MG5638 Dissertation Coursework Brief 2026-27 | BUL
MG5638 Dissertation
Main Objective of the Assessment
This module aims to allow you to conduct a piece of research, including the identification of the research enquiry, data collection, analysis and the presentation of the results. The dissertation module, through the supervision of an academic member, develops you as an independent learner and brings together the knowledge and skills gained in the programme for the analysis of a specific business problem.
The module provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas: (A) Knowledge and Understanding
- To critically evaluate relevant research and scholarship within the field of within the field of Human Research Management and Organisational Studies.
Cognitive (thinking) Skills
- To choose and apply within a chosen business context appropriate techniques and enquiry, given the research problem (or question) addressed.
- To propose, present, and critically evaluate a set of recommendations as a possible solution to the research problem addressed (or an answer to the research question) (C) Other Skills and Attributes
(Practical/Professional/Transferable)
- To communicate complex ideas and concepts in a clear, concise and articulate manner.
Description of the Assessment
The Dissertation consists of 12,000 words (this word limit does not include references or appendices, but everything else), and the ethical approval needs to be included in the Appendix.
Submission time: Please check Wiseflow.
Format
Dissertations must contain no more than 12,000 words, as measured by the standard word count available on Microsoft Word. This includes all the text starting from Chapter 1 (anything before the first word of Chapter 1 does not count) but excluding the list of References and the Appendices (if any).
Dissertations should have appropriate spacing (either single-line spaced or 1.5 line spaced), with a 3.5cm left-hand margin (to allow for binding) and 2.5cm top and bottom margins.
The recommended fonts are: Arial (or any other standard, modern font) or Times New Roman (should you prefer a more ‘traditional’ font). Text should be in 11 or 12 point. Chapter headings should be larger, that is, in either 12, 14 or 16 point.
Insert a page number at the bottom of the Dissertation in Word, click ‘insert page number’.
Chapters, sections and sub-sections should be numbered using standard report formats (for example, ‘Chapter 1: Introduction’; ‘1.1 The research problem’).
The title page should include: Dissertation title, your student ID number. All title page text should be centred and presented in 18-point Arial font.
The Abstract should be no more than 250 words, summarising the whole Dissertation and highlighting your key findings.
It is essential to provide references for ALL source material that you use in your Dissertation using the Harvard format (for example, books, articles, reports, newspapers, webpages). This includes citing sources in the text and providing full references in the list of References. Additional guidance on how to cite/reference can be obtained from the Library.
Structure
The precise structure and presentation of your Dissertation will depend in part on the research and the approach that you have adopted. The following structure is typical (‘typical’ does not mean ‘required’):
- Cover sheet. However, if you forget to do this, you will not lose any marks, so there is no need to ‘take back’ any version and upload a new one if you forget. As long as we have your student ID number on the front, this is sufficient in order for us to identify your work (this is the point of the coversheet).
- Title page
- Abstract (the equivalent term in business reports is ‘Executive Summary’).
- Acknowledgements
- Table of contents page
- List of figures page
- List of tables page
Suggested Chapters
- Chapter 1: Introduction. This chapter should include: background to the research area, problem definition/research gap, aims and objectives and probably a Dissertation outline.
- Chapter 2: Literature review (you may insert a more meaningful title, based on the research area). It is unlikely that you will need two chapters for this, but if you do, then you are free to do so. This guidance, in this document, assumes that you will not (because, normally, you do not).
- Chapter 3: Research methods. Here you present and justify your research approach, method used, and the rest, that is, what data was gathered, when, and how.
- Chapter 4: Results/Findings. Here, you present your analysis and the results/findings from the data that you gathered.
- Chapter 5: Discussion/conclusion/recommendations. Here you summarise the whole piece of research, highlight what you have found/what contribution your study has made, state the limitations, set out the future work and state the practical or other implications to research and/or practice. In this chapter, you must produce:
- References (Harvard referencing style).
- Appendices
There is no fixed allocation of words for particular sections/chapters; it is a matter of judgement (your judgement, not ours), within the overall word limit. When initially allocating a word length to your chapters (and also when editing chapters at a later stage), you should take into account the kind of research you have undertaken (for example, some research questions may justify slightly longer literature reviews; largely quantitative research studies may require fewer words in the Results/Findings chapter, as findings can be summarised using graphs). Costing of re-commendation plan can be included in the Appendices.
Appendices should be used for relevant material that cannot be inserted in the main text without disturbing the logical flow and are cross-referenced in the Dissertation.
We recommend that you read several research methods textbooks, focusing on relevant chapters, and use these sources to support your arguments in the dissertation. You can also learn a lot about research, including theory, concepts, evidence, methods, and presentation, by reading examples of published academic research (for example, journal articles, dissertations, theses and reports). Just one warning: remember that other researchers may follow different sets of guidelines (for example, for report structure and referencing) than those specified for this Dissertation.
