DISSERTATIONS SUPPORT WORKSHOP CHAPTER 1: … · 1 Use Zotero from the very beginning 2 Keeping or...

www.regenesys.co.za

Brad Bell

September 2017

MASTERS’

DISSERTATIONS

SUPPORT

WORKSHOP

CHAPTER 1:

INTRODUCTION

2

FEEDBACK CHANNELS

Your educational enjoyment and progress is our top priority, so it gives us great pleasure to inform you of two ways of raising your queries, complaints and compliments with Regenesysmanagement :-

1. E-mail: feedback@regenesys.co.za

or

2. Portal: “Tools > Post a Query”

Enjoy your studies this semester!

SUPPORT CHANNELS

RESEARCH-RELATED

• Research Manager = Ms Towera Gondwe

• Assistance Research Manager = Vacant

• research@regenesys.co.za

• For queries about supervisor allocation, support

workshops, submission deadlines, etc.

GENERAL / ADMIN-RELATED

• MPM Programme Manager = Mr Noah ‘Trevor’ Ncube

• noahn@regenesys.co.za

• MBA Programme Manager = Ms Sandra Chibanda

• sandrac@regenesys.co.za

• For queries about finance, student portal, turnitin, library,

etc.

EXAMPLES FROM “TOP STUDENTS”

• Example 1: Dean’s Award, April 2016

• Law, Richard. (2016) Developing a strategy for the mass

adoption of a medical emergency identification system in

China. MBA Dissertation: Regenesys Business School.

• Example 2 : Dean’s Award, October 2016

• Smith, Deon. (2016). The effects of corporate values on

organisational performance: A case study in two business

units at a leading financial institution in Gauteng. MBA

Dissertation: Regenesys Business School.

CHAPTER 1 PROGRAMME

1 Use Zotero from the very beginning

2 Keeping or changing your topic?

3 Outline of Chapter 1

4 *Starting at the end: Data collection instrument

5*Once you know the answers, you can ask the right

questions

6*Once you have a solution, you can find an appropriate

problem

Good bye!!

INSTALL AND USE ZOTERO FROM DAY 1

• Zotero can only insert citations if the original article is inside your own personal Zotero library (click and save from internet)

• Zotero can only generate a perfect bibliography if it has inserted its own citations throughout your dissertation

• You cannot start to use Zotero later, once you have been downloading articles manually, inserting in-text references manually, etc.

• So get Zotero up and running now – it’ll save you hundreds of hours in the long run!!

• Zotero works on Windows, Mac, and Linux with MS-Office,

OpenOffice, and LibreOffice

• Zotero can import academic references, cite them in your

text, and automate your bibliography

• It can also import and “tag” the full text of your documents or

other materials, e.g. photos, videos, etc.

• Download it for free from www.zotero.org

• You must install three (3) components:

• Zotero “standalone”

• Zotero “connector” for your browser

• Open a Zotero account

PRACTICAL VIDEOS ON ZOTERO

• Understanding Zotero: Installation

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm2MbYB3k4o&list=PL

Xt-tu7G1H3vlRXLmGyOzeAp7ZKDK0pty

• Understanding Zotero: Configuration

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n9iXpg-

Btw&index=2&list=PLXt-

tu7G1H3vlRXLmGyOzeAp7ZKDK0pty

• Using Zotero for academic writing

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqFiCj1XV-E

CHAPTER 1 PROGRAMME

1 Use Zotero from the very beginning

2 Keeping or changing your topic?

3 Outline of Chapter 1

4 *Starting at the end: Data collection instrument

5*Once you know the answers, you can ask the right

questions

6*Once you have a solution, you can find an appropriate

problem

Good bye!!

KEEPING OR CHANGING YOUR TOPIC?

• Your dissertation requires you to demonstrate a range of

research and thinking skills – that’s all!

• So keep it short and simple, and concentrate on ‘ticking the

boxes’ and finishing it as soon as possible

• Forget all about the luxury of ‘interest’ or ‘passion’, which

will fade away very soon …

• “Hello Brad. Here is the final beast. At this stage I can no

longer even focus on the screen and feel like death. I beg,

plead and implore you – please can we get this nightmare

into the document prison where it belongs...”

