Developing and Doing a Dissertation Handbook May 2025 | GU

• Section Title
• The Aims and Learning Outcomes of a Dissertation
• The Process of Doing a Dissertation
• The Structure of the Dissertation Style Guide and Technical Specifications Oral Presentations/Vivas    
• Appendix 1 Dissertation Proposal Guidelines    
• Appendix 2 Ethics Form and Templates    
• Appendix 3 Short Guide to Harvard Referencing    
• Appendix 4 Dissertation Marking Scheme

• provide you with an opportunity to apply advanced manufacturing and data analytical skills and knowledge to a professional level research project. 
• allow you to contribute to your chosen field of enquiry.
• identify confidently ethical issues and concerns together with awareness of data protection and consent obligations.
• provide you with an opportunity to develop substantive research questions, source relevant information, and sharpen your analytical and critical thinking processes through a systematic approach to problem identification and problem solving.
• develop an understanding of the limitations and contributions of your study and suggest areas for further research in the area.
• advance your oral and written presentation and communication skills.

• project planning and management skills related to the gathering, analysis and professional presentation of research findings.
• the ability to correctly identify, select and apply research methodologies and techniques appropriate to the dissertation under investigation.
• ability to develop their personal development skills of communication, both written and oral.

• Identify in the literature key debates around the research topic
• Write the LR using a thematic approach - not just summarising individual
• reference material
• Identify where, if any, there are any key gaps and /or areas for opportunities for further research. (20 marks)                                                             

2-b Use extensive citations and provide a list of references; for both citations and the list you must use the Griffith College Harvard Referencing style. (10 marks) 

• Refining research objectives
• Literature
• Methodology
• Research design
• Collecting primary data
• Data analysis / interpretation
• Discussion
• Final writeup

• The work is entirely that of the learner. It does not take credit for work completed by others, either currently or in the past.
• Approval must be obtained from the place of work to undertake such primary research.
• Considerations of an ethical and intellectual property nature need to be discussed and agreed prior to the commencement of the research.
• A prior agreement should be documented on the publication of the data, findings and conclusions as well as an agreement to publish the work. An NDA may be required.
• Learners need to consider the scope of any work-related research as it is usually much greater in scope than an academic piece of work.
• Learners need to consider the implications of slippage in work related activities and the impact on the dissertation.
• It is the responsibility of the learners to resolve and manage any issues outlined above.

• Advise you on the development of an achievable research plan / timetable of work.
• Advise you on any completion and submission deadlines.
• Provide guidance on your chosen field of study with reference to appropriate literature and research methodology. The supervisor will suggest, advise, debate but will not tell the learner what to do.
• Provide assistance and sign-off with the Ethics process and Ethics Application form
• Review your written work and provide timely feedback on draft chapters.
• Monitor and record your progress, including a mini-viva.
• Ensure academic rigor in your work.
• Advise you on the appropriate standards for your submitted work.
• Liaise with other members of staff, as appropriate and required.
• Mark your dissertation and formal presentation and attend the examination board at which the results are considered it is the responsibility of the learner to get spelling, grammar, and referencing correct, not the supervisor. 

• Ethics procedure, forms, GDPR, confidentiality etc.
• Developing questionnaires, surveys and interviews
• Data analysis, visualisation & statistics
• Presentation skills and viva preparation

• Access to medical information by means of questionnaires (survey), interviews or other techniques of information gathering
• Research involving the secondary use of data (use of data not collected for that research purpose), if any form of identifier is involved and/or if health information pertaining to individuals is involved
• Studies involving the collection or analysis of data that could be used to identify participants (including email addresses or other contact details)
• Studies where the intention is to submit findings for publication in journals, oral presentations, books, webpages, and other media of discomfort or inconvenience to participants (or any risk of psychological distress to participants or their families)
• Case studies, when a series of subject observations allow possible extrapolation or generalisation of the results from the reported cases and when there is an intent to publish or disseminate the data
• Studies with data collection using, or as part of coursework
• Studies that may pose any risk
• on-line resources, even those that do not collect or store identifiable data where the questions may be of a sensitive nature
• Participants recruited from vulnerable groups, in particular children or those whose capacity to consent to participation may be challengeable
• Clinical trials involving human participants
• New treatments or interventions
• Research involving human remains, cadavers, tissues, discarded tissue (e.g. placenta), or biological fluids
• Comparing an established procedure with other procedures which are not recognised as established by virtue of their recent development, discovery or use in a new or unfamiliar way
• Innovative practices in health and disability services
• Observational clinical research 