PG mark bands and grade point bands [Senate Regulation 3] are:
|
Indicative Mark Band |
Degree class equivalent |
Grade Point |
|
90 and above |
A* |
17 |
|
80-89 |
A+ |
16 |
|
73-79 |
A |
15 |
|
70-72 |
A- |
14 |
|
68-69 |
B+ |
13 |
|
63-67 |
B |
12 |
|
60-62 |
B- |
11 |
|
58-59 |
C+ |
10 |
|
53-57 |
C |
9 |
|
50-52 |
C- |
8 |
|
48-49 |
D+ |
7 |
|
43-47 |
D |
6 |
|
40-42 |
D- |
5 |
|
38-39 |
E+ |
4 |
|
33-37 |
E |
3 |
|
30-32 |
E- |
2 |
|
29 and below |
F |
1 |
Below is the marking scheme, and it illustrates each assessment criterion achieved at each of the mark descriptors for this level:
| Assessment criteria and weighting | 90-100% | 70-89% | 60-69% | 50-59% | 40-49% | 30-39% | 0-29% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction Clarity of problem definition, context and aims (15%) | There is a particularly clear and concise abstract presented, covering all key points, that is, purpose, background, rationale, method(s), key finding(s), and contribution(s). The first chapter presents an excellent introduction, including an overview and motivation for what follows. There is an excellent overview/summary of the literature, clearly highlighting the gaps within existing works, leading to a well justified and argued research aim, which explicitly presents the overall intent of this research. The objective(s), in particular, are explicitly presented and provide very clear directions on how to achieve the overall aim of the research. This chapter suggests that this Dissertation has an interesting and relevant ‘story’ which identifies a suitable ‘research problem/issue or an opportunity to explore’. This chapter includes a particularly clear and concise summary of material to be covered in subsequent chapters. | There is a very clear and concise abstract presented, covering all key points i.e. purpose (background, rationale), method(s), key finding(s), research limitation(s)/implication(s), practical implication(s), and contribution(s). The first chapter presents a well articulated introduction including an overview and motivation for what follows. There is an excellent overview/summary of the literature. The research gap is identified, leading to the development of the research aim, which explicitly presents the overall intent of this research. The objective(s) are explicitly presented and provide very clear directions on how to achieve the overall aim of the research. This chapter suggests that this Dissertation has is a good ‘story’ which identifies a suitable ‘research problem/issue or opportunity to explore’. This chapter includes a very clear and concise summary of material to be covered in subsequent chapters. | There is a clear and concise abstract presented… (same text continue as given) | There is a reasonably clear abstract… | The abstract covers in a superficial way… | There is evidence of many deficiencies… | The work is unacceptable… |
| Literature review Critical evaluation of the literature (20%) | There is a particularly excellent description and an equally excellent critical discussion of the literature in the field… | There is an excellent description and an equally excellent critical discussion… | There is a very good description and an equally good critical discussion… | There is a satisfactory description and a critical discussion… | There is some descriptions and discussion… | There is evidence of many deficiencies… | The work is unacceptable… |
| Methodology Case for research design and methods (20%) | The research methods chapter is particularly excellent in terms of its clarity… | The research methods chapter is excellent in terms of its clarity… | The research methods chapter is very good in terms of its clarity… | The research methods chapter is satisfactory… | The research methods chapter fails to achieve… | There is evidence of many deficiencies… | The work is unacceptable… |
| Results/findings Analysis and interpretation (20%) | The presentation and analysis of the results is particularly excellent… | The presentation and analysis of the results is excellent… | The presentation and analysis of the results is very good… | The presentation and analysis of the results is satisfactory… | The presentation and analysis of the results is not of sufficient standard… | The presentation and analysis of the results is very basic… | The work is unacceptable… |
| Conclusions Conclusions and recommendations; reflective account (15%) | Conclusions drawn follow from the discussion… Excellent recommendation plan… | Conclusions drawn follow from the discussion… | Conclusions drawn follow from the discussion… | Conclusions drawn follow from the discussion… | The conclusions do not demonstrate… | The conclusions fail to demonstrate… | The work is unacceptable… |
| Presentation, structure, writing style and referencing (10%) | The work is presented in an exceptionally highly professional manner… | The work is presented in a highly professional manner… | The work is presented in a very professional manner… | The work is presented professionally… | The work is not presented in a reasonably professional manner… | There is evidence of many deficiencies… | The work is unacceptable… |
Submission Instructions
Coursework must be submitted electronically via the University’s WISEflow system. The required file format for this report is Adobe PDF. Your student ID number must be used as the file name (e.g. 0123456.pdf). You must ensure that you upload your file in the correct format and use the College’s electronic coursework coversheet. Please note that submissions of ‘.pages / .docx etc’ documents will not be accepted and must be converted to the approved format. The electronic coursework coversheet must be completed and included at the beginning of all coursework submissions before submitting on WISEflow.
Academic Misconduct, Plagiarism and Collusion
Any coursework or examination submission for assessment where plagiarism, collusion or any form of cheating is suspected will be dealt with according to the University processes, which are detailed in Senate Regulation 6. You can access information about plagiarism here.
The University regulations on plagiarism apply to published as well as unpublished work, collusion and the plagiarism of the work of other students. Please ensure that you fully understand what constitutes plagiarism before you submit your work.
University’s Coursework Submission Policy
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College’s Coursework Submission Policy
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Extenuating Circumstances Policy
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