Dr Fathima Patel, Ph.D., MB.ChB., MBA

• So, if you have an ‘approved’ topic from your module

assignment, and your circumstances haven’t changed,

then keep it

• You will save hours, days or even weeks of work by

continuing from where you left off

• If your circumstances have genuinely changed (e.g.

changed jobs, towns, etc. and no longer have access to the

data, etc.) then you will need to change your topic

• This involves:-

• Writing a new proposal

• Submitting it to the HDRC for review

• Making any change(s) the HDRC requires

• Resubmitting it to the HDRC for approval

THE RESEARCH TITLE

• Later, it will be essential to get the title correct and to ensure that the topic being studied actually aligns with the research title

• Your research title will be changed and refined several times as your work progress, and the final version will probably be produced right at the end (months from now)

• Some preliminary guidelines for now:-

• Is it 12 words or less? (always exclude ‘an investigation’, etc.)

• Is it clearly focused on a management or leadership issue? (remember, you’re not doing an M.Ed., etc. etc.)

• Does it mention the variable(s) you’ll be measuring? (if it’s a quantitative study)

EXAMPLE 1 (R. LAW, 2016)

• Developing a strategy for the mass adoption of a medical

emergency identification system in China

• The effects of corporate values on organisational

performance: A case study in two business units at a

leading financial institution in Gauteng

EXAMPLE 2 (D. SMITH, 2016)

CHAPTER 1 PROGRAMME

1 Use Zotero from the very beginning

2 Keeping or changing your topic?

3 Outline of Chapter 1

4 *Starting at the end: Data collection instrument

5*Once you know the answers, you can ask the right

questions

6*Once you have a solution, you can find an appropriate

problem

Good bye!!

STRUCTURE OF YOUR DISSERTATION

Regenesys prefers the 6-chapter structure:-

• *Chapter 1 – Introduction (today)

• Chapter 2 – Literature Review

• Chapter 3 – Research Methodology

• Chapter 4 – Presentation of results

• Chapter 5 – Discussion

• Chapter 6 – Conclusion & Recommendations

OUTLINE OF CH 1

Checklist for

“Chapter 1:

Introduction”

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background

1.3 *Problem statement

1.4 Purpose of the study

1.5 *Research objectives / questions

1.6 Significance of the study

1.7 *Research design (brief overview)

1.8 Limitation(s) & delimitation(s) of the study

1.9 Chapter outline

1.10 Conclusion

OTHER ‘DECORATIONS’ FOR LATER

• Title page

• Abstract

• Declaration of original work

• Acknowledgements

• Table of Contents

• List of Tables

• List of Figures

• List of Appendices

• Glossary of terms (optional)

• Etc.

OUR JOB TODAY …

• … is to focus on the three most important sections of Ch 1

– our theme is “knowing the end from the beginning”

• The three most important sections are the ones that

influence the coherence of your chapter and ultimately of

your entire dissertation

• Research methodology

• Research questions

• Statement of the problem (yes, in reverse order!)

• There are other minor issues we won’t cover today; please

discuss them with your own Supervisors

CHAPTER 1 PROGRAMME

1 Use Zotero from the very beginning

2 Keeping or changing your topic?

3 Outline of Chapter 1

4*Starting at the end: Data collection

instrument

5*Once you know the answers, you can ask the right

questions

6*Once you have a solution, you can find an appropriate

problem

Good bye!!

Checklist for

“Chapter 1:

Introduction”

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background

1.3 Problem statement

1.4 Purpose of the study

1.5 Research objectives / questions

1.6 Significance of the study

1.7 Research design (brief overview)

1.8 Limitation(s) & delimitation(s) of the study

1.9 Chapter outline

1.10 Conclusion

REMEMBER SAUNDERS’ “RESEARCH ONION”?

1.7 RESEARCH DESIGN (BRIEF OVERVIEW)

1.7.1 Research Design Example 1 Example 2

1.7.1.1 Philosophy Positivism Interpretivism

1.7.1.2 Approach Deductive Inductive

1.7.1.3 Strategy Survey Case study

1.7.1.4 Choice Mono (quantitative) Mono (qualitative)

1.7.1.5 Time horizon Cross-sectional Cross-sectional

1.7.2 Research Methodology

1.7.2.1 Population(s) Size? Profile?

1.7.2.2 Sample(s)Size = Raosoft.com

Method = randomMethod = purposive

1.7.2.3 Research instrument Questionnaire Interview schedule

1.7.2.4 Data Collection Google forms Recorded interviews

1.7.2.5 Data Analysis Descriptive, Reliability,

Inferential

Transcribing, Coding,

Content Analysis

(concept-driven)

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY …

• … are two features of your data collection instrument that you cannot correct later (after you have collected your data)

• You must get them right from the very beginning

• Developing a valid and reliable data collection instrument is a whole research project in and of itself – don’t do it!!