• Research using information from existing publicly available documents or datasets (e.g. published biographies, newspaper accounts) – note that this can be conducted alongside your primary research but does not replace it. Primary data collection is mandatory
• Data that is either open source or obtained from other researchers
• Data that are properly anonymised and informed consent was obtained at the time of original data collection
• Observational studies in public places in which the identity of the participants remains anonymous
• A case study of one patient with the proviso that written informed consent has been obtained from the relevant subject
• Quality assurance studies and Audits

• the purpose of your abstract is to provide the reader with a snapshot of what information the project contains – abstracts are frequently published in journals or online databases without the rest of the project and should therefore exist as a stand-alone statement which clearly describes all the essential information.
• the basic elements which should appear in the abstract are the objective, methods, results, and conclusions.
• don’t include any background information, literature review, reference to other literatures or a detailed description of methods you used.
• the abstract should be concise and clear, use direct wording and avoid the use of specialised terms – write for an audience who are not specialists in your chosen subject.
• the abstract should begin with a definitive statement of the primary result e.g. “In this study, it was shown that….”
• from a formal perspective, abstracts are usually written in the third person, but it is acceptable to write in the first person. Abstracts are written in the past tense (see 5.17 below).
• abstracts should be no longer that 350 words – this word limit is strictly adhered to both in academia and publishing.  Abstracts should be single-spaced (not 1.5 spaced as in the rest of the dissertation – see 6.1 below).
• the abstract should be the last part of the dissertation that you write as you will need to summarise the essential information from your whole dissertation. Don’t attempt to write your abstract before you’ve finished writing-up.   

• the purpose of the study
• a brief overall description of the study’s context
• the significance of and justification for the study
• the research question or objective that guides the study - identify and discuss the research questions that you will address in the study. If you are adopting a more positivist or quantitative approach you might frame your research question as a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a speculation about an association between two or more variables. It is important that the hypothesis can be tested by research to see whether it can be disproved.
• This is usually done through using statistically significant analysis of data 

• Books – basic textbooks can often provide the basics of the topic of your research and can often provide indications of further sources. Edited handbooks (such as the Oxford or Edward Elgar series) are a very useful source of findings the most important theoretical and empirical developments in the relevance discipline.
• Journals – peer review journal articles such as those found on EBSCO and Scopus
• The Internet – though be careful of the provenance of the website (who is behind it – can they be regarded as legitimate and trustworthy)
• Dissertations – looking at previous dissertations can be useful, especially in terms of identifying sources, but be careful; not all dissertations will be of high quality. The Innopharma repository is a useful resource for exploring previous dissertations.

• Preparing a map showing the location of all the appropriate literatures. In most cases the literature search identifies a lot of material – probably more than can be sensibly dealt with in an MSc Dissertation. So, a good step in conducting a literature review is to map out and identify the key works and material in the literature. This also shows the person who marks your dissertation that you are aware of the breadth of literature relating to your topic.
• Provide an overview of the chosen literature and a justification for which literature you are going to concentrate on along with a justification for the shortlist of theories, concepts, etc. that you have chosen or use in your project
• Provide a critical account of the chosen concepts, theories or arguments. A critique is an evaluation of the strength of the arguments proposed in the journal articles or books you have chosen for your literature review.
• The Innopharma Education Guide to Writing a Literature Review is available on Innoskills and the Griffith Moodle.

• your justification for your chosen methodology;
• the design of the specific application of that methodology;
• how you tested this design and made any required changes;
• how you applied your final methodological design to conduct your research including the kind of questions you used in interviews, the organisation of questions in your survey, etc.;
• the justification for the approach you adopted in the analysis of your data;
• any material employed by you in this whole process (surveys, etc. should be contained in the appendices of your dissertation). 

