a)

School of Social Sciences

Business Management Group

Final Year Project

Handbook
Author: Mike Hart
(with amendments by Eric Bodger)
Session: 2004-2005
Contents
Contents......................................................................................................................................2
Overview.....................................................................................................................................5
1. What is the Final Year Project?........................................................................................5
2. Why is it important?..........................................................................................................5
3. What subject may I choose?..............................................................................................5
4. How do I get started?........................................................................................................6
5. What happens when I first meet my allocated tutor?........................................................6
6. How do I plan out what I intend to do?............................................................................6
7. How much tutorial support may I expect to receive?.......................................................7
8. Literature review...............................................................................................................7
9. Researching and gathering material for your Project........................................................8
10. Managing your Project....................................................................................................9
Phases of your project planning......................................................................................9
Managing your time........................................................................................................9
Progressive focusing.....................................................................................................10
11. Interim Report – the mid-year review...........................................................................11
12. Methodology.................................................................................................................11
13. Consult the website regularly!......................................................................................11
Collecting Primary Data...........................................................................................................12
1. Questionnaires.................................................................................................................12
2. Interviews........................................................................................................................13
Practicalities of recording the data:...............................................................................13
How is data to be analysed?..........................................................................................13
Ethics Considerations....................................................................................................13
3. Approaching Organisations.............................................................................................13
4. Analysing Primary Data.................................................................................................14
Quantitative data...........................................................................................................14
Hypothesis tests.............................................................................................................14
Use of Graphics.............................................................................................................14
Analysis of open-ended questions.................................................................................14
Qualitative data.............................................................................................................15
Documents.....................................................................................................................15
Case Studies..................................................................................................................16
Writing Up 1............................................................................................................................17
Grammatical Points.............................................................................................................17
Spelling...............................................................................................................................17
Stylistic Conventions..........................................................................................................18
Writing Up 2............................................................................................................................19
Plagiarism...........................................................................................................................19
Definition......................................................................................................................19
What is legitimate?........................................................................................................19
What is not legitimate?..................................................................................................19
How to avoid plagiarism...............................................................................................19
Consequences of plagiarism..........................................................................................19

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 Non-Sexist and Non-Racist Language................................................................................19
Good Presentation and Illustration......................................................................................20
Document Layout................................................................................................................20
Word-processing notes..................................................................................................21
Appendices ...................................................................................................................22
Indexes..........................................................................................................................23
Contents ........................................................................................................................23
Methods of Working...........................................................................................................23
Principles of Referencing Style (Harvard)..........................................................................24
List of References...............................................................................................................24
Books.............................................................................................................................24
Articles/Chapters in Books...........................................................................................24
Reports..........................................................................................................................25
Periodicals.....................................................................................................................25
Newspapers...................................................................................................................25
Conference papers.........................................................................................................25
Quotations.....................................................................................................................25
Multiple references........................................................................................................26
Accuracy!......................................................................................................................26
Completed List of References.......................................................................................26
Importance of proof reading ..........................................................................................26
Why proof-read a document?........................................................................................26
How is one to proof-read?.............................................................................................27
Cross-referencing................................................................................................................27
Appendices..........................................................................................................................28
Timing.................................................................................................................................28
Hand-in date........................................................................................................................29
Dates for the 2004-05 academic year............................................................................29
Formalities.....................................................................................................................29
Abstract.........................................................................................................................30
Acknowledgements/Dedication....................................................................................30
Order of contents...........................................................................................................30
Marking of Projects.............................................................................................................30
Endnote – The submission date dead-line is not normally negotiable................................31
Useful books.......................................................................................................................31
Other useful documents......................................................................................................31
Appendix 1: Final Year Project Supervision Meeting Record.................................................32
Appendix 2: Final Year Projects – Marking Guide..................................................................33
Appendix 3: How to write a successful Final Year Project – a Practical Guide.......................34
Checklist of points (to keep in front of you) ......................................................................34
Appendix 4: Example of an article...........................................................................................35
Appendix 5 Final Year Projects – Initial Planning document..................................................35
A. Evolution of a project – initial doodlings .............................................................35
B. Evolution of a Project – initial plan of chapters............................................................36
Quality Improvement in NHS Outpatient Clinics ...............................................36
CHAPTER 1: Quality in Healthcare ...........................................................................36
CHAPTER 2: Outpatient clinics – measuring the quality............................................36

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 CHAPTER 3: Outpatient clinics – implementing improvements.................................36
CHAPTER 4: Policy Implications of measuring quality improvements......................36
CHAPTER 5: TQM Models in Healthcare...................................................................36
CHAPTER 6: New directions in the measurement of quality in healthcare.................36
C: Evolution of a project – Contents page of completed project........................................36
Appendix 6:The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It ........................................39
What is a review of the literature?................................................................................39
Ask yourself questions like these:.................................................................................39
Final Notes..........................................................................................................................40
Appendix 7: Harvard System – Two-page Quick Guide..........................................................41
References.....................................................................................................................41
Appendix 8:Citing electronic sources of information...............................................................42
Internet Sources: ...........................................................................................................42
Citing electronic journals .............................................................................................42
Other Electronic Sources ...................................................................................................45
Tips and hints ...............................................................................................................45
Acknowledgements: ...........................................................................................................45
Appendix 9: 13 Tips for Successful Supervision of Undergraduate Dissertations...................47
Abstract........................................................................................................................47
Introduction...................................................................................................................47

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Overview
1. What is the Final Year Project?
The Final Year Project (FYP) consists of an individual piece of work of 9,000-11,000 words
in length, on a subject of the student’s own choosing providing that it is within the area of
Business Studies, broadly defined. A working title and a brief description of your intended
Project should be submitted when requested so that an allocation can be made to the most
appropriate tutor. After your first consultation with your tutor, you may need to refine or to
redefine your chosen subject area to ensure that it is manageable and feasible for an
undergraduate student. The tutor who is allocated to you will have supervised many
undergraduate projects before and is therefore in a good position to give you good general
academic advice regarding the shape and general direction of your project. She or he may
well know some of the specialist literature base that you intend to access and may be able to
give you some advice and guidance along the way. However, it is not uncommon that
students pick a subject area which accesses a wide range of literature with which the tutor is
not familiar – but this does not mean that your tutor is not able to offer sound, general advice
on project planning and writing. It is not always a good idea to pick a subject about which
you feel passionately, as there is a danger that the project can become polemical rather than
analytical.

2. Why is it important?
The Project counts as a double module at Level 3 and hence contributes heavily to the
classification of your degree. Under the rules that apply to the classification of all degrees
within KAC, then if your final average is very close to the boundary for a classification higher
than that suggested by the raw average (e.g. your final average may be 59.4) then your
Project needs to be in the classification of the higher class. In the example shown above,
for example, you would not be considered for an Upper Second Class classification (2:1) if
your project was not graded as a 2:1 or higher.
Your Project indicates your abilities to select, research and then present a substantial piece of
work that displays your intellectual abilities to the full. A well-written project is a useful
document to display to a potential employer when you enter the labour market. In any case,
the skills that you will have deployed are particularly useful should you wish to undertake
work for a higher degree at Masters or at PhD level. Moreover, the fact that you have
researched and organised a substantial piece of work is a skill that you will be asked to deploy
on many occasions in whichever career you choose to enter. You will have learnt to ‘project
manage’ a substantial piece of work and learn the techniques associated with writing and
assembling a large document and these skills will assist you when it comes to similar ventures
in the future.

3. What subject may I choose?

You may choose a subject which is drawn primarily from one of the contributing Business
Studies disciplines such as Human Resource Management or from a combination of
disciplines. Many students choose Projects that are topical in nature and in which the
literature is drawn from a wide range of sources. Whatever subject is chosen, the Project
should reflect the fact that you have acquired a particular knowledge base and academic skills
and should be a showcase of the ways in which you can demonstrate such skills. The Project
is an independent piece of work which allows the student the opportunity to apply theoretical
perspectives to business problems or to undertake work in real depth on a business studies
problem in which they are interested. Many students take the opportunity to undertake some

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empirical work in their Project by undertaking a small-scale survey and in this case it is
particularly important to receive the advice of tutors to ensure that what you intend to
undertake is feasible and methodologically sound.

4. How do I get started?

The golden rule for an undergraduate Project is that it must be located in a literature base.
This means that if the literature does not exist (as the emergent problem may be extremely
topical) then it will be difficult to conduct a Project in this area. So it is important to read
quite widely around the area to locate a starting point for the project. Often you will find that
a good starting point is the relevant chapter for a comprehensive and up-to-date textbook in
one of the Business Studies disciplines. You should also undertake more specialised literature
searches using the resources of libraries, particularly CD-ROMS and the entire resources of
the Internet. However, you do need to exercise a degree of care when using the Internet as
there is no ‘quality control’ mechanism for material published on the Internet as there is for
more conventional academic journals and the information you access may be inaccurate or
not particularly relevant (if it applies to an American rather than a British audience, for
example).

5. What happens when I first meet my allocated tutor?

Remember that the role of the tutor can be said to be ‘to advise, to encourage and to warn’. In
the last analysis, the project is your own and you must be prepared to take ownership of it
and be prepared to defend every word that you have written. Although your tutor may not be
as acquainted with the specialist literature base as you are, the advice that is given is not to be
disregarded lightly. The tutor may well suggest particular lines of enquiry that you should
consider very carefully – but in the last analysis, what is offered is advice and not instructions
as to how to undertake your project.

6. How do I plan out what I intend to do?

It is always a good plan before you meet your tutor to come along armed with the following
information:
a) Most important! A title and suggested plan for your project. This could well be
in the form of your anticipated chapter headings (say Ch. 1 to Ch. 6 with a sentence or so
of explanation for each one). You can get a skeleton document with possible headings
from the website at http://www.winchester.ac.uk/bm/courses/BS3002/
Some of these chapter headings may suggest themselves naturally e.g.
Chapter 1 Introduction (Why the subject is of interest)
Chapter 2 Literature Review (What we know about the subject from the
literature base)
Chapter 3 Development
Chapter 4 Further development
Chapter 5 Case study or small scale research (interviews, questionnaires etc.)
(NB be careful that your research carries forward the themes of your project and is
not seen as a ‘last -minute add on’)
Chapter 6 Conclusions (The next step, way ahead)
b) A list of the sources that you have already consulted.
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c) Any particular contacts you have, sources of information to help you explore the topic

7. How much tutorial support may I expect to receive?

You should appreciate that one-to-one tutorial support is both expensive and time-consuming:
on the other hand, you are entitled to receive the appropriate amount of tuition, given that you
are now in the third year of a degree programme.
The tutorial support you will receive comes in two forms:
a) Class sessions: One at the end of your second year to help to get you oriented
Course of lectures and seminars during the Autumn term
One immediately prior to the writing up period
b) Individual tutorials: six * 30 mins over the academic year (3 hours in total)
Some students may need somewhat more or less help than these guidelines suggest – but you
should bear in mind that each member of the Business Management team will be tutor to 15
to 20 students, and we aim to provide an equitable service to each student.

