Reference no: EM131195724 , Length: 15000 Words

By definition the literature review is 'the critical discussion of the actual existing body of knowledge'.

Students should be well aware that each of these defining words plays a significant role and all are essential for the assessment of a thesis.

Starting with critical. That means that a major assessment criterion is your critical discussion. You are expected to present arguments related to and relevant for the research of your thesis. These you will have to support by

literature. But usually there is no one opinion, there are others as well. For a good thesis it is not sufficient just

subjectively adopting such literature supporting your argument(s). Good theses also present opposing or contradicting views found in literature for creating a more objective picture. These contradictions are then contrasted with the supporting ones, meaning is deducted, and reasoned justification follows, why a student is in favour of the one side of literature.

That automatically leads to a second essential assessment aspect, depth. Depth can further be enhanced by causal logic. I.e., when you argue, e.g., 'if author A supports that ..., then that means ..., because ...'. That is a very essential instrument helping a lot to achieve good outcomes.

Existing body of knowledge: Nearly no student can claim having an overview of the actual research, especially not those being relatively new to the academic world, its thinking, and writing. So avoid, and this counts generally as well, any superlatives (most, best, clearly, etc.). For understanding academic thinking, it will be good that nothing is as it is.One academic explained this nicely: 2 + 2 = 4, but only for one reason. Nobody has proven yet that this is not correct. That means at the end that no certainty exists that 2 + 2 = 4 really is correct.

Furthermore, knowledge is not just what we know, it is much more, what we have researched. No common places or general beliefs do count in an academic paper. That also means that a student cannot argue, 'It is known ...'.Nothing is really known (at the end). That leads to the requirement that each argument has to be supported by underpinning reference(s) to increase validity. However, that does not mean that a student cannot write about ownassumptions. Only you must be clear, by using formulations like 'It is suggested ...'. Otherwise a student can say 'Acommon belief is ...'. And so on.

That now leads to a next argument - actuality. Knowledge increases in incredible speed. In addition, circumstances of the world's structure and contexts change equally fast. What was written just 10 years ago, may already be utterly irrelevant. Such literature was probably good at its time of origin, but not necessarily of importance today. It simply has become history. So, you should concentrate on literature not being older than five years than the year of your thesis. Different this is, when it comes to historical views and also, there is a number of sources, which are so good that still today they are influential. But careful here, in empirical research inexperienced students may find it difficult to identify such literature.

Finally, about the literature itself. A clear hierarchy of value exists:

1. Peer-reviewed research papers from academic journals having the highest value, since peer-reviewed.

2. Proceedings from academic conferences; not 'officially' published, but still peer-reviewed.

3. Textbooks being the lowest standard, since not subject to peer-review presenting just an author's opinion.

Official statistics and other contributions from trusted newspapers can be used as well. However most careful with consultants' work. Their value is extremely limited, even when they are coming from big names. Neither it is often known, whether the underlying principles meet empirical research standards, nor is it guaranteed that there is no bias. Who can say that a consultant has not written such paper to please one of their clients?

As very last point it is about theory. The easy public use of theory is not the same in academia. Theory only addresses real theories, such as Chaos Theory, Systems Theory, Theory of Competitive Advantage, and so on. There also are

frameworks and concepts owning much lower perception. Students should be very aware of these differentiating aspects and reflect that high marks for a thesis without real theory, addressed, explained, related to the research and critically discussed, will need specific circumstances. These may be that a field is so new that no real theory yet exists.

Generally speaking, there is much good literature and you Tube videos explaining what makes a good literature review. Make yourself familiar with these. It saves a lot of time and may lead to a much better outcome.

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Writing Your Methodology

This methodological request you can fulfil bu straightforward structure as following:

You will discuses:

? Your research strategy

? Inductive or deductive

? Research methods: quantitative / qualitative / mixed method

? Population and their process of selection

? Data gathering, processing, and presentation

? Reliability and validity with a good eye on bias, incl. researcher bias

? Limitations

? Ethics (if applicable)

That is expected for each in form of

? General discussion on what option empirical research offers

? Detailed explanation what you have done out of the aforesaid

? Justification on why you opted for this form and not another one empirical research suggests.

All of this in about 2 to 2.500 words and well supported by research method/methodology literature.

