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Identify the key concepts that will provide guides to the literature review. Your objectives, should provide you with the key areas/issues you will discuss in your literature review.

BAM7030 Independent Professional Project  

Title

[Contains the main concepts, is short and suggestive. (E.g. Potential for body-worn cameras to reduce violence in police-citizen encounters)

Abstract A single page, single-spaced. It is a summary of your entire project. No more than 250/300 words. Answer these questions!

What was the aim of your research?

What approach did you follow? What methods did you employ? Who were your subjects, and how many? What conclusions did you reach?

ENSURE THAT THERE IS A LOGICAL LINK BETWEEN THE AIM OF YOUR RESEARCH AND YOUR CONCLUSION(S)

(You write the abstract when everything is completed, at the very end)

Table of Contents

Includes the outline of the entire work in list form, setting out in sequence the sections and sub-sections with their page numbers clearly indicated. It is conventional to number the preliminary pages (abstract, table of contents, acknowledgements, prefaces etc) with lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, ix, x, xi, etc). Main pages of text (starting with the introduction) in Arabic numerals.

Example:

Abstract                                                                                                        i

Acknowledgements                                                   ii

I. Introduction                                                                                            1.1        

II. Literature review                                                               5

2.1. Internet banking                                                               6

2.2. Customers’ purchasing behavior and age                             8

2.3. Relationship between customers’ use of IB and age             11

III. Methods                                                                           12

3.1. Aim of the investigation and design                                    13                  

3.2. Subjects                                                                          14

3.3. Methods                                                                          15

3.3.1. Observation                                                                  16

3.3.2. Questionnaires                                                              17

etc

I. Introduction (750-1000 words) Top of new page

Introduce the reader to your topic-what are you writing about?

Clarify key findings from previous research-what has been done so far in this area or in related areas.

Provide a brief rationale for the project, why are you researching this problem? You can extend you rationale form your dissertation plan.

Who might benefit from it and how?

Identify and define the problem, which your study attempts to address.

State the aim of your research. Example: The aim of this research is to explore the potential for body-worn cameras to reduce violence in police-citizen encounters.

Formulate the objectives of your research: e.g.
O1.-Collect data on use of force-with BWC and without.

O2.-Collect data on complaints- with BWC and without.
O3- Collect data on officer injuries- with BWC and without.

O4-Calculate the difference and its statistical significance.

Experiments and semi-experiments

Add your hypotheses here.  More details in Methodology section.

II. Literature review (approx. 3000 + words) Top of new page

Identify the key concepts that will provide guides to the literature review. Your objectives, should provide you with the key areas/issues you will discuss in your literature review.

Define concepts under investigation;

Discuss the relationship between concepts (Your key concepts should be in the aim of your research);

Paraphrase your objectives into short headings and locate information that deals with these issues;

Locate the topic within the literature and show how your research builds upon existing knowledge;

Explain the purpose of the review.

2.1. Subchapter (your first key concept/objective 1 area/issue - e.g. Violence in police-citizen encounters)

Outline the problems in the specific area (What is it we don’t know);

A brief history of the problem;

Ask some questions in order to orient the reader;

Critically analyse previous studies;

Outline previous studies’ conclusions;

Discuss their findings and conclusions;

Discuss the link between previous studies and yours;

Locate your own study within the field;

2.2. Subchapter (your second key concept/objective 2 area/issue e.g. Body worn cameras use in policing)

Outline the problems in the specific area;

A brief history of the problem;

Ask some questions in order to orient the reader;

List previous studies;

Outline previous studies’ conclusions;

Discuss their findings and conclusions;

Discuss the link between previous studies and yours;

Locate own study within the field.

2.3 Subchapter (your third key concept/objective 3 area/issue e.g. Impact of police using BWC on violence in Police-citizen encounter)

Outline the problems in the specific area;

A brief history of the problem;

Ask some questions in order to orient the reader;

List previous studies;

Outline previous studies’ conclusions;

Discuss their findings and conclusions;

Discuss the link between previous studies and yours;

Locate your own study within the field.