• *The best method ‘1st prize’ is to find an existing –validated – data collection instrument

• Check copyright restrictions (if any)

• Adapt if required (e.g. adding in demographic questions)

• Distribute to your sample and collect your own primary data

• Remember, you’re ‘helping them back’ by increasing their

citation rate!

NOW LET’S GET BOMBASTIC …

Exploratory

Research

You’re usually identifying the variables that

others who follow you will start to measure

(qualitative)

Descriptive

ResearchYou’re usually measuring 1 variable

Explanatory

Research

You’re usually measuring 2 (or more)

variables (common quantitative)

Experimental

Research

You’re measuring 1 variable across 2 different

groups (with all other possible variables

controlled)

WHICH MEANS THAT …

• You will need to combine two different questionnaires into

one consolidated questionnaire

• Many famous questionnaires consist of the original ‘long

form’ (e.g. 40 items) and a subsequent ‘short form’ (e.g. 20

items) that achieves almost the same levels of reliability but

in half the time

• Remember: The time it takes to complete a questionnaire

affects the response rate!!

• So use the ‘short form’ wherever possible

• Can you really do better than a professional questionnaire?

EXAMPLE (MALAKOANE, 2017)

• This study uses a questionnaire that consists of three sections. The first section asks for basic demographic information, and contains a few filter questions, and has been designed by the researcher.

• The second section measures work-life balance, and is the short form of Banu and Duraipandian’s (2014) questionnaire, which measures five dimensions of work-life balance using fifteen items answered on a standard 5-point Likert scale.

• The third section of the questionnaire measures job satisfaction, and is the short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). It consists of 20 items designed to measure an employee's satisfaction with his or her job, answered on a rating scale from 1 ‘Not Satisfied’ up to 5 ‘Extremely Satisfied’.

QUICKIE PRACTICAL

• Clarify your own variables (what are you going to measure)

and instruments (how are you going to measure) now …

• No. 1 most important job for today!!

CHAPTER 1 PROGRAMME

1 Use Zotero from the very beginning

2 Keeping or changing your topic?

3 Outline of Chapter 1

4 *Starting at the end: Data collection instrument

5*Once you know the answers, you can ask

the right questions

6*Once you have a solution, you can find an appropriate

problem

Good bye!!

Checklist for

“Chapter 1:

Introduction”

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background

1.3 Problem statement

1.4 Purpose of the study

1.5 Research objectives / questions

1.6 Significance of the study

1.7 Research design (brief overview)

1.8 Limitation(s) & delimitation(s) of the study

1.9 Chapter outline

1.10 Conclusion

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The identification of research objectives involves these two

basic steps:

1. Breaking the research problem down into its separate

components

• Each objective should have one focus. In other words,

you should formulate the research objective so that you

will not be investigating any more than one aspect;

• A simple yes or no cannot answer your research

objective!!

2. Identifying the words that indicate a need for the collection

and interpretation of data and information.

EXAMPLE 1 (R. LAW, 2016)

In addressing the research problem, the following objectives

formed the basis of this study:

• To determine the citizens’ knowledge of a MEIS;

• To ascertain the perceived importance of a MEIS in the

daily lives of the citizens;

• To establish the MEIS product design that would most

appeal to the broader consumer market; and

• To explore a strategy to promote the mass adoption of a

MEIS in China.

EXAMPLE 2 (D. SMITH, 2016)

The primary aim of this study is to examine the effect of

corporate values on organisational performance and

specifically business unit performance in two business units of

FNB Business in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. The

objectives are to:

• Determine the leadership style of the organisation and its

role in shaping corporate values.

• Identify the dominant corporate value and its impact on

business unit performance.

• Determine the relationships between corporate values,

leadership style and business unit performance and how

they affect business performance.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Any research has to answer some questions. To some

extent, these questions are the reason for conducting the

research

• A research question must also be clearly formulated,

unambiguous and researchable

• A research question is essentially a restatement of the

research objectives in question form. The questions ensure

the objectives of the study are researched correctly

• Research questions are NOT the questions you ask your

research participants, but are strategic questions to which

the study has to provide answers

WHAT RESEARCH QUESTIONS COULD YOU ASK IF …

AND NOW WHAT QUESTIONS COULD YOU ASK IF …

AND FOR THE LAST TIME … ?

‘STANDARD’ DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

‘Descriptive research’ = measure 1 variable

• To measure / What is the strength of Variable A amongst

(the sample)?

• Answer = average of scores in questionnaire

• To determine / What is the impact of demographic variables

on Variable A amongst (the sample)?

