or political
figures in Rikstein)
How effective is bank lending to rapidly
growing ICT start up firms?
(I started my ICT business three years ago
it is rapidly growing)
Why are banks not lending enough to
SMEs?
(I have few friends none work in banks or
SMEs)
How effective is an annual staff survey in
enhancing stakeholder engagement?
(I am a senior HR manager with specialist
experience in annual staff survey
engagement)
How does Tesco engage so well with its
workforce?
(the only people I know at Tescos worked on
the tills a couple of years ago)
To what extent and for what purpose does a
major multinational use financial derivatives?
(I work on the treasury desk at a major
multinational and know the Corporate
Treasurer well)
What role do complex financial derivatives
play in the smooth running of the banking
system?
(I have just qualified with ACCA and am yet
to meet a senior figure in the banking world.
These derivative things are quite difficult to
understand)
What attributes do runners look for when
they buy new shoes?
(I am a middle manager of the sales force for
New Balance a company that makes its
shoes in the UK and does not rely on
celebrity endorsement)
To what extent did accusations of child
labour at Nike contribute to a fall in sales?
(I do not know anyone who works for Nike)
How does this question relate to possible
kinds of research
Good and bad reasons for adopting it.

8

You get the drift, we hope. Be specific, and reflect on how you will get access to meaningful
sources.

To select a topic make sure it is something that you are really interested and that you know
about and that you can realistically get information about.

If you are stuck get a copy of the FT and of City.am and look at all of the major currant
topics- select 5 you are interested in and then think about how you would approach it. Three
key things drive the decision of what your dissertation is about.

1. Is it do-able? (can you actually answer the question and do the research)
2. Will it be useful to you in the future? (in your career)
3. Are you interested in it as a topic?

Look on the web, look at previous dissertations, look in the research methods books on the
reading lists, they will all give you ideas.

Ok. I have got a topic, a title and a research question what do I do next?
Simples you do the abstract.

Abstract

What is an abstract?
It is a 200-300 word summary of the whole dissertation

Whats it for?
It is to give the examiner a clear idea of what the dissertation is attempting to do.
For example -

This dissertation is an empirical study of the implementation of firewall systems in a clothing
online company and its impact on customer sales and access etc.

A good abstract is clear and simple and tells the examiner everything they need to know.

1. And the whole approach of the dissertation?
2. Yes, a quick overview of the approach and structure.


Keywords
At the end of the abstract you should put some keywords; these help you, and the examiner,
see straightaway what the main topic is.They also are very useful for putting into search
engines to find academic material on the research question.

Example Research question is Examining the Key indicators of employee motivation and
performance in the financial sector in Britain, 200-2011.
Keywords: key indicators, employee motivation, financial sector, performance, Britain.Once
youve looked at a few academic articles you will get the hang of it, as they all have
keywords attached to them. Look at the abstract databases and academic journals.


9

Now for the introduction...

_________________________________________________________________________

This is my friend Nihal ---is that what you mean?
Well thats not completely wrong because what the introduction is there to do is to introduce
the whole background and context of the research question to the examiner.

The introductory chapter of your dissertation should include

1. An overview of the dissertation problem, and its background and context.
2. Discussion of the industry background and context if necessary.
3. A brief overview of the aims and objectives and approach of your topic.
4. A discussion about why your dissertation is significant and what you want to achieve.
5. A description of the various dissertation chapters.

You can think of the introduction as being an extended version of the abstract that fills in a
lot of the detail about what is going to happen in the dissertation.

The introduction signposts how the dissertation will be structured this is what makes a
dissertation different to an essay or short piece of writing it is a long, organised argument
that presents in-depth research to answer a question.

1. So after the introduction what do I do?
2. You follow the structure given in the introduction. So next is Literature Review.




10

Doing the Literature review

(this section is far too often not done properly and leads to a weak dissertation)
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1. Whats this literature review, I dont like literature Im doing business studies.
2. No it means something a bit different its the literature whats been written- about
your topic.
3. What does that mean?
4. It means that you have to read all the academic journals and articles and books that
deal with the same research question as the one you are doing.
5. Oh, and how do I do that?
6. Well you take the Keywords you developed with your question the main terms that
describe important elements of your topic and search all the databases and
libraries and journals for information on the topic. Easy.
7. But I dont know how to do it.
8. You do a search, you look in databases, library catalogues, even on Google scholar
to find articles that talk about your topic.
9. Give me an example...

