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2/28/2015 MBA.co.zaPreparingtowriteyourMBAdissertation?

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PreparingtowriteyourMBAdissertation?AnMBAqualificationisoneofthemostrecognisedbusinessmanagementdegreesintheworld.Successfullycompletingthequalificationcomeswithitschallenges.Thedegreerequirescommitmentfromthestudentinordertosuccessfullycompleteassignments,passexaminationsandfulfiltheminidissertationrequirementstoobtainthequalification.TheminidissertationisanintegralpartofcompletingyourMBA,anditalsorequiresthemostamountofeffortandtimecommitment.Themostimportantconsiderationswhenembarkingonthisdauntingtaskisputtingaplaninplaceandstructuringyourcourseofaction.

ForanyMBAstudent,itisimportanttomanagetimecorrectly.Itissoeasytofallintothetrapofprocrastinationbecausethetasksathandmayseemoverwhelming.Alongwithcourseworkandresearchresponsibilities,itisexpectedtoalsojuggleafulltimejobandotherresponsibilitiesthatdemandonestimeandattention,suchasspouses,childrenandextendedfamily.Asaresultofthesedemands,findingtimetoworkonaminidissertationcanbedifficult.Hereareafewhelpfultipsthatwillhelpgetyourdissertationstartedandcompletedontime.

Thereisnobettertimethanthepresent

ItiscrucialforanMBAstudenttobecomesensitivetothetopicswithinmodulescoveredontheMBA.BeingconsciousofpossibledissertationtopicsrightfromtheonsetofyourMBAwillhelptogettheprocessstarted.Startinvestigatingtopicsthatareofpersonalinterestandthatincitepassionaspossibleareasofstudythatresearchcouldbestructuredaround.Thisisimportanttomeaningfullyprepareinadvanceandengagewiththistopic,cometimetostartyourdissertation.

AtRegenesysBusinessSchool,eachMBAstudentisassignedaresearchsupervisorearlyon,toassistwiththeresearchtopic,andofferguidanceandadviceoneachchaptercompletedbythestudent.Thishelpsinthearticulationofideas.Gettingotherpeoplesopinionsinadvancealsohelpstoapproachthedissertationfromdifferentviewpoints.

Defineareaofinterest

Writingathesisordissertationtakestime,soitisnecessarytodiscoveranareaofinteresttostartreadingabout.Itisimportanttostartreadingaroundthistopictorefinetheresearchtopicwellinadvancebeforearesearchtopicisdefined.Thiswillensurethatthefrustrationandhoursofwastedtimethatcanresultfromaimlesslysearchingforinformationcanbeavoided.

Structuringthedissertation

Althoughthedissertationformatmaydifferfrominstitutiontoinstitution,theinformationprovidedbelowgivesabasicideaofthesectionsofaminidissertation.

AbstractAnabstractisabriefsummaryoftheresearchtobeconducted.Itisoftenusedtohelpthereaderquicklyascertainthepaper'spurpose.Whenused,anabstractalwaysappearsatthebeginningofthedissertation,actingasthepointofentryforanygivenacademicpieceofwriting.

Chapter1IntroductionThisinvolvessettingthecontextofyourminidissertationandtheissuesthataregoingtobeaddressedintheresearch.Theintroductionalsocoverswhytheresearchwillbeconductedortherationalebehindit.Italsoprovidestheproblemstatementandobjectivesoftheresearchaswellasanoutlineofthewholestudy.

Chapter2LiteratureReviewWhatevertheresearchproblemmaybe,theresearcherhastoconductaninvestigationintotheliteraturerelatedtotheresearchproblemi.e.theresearcherwill

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needtofindinformativesources,determinetheirrelevance,readthemthoroughlyandsynthesisetheinformation,makeinformedjudgementsandfinally,reportontheinformationprovidedineachsource.

Asaresearcher,itisimportanttoconsulttherelevantliteraturetounderstandtheAcademicdebatesandargumentssurroundingthechosenresearchtopic.Thiswillenabledeeperinsightintothetopicandtheidentificationofkeyissuesthatneedtobeexplored.Theresearcherneedstopresentasummaryandacriticalappraisalofpreviousresearchontheresearchtopicwhileidentifyingthegaps.

TheLiteratureReviewestablishesthegaps,issuesandcontradictionsintheexistingliteratureontheresearchtopic.Itlinkstheresearchquestions/hypothesiswiththegapsintheexistingliteratureandallowsanalysisanddiscussioninrelationtotheaimoftheproposedstudy.

Chapter3MethodologyThischapterdealswiththehow,whyandwhatoftheresearchtopic.Itindicateshowtheresearcherisgoingtogoaboutgatheringandanalysingdatafortheresearch.Thisisdonethroughsurveys,interviewsorfocusgroupdiscussions.Thischaptercontainsinformationaboutthemethodologicalapproach.Thechaptershouldansweranumberofquestionssuchas:

Whatapproachdoestheresearchquestion/hypothesisnecessitateandwhy?Whichdatacollectionmethodsarelinkedtotheresearch?Whichmethodsdidtheresearcherdecideonandwhy?Whatothermethodscouldyouhavechosen?Howisthedatagoingtobecollected?Howwillthedatabeanalysed?Howwilltheparticipantsbechosen?Howwilltheresearcherensurethatthedataisreliableandvalid?

