NBS8330 Research Methods in Economics and Finance MSc Dissertation Handbook 2024-2025

MSc Dissertation Handbook (NBS8020): 2024-2025

Below you can find a guide on the procedural issues for your MSc. Dissertation work, including your work with your supervisor, information on how to submit the dissertation, general marking criteria, etc. Guidelines on the content of the Dissertation are provided in lectures and seminars of the Research Methods in Economics and Finance module (NBS8330).

The dissertation is an exercise of independent research. You will receive guidance from your supervisor but ultimately you are responsible for your own work and for the quality and standard of the dissertation.

The dissertation work is conducted in two major steps:

1. The Dissertation Plan, to be submitted no later than Friday, March 14th (this is submitted as part of the Research Methods in Economics and Finance module – NBS8330).
2. The Full Dissertation, to be submitted no later than Tuesday, August 26th. Typically, a dissertation comprises the following sections:
   i) introduction,
   ii) literature review,
   iii) methodology and data,
   iv) empirical results and discussion, and
   v) conclusions (non-empirical dissertations will differ in structure).

The Dissertation Plan and feedback on it from the supervisor (received by students with the marks and in supervision meetings – see below), should be used to support the dissertation work. Please note that using sections from the Dissertation Plan in the final version of the Dissertation (adjusted where appropriate) will not be considered plagiarism.

At every step, every student should expect to receive some form of supervision. Students can expect supervisors to devote 4 hours total time in the supervision process.

This involves:

• A maximum of four supervision meetings.
• Email communications.
• Reading and preparation time on the part of the supervisor. Typically, this involves the supervisor reading and providing feedback on one section of the dissertation draft.

As a suggestion, the 4 hours total supervision time can be allocated as follows: 4 meetings of 30 minutes each, 1 hour for email communication, and 1 hour for reading and preparation time. Please note that it is up to individual supervisors to decide whether they follow this allocation or choose another.

The information regarding the exact allocation of the 4 hours total supervision time will be communicated to supervisees by their supervisor during the first meeting.

As mentioned above, students can expect a maximum of four supervision meetings. The supervisory meetings can be held either in-person or online (via Zoom, Teams, etc.). It is also not uncommon for meetings to take the form of a group meeting in which the supervisor establishes guidelines for contents and methods of future dissertation work.

Students are advised to agree with the supervisor from the onset the number, type, and dates of meetings that will be held, as well as what is expected from the student and from the supervisor for each of those meetings.

Please note that students must follow the agreed timeline! The following timeline includes all the important due dates relevant to the dissertations and gives a suggestion of how to distribute the four meetings and dissertation work in general.

Timeline of Dissertation work

Semester One: Students take the Research Methods in Economics and Finance Module (NBS8330).

Semester Two:

1.    Students are assigned a supervisor

• By the end of Semester 1, students will have been exposed to potential dissertation topics in the lectures of this module, as well as through their studies in all other modules studied.
• In due course, a list will be provided including all the staff members that will be responsible for the supervision of students, including the broad dissertation topics they each propose.
• Starting on Monday, January 6th and up to Friday, January 10th, students should provide three choices of dissertation supervisor (from the list referred to above), ranked from most to less preferred. You will be able to submit your dissertation supervisor choices by completing a Microsoft Forms online survey with your details (name, student number, and programme of study) and your three choices of dissertation supervisor. The Microsoft Form link will be posted on Canvas.

Following this, an allocation will be made by the School, aiming to match the preferences expressed by students. This will be published on Canvas on Friday, January 24th. Please note that students who do not submit their supervisor preferences by the deadline will still be allocated a supervisor that has availability.

Formal Requirements

• The length of the dissertation should not exceed 12,000 words. Please note this is not a target, as it is quite normal for a properly written dissertation to be between 10,500 12,000 words. The 12,000 word limit does not have any additional allowance (additional words in excess of the 12,000 word limit will not be graded).
• The Reference List, Appendices and List of Contents pages are not counted towards the 12,000 word limit. The rest of the text (abstract, in-text citations, table contents and captions, etc.) is counted towards the 12,000 word limit. There should be a word count on the Title Page.
• The dissertation should be written using a clear font (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, Calibri, Trebuchet MS) with one and a half line spacing and font size 12.
• Quotations and footnotes can be in single spacing in a font size 10.
• The dissertation should include the following 5 pages at the beginning of the document :
  oTitle Page: This should include students name and university number, Degree Programme, dissertation title and word count.
  Abstract: A summary of not more than 300 words, which must fit onto one side of an A4 page, should be placed immediately after the title page. This can be typed in single spacing in font size 12.
  o Dedication and acknowledgements: At your discretion (optional).
  oTable of Contents: Students are responsible for creating these 5 pages themselves (there are no templates provided).

Submission Instructions for the Dissertation and additional files (i.e., dataset and relevant codes)

1. Submit your dissertation file via the submission point available in the 'Assignments' tab. You can only submit one file through the submission point, and this has to be your written dissertation file. Please double-check that you are submitting the correct version of your dissertation as Canvas does not allow for multiple submissions.

2. After you submit your dissertation, access the ‘Grades’ tab (not the ‘Assignments’ tab). You
should see there your dissertation submission at the top.
 
3.  Click on your dissertation submission and a column area appears to the right. In the bottom right of this column area, you will see the 'Attach file' option.

4.Use the 'Attach file' option to attach your additional dataset and codes files. You should attach each file separately. So, attach your first file only and press the Save button. Then, attach the second file and press the ‘Save’ button. You should continue attaching files individually if you have more than two additional files.

Assessment and marking criteria

The dissertation will be marked by your supervisor and by one other marker. It may also be sent to the External Examiner.
Your supervisor and the second marker will discuss the extent to which your work has been independent, or the extent to which you have relied on your supervisors help and guidance. This will be fully considered in reaching the agreement for a final mark.

Please find below a guideline for the marking criteria used:
≥80%
Publishable quality with valuable original contribution to the discipline.
High level of achievement demonstrating insight throughout the project. 70-79%
Thorough, well-researched, demonstrating originality, a good understanding of the issue and its context, including clear aims, and rigorous methodology as well as a high standard of presentation.

60-69%
Good, competent treatment with no major omissions.
Less thorough or original than categories above but setting a good argument in an appropriate context.

50-59%
Basic understanding and treatment of issues lacking in imagination or critical thought. Pedestrian.

40-49%
Arguments/discussions poorly resourced.
Places undue faith in the literature.
Little sign of analytical technique or depth.

40%
Does not meet its stated terms of reference.
Little evidence of research with poor presentation.
Fails to demonstrate an adequate understanding of basic concepts.