Dissertation Guideline

Submission Deadline

Marks and Feedback

Before 10am on:

//2022

20 working days after deadline (L4, 5 and 7)
15 working days after deadline (L6)
10 working days after deadline (block delivery)

Unit title & code	Dissertation
Assignment number and title	Assignment 2 – Dissertation
Assessment type	Individual dissertation
Weighting of assessment	90%
Size or length of assessment	5,000 words
Unit learning outcomes	1. Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding: · Demonstrate an understanding of the research process, relevant academic literature, theoretical models and empirical data for a specific Financial Management related project 2. Demonstrate the following skills and abilities: · Plan and execute an academic research based project and report your findings appropriately deploying a range of skills of written expression appropriate to the subject, demonstrating critical understanding of the subject matter

What am I required to do in this assignment?

This is a 5,000-word dissertation reporting on the implementation of the research study that you proposed in Assessment 1. It is necessary to note that only secondary data are allowed to be used. Therefore, you must not intend to do any primary research at all! This means that there is no need to write a questionnaire or conduct interviews to collect primary data.

Guidelines and Additional Information

· Preparation for this assessment is done through self-directed study supported by library sessions, lecture sessions and individual sessions with your supervisor.

· You will need to do a substantial amount of self-directed reading to address this report adequately. Various sources of information should be considered, such as academic journals, books, newspapers, and trade magazines. Digital libraries are considered as important sources of information and data.

· You are required to use the Dissertation Template which is available from your supervisor.

· Your dissertation should be well presented and logically organised. Poor presentation will result in lower grades.

You are required to use the Harvard referencing style for citing references.

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

In order to pass Assessment 1 you will need to:

· Produce a research proposal which documents your research question, the issues, debates and concepts identified from your initial perusal of the literature, a project plan to complete your dissertation, and an ethics form. All referencing to be in correct Harvard format.

In order to pass Assessment 2 you will need to:

· Produce a report which attempts to answer the research question posed with reference to academic literature and the research process undertaken.

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

We will be filling this section in together in class on Click or tap to enter a date. make sure you have downloaded/printed out the Assignment Brief and bring it to the session with you.

The following points should be observed:

We suggest that you avoid writing in the first person (“I”); rather the third person is recommended (e.g. it can therefore be suggested that…).

You may include headings and subtitles and a contents page if you feel this will help you to stay focused and create clearer sign-posting for the reader.

Guide to writing the Project Report:

Section of project report/ Title	Content / Guidance	Word count
Title page	Title of your report.
Executive Summary	Concise summary of your report, including aim, analysis, key conclusions and recommendations (comes first, written last)	Approx. 250 words
Contents Page	Include page numbers.
Introduction	Introduction to the report setting out what the aims and objectives of the report are, the context, what the report will cover, why and your method of analysis. Must be supported by the ideas of influential contributors using in text citations.	Approx. 500 words
Literature Review	You will need to draw on a wide range of recent (2008-2021) quality academic sources, including peer-reviewed material, combined with practical examples to support your arguments. You will need to critically evaluate the sources in relation to the application of theory to practice.	Approx. 1150 words
Analysis	You need to state and justify the method of analysis as appropriate to the aim and objectives of your project. If using Systematic Review you will need to present full details of the search/searches with number of results and inclusion/exclusion criteria resulting in the final sample of evidence for review. You need to present the evidence (data) published in quality academic sources. You need to analyse in-depth the evidence (data) and present the findings clearly. For systematic review and comparative analysis methods, a table is useful to illustrate the findings. Word count for this section will depend on the topic of your project and may vary widely between projects	Approx. 1150 words
Discussion	In the discussion, you will need to interpret your findings with reference to theories introduced in the literature review. Apply the theory to the data, critically analyse and evaluate in-depth the effectiveness of theory in applied in practice. What is the unique insight from your research?	Approx. 1150 words
Conclusions	This section should initially answer the report aim and objectives and draw together the main points from your analysis. It summarises what has been learned from undertaking this project concerning the application of theory into practice. What are the main conclusions from your project? No new information should be presented in the conclusions.	Approx. 250 words
Recommendations	Make recommendations for improvement based upon your conclusions, clearly stating how they can add value. Recommendations should be fully feasible and justified considering costs, priority level, time-scale, resources, who is responsible, benefits and any further implications. Proposals should be actionable (‘immediately implementable’) not just a list of ideas.	Approx. 250 words
Reference List	A list of all sources cited directly in the text. Harvard style