My title is An analysis of the Key Indicators of motivation that affects employee
performance in the financial sector in Britain,2000- 2010

So my Keywords are employee performance motivation and the financial sector because
these are the main ideas in my research. I put these in Google scholar or any other
database and I try and find articles that directly discuss this problem.















11

And what do you do then?

Well if you really smart you use a citation index.

What is one of them, and why would I use it?
Well it is a listing of all academic articles and then they are ranked in terms of the numbers
of times they have been quoted by someone else or the number of times they have been
cited.

So whats the point of that?
Well it reflects the general importance of the article you are quoting, which is a useful tool in
thinking about your particular research problem.

Is it essential to use them?
Well its not essential but its a very good idea to find out what the most important topics of
debate are.

Heres a quote from a useful site on how to use citation indexes.
Citation indexes track references that authors put in the bibliographies of published papers.
They provide a way to search for and analyze the literature in a way not possible through
simple keyword/topical searching. It also enables users to gather data on the "impact" of
journals, as well as assessing particular areas of research activity and publication.
(UniversityofTexaslibrarywebsite)


Where else do I find academic literature about my topic?
The other important place to look, besides the bibliographies of already published books on
the subject, are abstract databases

And they are?
They are specialist academic databases that list all of the articles produced by writers that
have been published in journals and conference proceedings. They give the abstract of what
the article is about and links to the full thing.

So I use my keywords and find all the relevant articles, right?
When you have found the 20-30 most important articles/books about your topic in the
literature review you just need tosummarize what everyone says.

1. Critically evaluate it this means to weigh up whether or not what is being argued is
relevant to your research.
2. Try and establish what the best research approach for your topic is, by analyzing
what other academic writers on the topic have said.
3. Establish if there are any gaps in the literature this means that they havent
discussed the topic you are concerned with probably not likely to happen.

The present estimate is that about 1.2 million academic articles are now written every year
so it is fairly unlikely that there is nothing written on your topic.
At the end of literature review you should have an idea of the appropriate way to approach
your research question. Summarize what you have discovered in the literature review.


12

Research methodology.
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This is the bit a lot of people have trouble with but again it is straightforward if you think
about what it is you are trying to do.

What am I trying to do?
You are trying to find the best method to approach your topic sometimes called horses for
courses.

I dont like horses and Ive never been riding.
It is an expression that means certain things are best in certain places, some horses run
better at a course that is hilly than a flat one.

Ah, so sometimes one method of research is better than another one depending on
the topic?
You are already out in front on this one.

For the Masters student of business research the aim of the RM chapter is to demonstrate:-

1. You understand what a research approach, or method is and why it is appropriate to
your topic.
2. That the chapter is not a quasi- philosophical exercise divorced from the rest of the
work.
3. A grasp of the dilemmas and challenges posed by business research in general and
specifically the research question and objectives you wish to address
4. The various approaches that may be taken to the research question via achieving
aims and objectives set down in the introductory chapter and revisited at the end of
the Review of Literature chapter
5. Your justification for the approaches you have taken in the research design and
strategy you are proposing

The most important thing about a research methodology is that it is APPROPRIATE to the
research question that you working on

How do you define appropriate in this context?
Its like this if the dissertation is like a car then the engine is the idea and the methodology is
the gearbox its what drives the vehicle along if its the wrong gearbox for the engine it
wont move.







13

Drawing
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Why do some people use onions in research? Because they make you cry?
I think you are referring to the infamous Research Onion beloved of Saunder et al.



Why it is bad?
It is overly complex.

Dont forget you need to talk about the limitations of the study and the approaches this
shows you are aware of the problems.

Whats a research philosophy then?
It is the basic theoretical approach you take to understanding the world.

Meaning?
How you interpret the world and explain how it works, you might think that the world is fixed
and unchanging or you might think that everything changes all the time, these views are
completely opposite and represent a philosophical approach.

So why do I need a research philosophy?
To explain what sort of information and data you will collect, how you will collect it and why it
is valid.