8. Literature review
This is a particularly important part of the project as you are demonstrating to the readers of
your project that you are familiar with the major themes, issues and debates to be found in the
literature which informs your project.
A literature review aims to inform the reader the state of knowledge concerning a
particular topic area as represented by recognised scholars and researchers. The sources
that you consult for a literature review are principally:
a) Books around the subject area (the more recently published, the better)
b) The periodical literature i.e. articles in the academic journals
c) The Internet may itself help you with both (a) and (b) above as well as providing you with
other sources of information. However, be warned that there is quality control on the net
i.e. almost anybody can publish anything they like. Academic books and articles will
have been through a process known as peer- review in which other academics will have
commented on the quality of the published material before it sees the light of day but
similar quality control mechanisms do not apply on the web (unless, of course, you are
accessing the normal academic literature through the web rather than just browsing web
pages in general)
You should use the resources of the Library to help you to ascertain:
a) how to find abstracts or indexes to a particular source of literature. On-line sources and
CD-ROMs are likely to help you to locate the relevant literature here – but you may then
have the problem of actually retrieving it.
b) The resources of the Internet. However, do be careful of your use of the Net – the
information you download may be ephemeral1, not particularly academic or not ‘quality
checked’ before it is posted.

1
Not only may the content be here today and gone tomorrow, but so may the web-site! If you rely on a source
from the Internet, you may need to make a copy so you can refer to it when the original has disappeared.

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Although the prime aim of a literature review is to inform the reader of the current ‘state of
knowledge’ of your chosen theme, you will gain additional credit by being evaluative as well
as descriptive. The more you can contextualise the literature, comment on the strengths and
weaknesses of particular approaches and critically appraise your source material, the more
credit you will gain.
Conventionally, the literature review is the first substantive chapter of your Project i.e. placed
immediately after your introduction which is ‘scene-setting’. Although this chapter will be
heavily referenced, this should not imply that were will not also be references that you will
make to other sources of literature throughout the remainder of your project. The literature
review is essentially a critical summary of the principal themes within the field – not an
exposition of everything that has ever been written about the subject.
For examples of a literature review, you should:
a) browse books or articles which typically contain a literature review
b) look at the section of the article by Mike Hart The Quantification of Patient Satisfaction
entitled Dissatisfaction with the conduct of the patient satisfaction survey (provided in
the appendices). This is essentially a literature review condensed to one section of the
article – there are approximately a dozen references here contained within the 400 words
of a 5000 word article. Your own literature review will be correspondingly larger,
forming as it does the first substantive chapter.
c) Read also The Literature Review – a Few Tips on Conducting it also contained in the
Appendices.
d) You can use the resources of the web (particularly www.google.com) to give you
additional advice in this area should you need it.
It is not difficult to find good examples of literature reviews. Most academic research papers
will start off with a ‘literature review’ section and textbooks almost by definition will give
you an overview of the concerns of the field. Try to make ensure though that your literature
review is up-to-date, topical and extensive (for example you should aim at a minimum of
20-30 references in this section of your work).

9. Researching and gathering material for your Project

Throughout your project, you will be used to using the library (and other libraries)
extensively – final year students writing their Final Year Project are likely to use the
resources of the Library to the full. But there are other ways in which you can help
yourself e.g.
a) browsing in bookshops (either in reality or through the web such as www.amazon.co.uk)
is a good way to ascertain what is recently published in the field – you do not actually
have to buy what you see (although it is worth while buying a particularly good source)
b) wise use of the Internet (although this will typically be an adjunct to your other search
efforts). The search engine www.google.co.uk seems to be a particularly starting point for
many and is worth checking regularly throughout the year as new material appears.
Remember to exercise a degree of academic caution about the material gained from the
net i.e. is the authority a credible one?

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10. Managing your Project
Phases of your project planning
Any large scale piece of work needs to be planned and your project is no exception.
Researching and writing a project can have its frustrations, principally because you may have
difficulties locating some of the source materials or what seemed to be a promising line of
enquiry turns out to be a dead-end. Most projects follow phases similar to that outlined
below:
Initial phase – reading around the intended subject area, finding and refining the exact
subject of your enquiry. For many, this can be the most frustrating part of the exercise – the
solution is to keep reading and to some extent browsing and this process of browsing-reading-
reflection will your initial ideas to develop a sharper focus. For example, you could
have started off wanting to cover a very broad topic such as Motivation at Work but after
refinement your ideas may well have become Job Satisfaction in White Collar Occupations or
even Job Satisfaction in the Financial Services industry. Most projects start off being
somewhat too ambitious in scope and after consultation with your tutor may need to be
refocused into a more manageable shape.
Literature review phase – this is likely to be the first substantial part of the project and
requires you to document and contextualise the academic literature which informs your
project. If you have started your project in October, then it is ideal to have this phase
completed by Christmas, if possible.
Development phase – here, your research and ideas may be developing quite rapidly. You
may well be drafting out chapters at the rate of about one every fortnight and you will be
engaged in a process of both refining ideas and committing yourself to paper.
Empirical research phase – some students may like to demonstrate their initiative/ research
skills by undertaking a detailed examination of a case study or conducting some small-scale
investigations capturing data through the most appropriate means (interviews, questionnaires,
documentary data). An empirical research phase is likely to run alongside the development
phase above and may need careful planning. Gaining permissions, piloting questionnaires,
gathering data all take longer than you might initially think.
Data analysis phase – any originally collected data needs to be analysed and does not speak
for itself. You will need to be able to demonstrate that you understand the most appropriate
tools of analysis (e.g. statistical hypothesis testing of quantitative data, techniques of
qualitative data analysis.) You may well need to consult a methodology text again at this
point to remind yourself how such tools are to be deployed. Your tutor(s) should be able to
point you in the right direction at this point – but the data analysis, interpretation and
‘linkages’ with the rest of the project should not be seen as an afterthought that has just been
tagged onto the project as a whole.
Writing up phase – in this phase, you turn your drafts of individual chapters into a polished
whole. Your completed document will have to conform to certain technical specifications,
detailed below, and will contain sections that you may not have had to cope with in shorter
length documents such as formal title pages, acknowledgements, indexes, appendices and the
like. It is important that you leave yourself enough time for careful proof-reading and
consideration of your finally completed document.
Managing your time
It is a good idea to devote a regular session each week (one morning, afternoon, evening) or a
complete day for your literature searching/browsing. You will probably need to allocate

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another session for notetaking from relevant sources. Aim to make sure that you have
accomplished something at the end of every session so that you have a sense of progress.

 Top Tip Photocopy relevant articles and then day-glo the relevant phrases etc.

 Top Tip Set yourself arbitrary time-limits for each source that you are
commenting upon e.g. ½ hour for each source so that you do not get too
bogged down.

 Top Tip Ensure that you have good biographical details of your sources. A card
index might be useful here – and easy to keep sorted in alphabetical
order.

 Top Tip Keep two backups of your project files (on two separate floppies).
Backup after every chapter or section. Keep one backup near your
computer and another in a safe place (your bedroom?). It is most
unwise to keep a backup of your work on a
“friend’s computer”
Progressive focusing
Do not expect your progress to be unilinear – the initial stages may take a certain amount of
time and you may not feel that you are making much progress on the project until you reach
the stage at which your ideas have been clarified and your literature sources are accessible.
Always have your initial plan in mind and be prepared to refine it in the light of subsequent
searches/researches.
Remember that as you read more, your ideas will become progressively refined – and as your
ideas become more refined, this then guides in what direction to read. This whole process is
known as progressive focusing or progressive refinement.
Techniques to aid progressive focusing
1. Are there natural breaks in the data? For example:
 NHS before/after the market reforms
 The city before/after deregulation (‘Big Bang’)
 pre-1979, post 1979 (election of Thatcher government)
2. Are there key reports, White Papers in the area?
3. Is there a key piece of legislation in the area?
4. Is there a single influential book which is the natural starting point?
In a progressive focusing technique, you may wish to adopt a scheme such as the following:
 What is the background to the issue (i.e. how did it become an issue or become part of
the agenda of business, politics?
 Are there key reports, events?
 What is the major point of the legislative framework (if relevant)?
 How have plans been implemented?
 Is it possible to evaluate the success/failure of a policy?
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11. Interim Report – the mid-year review
You will be asked to present an interim report on your project in the middle of your project.
In the interim report, you should be able to delineate and defend the major themes of your
project, indicate the shape of your project as a whole and be explicit about the progress made
to date. A typical report will contain:
a) Outline worked in some detail
b) Evidence of a completed literature review
c) Substantial progress in designing methodology for the data collection phase
The mid-year review is compulsory and will be graded by your tutor. This grade will
make up 10% of your final project mark (i.e. 2% of your degree classification).

12. Methodology
In your project, you should include a justification of how you decided to investigate the
Project in the way in which you did. You may think of your methodology in both general
terms and specific terms:
a) General: (your lines of approach e.g. why you chose to investigate the project in the way
in which you did. Was it completely desk-based or did you choose to undertake case
studies, more particular investigations?)
b) Specific: If you have undertaken some field work (questionnaires, interviews, case-
studies) you should include several paragraphs that justify your choice of methods. These
should demonstrate methodological awareness gained from other parts of your course e.g.
how and where you sampled, the theoretical reasoning that lay behind your choice of
method and so on. This is part of the Project in which the methodological principles you
have been taught in the course can be demonstrated.