Use of academic Literature:

Use academic sources, i.e. books, journal articles etc. Refer to respected industry sources DO NOT overuse the Internet, do not use and / or quote from Wikipedia.

Reminder:

You are required to use proper in-text reference and the reference list in the end using the Harvard Referencing System.

The writing:

Try to approach this assignment in a logical and systematic way. Make sure you have a logical structure, a convincing argument, clear description of the situations which ‘set the scene’, and clear explanation which relate to theories, and a conclusion that draws your argument together.

How does assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

The scheduled lessons aim to provide a sound basis to the topic that is being assessed in the assignment. Thus, there is a direct link between the assignment and the content covered in scheduled sessions.

How will my assignment be marked?

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit.

	3^rd Class – 40-49%	Lower 2^nd – 50-59%	Upper 2^nd – 60-69%	1^st Class – 70%+
1 Introduction 10%	Poor elaboration of research questions/ objectives. Importance not established.	Average elaboration of research questions/objectives Research questions/objectives make sense to the reader but importance not well established.	Good elaboration of research questions/objectives. Research questions are well presented without obvious flaws. Research questions or objectives have the potential to benefit the target audience.	Excellent elaboration and presentation of research questions/objectives. Research questions/objectives have the potential to add value to the target audience and are achievable.
2 Literature review 25%	Some required elements of the literature review may be missing or misinterpreted. The readers have difficulty understanding content and conclusions of the literature review. Poor/ erratic referencing.	All the required elements of the literature review are included, but some elements may not have sufficient detail weak synthesis and conclusions. Referencing mostly correct.	All the elements of the literature review needed are included, but a clear flow between the sections/concepts/conclusions may be missing. Correct referencing.	The literature review has an excellent logical flow with clear logic between sections and clear logical conclusions based on a synthesis of ideas. Impeccable referencing
3 Methodology 20%	Weak description of research method with limited understanding of potential issues using secondary research.	Good description of research method with limited understanding of potential issues using secondary research.	Good description of research method with reasonable understanding of potential issues using secondary research.	Excellent description of research method with good understanding of potential issues using secondary research
4 Analysis and Findings 25%	A basic level of critical evaluation and limited reference to analysis of the literature. Poor/ambiguous link to original research question.	A good level of critical evaluation with good tie in and reference to analysis of the literature. Good link to original research question.	A good level of critical evaluation with reasonable tie in and reference to analysis of the literature. Reasonable link to original research question.	Excellent level of critical evaluation with clear tie in and reference to analysis of the literature. Well-argued link and answer to the original research question.
5 Conclusions 10%	Weak conclusion with weak link to analysis and findings. Weak referencing tying in findings in literature review and analysis and findings.	Good conclusion with reasonable link to analysis and findings. Reasonable referencing tying in findings in literature review and analysis and findings.	Commendable and lucid conclusion with strong link to analysis and findings Excellent use of referencing tying in findings in literature review and analysis and findings.	Excellent conclusion with strong link to analysis and findings. Good referencing tying in findings in literature review and analysis and findings.
6 Presentation 10%	Largely descriptive abstract. Some errors in reference section. Some spelling and grammatical errors. Any diagrams may have referencing or caption errors.	Good abstract that may be overly descriptive. Few errors in reference section. Few spelling and grammatical errors. Any diagrams may have a few referencing or caption errors.	Good clear abstract that summarises the project. Minimal errors in reference section. Minimal spelling and grammatical errors. Any diagrams may have minimal referencing or caption errors.	Some errors may occur, but the project has professional standards of presentation. The abstract clearly summarises the research and its findings.

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