Add more subchapters according to your objectives

Provide a conclusion to this section

III. Methodology (1500-2000 words) Top of new page

Consult the following manuals in the library:

Library: Bell E, Harley, B & Bryman A (2022) Business Research Methods:  Sixth Edition. OUP;

Library and online: Saunders, M.N.K. et al. (2019) Research methods for business students [electronic resource]

Philosophy	Approach	Methodology design	Method of data collection
Positivism	Deductive	Quantitative Cross-sectional study / before and after study/ Longitudinal study	Experiments / Surveys
Interpretivism	Inductive	Qualitative Cross-sectional study / before and after study/ Longitudinal study	Interviews, Ethnography or Grounded theory
Critical Realism	Abductive	Qualitative and or quantitative Before and after study/ Longitudinal study	Archival research historical analysis
Postmodernism	Abductive	Qualitative Cross-sectional study / before and after study/ Longitudinal study	Discourse analysis visual methods
Pragmatism	Abductive	Quantitative and or qualitative Cross-sectional study / before and after study/ Longitudinal study	Any of the above.

3.1 What is the philosophical underpinning and the approach of your research?

Compare research philosophies: Positivism, Critical Realism, Interpretivism, Postmodernism, and Pragmatism along with their preferred research approach of Abduction, Deduction, and Induction.

Explain why you have made your choice (Saunders et.al. 2019-Chapter 4)

3.2 Research approach

Explain what research approach you used and why you selected it: inductive or deductive.  

Explain that the Qualitative Perspective has problems with reliability and generalizability, but it possesses good validity, while the Quantitative Approach possesses strong reliability and generalizability, but it has low ecological validity.  Justify your choice.

2.3 What research design did you use and why?

Explain what research design you have selected: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods.

Describe and compare research designs and explain why you chose either:  Experimental design, Cross-sectional design, Longitudinal design, Case study design, descriptive or comparative design.  

3.4. What methods of data collection did you use and why?

Method: E.g., survey/questionnaire, or semi-structured interviews.

Explain, referring to research methods texts, what methods you decided to use and why you think these methods are the most appropriate methods for your research.  Justify your choice by pointing to the advantages of these methods.

If you are using questionnaires, then present here (not in appendices) the questionnaire form

If you are using an experiment, then present here the modality in which you will be measuring the variables.

(Saunders et.al. 2019-Chapter 5)  

(You may be using only some of these methods, in that case ignore those that are not relevant to you)

3.6. Questionnaire

What sort of questionnaire? Why this particular type?

What questions have you asked and why? Refer to research methods books, manuals to support your explanation (Saunders et.al. 2019).  

INSERT HERE The Questionnaire Form that you have created to collect data. Not in Appendix.

Discuss ethical issues related to using questionnaires.  Identify the ethical issues and explain briefly what you have done to tackle them.

3.7. Experiment or semi-experimental

What type of experiment? Why was this type used? (Refer to research methods books, manuals to support your explanation)

Formulate the hypotheses.

Which is the independent variable?

Which is the dependent variable?

How subjects have been allocated to Experimental and Control conditions?

What was the Procedure!

Consider the extraneous variables!

Briefly discuss ethical issues related to conducting an experiment. Identify the ethical issues and explain briefly what you have done to tackle them.

-How did you analyse the data. Brief explanation using research methods books.

3.8 Correlational studies

Formulate hypotheses:  

Depression reduces productivity (productivity goes down so positive correlation);

Social activities affect productivity (productivity can go up or down so positive or negative correlation).

Identify the dependent and independent variable.

Identify the ethical issues and explain briefly what you have done to tackle them.

How did you analyse the data. Brief explanation using research methods books.

3.9  Participants

Who are they? Information regarding; age group and other relevant characteristics-number, male, female, income, demographic factors etc.

What sampling method was employed and why was that particular method used?

Specify the size of the population for study, the size of the sample, the confidence level, the margin of error.

Explain who are they? Explain the selection process and how many there were.

If you are conducting a questionnaire, explain:

What sampling method you are using and why? Convenience (non-random) sampling (whoever is available), self-selected (volunteer) sampling. Give some advantages and disadvantages of your chosen sampling system;

What is the proposed size of the sample that you intend to use?  80-100 minimum in quantitative research.  Who is your gatekeeper?

Explain what the envisaged confidence interval is.  To calculate this, you can use the link below: https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/home/sample+size+calculator-

4.0. Ethical aspects

Respect for the autonomy, privacy, and dignity of individuals and communities. Explain what procedures you put in place for valid consent, confidentiality, anonymity, and fair treatment. These could include the Participant information form, Participant Consent form.

Scientific integrity. Explain what measures you took to ensure that your research is based on authentic data that you have collected from the participants described in your methods section.