13. Consult the website regularly!

Two special websites have been written to assist you (and all other students) Consult them
regularly, as they are updated often. In particular, the Sources of Advice page gives you links
to many other useful websites to help you both to research and to write your Final Year
Project.
The URL for Business Management at Winchester is: http://www.winchester.ac.uk/bm/ with
the Final Year Project home page at http://www.winchester.ac.uk/bm/courses/BS3002/
Useful advice will be provided on Mike Hart’s site at http://final-year-projects.com

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Collecting Primary Data
1. Questionnaires
Compose the questionnaire with care, noting the different types of question it is possible to
have:
Type Variable Typical Data
Nominal/ GENDER male/female
Categorical GapYear Yes/No
Ordinal Grade, Score A,B,C or 8 (out of 10)
Continuous SALARY 10000
Interval SALARY Under 10K, 10000-19999, 20000-29999, over 30K
Ranked FACTORS 1,2,3,4,5

Hypothesis Testing
Categorical (nominal): Chi-square
Proportions, Interval/Ratio, Scaled T-tests (2 samples)
ANOVA (more than 2 samples
Ordinal Non-Parametric
Your questionnaire analysis should contain:
 a statistical description of every question (normally frequency distributions)
 Selected hypotheses
 Details of sampling
 Details of covering letter
 Details of response rate (+ efforts to maximise)
 Examples of questionnaire itself
 (Perhaps DATA and LABELS files)
It is important that you show a degree of methodological expertise i.e. be aware of the
strengths, limitations of this method of gathering data.
Remember that your questionnaire will often be in the form of a PILOT for what you would
do if you had the time and resources for a more detailed enquiry (most appropriate to a post-
graduate enquiry)
Important: If you intend to collect some data by questionnaire, then it is essential that you
1. Have a tutor perform (and record) Ethics Scrutiny before you distribute the questionnaire
2. Obtain the necessary permissions beforehand
3. Think how the results are going to be analysed and incorporated into the report

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Your Final Year Project Report should also contain
 Methodological considerations (why this method of data collection was chosen in
preference to another e.g. collecting data by interviews)
 Evidence of having been piloted
 Enough cases to make analysis worthwhile (generally about 30)
 An indication that the sample size may have needed to be restricted because of the
practicalities of being a Final Year student (if you were a full-time postgraduate student,
you would have more time and resources to do it properly)
 Evidence that you can demonstrate the methodological principles at work

2. Interviews
Practicalities of recording the data:
Note-taking (your own notes, complete with good quotations)
Audio recording
 Ethics requires you to have the permission of interviewee; ideally this should be included
in the recording
 The tape/disc/audio-file has to be transcribed to turn it into hard copy – this is best done
within hours of the interview.
How is data to be analysed?
 By thematic analysis
 By choice of selected quotes (e.g. ‘A representative view was…’ ‘A minority view was…’)
 Make connections with the rest of the literature and the rest of the project
Give details of sampling, location etc.
Sample selection, response may have to be justified in similar terms to a quantitative survey
Ethics Considerations
College and Group policies mean that your project must be scrutinized to ensure that you
meet the criteria given in the Ethics Framework at
http://www.winchester.ac.uk/bm/Document/EthicsGuidelines.doc
Preserve anonymity: i.e. not Mr. Jones but Mr. D_____, a Customer Services manager etc.
Get all necessary permissions: This may not be as easy as it sounds
Promise to show material: Typically, showing the relevant chapter will suffice…

3. Approaching Organisations
 Only do so after other efforts on your part
 Be aware that busy professionals may not necessarily have time for you and/or be
inundated with requests
 Materials often have to be paid for (+P&P)
 Offers to visit an organisation may be useful
 Ask to speak to Information Department, External Relations Department etc.

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It is helpful if you are fairly limited in your requests for information…

4. Analysing Primary Data

Quantitative data
 Remember that every question needs an answer!
 Remember different types of data:
 By category (simple categories)
 Multiple frequencies (tick all that apply)
 Continuous (statistics)
 Ranked data (preferences)
 “Buckets” of scaled data (1-5, or 1-10)
 Open-ended questions
Hypothesis tests
There are many potential tests to perform – only choose one or two but select them with care
and show in your text/commentary that you can interpret the output.
When you perform hypothesis tests, note the difference between statistical significance and
social scientific significance..
Statistical significance Social scientific significance
Differences in heights of male v. Yes No
female students
Differences in rates of mental No Yes
illness of unemployed v employed

Use of Graphics
Remember that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ but:
 Use a spreadsheet to perform the graphics for you
 be careful to ensure that it does illuminate and not obscure
 label it carefully and cross-reference to the text
Analysis of open-ended questions
These are best analysed as if they had been Multiple Frequencies (tick all that apply) type of
questions.
Read through all of the responses and discern that four themes seem to emerge from the
analysis. For example, Socialising, clubs, sport, music, other. You can then come up with a
multiple frequency question that would capture the information for analysis. Thus if the
original question were
“I spend my spare time in the following way...” and elicited responses such as:
“Socialising, going to clubs, playing badminton” you might derive the themes
Socialising, clubs, sport, music, other
You can then represent the presence of a tick with a 1 and absence with a zero in the column
for each multi-frequency question, making it easy to analyse by computer.

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Example
Response Social Clubs Sport Music Other
Socialising, going to clubs, playing badminton 1 1 1 0 0
Horseriding, playing rugby, listening to music 0 0 1 1 0
Clubbing, socialising, reading magazines 1 1 0 0 1
Notes:
1. Do not have too many categories: 3-5 is sufficient
2. Have ‘Other’ as a general category for odd responses
3. If you are only analysing by one theme (e.g. Positive, Negative, Neutral, Mixed) then you
can use a simple TS-FREQ1 analysis instead.
Qualitative data
This will generally be in the form of interview data but it could be in other forms e.g. field-
notes written up at the time of placement experience.
There are TWO major types of analysis:
1. As a source of quoted material, in which you might indicate its typicality e.g.
‘a commonly expressed view was the following:
“The whole exercise was extremely hard work but fruitful as we learnt a lot from it”
(Second Year Female student)’
This would be presented as an indented block of single-spaced text, with attribution.
2. A thematic analysis
In such an analysis, you might analyse the text of interviews for the prevalence of certain
themes. For example, in a survey of customers for trainers, we could discern the
following:
Price Styling Availability Status
symbols
Respondent 1 Affordable High Easy Prevalent
Respondent 2
Respondent 3

Documents
1. Documents are evidently a source of data – that is why we use them in projects and
research reports.
2. However, documents are themselves data and we need to ask several questions of them:
 Who wrote the document? (e.g. Govt. department, pressure group, research body)
 What was the purpose of the document? (to campaign? inform?)
 Who were the intended readers of the document? (general public, ‘already converted’)
 How much reliance can we place upon the data?
3. We need to utilise skills traditionally associated with the historian to ascertain the context
of the document. The same is true also of books i.e. they may reflect the concerns of the

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 time e.g.
John Bowlby: Child Care and the Growth of Love (1954)
needs to be put into the context of post-war Britain with a predominantly conservative
culture with women’s place in the home’
4. Documents do not have to be published i.e. they can be any source of textual data and as
such they could include any of the following – diaries, memos, ‘internal’ office
documents, correspondence, newspaper cuttings, transcripts of interviews etc. Whatever
the document, try to date it and contextualise it if at all possible.
Be prepared to comment upon the accuracy, themes and the context of the documents that you
are using. This indicates that you are using your own powers of analysis and judgement.
Case Studies
A case study is often deployed to illustrate some of the general principles outlined in the main
body of the dissertation ‘in action’
1. Of necessity, there will need to be a certain amount of descriptive material but keep this
to the minimum and avoid the impression of ‘padding’.
2. Analyse your case study in the form of themes e.g. organisational structures, role
definitions, personal relationships.
3. Make the necessary linkages (cross-references) with both:
 the literature base of the project itself
 the themes that inform the rest of the project
 any other studies that have been made in this area
4. Comment on the typicality (or lack of it) of the case study material. You may need to
justify why that particular case-study was used in more theoretical terms even if the
reason for its selection was essentially an opportunistic one…
5. Some external examiners are pleased to see the ways in which students have utilised their
own work experiences particularly if it contains material of a reflective or self-critical
nature.
6. The dissertation is one for a degree in Business Management – make appropriate
references to the wider themes current in the literature e.g. globalisation, flexible labour
markets, etc.

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Writing Up 1
Grammatical Points
1. Develop a simple, terse style – avoid long sentences
2. Pay particular attention to VERBS:
 make sure that each verb has a subject (and/or indirect object) e.g. ‘I kicked the cat’
‘We went to college’
 Do not confuse finite verbs with adjectival clauses (e.g. ‘Assuming that the proportion
of GDP spent on social welfare remains constant and that a new Labour Government
does not increase the proportion with an increase in taxes’ is not a sentence. We
would need to complete this with a phrase including a finite verb, thus:
‘..increases in taxes, poverty will remain endemic in the UK’
3. Make sure that subjects take appropriate cases of the verb, particularly whether it is
singular or plural (the Word grammar checker will often mislead you, because it looks at
the nearest words, not the one that is actually the subject of the verb). Note the mismatch
shown with underlining in the following example:
‘Recent governments in its concern for international competitiveness and with a concern
for the forthcoming election displays no particular concern…’
4. Read an up-to-date style guide or textbook of English Grammar (see below).

Spelling
1. Spelling checkers are only helpful up to a point:
for example, ‘I do not know weather the whether will be fine’ is not flagged up as an error
in Word XP or earlier
2. Use a good, up-to-date dictionary every day:
 Good – Collins, Oxford (preferably 100,000+ words)
 Up-to-date so that it contains new concepts, new usages e.g. additionality,
awesome, balti, cache memory, ethnic cleansing, grunge, luvvie, multimedia,
politically correct, techno, wild card
 Every day – most professionals do!
3. Use a thesaurus to check for word alternatives
4. Be aware of the fact that some words differ between ‘American’ and ‘British’ English,
and there are variations between Oxford and Collins spelling, too:
Collins Oxford American (Websters)
fulfil fulfil fulfill
colour colour color
organisation organization organization
litre litre liter

There’s nothing wrong with using US English throughout your FYP (this may be a wise
choice for overseas students who learnt American English). The key thing is to be

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 consistent. If you decide to work in American, please say so in your Introduction, and use
the US English spell-checker. Apply the Chicago Style Guide as your editing style.
5. Be aware of ‘false friends’ – words you think you know the meaning of, but which are
easy to confuse: for example:
 homogeneous means similar in kind or nature, uniform;
 homogenous is a very rare word meaning structures that are genetically related, such
as the pectoral fins of fishes, the fore-limbs of mammals and the wings of birds.
6. Be aware of inconsistencies in English, such as co-operate, co-operative (hyphenated),
uncooperative (not)
7. Excellent sources
Inman,Colin(1994), The Financial Times STYLE GUIDE, London, Pitman Publishing
Weiner, Edmund (1983) Oxford Guide to English Usage, Oxford University Press.
8. Words frequently misspelled:
seperate for sepate, arguement for argument, buisness

Stylistic Conventions
1. Where possible, avoid the use of the first person, but do not be frightened of expressing
your own opinions and considered views:
‘It could be argued that….’
(more strongly) ‘The present author would argue that..’
2. Spell out abbreviations the first time that they are used.
(You may need to provide a glossary as well)
3. Remember that a paragraph is a unit of thought, not of length. Thus one paragraph = one
idea

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Writing Up 2
Plagiarism
Definition
Plagiarism is the act of lifting an extract from another source, word for word
(or nearly word for word) without demonstrating that it is a quotation or
citing its source. The effect of plagiarism is that the words are effectively
‘stolen’ and passed of as having been written by the dissertation author.
Any assessed work which is found to be plagiarised, deliberately or not, will fail
What is legitimate?
1. Short quotations i.e. a phrase
2. Longer quotations of a sentence or so, provided that they are duly attributed (to the
author) and referenced (to the page)
What is not legitimate?
1. Quotation of extended passages without proper attribution and referencing.
2. Even more reprehensibly, less evident copying such as passages in which a few words
have been changed, making it appear that the ‘lifting’ is less blatant than it is.
How to avoid plagiarism
1. If you see a paragraph, or a line of argument that exactly expresses what you intend to say
then …
 Précis the line of argument i.e. put the sense of the paragraph or section in your own
words
 Then, convey the essence or the kernel of the author with an attributed quotation
2. Be aware of the fact that plagiarism is quite easy for experienced tutors to detect
3. If you’re unsure, take Ted Frick’s test at: http://ucw-tutor.co.uk/plagquiz/pl_quiz0.html
Consequences of plagiarism
1. Obviously the most severe is that the dissertation is failed, the degree is failed, you
leave without an honours degree.
2. Even one small instance of plagiarism (or suspicion of it) can cast doubt over the whole of
the project.