Generally speaking, there is much good literature and you Tube videos explaining what makes a good methodology.Make yourself familiar with these. It saves a lot of time and may lead to a much better outcome

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Dissertation

Grade Policy

60 credit module, 33?% degree weighting

• Pass 50%
• Minimum 60% to be considered for merit
• 70% for distinction

Primary Learning Outcomes ofthe Dissertation-

• Establishing a purposeful investigation and adequate research design
• Finding and reviewing relevant literature.
• Synthesising information from different sources.
• Applying theory to a management/organisational problem.
• Designing a systematic process for collecting, analysing and evaluating data.
• Basing conclusions on evidence.

Primary activities

§  Identify and critically discuss appropriate literature sources.

§  Identify and critically discuss the applicability of a range of research methodologies and paradigms within a range of disciplines. The research activities should be firmly underpinned by a suitable research methodology.

§  Critically evaluate and apply appropriate research tools and techniques.

§  Appraise the validity and reliability of research data.

§  Craft suitable solutions based upon the research data.

§  Create refined descriptions and narrative of the research process.

§   

§  General Word Counts  

Supervisor & student interaction

All students will be allocated a supervisor and all staff are experienced in supervising dissertations at postgraduate level.

§  You should not expect your academic supervisor to list all the reading that will be required or to write any part of the dissertation.

§  Supervisors will agree appropriate supervision methods and will read and give advice on chapters within your dissertation once you have written them. 

§  You should agree a timetable with your supervisors indicating when various stages of the dissertation preparation - preliminary reading, overall design, document structure, write up of individual chapters, production of preliminary draft and final draft - will be completed. Your supervisor is not expected to intervene at each of these stages.

§  Your supervisor will guide you as much as possible. It is for you to implement their suggestions (or argue your case for doing otherwise if you wish).

§  Also, your supervisor will not tell you what mark you will achieve or what your dissertation is worth.  It is your responsibility for ensuring that your work will achieve a pass mark.

oO

Overall Layout (as a reference)

• Overall layout

• The dissertation must be typed and prepared in double spaced, Arial 12pt typescript on A4 paper, with margins of approximately 4cms left and 2.4cms on the right. The abstract, list of references and bibliography should be single spaced.  
• Illustrative items such as tables and diagrams etc. should be clear and legible - imported images are often fuzzy and have small text.  They should be titled and numbered sequentially throughout the report for ease of reference eg Table 4.1 - the first table in chapter 4. - title& legend.
• Pay attention to tenses (past, present, future) and be careful not to mix them within chapters. Methodology and results, for example, include what has been done/found and so should be in the past tense.
• Page numbering up to the introduction should be by small Roman numerals, (i, ii, iii, iv, etc) and the main body of the text plus appendices should be numbered consecutively throughout in Arabic numerals (1,2,3, etc). 

Pre-Introduction Structure

• Cover Page
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Abbreviations
• Acknowledgements and Abstract
• The aim of the Abstract is to give the reader an overview of the work contained in the dissertation. It should be no longer than one page of A4, single spaced and should make reference to the aims and objectives, the methods of investigation, the main findings and the conclusions reached. It is NOT a description of your contents page.
• You should refer to those people who have assisted you in your research. For example, your supervisor, advisors, and those who completed questionnaires and interviews etc. Please ensure you spell names correctly and ensure that you conform with ethical issues (do not name any individuals or companies who have provided you with data or personal information).

Layout

• Contents page
• Your contents page should list the sections and subsections of your dissertation followed by references and then appendices.
• List of tables and figures
• List all, figures, tables and diagrams by number, title and page. (Continuing with small Roman numerals.) e.g. the third figure in chapter 4 would be numbered 4.3.
• List of abbreviations
• Abbreviations should be listed. In the text, the abbreviation should only be used after its first mention, which should be written in full.
• Overview of Chapters
• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Literature Review
• 3.0 Research Methodology
• Ethical Approval
• 4.0 Results and Analysis of Investigation
• 5.0 Conclusions
• 6.0 Bibliography
• 7.0 Appendices
• Introduction
• Introduction (approximate word length guide 1,500 words)
• This should set the scene and give the reader a complete overview of what you intend to do.
• It should include;
• a general introduction,
• a rationale for doing the research,
• an aim and three to four supporting objectives and/or hypotheses,
• the proposed methodology,
• limiting and delimiting factors, and
• outline of the organisation of the study.
• Example of a Structure of An Introduction
• 1.0 Introduction
• 1.1 Background to Research
• 1.2 Rationale for Research
• 1.3 Aims and Objectives
• 1.4 Limiting Factors
• 1.5 Structure of Dissertation