14

For example?
Positivism is a theory that the world is knowable through observation and that facts can be
demonstrated by deduction.

Deduction?
Testing things against known theories, building hypothesis and making measurements and
showing facts. Generally being quantitative in approach.

Doesnt everyone do that and agree with it?
Nope, there are people called Interpretivists who say that in effect reality is constructed in
different ways by different people, so thereare multiple realities.

You are confusing me, whats that got to do with business studies?
How you interpret what consumers think about a product may involve understanding their
emotions rather than facts about how cars are built, so you are always interpreting how the
world works.

So I guess that sort of philosophical approach tends to use qualitative methods
because it is trying to analyze realities rather than just report on them?
I couldnt have put that better myself.

And whats a realist?
Realists take the view that things can be understood straightforwardly, just treated as
existing without worrying about whether they obey fixed laws, like the positivists say, or are
completely made up (relativistic) as the Interpretivistssay.

So my research philosophy is really my idea of how to understand how the world
works?
Precisely.
And that dictates what methodology you use.

Your research approach, methodology and philosophy should all be inter-linked and be
appropriate to your topic and area of study. A guide to this should come out of your
literature review- because you will have looked at research that is doing similar things to
your topic.






15

You should now have a clear plan of action

I have a horse called Research Philosophy and I have a map of where I am going, so
like Napoleon I will conquer Europe or at least write a good dissertation.



Before you go you need some idea of where you are going to get data from for your
research!

I knew there was something, where do I get data from?
What sort of data you need, and where you get it from, also depends on the sort of research
approach you have adopted sometimes its statistics and sometimes its in-depth
interviews with particular people.

Important places to find information.
ONS.
ILO
Directory of Open access journals (DOAJ)
Abstract databases (like ERA etc)
RBA Information site.
Citation indexes.
Conference proceedings (often only published on the web)
BL. (or any other library catalogue)
Government reports (almost always free access)


16

Important places to find information cont.

Joseph Rowntree Trust
British Sociological Association.
Google Scholar.
More or Less (BBC statistics programme)

Have a research design as well the plan of how you do all of the above

Research design is just like the diagram for assembling an IKEA wardrobe - it shows what
you do, how you do it and where everything goes. Or to put it more technically it is the string
of logic that links the data to be collected and the conclusions to be drawn to the initial
research question.

Thereare basically four problems that research designs deal with:

1. What questions to study
2. What data are relevant
3. What data to collect
4. How to analyse that data.

This is really the plan of how the whole dissertation works and provides the structure that is
central to the whole process.

A dissertation is a structured argument which deals both with how to research, what to
research and the proper methodology for doing.

Where do I begin my research design?
This is often the fundamental dilemma for business research students. The simple answer is
as early as possible on the whole programme, if not before. We say again, keep an ideas
diary from day one of the programme. In there, repeatedly mull over what are my research
interests, and how can I forge them into a sensible research question with SMART
objectives. The sharper your question becomes the clearer the research tools, techniques
and volumes of data to answer it become.

Example
Think about the types and volumes of data and other information you will need to resolve the
following research question and objectives:-
Question: To what extent do remittances from the Cypriot diaspora in the UK contribute to
economic progress in the home country?
Objective 1: To quantify the frequency and size of remittances home from Cypriot diaspora in
London over the 10 years to 2010
Objective 2: To evaluate the state of the Cypriot economy over the same period and its
funding sources
Objective 3: Via multi factor regression analysis to establish the strength of correlation
between level and frequency of remittance and economic progress in Cyprus


17

Thinking early, and along these lines may well lead you to the conclusion that the amount of
data you need to collect is either not feasible, not available, or cannot be collected in the
timeframe of a Masters dissertation. Finding this out early will avoid considerable amounts
of grief on your part.

Will I do a questionnaire, a survey, in-depth interviews, a focus group, random sampling,
complex sampling, Skype interviews, statistical analysis or simply secondary data?


So what sorts of data should you be looking for?
First of all good data, that is information that is reliable, accurate and properly sourced
not just something off the net or out of a newspaper!

Many people say that Mercedes are good cars is not accurate data- it is hearsay.
In research you are trying to find out what is the actually the case in a given situation, so, like
a detective, you have to be suspicious of first impressions.