Non-Sexist and Non-Racist Language

1. Be aware of the style ‘he or she’ ‘she or he’ – ‘s/he’ used to be used quite regularly, but
this usage may now waning
2. Be aware of the fact that many of the terms in use may well be value-laden and there may
be no clear consensus as to the current terminology.
3. Establish what your own particular position is going to be in any particular area and then
be consistent in your usage.

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4. Be aware of the fact that whilst not appearing to be ‘politically incorrect’ some of the
suggested terms may appear ridiculous, especially if they’re etymologically wrong:
history herstory
girl pre-woman
woman person of female gender
black person of colour
5. Some terms have come a long way towards acceptance:
humankind (replaces mankind)
Inuit (replaces Eskimo)

Good Presentation and Illustration

1. The importance of a good presentation is hard to over-emphasise – i.e. how you say and
present material can be as important as what you say.
2. When you start to write up, then…
 Use Styles in you word-processor – don’t just alter fonts (and never create headings
without using a heading style, or you’ll get them widowed at the end of pages)
 Make good use of ‘white space’
 Look at the styles in other, well laid-out documents, including past dissertations
 Take a pride in your presentation
 Do not be tempted to use too many ‘fancy’ fonts
 Refine your word-processing skills so that you know how to alter margins etc.
 Be aware of a ‘binding margin’
3. Chapter 28 of: Coolican, H: Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology (2nd edition)
whilst geared towards psychology students, contains some useful advice and examples.

Document Layout
Examples here assume you’re using Microsoft Word for processing your document.
File menu: Page Setup: Margins tab
 Set ‘Multiple Pages’ to ‘Mirror Margins’ and then…
 Set margins to 2.5cm bottom and outside, 3cm inside, 2cm top
Format menu: Styles and Formatting
Change ‘Normal’ style to have:
 Use a formal Font e.g. Times Roman, point size 12 (as used in this document)
 In the Paragraph menu, set Normal style to have:
 8pt before (so you have white space between paragraphs)
 Line Spacing of 18pt (before you do your final print-out – you may want to conserve
paper by sticking to single-spacing until then)
Justification: decide whether you want your document to be fully-justified (with each line
stretch out to reach the right margin) or left-justified (with a ragged right). If you decide
to go for full justification, you’ll need to make sure that headings and styles for use in

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 tables are left justified. Many people prefer to avoid this extra work by left-justifying the
Normal style.
Create some heading styles. You can start with the default ones and modify them to match
your taste. It is permissible to use a non-serif font like this for a heading, but most people
prefer to be consistent with the body font.
 Heading 1 will name your chapters, so should appear at the start of a new page (use the
‘Line and Page Breaks’ tab on the Paragraph dialogue to force a page break before).
 Heading 2 is for the main sections of your dissertation, and will also generate entries in
the table of contents.
More specialised layouts
Chapman and Hall’s ‘Instructions for Authors’ document may provide a useful source with
much detailed information. The most relevant sections are: 3 Text; 4 Figures; 5 Tables;
6 References
Word-processing notes
Get to know your word-processor intimately! You may well be using specialised functions
such as:
 hanging indents (automatically created when you choose bullets or numbering)
 numbered sections (create a style, and learn how to restart numbering)
 foreign accents (e.g. résumé) – Word lets you do this with Insert Symbol
Buying a book for your preferred word-processor may be the best way to find out how to
perform certain specialised functions.
 Keep saving your work – don’t rely on the automatic Save feature
 Take frequent backups (on several disks)
 Be careful over ‘Search and Replace’ functions (always Save first, in case you make a
mess of a global replace)
 Proof-read on paper and not just on screen
 Spelling checkers may only have a limited validity; Grammar Checks/ Thesaurus may
also have dangers!
 Be consistent throughout a document – Styles will make this much easier
 Use italics
 for imported phrases e.g. the French bacalauréate
 to indicate multiple authors e.g. Garrat et.al. (1994)
 for emphasis e.g. the term consumer audit has been deployed by Rigge
there are generally two modes of redress
 for important sources e.g. in the Patient’s Charter we see that…
 Bullets are especially useful for lists, but be careful not to overdo them (lest it look like
‘padding’)
 ‘Hard’ v ‘Soft’ carriage returns: There’s no such thing as a ‘carriage return’ in a word-
processor document!

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  When you press the ‘Enter’ key, you insert a paragraph mark (¶) character. This not
only ends the paragraph, but (in Word) contains all the formatting information
associated with it.
 If you just want to start a new line within a paragraph, hold down the Shift key
while pressing Enter. This inserts a ‘manual line break’ character.
Note that it will also fill out the line if you’ve chosen full justification – you can avoid
this by putting a tab character before it (press the tab key).
Views
Print Layout View (called Page view in earlier releases of Word) is especially useful to see on
the screen how the text is to look on paper. If you’ve used styles consistently, your word-
processor should look after widows (last line by itself at top of a page) and orphans (first line
by itself at the bottom of a page). Heading styles are already set to ‘keep with next,’ so a
heading will move to the next page if the following paragraph does. Even so, there may be
occasions when you want to handle the position manually. For example, you might not want
a few lines of quotation to be spread over two pages.
Page Breaks
Try not to force a page break unless you’ve exhausted all the alternatives. It’s generally
much better to use Format Paragraph on the block of text you want to keep together on the
next page.
 ‘Keep lines together’ usually works
 When it doesn’t, you can select the paragraph you want to go to the next page and format
it with a ‘Page break before.’ The drawback is that it will ever afterward appear on a new
page, even if there’s plenty of room left on the previous one.
If all else fails, you can hold down Ctrl and press Enter to insert a page break.
Appendices
Do not make your appendices too voluminous – as a general guide, they should not be more
then about ten pages. Many projects will not need to have an appendix at all. Your
appendices should contain any additional evidence that helps a reader to validate the work
you have done but should not necessarily contain all of your data, such as raw interview
transcripts, every completed questionnaire (indeed it normally must not include them, unless
you can guarantee that this doesn’t compromise the anonymity of respondents who have not
agreed to be identified). If you have reduced all of your questionnaire data to a one-page data
file, then this is worth putting in the appendix.
Suitable items for appendices may be:
 Copy of questionnaire, if deployed
 Specialised figures, tables, results, forms
 Glossary of terms
The best way to decide whether to move materials to an appendix is to decide if they
represent work you wish to gain credit for. There’s no guarantee that a marker will read the
appendices, so they should be treated as a place to back up the work that you do expect to be
marked.

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Indexes
You probably won’t have time to index your document, but it would add to a professional
presentation if you do. Indexing is time-consuming and tedious – the software available to
you may be more trouble than it is worth.
If you index, the aim should be for the reader to find their way to a concept/word/phrase
quickly and easily.
Contents
You should always have a contents page.
This is extremely simple to produce in Microsoft Word, providing you have used headings
throughout your document. Just use Insert/Reference and choose Index and Tables. You’ll
probably want to include level 1 and level 2 headings in the contents page, and think about
whether it’s worth adding level 3 (subsection headings) as well.
Produce the first Contents as soon as you can – it’s an invaluable guide to the structure of
your report, and will protect you from leaving things out or including them twice.
If you don’t use heading styles, the task is much harder, and you need to revisit the contents
page as the very last thing you do, to ensure that all the page numbers are correct. You have
been warned!
For an example of a contents page, see p.2 of this document, which was produced
automatically.

Methods of Working
There are 2 basic methods of working:
1. First establishing basic layout and styles in one’s preferred word-processor and then
producing the document with a file for each chapter.
This makes processing faster, and means that a disaster will only affect one chapter, but it
leaves you with a consolidation job at the end, when you copy all the chapter files into the
main document.
It also has the disadvantage that your table of contents does not cover the whole report as
it develops.
2. Establishing the overall structure of the document, using something like skeleton.doc from
the FYP website, then building it up as you proceed.
This has the great advantage that you can always see how the report is structured, and can
insert ‘place-holder’ text as you go, to remind you of work that still has to be done. By
setting up section headings, you can use your table of contents to guide you forward.
The main disadvantage is that you could lose the who file in a system crash, so make sure
you always have a recent back-up. Speed of processing is unlikely to be a problem with a
report of 10,000 words, unless you have a very old and slow computer.
Make frequent back-ups
As your dissertation gets more and more complete, it becomes more and more precious. It is
much more valuable than the medium it is stored upon! Take several backups (e.g. on three
separate disks!)

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Always proof-read well!
1. Allow yourself the time to proof-read well.
2. Proof-read on paper rather than just on the screen
3. Reading passages aloud to yourself is very helpful. If you have to pause for breath in the
middle of a sentence, that sentence is probably too long. In such a case, break down into
smaller sentences.
4. Use a dictionary and thesaurus constantly to check basic /alternative spellings and
meanings
5. Ask a friend (upon whom you can rely) to give you their advice on what you have written.

Principles of Referencing Style (Harvard)

1. At the end of a sentence – examples
 A recent development is the deployment of users as part of the training procedures in
an attempt to shape attitudes and behaviour of managers (Moore,1995).
 This approach is represented in the ‘classic’ writers upon TQM (e.g. Deming,1996;
Crosby,1979; Juran,1988; Feigenbaum,1983; Ishikawa,1985; Oakland,1989).
 One of the most significant findings of the evaluation of TQM in the NHS indicated
that there “had been a general shift from professional and technical toward ‘customer
oriented’ views of quality” (Joss and Kogan, 1995, p.73).
2. Within a sentence:
 As Walsh (1995a) argues, the definition of public service quality…
 An interesting way in which the outcomes-structure-process model has been deployed
is by McGlynn et. al. (1988) in the context of mental health services.
3. Attribution of a quotation:
 As Blau’s classic study of an employment bureaucracy points out:
An instrument intended to further the achievement of organisational objectives –
statistical records – constrained interviewers to think of maximising the indices as
their major goal, sometimes at the expense of these very objectives.
(Blau, 1963, p.46).