• Answers = sorting respondents into groups based on

their demographics and using ANOVA to determine if the

groups have similar or different averages

EXAMPLE: MEASURING 1 VARIABLE

EXAMPLE: IMPACT OF DEMOGRAPHICS

‘STANDARD’ EXPLORATORY RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Exploratory research = measure 2 variables

• To measure / What is the strength of Variable A amongst

(the sample)?

• Answer = average of scores in 1st part of questionnaire

• To measure / What is the strength of Variable B amongst

(the sample)?

• Answer = average of scores in 2nd part of questionnaire

• To determine if / Does a relationship exist between Variable

A and Variable B amongst (the sample)?

• Answer = some inferential statistic (e.g. correlation)

EXAMPLE: MEASURING 2 VARIABLES

QUICKIE PRACTICAL

• Clarify your own research questions (usually 2 – 3) now …

• No. 2 most important job for today!!

CHAPTER 1 PROGRAMME

1 Use Zotero from the very beginning

2 Keeping or changing your topic?

3 Outline of Chapter 1

4 *Starting at the end: Data collection instrument

5*Once you know the answers, you can ask the right

questions

6*Once you have a solution, you can find an

appropriate problem

Good bye!!

Checklist for

“Chapter 1:

Introduction”

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background

1.3 Problem statement

1.4 Purpose of the study

1.5 Research objectives / questions

1.6 Significance of the study

1.7 Research design (brief overview)

1.8 Limitation(s) & delimitation(s) of the study

1.9 Chapter outline

1.10 Conclusion

WHAT IS A ‘PROBLEM’?

• The research problem can be defined as a difficulty that

you experience in the context of a theoretical or a practical

situation, for which a solution is required

• The research problem is the pivotal point around which the

research study revolves

• The level of clarity in defining the problem cannot be

stressed enough to ensure that there is a clear defined

focus for the researcher

• In short – either what we don’t know

(gap in academic knowledge)

– or what we can’t do well

(gap in professional knowledge)

EXAMPLE 1 (R. LAW, 2016)

• The thought of being unconscious, alone and unidentifiable

in a medical emergency is a matter of great concern and

could be distressing for the individual and their family

members …

• A medical emergency identification system (MEIS) is a

system that could assist in identifying an unresponsive

person, provide contact details for their loved ones; and

render access to personal information that can facilitate

their treatment in an emergency …

• There is no known commercial MEIS in China, a country

that has a population of 1.35-billion people …

• There were 2.2-billion recorded outpatient visits to

government hospitals across China during 2011, of which

89-million were classified as emergency cases (National

Bureau of Statistics China, 2012) …

• In an interview conducted with Dr. Xu Han, a Shanghai

based medical doctor, he stated that “while it is not written

policy, patients who remain unidentified in hospital without

the guarantee of payment for medical services will only

receive basic medical care (Han, 2013)” …

• Furthermore, the aforementioned also stated that it was

extremely unlikely that surgical interventions would be

undertaken without authorisation from the patient or a

relative …

EXAMPLE 2 (D. SMITH, 2016)

• Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) published an analysis of the

major banks in South Africa in March 2015 titled; “Navigating a

volatile landscape”, (PWC, 2015). The report highlighted the

many challenges facing banks in South Africa …

• These challenges have real implications in the areas of strategic

and operational decisions of the leadership and to respond to

these factors in order to continue to build sustainable banks.

• PWC believes that within these industry developments,

organisational culture will play an ever increasing role and is a

“decisive variable” in the setting of strategy for the future in order

for banks to navigate the current landscape. PWC makes the

following statement; “From sharper customer centricity to more

assured control over risk, a winning culture can deliver distinctive

competitive advantages” …

EXAMPLE 2 (D. SMITH, 2016)

• The Bank, FNB, places high emphasis on the importance of

corporate values and uses these as a means to influence

the behaviour and attitudes of its employees towards

effective organisational performance …

• Measurement of the impact of corporate values is therefore

a critical element in internalising or inculcating a particular

organisational culture. This study provides a feedback loop

for the executive of the Bank on the effect of its corporate

values strategy …

QUICKIE PRACTICAL

• Clarify your own statement of the problem. What don’t we

know or can’t do well that you are going to help solve?

• To demonstrate that your topic is ‘research worthy’, this is

one of the few sections in your dissertation where you can

cite popular media

• No. 3 most important job for today!!

www.regenesys.co.za

END

OF

THE

SESSION

Good luck!

See you next time … !!