• you need to set aside sufficient time to arrange access
• you may use your personal network in some limited instances but be careful that the type or respondent you are selecting meets the criteria you should have established prior to data collection
• there is also an Innopharma LinkedIn expert group Innopharma linkedIn expert group
• direct approach to an organisation – letter re research from college / supervisor – spends time identifying the right person
• maintain politeness, professionalism and proper procedure at all times as this will help you establish credibility
• always provide a clear account of your requirements when requesting access
• even where you have informal contact, it is proper procedure to follow this with an introductory letter to outline and confirm your requirements
• outlining the purpose of your research and demonstrating clarity of thought should help establish credibility and assist the goal of gaining access
• a request for access will need to consider and address any organisational concerns relating to the amount of time and resources that would be involved on the part of the organisation, sensitivity about the topic and confidentiality and anonymity
• consider possible benefits for the organisation if they give you access; what’s in it for them?
• pay particular attention to language so that it is appropriate for the person receiving it without any hint of being patronising, threatening or boring
• be prepared to attend a meeting to present and discuss your request for access. 

• a summary of the main findings and their implications for the research questions (discussed in the previous chapter) in bullet point form
• a summary of the differences (if relevant or significant) between the findings and the literature (discussed in the previous chapter) in bullet point form
• any recommendations practical and/or academic
• limitations and contributions of the research (somewhat based on the discussion of the strength of the research design implemented in the study)
• suggestions for further research in the area. It may be that your research provides a platform that explored an issue in a particular context but that it needs further research. No research in the social sciences, be it undergraduate dissertation or PhD thesis, provide an absolute conclusive and infallible conclusion. 

• If the approach is broadly of an interpretivist, phenomenological, social constructivist/ism, qualitative nature, then it is suggested that the dissertation is written in the first person. This does not give you licence to write "my opinion", etc. and you should substantiate any observations, etc. and make clear your interpretation from material derived from the literature or your data.
• If the approach is broadly of a positivist, realist or quantitative (and by this we mean not one that just uses numbers but, one that seeks statistical reliability), I suggest that you write in the third person. However, if the research is of a positivist / quantitative nature, then there should be very little need for reference to the writer of the dissertation and little to no room for "interpretation" or "opinion". 

• Title Page
• Candidate Declaration
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication (optional)
• Table of Contents
• Lists of Tables
• List of Figures
• List of abbreviations
• Abstract 

• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Conceptual Framework (may be the final part of the literature review)
• Research methodology (including the philosophical paradigm that influences the research) and design
• Findings and Analysis (this may be divided into two chapters of Results and Discussion with quantitative studies sometimes having a separate results/findings chapter to the critical analysis of the findings - discussion)
• Conclusions & Recommendations  

• References and Bibliography
• Appendices (if any) – should include your full signed Ethics Application forms and all final drafts of your questionnaires, PIL and consent form templates

• Full title of the dissertation centred in the top third of the page
• Degree, subject and the institution centred in the middle third of the page
• Your name and the year centred in the lower third of the page 

• All preliminary pages, beginning with the Title Page, should have page numbers in lower case Roman numerals (I; ii; iii, etc.).
• The main text of the dissertation and the References section should have page numbers in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.). 
• Page numbering ends at the Appendices, where the pages are numbered differently – showing Appendix letter/number and the page number e.g. page 10 in Appendix A would be A10, etc.
• Page numbers (whether in the preliminaries, main text, references or appendices) should be located in a consistent position throughout the dissertation.
• Ensure that page numbers, headers and footers are away from the edge. 

• Abstract
• Footnotes
• Quotations longer than three lines
• References
• Tables
• Appendices, such as questionnaires, letters etc. 

• Supervisor is to arrange mini viva ideally within weeks 7 – 8 of dissertation process (for a learner doing a dissertation in 1 semester).
• The format for the mini-viva is a short 10-minute presentation (power-point recommended but not necessary) to supervisor only (no 2nd marker required).
• Learner will present under the following headings- a) Overview/Introduction b) Literature review/key findings c) Primary Research progress/dissertation outlook.
• Learner presentation is followed by 3 – 5 minutes of supervisor comments/questions as applicable.
• At the end of mini-viva, supervisor awards 25% max for each of 3 headings listed above and a final 25% for “Credibility”.
• Credibility marks are based on overall supervisor assessment from questions/comments on mini viva conducted (is dissertation really learners' own work? does learner understand significance of findings so far, etc) 