List of References
Books
Pollitt,C. (1993a) Managerialism and the Public Services (2nd edition),Oxford, Blackwell.
Popay,J. and Williams,G. (eds) (1994) Researching the People’s Health, London,
Routledge.
Lodge,M. (1981) Magnitude Scaling, Sage University Paper Series on Quantitative
Applications in the Social Sciences, No.25, Newbury Park, Ca, Sage.
Articles/Chapters in Books
Hart,M.C.(1995c) ‘An “ecological” critique of Total Quality Management – a case study
from NHS Outpatient Clinics’ in Kanji,G.(ed),Total Quality Management, London,
Chapman and Hall.
School of Social Sciences page 24 of 50 Mike Hart
Reports
DHSS(1983) Enquiry into NHS Management (The Griffiths Report), London, HMSO.
Department of Health(1995), The Patient’s Charter & You, London, HMSO.
Department of Health(1992a) Health of the Nation (Cmnd.1986), London, HMSO.
House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts(1991),NHS Outpatient Services
[HC270-i], 27 February, London, HMSO.
Bicanic,J. (1993), Waiting Times Study (unpublished report), Swansea, Singleton
Hospital.
Periodicals
Roberts,S. (1990), ‘Why are we waiting?’, Nursing, 4(10):29-31.
Stevens,L. (1995), ‘What the Patients said’, Health Services Journal,19 January:29.
Newspapers
Moore,W. (1995), ‘Lessons from the bedside’, The Guardian (newspaper),
Society section, 6 December 1995, p.6.
Conference papers
Pollitt,C. (1992) ‘The struggle for quality: the case of the NHS’, Paper read to UK
Political Studies Association, Queens University, Belfast.
Berman.E.M. (1995) ‘Ethics and Cynicism in Modern Public Administration’, paper read
to European Group of Public Administration Annual Conference, Erasmus University,
Rotterdam, 6-9 September.
Quotations
A phrase
Deming argues that one potential source of bias in all survey work is ‘bias of the auspices’
(Deming,1944).
An extended quotation
In Deming’s own words:
Bias of the auspices likely stems from a conscious or unconscious desire on
the part of the respondent to take sides for or against the organisation
sponsoring the survey, but perhaps ore to protect his own interests which
may vary with the sponsoring agency.
(Deming(1944) in Denzin(1978) p.239).
Studies quoted within studies
.. by way of comparison, a large American sample (n=37,000) had a mean of
45 minutes in 1977-78 (quoted in Rosander,1985, p.77).
Using others to support your own argument
The point that measurement by itself cannot improve quality is also made by Gaster (1995,
p.108).

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Multiple references
Studies of laboratory life (Latour and Woolgar,1979) and of the workings of
the drug industry (Abraham,1995) indicated that even ‘normal’ scientific
work is suffused with values which may reflect social and political agendas,
such as a desire for market dominance or scientific recognition.
Always quote as exact a reference as you can, complete with page numbers, so that readers
can read the actual passage for themselves.
Accuracy!
Strive for the greatest possible accuracy possible – do not trust to memory!
All of the following examples contain critical errors which casts doubts in the reader’s mind
whether the material has been read:
the Beverage Report which laid the foundation of the Welfare State….
As The Patients’ Charter indicates…
1983) Enquiry into NHS Management The Griffith Report), London, HMSO.
Osborn,D. and Gaebler,T. (1992) Reinventing Government: How the
Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Reading, Mass.,
Addison-Wesley.

Completed List of References

Your completed List of References is exactly that i.e. an alphabetical list of all of the sources
that you have consulted and to which reference is made in the body of your Project. Avoid
the use of the term Bibliography which is ambiguous in that it may refer to books consulted
but not actually cited.
You should achieve a 1:1 correspondence between the books cited in the text (i.e. it should
appear in the List of References and the List of References (i.e. it should contain references
that have been cited in the text).
Even if you have only one academic point from a source, it is worth a reference (e.g. ‘…as
Bloggs(2002) observes…’)
Internet references should be cited either by author or by sponsoring organisation. Attempt
to treat them as ‘normal’ references so far as possible. If this is really not possible, then an
additional short section at the end of the main List of References may be in order.

Importance of proof reading

Why proof-read a document?
 To spot obvious grammatical errors
 To correct spelling
 To correct sentence structure (which may include breaking up into simpler sentences)
 To check complete consistency in the way in which you have used:
 fonts
 indents
 quotations,
 citations etc.

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 To check that references are written consistently and are quoted in the bibliography.
 To check margins have been correctly set (particularly ‘gutter’ or ‘binding’ margin)
 To check the ‘flow’ of the argument
 As a very last task, to ensure that the document is correctly page numbered and that the
contents page enables a reader to locate any Chapter/section correctly.
How is one to proof-read?
 The most single principle is to proof-read on paper, not on screen.
 Evidently, you have to read it very slowly, avoiding the temptation to ‘skim-read’
(otherwise, you’ll see only what you expect to see). Read at one half to one third of your
normal speed.
 You may need to allow yourself more than one proof-read (i.e. do not assume that you
‘trapped’ all of the errors in a first proof-reading)
 Allow yourself plenty of time to proof-read a document (e.g. an hour or so)
 After a while, the author is not a good proof-reader (as you know what to expect and you
can miss errors)
 One psychological ploy is to say to oneself
‘there are at least three errors on this page and
it is my job to find them’
 If you can, get a friend to proof-read a document for you.
(However, be careful to ensure that your proof-reader is at least as competent as you are
– otherwise, they may suggest incorrect changes that may make a document worse rather
than better)
 Remember that you may have to allow yourself time to get access to printing facilities to
run off the corrected pages (or even a complete document!)
 Remember that the aim of proof-reading is to present a polished, competent, well-
produced document that ‘reads well’

Cross-referencing
4. Ensure that every reference in the text is included in the alphabetical References (or
Bibliography) at the end. Conversely, every reference in the References should have
been referred to in the text. Some authorities would make a distinction between a List of
References and a Bibliography (i.e. sources which you have read but to which there is
no specific reference). However, this is potentially confusing so the following advice is
given:
1. Aim for a style in which there is a 1:1 corresponding between the references in the text
and the List of References at the end of the work. Every reference in the text can be
found in the List of References and all entries in the List of References can be found at
some point in the text. This follows the convention of the normal academic paper.
2. Page numbers are not necessary when you are quoting an article (as they always be
included in the references).
3. Note that authors are referred to only by their last name in the text but by last name,
Initials in the references.

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4. Titles of books and articles are not normally given in the text (except that Government
White Papers are generally quoted in the text e.g. The Citizen’s Charter).
5. You may have referred to material that has informed your general line of argument and be
tempted to put these into the Bibliography. This is best avoided as it looks suspiciously
like padding!
6. (You should be able to find some point in the text at which you can make an explicit
reference to show that you have consulted the work in question).
7. Some examiners dislike too many long extracts in the text as they imply a lack of analysis
and suggest a ‘magpie’ approach to a review chapter.
8. Examiners look for the use made of references to develop the major ideas of the
dissertation. They indicate that you are engaging in a ‘dialogue’ with the literature in the
field.
9. It is possible to over-reference. Sentences littered with references may trivialise the
whole – avoid an approach which is in the form:
Jones (1996) said this whilst Smith (1995) said that.
10. Are the major references to the field included? An examiner may look for what is not
included as a guide to the quality of the whole.

Appendices
 Appendices follow the List of References..
 Typically, they include:
 Research instruments (such as copies of a blank questionnaire, a summary of the
statistical data set, extracts from interviews, diaries)
 Longer statistical tables that would inhibit the ‘flow’ of the text. It is legitimate to
include a condensed or edited version of a table in the text but to include the full
version of the table in the appendix.
 Anything that usefully adds depth to the discussion
 Appendices need to be numbered (Appendix I, Appendix II) etc. and you may wish to
name them as well e.g.
(Appendix I – Copy of Questionnaire)
 Do not let them dominate the presentation – remember that their function is to provide
background, illustrative material.
 Appendices should be brief i.e. only a few pages. Typically, an appendix would contain a
blank copy of your questionnaire (and the tabulated results if you could fit these on 1-2
pages) or 1-2 pages of your transcribed interviews as a sample only.)

Timing
It is always evident whether a document has been carefully proof-read or has been ‘dashed
off’ at the last moment.
You should be at the proof-reading stage at least a week before the final submission date –
one day before is insufficient

School of Social Sciences page 28 of 50 Mike Hart

Pressure on crucial resources (printing, binding) will only intensify in the few days before the
submission date.

Hand-in date
Generally, it is the Monday of Week 9 (or the day following it if it is a Bank Holiday). Keep
in mind 1st May as the general date by which a project needs to be submitted but it may
generally be a day or so before or after that date. BAMBA students taking the fast-track
option have a later date, usually the second Thursday in July of their year in the College.
Dates for the 2004-05 academic year
Business Management Students:
Interim report (10%) due 1st February 2005
The final report (90%) is due Tuesday 3rd May 2005
BAMBA Students:
Interim report (10%) due 26 April 2005
The final report (90%) is due Tuesday 12 July 2005
Formalities
You are required to hand in two bound copies of the dissertation, and you’ll almost certainly
want a third copy for yourself.
Binding does not need to be professional but spiral-binding is used by many students.
Binding can be performed for you by Reprographics at a reasonable cost.
Title Page
Ensure you supply all the required information (see sample Title Page below)
Take pains that you get all of these details correct – think of the impression that it will make.
Choose a formal font e.g. Times New Roman (Font Size 14,18)
University College Winchester

School of Social Sciences

BA(Hons) Degree in Business Management

or
BA(Hons) Degree in Business and Management

Final Year Project 2004-05

Dissertation title

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 by
Author
Supervisor: name of supervisor
Date

Cover
The cover should correspond to your title page (especially the title!). In addition, it should
include the copy number in the top right-hand corner, and the word-count.
Word Count
Normally 9,0000-11,000 words (excluding bibliography and appendices)
Use the word counter in your word-processor (if it doesn’t have one, count a few typical
pages and ‘multiply up’)
Over or under-length projects will be penalised.
Abstract
You are not required to produce an abstract. If you do, it should be of the order of 200 words
(maximum).
Acknowledgements/Dedication
This is conventional but…..
 Do not be tempted to make them too ornate or ‘flowery’
 It is conventional to acknowledge those who have been particularly supportive in terms of
advice, access to source materials etc. but not persons who may have typed up the
document (if not yourself)
Order of contents
 Cover Sheet
 Title Page
 Acknowledgements / Dedication (own page)
 Abstract
 Table of Contents
 Body of Project
 List of References
 Appendices

Marking of Projects
There are 2 internal markers (of whom one is your tutor)
The two markers will submit an agreed mark. In the event of disagreement, other markers
may be deployed. If academic differences cannot be reconciled, then the project will be seen
by the External Examiner whose decision may be regarded as final.

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Write your project knowing that it will be read by at least two internal examiners and
probably the External Examiner as well.
Traditionally, a good project can help to ‘nudge’ a candidate over class boundary, such as that
between 2(i) and 2(ii). It is particularly important if you are in the running for a First Class
Degree.

Endnote – The submission date dead-line is not normally negotiable

 In the case of hospitalisation, death of a near relative or other good cause, then make
application in advance to the Head of School supplying complete documentation (e.g.
consultant’s letter, Police Crime Report Number, copies of death certificates etc.)
 NB: Only the Head of School may authorise a late submission. This is rarely
granted.
 If there is a any doubt concerning the originality or authenticity of a Project, then the
project will probably form the major part of any subsequent Viva Voce examination

Useful books
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2000), Research Methods for Business Students,
Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd. (Highly recommended)
Hussey,J. and Hussey, R. (1997), Business Research – a practical guide for undergraduate
and postgraduate students, Basingstoke, Macmillan
Luck, M. (1999), Your Student Research Project, Aldershot, Gower Publishing
Sharp, J.A. and Howard, K. (1996), The management of a student research project (2nd
edition), Aldershot, Gower Publishing
Bell, J. (1993), Doing your Research project (2nd edition), Buckingham, Open University
Press
Edwards, A. and Talbot, R. (1994), The hard-pressed researcher, Harlow, Longman
Denscombe, M. (1998), The good research guide for small-scale research projects,
Buckingham, Open University Press
Swetnam, D. (2000),Writing your Dissertation (3rd ed.),Oxford, How To Books
Hart, M.C. (1993), Survey Design and Analysis using TURBOSTATS, London, Chapman and
Hall (out of print but see author)

Other useful documents...

