Guidelines for Students, Supervisors and Markers
(Electronic version at Weblearn Open Course: LMBS Post Grad Dissertation Handbook 2009/10)
Draft Sept 09
These guidelines are for students and staff involved with dissertations for all Post Graduate courses within the LMBS. This document draws on input from numerous staff members as well as from students.
Any further comments and input are welcome!
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
Purpose 1
Who it is for 1
Structure 1
THE MASTERS DISSERTATION 2
Definition and purpose 2
Submission 2
THE STUDENT-SUPERVISOR RELATIONSHIP 3
Supervisor allocation 3
Student’s role 3
Supervisor’s role 4
THE DISSERTATION (FORMAT / CONTENT) 5
Cover 5
Title Page 5
Acknowledgements 5
Contents 6
Abstract 6
Chapter 1 - Introduction 6
Chapter 2 - Literature Review I – Industry / Sector Overview 6
Chapter 3 - Literature Review II – Area of Business and Management Theory 7
Chapter 4 – Research Methodology 7
Chapter 5 (and 6) - Empirical Findings & Analysis 10
Final Chapter - Conclusions / Recommendations 10
References list 11
Appendices 12
Writing Style and Report Quality 12
Use of Secondary Sources 12
COMMON SHORTCOMINGS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM 12
PLAGIARISM AND HOW TO AVOID IT 13
ASSESSING DISSERTATIONS 15
Marking and Grades 15
Assessment criteria 15
Marking schema 15
Marking Criteria 16
Ethics Review Checklist 17
Recommendation by Chair/vice-Chair Ethics Review Panel: (circle appropriate response) 22
MA Dissertation checklist 29
INTRODUCTION
Purpose
Here at London Metropolitan Business School there are about 60 Masters Degrees covering all the key aspects of business and management. In each of these courses of study students must write a supervised masters dissertation in which they demonstrate their ability to work as independent learners.
This handbook gives a quick insight into how to get going with the dissertation once the proposal is completed. It discusses the submission requirements, the student-supervisor relationship, guidelines for the ‘ideal’ dissertation, as well as the marking criteria used. The Ethics guidelines procedures relating to the research are explained and the Personal Development Portfolio log is introduced.
These guidelines form part of the online resources available on the dissertation Weblearn site and supplement other useful documents including, course texts for Research Methods modules such as: Jankowitz, A.D. (2007), Business Research Projects, 5th Edition, Thomson Learning, Europe. Or: Bryman, A. and Emma Bell (2007) Business Research Methods 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press
Who it is for
This handbook is written for business school students and staff involved with Post Graduate dissertations. It covers the stages after completion of the dissertation proposal and assumes that the student has studied a subject-specific research methods module. The document is therefore relevant to both students and staff wishing to understand:
The supervisory process and how to get the most from it
The characteristics of a quality dissertation
The assessment criteria and the marking process
Structure
After a brief description of the dissertation and submission requirements, the following sections are discussed:
Student supervisor relationship
Dissertation format and content
Plagiarism and how to avoid it
Common shortcomings and how to avoid them
Marking criteria and process
Reading this document should take 20 minutes.
THE MASTERS DISSERTATION
Definition and purpose
The Postgraduate dissertation is a sizeable piece of work, approximately 15,000 words excluding contents, references, appendices, with a logical structure aimed to demonstrate
Command of a business research problem
Knowledge of research methods
A scholarly approach to research and writing
The MA dissertation experience encourages students to further develop