• Present your information in the most logical and appropriate sequence - remember the flow chart illustrated in section one. Include the information necessary to provide the context for your research, to make the main points of your dissertation, and your conclusions and recommendations – don’t exhaust your audience with large amounts of data or information. In short: cover what you’ve done, why you’ve done it, and what you found. Bear in mind that the audience will have read your dissertation.
• Use visual presentation tool(s) (PowerPoint, overheads), and use them effectively. Present your visual information clearly and concisely, using titles for each key theme.
• Don't be tempted to read from your visual tool(s). Keep good eye contact with your audience. Use index cards as prompts for yourself, but don’t read from them, and remember to vary your tone when you are speaking!
• When preparing your presentation (viva), an idea is to present to a friend / someone who is unfamiliar with your research and ask them to ask you questions – this will help you prepare for the most obvious questions that your audience might ask.
• Have your presentation and any handouts proof-read for spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. You do not want to give any reason for creating a less than 100% positive impression
• Dress professionally and use a professional demeanour, even if the presentation is by Zoom or Teams. Assume a relatively formal manner addressing people by their proper title, letting them know you are taking the viva seriously.
• Preparation, planning and practice, practice, practice are the keys to successful presentations.    

• A copy of your thesis – use Yellow post-it notes for chapter beginnings, tables, important points, etc.
• Presentation – make sure the technology is working; arrange to test the technology beforehand to ensure everything is working 
• Have a copy of your handouts for each of the examiners (about three copies)
• Pen and paper to help you remember any questions / answers / pointers
• Notes of the main points of your dissertation – one page
• Water / something to drink.  

• In one sentence, what is your thesis about?
• Summarise your key findings
• Who are the main contributors (literature and research) in the field of workplace diversity?
• What are the main contributions from your research?
• What's original about your work?
• How did your research questions emerge / what led you to research this topic?
• What are the motivations for your research?
• Why is the problem you have tackled worth tackling?
• How does your work differ from previous research?
• What are the main weaknesses of your work?
• How have you provided for bias in your research?
• What is the relevance of your contributions? To other researchers? To industry?
• How do you arrive at your conceptual framework?
• Why would others be interested in your conclusions?
• Why did you choose the research strategy that you did?
• Why did you use interviews / a questionnaire / observation?
• Can you explain to me simply, how did you arrive at your conceptual framework?
• Why did you use the statistics you used? What do they tell you?
• Looking back, what might you have done differently?
• What have you learned from the process of doing your MSc?
• Has your view of your research topic changed during the course of the research?

• Answers should flow out from you without a lot of prompting, indicating that you know your stuff
• Bear in mind that the examiners will have read your dissertation
• Make sure to listen to the questions and take your time answering them
• Try to be as confident in your answers as possible – point out strengths, recognise limitations but go back to the strengths – Remember that part of this exercise is to challenge your confidence in your work
• If you don't understand the question, ask for clarification. Paraphrase the question in your own words and say, "Is this what you mean?" State your assumptions
• Treat vague questions as invitations to tell the examiners that you know your area
• Try to link the question to the questions you have anticipated and their prepared answers
• If you think the question is irrelevant, explain why you think it is irrelevant (it may be that the examiners may not know the methods used for example)  

• Be honest
• If you have any idea at all, say it
• Say, “I can't answer this on the spot, but I should be able to work it out in my own time”
• If it's about literature you haven't come across, thank the questioner and ask for a reference. 

• Establish an initial dissertation topic, scope and review of current literature.
• Moving from the topic selected in the preliminary document to a specific title-and specific research objectives--complete a more in-depth review of the relevant literature and critically review the most pertinent for the proposal.
• Generate and evaluate an appropriate research design and method which is consistent with the research philosophy/paradigm.
• Consider the nature of the data to be collected as well as Access and Ethical considerations in the collection of such data.
• Consider how the data will be analysed and presented. 

• Identify in the literature key debates around the research topic
• Write the LR using a thematic approach - not just summarising individual
• reference material
• Identify where, if any, there are any key gaps and /or areas for opportunities for further research. (20 marks)                                                           

2-b Use extensive citations and provide a list of references; for both citations and the list you must use the Griffith College Harvard Referencing style. (10 marks) 

• Refining research objectives
• Literature
• Methodology
• Research design
• Collecting primary data
• Data analysis / interpretation
• Discussion
• Final writeup

The research contained within this research dissertation proposal has been approved.