1. Dissertation Handbook (Business Studies Department, Manchester Metropolitan
University – available as: baba-mmu.doc either on desk or in the Public Folders)
2. “How to write a successful Final Year Project – a practical guide” (Mike Hart)
3. “How to write a bad assignment – a practical guide” (Mike Hart)
4. The Literature Review: a Few Tips on Conducting It (University of Toronto)

School of Social Sciences page 31 of 50 Mike Hart

Appendix 1: Final Year Project Supervision Meeting Record

Name
Degree Academic
Year
Working Title

Revised Title

Supervisor e-mail:

 Tutor copy and Student copy to be completed and initialled at each meeting... 

Date of Discussed Action agreed for next Tutor Student

Meeting meeting Initials Initials

............ ............
..../..../....

............ ............
..../..../....

............ ............
..../..../...

............ ............
..../..../....

............ ............
..../..../....

fyp-form.doc

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Appendix 2: Final Year Projects – Marking Guide
Marker Name Inadequate Poor Satisfactory Good Excellent
(Fail) (3rd) (2ii) (2i) (1)
Exposition of project topic.
Overall structure, flow and
development of argument.
Methodology and planning.
Comment

Adequacy of lit. review;
location of problem to be
addressed
Comment

Exposition/understanding
of underpinning theory.
Depth and sophistication of
analysis.
Comment

Referencing, citation and

bibliography
Comment

Quality and fluency of

expression
Comment

Quality of empirical work

(if undertaken)
Comment
OVERALL
Comment
Mark: %

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Appendix 3: How to write a successful Final Year Project – a
Practical Guide
Checklist of points (to keep in front of you)
Point Elaboration
1. Have a clear structure 5-6 chapters, not a series of sections
2. Make good reference to the literature Have a literature review chapter
3. Make sure it is well-referenced Harvard style, 1:1 correspondence
4. Be intellectually engaged Conduct a dialogue with the material
5. Strive to be analytical Minimise descriptive elements
6. Project manage your project Utilise time-lines, deadlines
7. Strive to write well Spell-check, check grammar and syntax
8. Make any survey work connect Empirical work should reflect themes
9. Ensure survey work is methodologically  Specify methodology
sound  Give details of pilots, samples
 good statistical analysis (e.g.
hypothesis tests)
 Interpret statistical tests
10. Examine other good examples Imitate excellent features
11. Take advice from others Find out what others consider good
12. Back up constantly Write in chapters, back up constantly

Points supplied by Alison McCrisken, BAMBA-PT (1998-2000), [First for project]

Mike Hart
Business Management Group
School of Social Sciences
University College Winchester

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Appendix 4: Example of an article
See http://www.winchester/bm/courses/BS3002/Appendix4.doc
Appendix 5 Final Year Projects – Initial Planning document
Attached are three documents which you might like to consider when planning your own
Final Year Project (FYP). The first two have been 'rescued' from Mike Hart's files and are
provided by way of illustration. They relate to the paper given as Appendix 4.
1. Initial doodlings
This document was actually written in the middle of the night when I had a quick brain-
storm thinking about the major elements of a Ph.D
2. Plan of chapters with key bullet points
Within a day or so, the initial doodlings were tidied up into a series of chapter headings,
with a few bullet points under each to indicate the major divisions of each chapter.
You should work on your own FYP plan as soon as you have undertaken the preliminary
reading and present it a copy of it to your tutor at the start of your supervision.
This plan does not commit you in any way but it does provide both you and your tutor
with a 'road map' indicating how you intend, at that stage, to go about your project. In
practice, such plans are often revised as you make progress through the FYP.. Some
chapters might get too large and have to be split into two whilst others, on reflection, can
sensibly be combined into one.
3. Title page of completed dissertation
The lessons to be learnt from this are:
1. 'Large oaks from little acorns grow' i.e. very large project starts off with your thoughts on
one sheet of paper (which you may subsequently revise) '
2. A fairly snappy title helps to concentrate your thought processes – can you describe the
whole in one sentence? For example, a friend or fellow course member asks '"What is
your project about" and in one sentence you reply—Have a working title in mind and the
final title can be applied at the completed draft stage.
3. Having a plan is psychologically reassuring because you can 'project manage' the whole
by deciding to do one chapter a fortnight (or other timescale).
4. After your preliminary reading, it is better to get writing rather than wait until you have
researched the whole...

A. Evolution of a project – initial doodlings

(Omitted from this version)

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B. Evolution of a Project – initial plan of chapters
Quality Improvement in NHS Outpatient Clinics
CHAPTER 1: Quality in Healthcare
 General models of quality in healthcare
(Ranade,Ovretheit,Pollitt)
 Critique of the same (externalist, non-experiential)
 Government initiatives ('Working for Patients','Patients Charter',’League Tables’)
CHAPTER 2: Outpatient clinics – measuring the quality
 The MOPAL program
 Measurement problems
 implementation of IT solutions
CHAPTER 3: Outpatient clinics – implementing improvements
 Substantive improvements in clinics
 Policies to improve clinics
 Importance of culture change
CHAPTER 4: Policy Implications of measuring quality improvements
 Measuring the measurable
 Goal displacement
 Determination of quality
CHAPTER 5: TQM Models in Healthcare
 Viability of directly importing TQM models
 The 'ecological critique'
 Is it possible to reconcile the two?
 Evaluation of applicability of TQM models in healthcare
CHAPTER 6: New directions in the measurement of quality in healthcare
 Role of the 'consumer'
 SERVQUAL and its results
 Application of SERVQUAL to Outpatients

C: Evolution of a project – Contents page of completed project

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 1: Quality in Healthcare
Introduction 4

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 The Prevalence of the Quality Concept 4
Approaches to Quality 9
Quality in Healthcare 17
A survey of hospital discharge arrangements 25
(Paper 1) 26
CHAPTER 2: Outpatient Clinics – measuring the quality
Background to the study 29
What was to be measured – and how? 30
Some measurement and computational issues 32
The MOPAL system 33
Lessons learned from the monitoring exercise 34
The social context of data collection 34
The relevant variables? 36
Data collected with a high degree of integrity? 38
Data collected in a spirit of scientific disinterestedness? 39
(Paper 2) 42
(Paper 3) 42
CHAPTER 3: Outpatient clinics- implementing improvements
The outpatient clinic as an organisational arena 44
Improvements in Leicester General Hospital: January 1992-March 1993 47
Comparison with other hospitals 50
Other substantive issues arising from the case study 52
Critical Incident analyses 53
(Paper 4) 57
CHAPTER 4: Policy implications of measuring quality improvements
Measuring the measurable 59
Goal displacement 60
Waiting Times and the League Tables 61
League tables as a diversion 64
Performance Assessment and Performance Measurement 67
Producer and Consumer defined measures of performance 1
(Papers 5,6) 75
CHAPTER 5: TQM Models in Healthcare

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 TQM in the public sector 78
TQM in Healthcare 80
Evaluation of TQM in the NHS 82
The decline and fall of TQM in the NHS? 84
An 'ecological' approach to quality 86
(Papers 7-9) 90
CHAPTER 6: New directions in the measurement of quality in healthcare
The role of the consumer 92
Patient satisfaction surveys 93
Perceptions, Expectations and Patient Satisfaction 95
Interpretive approaches to satisfaction 98
The role of consumer audit 100
(Papers 10-12) 104
CHAPTER 7: A qualitative investigation into outpatient clinic quality
The need for qualitative approaches to quality 107
Models of quality – are most measures of quality static? 107
Fourth Generation evaluative methodologies 109
Qualitative study of Paediatric outreach clinics in Leicestershire 111
Sample Design and sampling details 111
Clinic Sampling Frame 112
Clinics selected for the Investigation 113
Data collection 113
Results 114
‘Time’ and ‘Trajectory’ in the organisation of a clinic 122
Episode distillation in Clinic Life 130
Elements of a qualitative model of outpatient experiences 132
Operationalisation of the qualitative model 137
CHAPTER 8: Concluding observations
Quality Assurance or Monitoring a Quality Standard 139
An ecological approach to quality management 140
Further avenues for research 142
REFERENCES 143

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Appendix 6:The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It
What is a review of the literature?
A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars
and researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment
(sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography--see the bottom of the next page), but
more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis. In writing the
literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have
been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of
writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research
objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just
a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.
Besides enlarging your knowledge about the topic, writing a literature review lets you gain
and demonstrate skills in two areas:
1. information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using manual or
computerized methods, to identify a set of useful articles and books
2. critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid
studies.
A literature review must do these things:
1. be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question you are
developing
2. synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known
3. identify areas of controversy in the literature
4. formulate questions that need further research
Ask yourself questions like these:
1. What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my literature review helps
to define?
2. What type of literature review am I conducting? Am I looking at issues of theory?
methodology? policy? quantitative research (e.g. on the effectiveness of a new
procedure)? qualitative research (e.g., studies)?
3. What is the scope of my literature review? What types of publications am I using (e.g.,
journals, books, government documents, popular media)? What discipline am I working in
(e.g., nursing psychology, sociology, medicine)?
4. How good was my information seeking? Has my search been wide enough to ensure I've
found all the relevant material? Has it been narrow enough to exclude irrelevant material?
Is the number of sources I've used appropriate for the length of my paper?
5. Have I critically analysed the literature I use? Do I follow through a set of concepts and
questions, comparing items to each other in the ways they deal with them? Instead of just
listing and summarizing items, do I assess them, discussing strengths and weaknesses?
6. Have I cited and discussed studies contrary to my perspective?
7. Will the reader find my literature review relevant, appropriate, and useful?

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Ask yourself questions like these about each book or article you include:
1. Has the author formulated a problem/issue?
2. Is it clearly defined? Is its significance (scope, severity, relevance) clearly established?
3. Could the problem have been approached more effectively from another perspective?
4. What is the author's research orientation (e.g., interpretive, critical science, combination)?
5. What is the author's theoretical framework (e.g., psychological, developmental, feminist)?
6. What is the relationship between the theoretical and research perspectives?
7. Has the author evaluated the literature relevant to the problem/issue? Does the author
include literature taking positions she or he does not agree with?
8. In a research study, how good are the basic components of the study design (e.g.,
population, intervention, outcome)? How accurate and valid are the measurements? Is the
analysis of the data accurate and relevant to the research question? Are the conclusions
validly based upon the data and analysis?
9. In material written for a popular readership, does the author use appeals to emotion, one-
sided examples, or rhetorically-charged language and tone? Is there an objective basis to
the reasoning, or it the author merely "proving" what he or she already believes?
10. How does the author structure the argument? Can you "deconstruct" the flow of the
argument to see whether or where it breaks down logically (e.g., in establishing cause-
effect relationships)?
11. In what ways does this book or article contribute to our understanding of the problem
under study, and in what ways is it useful for practice? What are the strengths and
limitations?
12. How does this book or article relate to the specific thesis or question I am developing?

