1) Introduction
All students are required to attend a series of taught sessions and write a
dissertation during their academic programme, on a theme broadly in accord with
their programme. The taught sessions will be composed of scheduled lectures and
tutorials/workshops mainly focused on research methods, while the dissertation itself
consists of applying skills and concepts acquired during the programme to the
clarification or solution of a research problem or issue in the areas of study.
As such, the dissertation is expected to report on the work the student undertakes to
address a research question (e.g., action research, policy analysis, gathering data,
reviewing literature, conducting interviews, performing assessments, doing a survey,
developing algorithms, designing protocols, testing proof-of-concepts, etc.). As this is
a piece of academic work, a dissertation must include evidence of student’s
awareness of key academic literature relating to the area or topic of study and how it
relates to the research question that is addressed.
The dissertation may serve one or more purposes:
 To review existing knowledge, leading to a critique, synthesis or new
understandings of existing knowledge.
 To critically analyse some situation, problem or issue.
 To construct something novel, e.g., a new model, approach, concept or theory.
2) Module Aims
The aims of the dissertation module are:
 To give the students the opportunity to study a subject, business problem or
research question in depth.
 To research the issues surrounding the subject or background to the problem.
Students can choose one of the two routes for their dissertations:
1. Standard research route – a traditional research-based dissertation related to a
topic jointly agreed by student and (intended) dissertation supervisor.
2. Or, organisation-based research route1
– this is known as the ‘Collaborative
Dissertation’, whereby an external organisation has been part of co-creation of
the research question and their participation is integral to the research. The topic
is jointly agreed by the student, organisation and (intended) dissertation
supervisor. It can be realised in the following formats:
1
Further info on Collaborative Dissertation can be requested from: [email protected]
Please note: Collaborate are unable to answer requests for bespoke partnerships, projects or contacts. All
appropriate opportunities received from their network centrally will be displayed on Learn.
3
a) A project-based dissertation: research conducted remotely from a partner
organisation, which may involve collection of primary data from this
organisation or based on lab/field experiments.
b) Or, an internship-based dissertation: as per the project-based dissertation,
but research conducted within the partner organisation’s premises while
completing additional operational internship activities (subject to a suitable
internship position being obtained).
As a result of this process, it is expected that the students will achieve a high level of
understanding in the subject area and produce a written thesis which will discuss this
research in depth and with academic rigour.
PLEASE NOTE:
All dissertations – regardless of taking the standard or organisation-based
(Collaborative Dissertation) research routes – are expected to contain the necessary
research element and relevant literature survey on the topic of study.
Suggested Table of Contents for Dissertation:
Dissertations on: 1) Standard research route; and
2) Organisation-based (Collaborative Dissertation) research route
Executive Summary
Introduction (revised research proposal)
Literature Review
Research Methods
Results/Findings
Discussions (this includes the implications, as indicated below)
Conclusion (including future direction)
References
Appendices (if needed)
PLEASE NOTE:
Within the context of organisation-based (Collaborative Dissertation) research route,
as the dissertation is connected to a partner organisation, it may then have a slightly
different focus compared to a standard research dissertation. As such, it may focus
more on the ‘Managerial/Societal implications’ while the standard research route
dissertations emphasise more on the ‘Theoretical implications’. An organisationbased (Collaborative Dissertation) research route may also require a separate
(shorter) report for the employer as well as a dissertation.