Social responsibility. Explain how your research supported and reflected respect for the dignity and integrity of the persons and organisations involved. Explain how your research contributed to the “common good”.

Maximising benefit and minimising harm. Explain what you did to avoid potential risks to personal values, invasion of privacy, and risk to the psychological well-being of your participants and organisations.

See the University´s Ethical Policy and Saunders chapter 6.  

4.1 Validity and reliability

What triangulation method have you employed or not and why?

What have you done to ensure your data is reliable? What reliability tests have you employed?

What have you done to ensure that your data is valid? (Content validity) (Refer to research methods books, manuals to support your explanation (Saunders et.al. 2019-Chapter 5)).

IV. Results (approx. 1500-2000 words).  Top of new page

In this section, you organise your findings according to your objectives.  Create suitable headings for each objective.  You do not discuss your findings here. 

INTERPRET ONLY THE RESULTS INFORMATION THAT YOU HAVE COLLECTED.

Briefly restate the aim of your research and the methods you have employed to collect the data.

What statistics (if any) have you employed to describe/analyse the data?

4.1. Results from observation.

4.1.1. Ex. Observation of mentor-mentee interaction during the first meeting.(Provide description, photographs, graphs etc.

4.1.2.Ex. Observation of mentor-mentee interaction during the second meeting.

4.2. Questionnaires results

4.2.1. Ex. Table indicating the responses to the first question.

4.2.2. Ex. Table indicating the response to question no.2.

4.2.n Cross-tabulation (analysing responses by gender, age group, income, ethnic background etc.)

Very important to present here all the results from the questionniare.

V. Discussion (approx. 5000 words)  

Top of new page

In this section, you discuss and interpret your findings according to your objectives.Compare your findings with the objectives and the literature review. 

Paraphrase suitable headings that reflect your objectives.

Briefly restate the aim of your research and the methods you have employed to collect the data.

What statistics (if any) have you employed to describe the data and why?

INTERPRET ONLY THE INFORMATION THAT YOU HAVE COLLECTED FROM YOUR RESULTS ONLY and USE LITERATURE TO EXTEND OR JUSTIFY YOUR THOUGHTS.  

5.2. Discussion of questionnaires results.

5.2.1. Ex. (See Results above) Discussion of the responses to the first question.

Explain the meaning, compare with data from literature review, interpret the results in the light of the literature, At the end of each subsection outline some conclusions in a couple of sentences.

5.2.2. Ex. (See results above) Discussion of the responses to the second question.

Explain the meaning, compare with data from literature review, interpret the results in the light of the literature and At the end of each subsection outline some conclusions in a couple of sentences.

5.2.n. Discussion of the responses to the questionnaires.

VI. Conclusions (approx. 1000 – 1500 words) Top of new page

You summarise here the key findings, which emerge from data analysis and discussion.

If you have drawn conclusions at the end of each subsection in the discussion chapter all you have to do is paraphrase and discuss them briefly. 

Do not forget the limitations section. Examine what went wrong with your research.  Explain the implications for your dissertation and then explain how you could avoid this in the future.

This section is a concise overview and critical evaluation of the significance of YOUR findings. Do not make unsubstantiated statements or present new interpretations of your findings. All you state here should be based on the data you have collected. 

References (Using Harvard standard) Top of new page

 (Examples)

Becker, P. (2005) ‘Marburg Conference Results’ [online] EOE. Available from:  

http://www.eoe-network.org/conferences.htm [accessed 21 January 2019]

Davis, J. (2018) ‘Policing the Underclass’, in D Telfer (Ed) Criminological debates, Oxford: Oxford University Press.(Book)

Jones, R. ‘Blair Declares War on Idleness’ The Guardian, 24 May 1998, page 24. 

Smith, D. (1998) ‘The sociology of everyday Life’, in Sociology, 34 (2):234-49.

Smith, M. (2012) Staff Supervision in the Probation Service,(Second edition) Aldershot: Avebury.

Appendices Top of new page

-Avoid including data in appendix (appendices)

-The only elements that should be included here are
-The raw data. Table in Excel of the results of questionnaires. Responses of each of the respondents to each of the questions.
For observations and experiments the tables where the data was collected.

-Include information that is important in the overall understanding of your research. (field notes)

-Appendices are numbered (Appendix 1, appendix 2 etc.)

-ANY appendix should be referred to in the text of your dissertation.