Final Notes
A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one
piece of literature after another. It's usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with
the name of a researcher. Instead, organize the literature review into sections that present
themes or identify trends, including relevant theory. You are not trying to list all the material
published, but to synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of your thesis or
research question.
If you are writing an annotated bibliography, you may need to summarize each item briefly,
but should still follow through themes and concepts and do some critical assessment of
material. Use an overall introduction and conclusion to state the scope of your coverage and
to formulate the question, problem, or concept your chosen material illuminates. Usually you
will have the option of grouping items into sections--this helps you indicate comparisons and
relationships. You may be able to write a paragraph or so to introduce the focus of each
section.
Written by Dena Taylor, Director, Health Sciences.
Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. Writing Centre, and Margaret Procter,
Coordinator, Writing Support, University of Toronto.

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Appendix 7: Harvard System – Two-page Quick Guide
1. If the author’s name occurs naturally in the sentence the year is given in parentheses:-
e.g. In a popular study, Harvey (1992, p.556) argued that ...
2. If, however, the name does not occur naturally in the sentence, both name and year are
given in parentheses:-
e.g. More recent studies (Bartlett,1996; James,1998) show that ...
3. When an author has published more than one cited document in the same year, these are
distinguished by adding lower case letters (a,b,c, etc.) after the year and wthin the
parentheses:-
e.g. Johnson (1994a) discussed the subject ...
4. If there are two authors, the surnames of both should be given:-
e.g. Matthews and Jones (1993) have proposed that...
5. If there are more than two authors the surname of the first author only should be given,
followed by et al:-
e.g. Wilson et al. (1997) conclude that...
6. If there is no originator then “Anon” should be used:-
e.g. A recent article (Anon,1993) stated that...
However, if it is a reference to newspapers where no author is given the name of the
paper can be used in place of author or Anon whichever seems most helpful. You will
need to use the same style in the reference list so the name of the newspaper may be more
helpful.
e.g. The Times (1996) stated that....
7. If you refer to a source quoted in another work you cite both in the text:-
e.g. A study by Smith (1960, cited Jones 1994 p.24) showed that...
(You need to list the work you have used, i.e. Jones, in the main bibliography.)
8. Quotations:-
A short quotation of less than a line may be included in the body of the text in quotation
Single space the quotation (assuming your normal spacing is 1.5)
e.g.: .... so “good practices must be taught” (Smith,1996, p.15) and we should...
or: Theory rises out of practice, and once validated, returns to direct or explain the
practice. (Stevens,1997, p.92)
References
Your references should be in alphabetic order of author(s) at the end of your report.
There should be a 1:1 correspondence between the works cited and the list of references i.e.
If it is cited in the text, then it must be included in the references at the end of your
assignment.
If you have included an item in your list of references then it must have been cited in the text
(i.e. do not include books you may have read but have not cited in the text – if a source has
been of particular value in general information, there is probably something within it that you
should be citing).
Your list of references should therefore only contain what you yourself have read.
Adapted by: Mike Hart Business Management Group, University College Winchester

School of Social Sciences page 41 of 50 Mike Hart

Appendix 8:Citing electronic sources of information
Taken from the University of Sheffield Library
Data is available in various formats apart from printed documents such as books and journals.
Increasingly information is available in electronic form via a computer, on the Internet, CD-
Rom, microform, film, television or radio. This guide sets out to provide examples of how to
cite these electronic sources of information in the Harvard style. There is a separate document
outlining how to cite printed material. The standard copyright law applies equally to
electronic sources and any reference to other people's work should be acknowledged with
citations in your text and inclusion in your reference list.
Internet Sources:
Individual works
Author/editor surname, Initial. (Year) Title [online].Edition. Place of publication, Publisher.
Available from: URL[Accessed date].
Example:
Ward, R. (1997) Nursing and Health Care Resources on the Net[online]. 2nd edition.
Sheffield, University of Sheffield. Available from: http://www.shef.ac.uk/~nhcon
[Accessed 17 March 1998].
Include the year of publication in brackets, if no publication date is given write (No date).
Only mention an edition statement if the document clearly states that the pages have been
rewritten rather than just updated. Most Web pages are updated on a regular basis. Date of
publication is the date the pages were last updated.
The accessed date is when you viewed, downloaded or printed the Web page. This statement
is necessary to allow for any subsequent changes which may be made to the page or if the
page is no longer available.
The term publisher is used here to cover both the traditional idea of publisher of printed
sources, as well as organisations responsible for maintaining sites on the Internet, such as the
University of Sheffield.
Often information is put on the Internet by organisations without citing a specific author. In
such cases, ascribe authorship to the smallest identifiable organisational unit (this is similar to
the standard method of citing works produced by a corporate body) or start with the title.
Example:
The University of Sheffield Library (1997) The Library Service Charter [online].
Sheffield, University of Sheffield. Available from: ../services/charter.html [Accessed 17th
March 1998].
Citing electronic journals
Author surname, Initial. (Year) Title of article. Journal title[online], Volume (part), location
within the host. Available from:URL [Accessed date].
The "location within host" is the equivalent of page numbering used with printed sources. If
the document does not include pagination an alternative may be used eg date, labelled part, or
the the total number of lines, paragraphs or screens.
Example of an article from a journal available in print and electronic form:

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 Bradshaw, Ann (1998) Charting some challenges in the art and science of nursing. Lancet
[online], 351 (9100), 438-40. Available from:
http://www.thelancet.com/newlancet/sub/issues/vol351no9100/essay438.html [Accessed
24th March 1998].
Examples of articles from journals only available online:
Brown, M. A. (1996) Primary Care Nurse Practitioners: Do Not Blend the Colors in the
Rainbow of Advanced Practice Nursing. OnlineJournal of Issues in Nursing [online], 1st
August 1996. Available from: http://www.nursingworld/ojin/tpc1/tpc1_6.htm [Accessed
17th March 1998].
Gibbs, Graham (No date) Debate – Who Should Judge Portfolios? Deliberations [online],
2 paragraphs. Available from: http://www.lgu.ac.uk/deliberations/portfolios/gibbs1.html
[Accessed 24th March 1998].
Citing a full text item from an Online bibliographical database:
Author surname, Initial. (Year) Title of article. Journal title.Volume (part), pages. Full-text
[online]. Online database name on host [Accessed date].
Example of full text article from CINAHL via the Ovid Biomed service:
Newens, Andrew J. et al (1997). Changes in reported dietary habit and exercise levels
after an uncomplicated first myocardial infarction in middle-aged men. Journal of
Clinical Nursing 6(2), 153-160. Full-text [online]. CINAHL, Ovid Technologies Inc.
[Accessed 28th May 1998].
Citing an abstract from an Online bibliographical database.
An abstract should only be cited if it has proved impossible to obtain the full text of the article
and it is essential to your work to do so.
Author surname, Initial. (Year). Title of article. Journal title. Volume (part), pages. Abstract
[online]. Online database name on host [Accessed date].
Example of abstract from CINAHL via the Ovid Biomed service:
Redman, G. M. (1997). LPN-BSN: education for a reformed healthcare system. Journal
of Nursing Education 36(3), 121-7. Abstract [online]. CINAHL, Ovid Technologies Inc.
[Accessed 28thMay 1998].
Citation from a database that includes citation instructions.
Sometimes the database instructs you on how to cite references. This might be at the end of
the article. You must cite the reference as they state. Put in brackets at the end of the citation
that this is the case.
Example of such a citation:
Renfrew MJ and Lang S. Early initiation of breastfeeding. (Cochrane Review) In: the
Cochrane Library, issue 2. Oxford:Update Software;1998. Updated quarterly. (Citation as
instructed)
Mailbase/Listserv email lists
These discussion lists generate email messages which are sent directly to the subscriber.
Many lists will archive the messages sent. References to these messages should be treated in a
similar fashion to journal references; using the list name in place of the journal title and the
subject line of the message in place of the article title.

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For "Available from" use the email address of the list administrator. These details, together
with the author, will appear in the message header.
Author, (Day Month Year). Subject of message. Discussion list [online]. Available from:
Mailbase/Listserv email address [Accessed date].
Examples:
Wright, S (20 March 1998) Team nursing in an acute psychiatric unit. Psychiatric-
nursing [online]. Available from: http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/psychiatric-
nursing/1998-03/0209.html [Accessed 24th March 1998].
Harvey, R J (19 Mar 1998) Re: early onset dementia. Candid-dementia [online]. Available
from: http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/candid-dementia/1998-03/0012.html [Accessed 5th
May 1998].
Please note that items may only be archived on discussion group servers for up to a year. A
local copy could be kept by the recipient, who is giving the citation, but a note should be
given to this effect. It is also in your interest to print a copy of potentially temporary sources
in case you need to prove a source after it has been deleted/moved/changed.
Usenet newsgroups/Bulletin boards
Usenet newsgroups allow people with similar interests to read and post messages in a
common location on the Internet.
Author (Day Month Year). Subject heading of message. Newsgroup[online]. Available from:
Name of Usenet newsgroup [Access date].
Example:
Sanner, J S. (5 May 1998) Case Management. Sci.med.nursing[online]. Available from:
news:sci.med.nursing [Accessed 5th May 1998].
If the author's name and initial is not given, use the email name.
Example:
[email protected] (5 May 1998) Re: Case Management.
Sci.med.nursing[online]. Available from: news:sci.med.nursing [Accessed 5th May 1998].
Personal email
If you wish to make reference to personal email messages then the following format is
recommended. You should get a sender's permission to quote a message especially if you
quote their email address.
Sender (Sender's Email address) (Day Month Year). Subject of Message. Email to recipient
(Recipient's E-mail address).
Example:
McConnell, D. ([email protected]) (28th November 1997) Follow up to your
interview. Personal email to L.Parker ([email protected]).

