Order Description
Framing the Study
1. Title. What is the working title of your proposed research? Does this make your dissertation instantly
recognizable to the reader, does it capture the theory and the context of your study?
2. What is the dissertation about and why is it important? Short overview detailing why anyone would want
to undertake this study and why anyone would care! [Refer to your notes from lecture 2 and tutorials 1 &2]
3. Research Question, Aim and Objectives. Clearly state and delimit these three separate elements. [Refer to
your notes from lecture 2 and tutorials 1 &2]
4. Is the study theory building or theory testing? Specify which theoretical body of knowledge you are basing
your study within, are you developing that theory (or theories), or are you testing that theory in a new
context. [Refer to your notes from lectures 2 & 4 and tutorials 1,2 & 4]
5. What is the context for the dissertation? Are you applying the theory to a particular business, industry,
sector, country, etc. and why are you planning on doing that. [Refer to your notes from lectures 2 & 4 and
tutorials 3 & 4]
Methodology
6. Research Philosophy. Which philosophical paradigm are you rooting your dissertation [Lecture 4]
7. Data Collection How are you getting your data and which data collection tools are you using [Lectures 4, 5,
6, 7 & 9]
8. Data Analysis. How are you going analyse your data when you have collected it [Lectures 7, 8 & 9 and
tutorials 6, 8 & 10]
9. Ethical Issues [Lecture 11]
Structure
10. Structure of final work. What will be the final structure of your dissertation look like, e.g. draft chapter
headings, other main sections to your work, etc.? [Tutorials 9 &11]
All words in the coursework that you hand in, including References, Title, etc, are included in the 2500 word
count.