DISSERTATION STRUCTURE & MARKS GUIDE Title. Acknowledgements Abstract (brief paragraph) Contents & Page numbers List of figures and tables (if required) Introduction Literature review Methodology Findings and Discussion Conclusions Recommendations (if appropriate) Reflection Statement (five hundred word reflection of your learning during your undergraduate course – NOT just relating to the Project) Bibliography (Harvard Reference) Appendices (additional graphs and materials linked to the main report). Brief overview of key chapters. Introduction: Here you should provide a clear rationale for the research. You should introduce the issues and debates within the area – calling on textbook sources but also key peer reviewed literature. You should give a brief introduction to the case study (if you have one), identify your Research Question and Objectives and a brief overview of the chapters that follow. Literature Review. This purpose of this chapter is to identify: •What is already known about the area? •What concepts and theories are relevant? •What research methods and strategies have been used in this area? •Are there any controversies? •Are there any inconsistencies in findings? •Are there any unanswered questions? Your review also has a number of other purposes. •To help you to refine your research question(s) and objectives further. •To highlight research possibilities that has been overlooked in research to date. •To discover explicit recommendations for further research. These can provide you with a justification for your own research question(s) and objectives. •To help you to avoid simply repeating work that has been done already. •As a rule of thumb, at least 80% of the sources used in this chapter should come from peer-reviewed literature. Research Methodology: Your research design is the general plan of how you will go about answering your research question(s). It will specify the sources from which you intend to collect data, how you propose to collect and analyse these, discuss ethical issues and the constraints you will inevitably encounter. Findings and Discussion: The purpose of this chapter is to report the facts your research discovered, to interpret these results and relate the findings to the original research goals and objectives. The implications of the research should also be discussed here. Conclusions and Recommendations: In summing up the work you should: 1. Demonstrate that you have answered the research question(s). 2. Demonstrate that you have met the research objectives. 3. Consider your findings in relation to the existing literature. 4. Reflect on any implications for future research. 5. Recommendations should be insightful and show clearly how your work leads to them. Reflection Statement (500 Words): This is a 500 word reflection of your learning during your GSM Programme. Try to be insightful – avoid saying things like – “I wished I had planned my time better” – unless this is a particularly pertinent point. Bibliography and Referencing: You MUST use the Harvard system for all referencing. Your Bibliography will include sources which have informed your thinking but which you have not referenced within the report. ALL sources cited within the report will need to be listed here, alphabetically, by author. Appendices: Every appendix must have a reference in the main body and the reader directed to the relevant appendix at the appropriate place in the text. However, appendices should only contain additional information. All relevant information must be included in the main body. DISSERTATION MARKS GUIDE. Aims of research clearly defined; objectives/research questions relevant to aim. Clear focus on aims / objectives maintained throughout. If appropriate, hypotheses defined and explained. (10%) Literature review – thorough review of appropriate secondary sources; relationship between the literature and the project explored (i.e. justification is linked to literature) (20%) Research methodology – explanation and justification of an appropriate methodology – approach and data collection techniques appropriate to aims and research questions. (20%) Data Analysis - Appropriate analysis of data in the light of the research objectives and questions. Clear and analytical presentation of findings. (20%) Discussion - results discussed, highlighting significant findings and comparing theory & practice where appropriate (10%) Conclusions / recommendations - based on a reasonable interpretation of both the research conducted and the existing literature. (10%). Critical evaluation of own work. Areas for further research identified and discussed. (5%). Overall layout and presentation is of an acceptable standard, logical and adds value to the document. Appropriate structure. (5%).