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Other Electronic Sources
Audiocassettes, CD-Roms, Film, Microform, Radio Broadcasts, Television, and Videos
When citing one of the above items information about the nature of the item should be given
where necessary after the title.
Example:
Peters, T. (1991) Tom Peters Live. [Audiocassette]. Boulder,USA, CareerTrack
Publications.
Many CD-Roms, films, videos and broadcasts are the co-operative work of many individuals.
These should either be cited with the title as the first element, or if there is an individual with
clear responsibility for the intellectual content his name should be used e.g. the director.
Examples:
Pride and Prejudice. [Video]. (1997) London, BBC.
Encarta 98 Encyclopaedia. [CD-Rom]. (1998) New York, Microsoft Ltd.
Henderson, David. (1985) Reith Lectures. BBC Radio 3 and 4. Nov – Dec 1985.
ASSIA Plus [CD-Rom] (1987-to date) London, Bowker Sauer.
Individual items within a programme should be cited as contributions.
Example:
Thatcher, Margaret. (1986) Interview. In: Six O'Clock News.TV, BBC 1. 1986 Jan 29.
18.00hrs.
Tips and hints
You can use the computer to reduce the amount of typing and therefore, the potential errors
which may occur, when referencing. It is possible to have more than one application running
at a time and move between them, for example Word and Netscape.
To switch between applications press and hold down ALT while pressing TAB repeatedly to
cycle through running applications. When you release TAB the application comes to the
foreground. Alternatively press Control and Escape simultaneously to open the Task List.
Select the application and then press Enter. If you have not yet opened Word, select Program
Manager and open Word by double clicking on the appropriate icon.
When in Netscape or any other Web browser, highlight the location bar with the URL by
clicking with the mouse and dragging over the text to be copied. A blue background will
appear. Click onEdit and Copy. Switch to Word, position the cursor where you wish the text
to go, click on Edit and Paste.

Acknowledgements:
The following documents have been used in the compilation of this guide and further
information can be obtained from them.
Bournemouth University. Academic Services Group. Library and InformationServices. (1996)
A Guide to Citing Internet Sources [online].Bournemouth, Bournemouth University.
Available from: http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/service-
depts/newlis/LIS_Gen/citation/harvardsystint.html [Accessed 7th July 1998].

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Crane, N. (1997) Bibliographic Formats for Citing ElectronicInformation [online].
Burlington, Vermont, University of Vermont. Available from: http://www.uvm.edu/
%7encrane/estyles/ [Accessed 7th July 1998].
University of Sheffield Library (1998) Recording, citing andpresenting references [online].
Sheffield, University of Sheffield. Available from:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/~lib/useful/refs.html [Accessed 7th July 1998].
For further information contact your Academic Liaison Librarian.

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Appendix 9: 13 Tips for Successful Supervision of Undergraduate
Dissertations
Professor Jennifer Rowley, University of Wales, Bangor
Abstract
This article draws on extensive experience of undergraduate supervision, as a basis for the
formulation of guidelines for practice in the supervision of undergraduate dissertations and
major projects. The underlying philosophy is that supervision is a partnership between student
and supervisor. Undergraduate projects of this nature are often the first major piece of work
attempted by a student They benefit from a structured approach to supervision, and some may
look to the supervisor to help them with structuring their work and their approach to the work.
The thirteen points offer practical suggestions as to how this can be achieved.
Introduction
Many undergraduate courses in the social sciences, humanities and vocational disciplines
such as business and management studies and Information systems offer students the
opportunity to undertake a significant piece of work in their final year. which is termed a
dissertation or a project by independent study. Typically such a piece of work will be
equivalent to one or two other modules, and the assessment will depend entirely, or almost
entirely upon the quality of the submission of a significant piece of written work. possibly of
the order of 10,000 words in length. Indeed, the ability to complete such a piece of work used
to be seen (and still is seen in some countries in the world) as evidence of the 'honours
worthiness' of the student, and differentiates the student entered for an ordinary award from
those entered for an honours award. Clearly then, such dissertations are an important piece of
work and for many students it will be the first piece of substantial work that they undertake by
independent study. Yet the quality of the support which students may receive to assist them in
the production of a piece of work of good quality is extremely variable. Typically, a number
of staff in a Department will be allocated a few students each year to supervise. Unlike other
approaches to teaching and the creation of an effective learning environment, dissertation
supervision is often subject to little discussion, sharing of experience or even peer and
external observation. Supervisors are left to develop their own style and approaches. A
responsible and organised Department will prepare the students through a research
methodology module earlier in the course and a dissertation module guide, which explains
some of the basics of working on and writing a dissertation. But then it is over to the
supervisor. This article suggests 13 tips which might assist supervisors to contextualise and
reflect on their practice. The tips emerge from many years involvement with dissertation
supervision, and the supervision of other major projects, such as software projects in the
context of courses in information systems.
1. Make sure that the students understand that interaction with their tutor is not an optional
extra. The surest way to fail a dissertation is not to touch base with a supervisor. Most of
the students who think that they can complete a dissertation without consultation think
that the dissertation is an easy option and have totally underestimated the amount of work
that is required (and are probably leaving it to the last minute). One way of ensuring that
students touch base with a supervisor is to allocate a small percentage of the marks (say
10%) for the way in which the student manages the relationship with the supervisor, or for
a short reflection on the process of managing the dissertation activity. In this age of
electronic communication between students in different institutions and on a variety of
courses, any dissertation that is submitted without prior contact with the supervisor should
be critically examined to assess whether it is the student's own work.

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2. Manage and structure the process for the student: the supervisor can assist the student to
break down what seems a mammoth task to the students into manageable pieces. Typical
stages in the process might be:
 Identification of a research question;
 Preparation of a literature review:
 Design of a data collection approach and. where appropriate, tools such as interviews
and questionnaires:
 Writing up results from questionnaires:
 Discussion of results and formulation of conclusions.
Indeed, the above 5 stages might be seen as the topics of a possible five meetings that the
student may have with the supervisor. On the other hand the research spiral suggests that
students will need to revisit each of these stages, and that some of the stages will proceed
in parallel.
3. Encourage students to make good use of the supervision meeting, by agreeing the
objectives of the meeting at the beginning. At the close of one meeting, is important to
agree what the student will do before the next meeting. Clearly progress with these tasks
will be one of the topics at the next meeting, as will an exploration of the next steps that a
student needs to undertake. Book the next appointment at the close of the last meeting.
Keep the appointment.
4. On the other hand, be flexible. The student needs to understand that it is their dissertation
Enthusiastic and organised students may have completed some of the above stages prior to
initial contact with a supervisor. Students who have been accustomed to doing projects at
earlier stages in their study will often be keen to prepare and conduct data collection,
before they have worked out a research question or conducted a literature review. Always
encourage and reward such enthusiasm. This is the time to invoke the research spiral, and
to recognise that students can enter the process at different points.
5. Accommodate the students need to feel that progress is being made, by encouraging them
to start writing the dissertation from the very early days. Ideally they should write the
literature review first and then move on to a methodology chapter. This approach also
means that the supervisor has an early opportunity to go through written work that the
student has produced. Encourage the submission of drafts but discourage the over
dependent student from seeking too much and too subsequent feedback.
6. Ensure that the student has a research question. This concept can be interpreted very
liberally in order to accommodate different contexts and topics but it is intended to
encourage the student to think about what they want to know. Typically students start the
dissertation process with a research topic or title, say, Marketing in Small Businesses. This
gives them a good basis for identifying that they need to be acquainted with the literature
of Marketing in Small Businesses, and that they might seek to collect some data from
small businesses about their marketing activities. It does not, however, give the student
any insights into the way to structure their literature review, and what questions to ask in
any data gathering exercise. A topic, rather than a question, leads to a lack of focus which
students find difficult to manage. On the other hand, supervisors and students need to
understand that the research question may evolve during the research process. Students
may also have a collection of sub questions, which contribute to the key research question;
these may be useful in structuring the data collection tool and data analysis.

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7. Encourage students to collect some original data. Some dissertations are entirely literature
based. However, only the very best students can demonstrate analysis and synthesis and
manage to structure existing literature in a way that has not been replicated elsewhere.
Such a process requires a real engagement with complex concepts. Since students are
required to demonstrate analysis and synthesis in a dissertation, the collection of a limited
but original data set provides a basis for this activity. They will be required to analyse and
summarise the data that they collect and then to explore whether the data that they have
collected confirms or contradicts the outcomes of research conducted by others. In
addition, contact with the outside world, through interviews, case studies and other means,
encourages students to look critically at the world around them, and may help them to de-
velop some confidence in other skills such as interview techniques and telephone
communication.
8. Put clear limits on what is feasible for an undergraduate with a range of other pressures on
their time. For example, a student may feel that the distribution of 300 x 4 page
questionnaires, takes little more effort than the distribution of 20 such questionnaires.
They will discover, however, when they come to data analysis that they have set
themselves a mammoth task. Similarly, the chosen topic needs to be one in which it is
realistic for the student to become adequately acquainted with the concepts in the
literature. In addition, the student needs to be able to perform an acceptable literature
review using the resources available in print or electronically from their home institution.
Inter-library loans and visits to other libraries may provide additional sources of
information, but these are no substitute for an adequate local collection.
9. Support students in working through issues associated with access to organisations and
individuals in the data collection process. Encourage them to form realistic expectations
with regards to access, encourage them to use friends and relatives, and advise on ways of
approaching individuals and organisations. In particular, if initial attempts to get access
prove unsuccessful, the supervisor has a major role in re-shaping the approach to the
dissertation so that the student is still able to complete a piece of work that adequately
reflects their ability.
10. Expect that students will have difficulty with the literature review. First and foremost
students have difficulty understanding the difference between literature that describes
other work already conducted in their field, and 'data sources', possibly printed or
electronic, which they may use to gather information relevant to their research question.
Additionally, students nearly always have difficulty with:
 Understanding what a literature review is and its purpose:
 Using the right search terms in electronic databases, and developing research
strategies to refine their re-searches after initial attempts; this derives in part from their
limited acquaintance with the concept framework in a subject – they are still learning;
 Understanding the difference between professional journal articles, and academic
articles: this is particularly difficult for students when they are working with journal
articles in electronic format where other dues to the nature of the journal that might be
evident in the print format have been removed;
 Understanding how to structure their literature review.
Be prepared to support them in all of these areas.
11. Help students to structure their dissertation. They need to confirm with the supervisor the
chapters to be included and the structure within chapters. If necessary draft out provisional
structures for chapters, but always emphasise that this is their work, and they must take
your suggestions away and test them to see if they work.

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12. Help students to understand what their data tells them. Students often work quite well with
detailed analysis, although some may need assistance with quantitative analysis, but
summarising and drawing conclusions is much more challenging. Students are likely to be
particularly reluctant to draw conclusions that contradict the work of others. For example,
a recent student was investigating whether and in what ways the role of shop stewards had
changed. Broadly, the literature says that it has changed: her interviews suggest that the
picture is more complex and that the role has become much more dependent upon
organisational context and that therefore it may have changed more in some organisations
than others. The student found it difficult to draw this conclusion herself, because she was
looking for an answer that said the role either had or hadn't changed. Students also need
assistance when the outcome of their work is inconclusive and are inclined to think that
their work is unsuccessful. They need encouragement to turn this outcome into a
conclusion which explains why the work might be inconclusive and to make proposals for
subsequent areas of work.
13. Finally, note the two weeks before dissertations are due in your diary, and plan as far as
possible to be available and contactable during this period. If this period includes, as it
often may, the Easter break, give students who are likely to have particular difficulty
during this time full information as to your availability and how you can be contacted (e.g.
e-mail, post). Also, make it clear when the supervision process has finished and the
student is expected to complete and submit the work without any further support.

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