So what is good data?
The best data is primary data.

Whats that?
It is first hand information collected by you in a manner that tries to be scientific like a
survey or an examination of statistical evidence produced by you. It is new, reliable data.

What if I cant get any primary data?
Then you turn to secondary data which is already published information from other sources,
like government statistics or company information- but you must explain why they are
relevant and valid.

Why doesnt everyone use primary data?
Because it can be difficult, expensive and very time consuming to collect, say you were
investigating the effect of extreme cold on oil-drilling you would need to go to the Antarctic
for six months and make observations, which could be lethal and incredibly expensive.
Remember Research articles that you looked at in your literature review about your topic will
show you many places to get data from and suggest ways of using data.

Youve collected the data so you go into the Main Discussion...
18

_________________________________________________________________________

This is the main chunk of the dissertation. Here you discuss your research question, how it
worked, what the analysis looks like, what the implications of the research process are and
what the problems with the data and the outcome are.

It is where you explore in detail the question that you have posed and show a chain of
reasoning that will justify the conclusions that you come to.

So you might have a phrase like this ; Therefore the general argument of this dissertation
has been and the data collected showed that and therefore the original research
question appears to have been correct in suggesting the hypothesis that etc.

You should try and bring together the research philosophy, the methodology and the
research design to show how they all function to produce a clear, logically structured
argument.

Imagine that you have to explain each and every step of the process to someone who knows
nothing about dissertations so you explain and justify each step and each kind of proof and
information.

Whatever you say try and substantiate it, a dissertation is more like a legal document than a
letter home.






Analysis of findings.
_________________________________________________________________________

If I have clear findings why do I need to analyze them?
Mainly because you need to be able to show how you came to those conclusions thats
what research is about demonstrating not only the proof but how it was constructed.

I dont follow that
Well you may think that the conclusions are clear but unless you can explain how they came
about then you havent completed the explain and justify part of the process.

Give me an example, please?
Well if you had done a complicated survey that involved many different people from different
age and income groups and they all said the same thing about using e-commerce then you
would need to explain why such different people all came to the same conclusion.

Ok so I need to unpick the way the data is constructed and what it means?
Exactly, to show that you can argue for the validity of the findings you are presented.

Like the conclusion about Pigs flying- that would need some serious justifying and analysis
of the findings.





Conclusion...(recommendations)
19

_________________________________________________________________________
This is where you state as clearly as you can exactly what it is you have discovered.
Example: This dissertation has demonstrated the fact that pigs can fly, which was done by
collecting primary data on instances of pigs flying and interviewing them. (see appendix a)

This may not rate as a very good conclusion because it may not be true so make sure your
conclusion is based on your analysis and that it is a proper representation of the actual
situation.

The conclusion should state what you have proven to be the case and why it is so. Dont
forget to refer back to your original research question have you answered it?

Your conclusions may not be what you expected to discover so you may have to say that.
Try and show why the conclusion is important and what the consequences of the findings
are-these are called recommendations.

For example: Larger fences should be put around Pigs if we think they are going to fly.
(Bad).
Heres a better example.

This dissertation has shown that social media are a vital sales tool in clothes retailing and
therefore that new brands must develop a marketing strategy that incorporates social media.

Referencing, presentation and other bits.
._________________________________________________________________________

You must make sure that everything that you directly quote, or refer to, in the dissertation is
properly referenced. This must follow the Harvard Referencing system as specified in the
LSBF guidelines.

There are plenty of guides on the net- just put in Harvard Referencing.

Back up material needs to go into the appendix section.

Final hand in.
Leave yourself at least three days to complete the final version of your dissertation, proper
presentation is import and binding takes time do not leave it until the final day. Put the
hand in date on your wall and aim to complete well before the deadline.
If you have followed all of the steps we have outlined and talked to your supervisor then it is
highly likely you will have submitted a successful dissertation.

Recommended Reading
Jones, S. Van der Heijden, B. Wahba, K. How to Write Your MBA Thesis (Maastricht
School of Management Series in Intercultural and Global Management)
Baxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (1996) How To Research, Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Bell, J. (1999) Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-time Researchers in
Education and Social Science, 3rdedition, Buckingham: Open University Press.