Chapter4ResultsandAnalysisThisinvolvesanalysinghowthedatacollecteddoesordoesnotanswertheresearchquestionsandprovestheresearchershypotheses.Thiscouldbestatisticalinnatureorthemebaseddependingonthemethodologicalapproachfollowed.

Chapter5DiscussionThischaptershoulddiscusstheresearchfindingsandwhethertheyproveordiscardissuesraisedinyourliteraturereview.Italsopresentshowyourfindingscontributetotheresearchfield,professionanddocumentedknowledgearoundthistopic.Thischaptermayalsoincluderecommendationsfromtheresearcherthathavebeenprovedbytheresearch.

Chapter6ConclusionTheconcludingchaptermustsumupthestudy.Itprovidesanoverviewofthestudyandliterature.Itindicateshowtheobjectives,hypotheses,mainfindingsandrecommendationsrelatetooneanother.

ReferencesAttheendofallpiecesofacademicwriting,youneedalistofmaterialsthatyouhaveusedorreferredto.Thisisdonebywayofareferencelistandshouldbepresentedalphabeticallyandaccordingtotheacademicreferencingrulesfollowedbyyourinstitution.Thepurposeofthisistosupplytheinformationneededtoallowaninterestedreader,researcherorexaminertofindasource.

AppendicesThisiswheretheinformationthatisessentialtoexplainyourmethodology,analysisandfindingsshouldbeplaced.Examplesofinformationthatcouldbeincludedinanappendixincludefigures,tables,charts,graphsofresults,statistics,questionnaires,lengthyderivationsofequationsandletters.Eachseparateappendixshouldbelettered,forexampleAppendixA,AppendixB,AppendixB1,AppendixB2,AppendixC.Theordertheyarepresentedinisdictatedbytheordertheyarementionedinthetextofthedissertation.

Thedissertationformatmaydifferfrominstitutiontoinstitution,butthisgivesabasicideaofthechaptersofadissertation.

Managingtimeconstraints

Althoughthedissertationseemslikeanendlessproject,itcanbebrokenintosmallertasksandprojectsthataremoremanageable.Itisimperativetoplanworktimesandbreakthetaskintostages.Dissertationworkshouldbedoneduringproductivetimes.Theresearcherneedstoidentifywhethertheyareproductiveorwritewellinthemorning,afternoonortheymoreproductiveintheevening?Oncethisisdetermined,itwillhelptoschedulethosehoursfordissertationwork.

Everydaycounts

SetasidetimeeachweekandeachdayfordissertationtasksDodifficulttasksatproductivetimesofthedayDoeasytaskswhenlessmotivatedItisimportanttomakethedissertationflow,theindividualchapterswillcontaintheirownargumentsandflowbuttheyallcontributetothemainflow,(thegoldenthread.)Keeprecordofallinformationsourcesconsulted.

Finishingoffandcheckingthrough

Thisstagecanbetimeconsuming,soleaveenoughtimetohaveafinalreadthroughofthedissertationtopickupanylingeringmistakesortypos.Goodpresentationmattersfollowtherulesformargins,fonts,tableformats,andsooninearlydrafts.



Itismucheasiertowritethedissertationwithalltheformattingcorrectthantohavetoreformatseveralcomputerfilesatthelastminute.Itgivesaprofessionalappearanceandputsthereaderinagoodmood.Soitisworthmakingsuretoleaveenoughtimetoproofreadandgetthelayoutright.

Plagiarism

Thisistheactoftakinganotherperson'swriting,conversation,song,orevenideaandpassingitoffasyourown.Thisincludesinformationfromwebpages,books,songs,televisionshows,emailmessages,interviews,articles,artworksoranyothermedium.Wheneveroneparaphrases,summarises,ortakeswords,phrases,orsentencesfromanotherperson'swork,itisnecessarytoindicatethesourceoftheinformationwithinthepaperusinganinternalcitation.Failingtoproperlyquote,citeoracknowledgesomeoneelse'swordsorideaswithaninternalcitationisplagiarism.Alwaysacknowledgesourcesofinformation.

Ifpossible,lookatdissertationsfrompreviousyearstoseehowtheyhavebeenpresented.AtRegenesys,severaldissertationsareavailableatourlibraryforstudentstouseasreferences.Investigatethedissertationrequirementsearlytomakesureyouaremakingappropriateprogresstowardthedegree.Makesurewhenusinghumansubjectsinsurveysorinterviews,thattheirapprovalisobtained,andapprovallettersdocumented.MakesuretofollowyourInstitutionsregulationsasarerequiredforthisprocess.Itishighlyrecommendedtoconsultarecognised,qualifiededitortopolishthelanguageinthefinaldissertationdraftasthiscouldinfluencethefinaldissertationmark.

Helpiscloserthanyouthink

Inconclusion,consultallocatedsupervisorsateverystageofthedissertation.Consultotherstudentswhomayhavecompletedtheirdissertationsandgetasmuchadviceaspossible.Donotneglecthealthrequirementsduringthisperiod,bymakingsuretoeatrightandexercisetoremainstimulated.Seekfeedbackregularly,thiswillmakethistaskalittlebitmoreeasier.

References:

UniversityofReadingStudyAdvice,http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/Studyresources/Essays/stawritingdissertation.aspxUNCCollegeofartsandscienceswritingcentre,https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/dissertations/

Source:

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