Literature review

Literature review (approximate word length guide 5,000 words)

A literature review is "an interpretation and synthesis of published work" Merriam (1986), (Case Study Research in Education) and it is not simply an extended essay.  As such your literature review should involve the following processes:

Searching for sources

• Searching for references is a standard part of your dissertation and should be done as early as possible. Search tools are available and include:
• electronic data sources such as Business Source Premier (EBSCO), Emerald, other databases.
• bibliographic databases such as the Web of Science and OCLC (check with the Library through the University web site and the information desk in Clifford Whitworth).
• the Salford library catalogue and those of other local universities (again see the Library pages on the University web site).
• Professional Bodies & Learned Societies

Example of a strucuter of A Literature Review

• 2.0 Literature Review
• 2.1 Introduction - 500 words
• 2.2 Topic 1 - 750 words
• 2.3 Topic 2 - 750 words
• 2.4 Topic 3 - 750 words
• 2.5 Topic 4 - 750 words
• 2.6 Topic 5 - 750 words
• 2.7 Topic 6 - 750 words
• conclusion
• Methodology
• (approximate word length guide 2,000 words)

• You must give reasoned arguments for your choice of research methodology, including any alternative methods that have been deemed less suitable. Selections of your sample should be discussed along with details of how you implemented your methodology (how? where? when? who? why?) information on pilot studies should be included, together with details of any changes made as a result.
• You must discuss and justify how the field work was undertaken, what happened, and the methods used to analyse data. 
• Reliability and validity issues should be discussed including the steps you have taken to ensure your findings may be relied on by others as accurate and trustworthy.
• Ethical issues must be considered. The main emphasis of this chapter is on justifying what you have done and the process you have applied in data collection and analysis.

• 3.0 Methodology

• 3.1 Introduction To Research Methodology (100 words)
• 3.2 Research Philosophy (300 words)
• 3.3 Research Design (500 words)
• 3.4 Research Questions (150 words)
• 3.5 Data Collection Methods (500 words)
• 3.6 Ethical Issues, Reliability and Validity (300 words)

3.7 Conclusions (150 words)

§  Results and Analysis 

§  The results should be presented in a logical manner using tables and figures as necessary.

§  You should discuss the meaning of the results as you present them.

§  Remember to relate your results back to your aim and objectives and literature review. 

§  This section should not be just a description of your results but should include a discussion and evaluation of the findings you have made. 

§  Approximate word length guide 4,500- 5,000 words.

§  A template is often a good way to approach findings, which

• Can be repeated.

§  You have two main approaches, present by:

§  Research questions or

§  Data Collection Methods

• Results and Analysis

§  4.0 Findings and Analysis

§  4.1 Introduction (general findings) (500 words)

§  4.2 Findings for Research Question 1 (2000 words)

§  4.3 Findings for Research Question 2 (2000 words)

§  4.4 Conclusions (300 words

• Conclusions and Recommendations
• Your conclusions are a summary of your overall findings and should relate to your original aim, objectives and hypotheses. 
• The conclusions should be based on your results and discussions section but should not be a regurgitation of this section.
• The key parts of the literature must be revisited in this section and where appropriate your conclusions should assess implications of your work.
• Your recommendations should be based on your conclusions.  Where appropriate, your recommendations should include aims, implementation strategies, resource costs and resource benefits.

• Whether the recommendations include actions to change or do something differently or to maintain or strengthen the existing approach, it is important that there are not too many and that they are workable.
• It is advisable that you prioritise the recommendations that are likely to achieve the greatest effect and, in doing so, take into account the reality of your proposals in terms of potential implementation difficulties, the benefits that will accrue from the implementation and the cost implications.
• Your action plan will normally be an appendix, which contains, if possible, timescales, responsibilities and costs.
•  Approximate word length guide 2,000 words.
• --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Conclusions
• 5.0 Conclusions
• 5.1 Introduction (100 words)
• 5.2 General Conclusions (200 words)
• 5.3 Conclusions for RQ1 (500 words)
• 5.4 Conclusions for RQ2 (500 words)
• 5.5 Conclusions of the Research Process (300 words)
• 5.6 Recommendations (300 words(

Marking Criteria

Abstract,Introduction andLiterature Review 40%

Methodology 20%

Results, discussion conclusionand recommendation 40%

Abstract, Introduction and Literature Review - 40% Mavailable:

MmGrading Policy