Master's dissertation

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proposalguidline.pdf

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BUS7048: Major Project

Lecture 1: Overview,

Topics and Proposal

Writing

Dr Peter Samuels

10th June 2019

BUS7048:

Major Project

Summary

 Introduction to the Major Project module

 Major projects explored

 The 4 module options

 Assessment

 The supervisory relationship

 Firming up your topic idea

 Doing your proposal:

 Written proposal (Options 1 and 2)

 Proposal presentation (Options 3 and 4)

 Ethics (all options)

 Avoiding plagiarism and referencing

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BUS7048:

Major Project

A major project is not … an extended essay

Area Essay Major project

Scope Generally quite broad

Narrow, achievable research project

Structure Simple or implicit Explicit, multilevel

Argumentation style

Generally moves from single opinion to discursive

Depends on chapter genre (e.g. literature review v. methodology)

Data Normally only secondary data

Most include primary data

Method Normally implicit An explicit chapter

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Major Project

What is a major project?

 The product of a piece of personal research

 An extended piece of academic writing (8,000 words plus references and appendices)

 A structured document, divided up into a series of chapters

 It contains a detailed exploration of a particular topic and demonstrates evidence of:

 Theory and practice

which normally includes:

 Both primary and secondary data analysis (Options 1 and 3)

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Why do it?

 A requirement for you to complete your degree

 To demonstrate competence in your discipline

 Some students like the idea of greater autonomy (being in control of their own research) than in normal taught modules

 It can be both interesting and enjoyable to carry out

 It can be the basis for further research

The more you can motivate yourself through interest and enjoyment, the better your

performance will be

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Major Project

How do you achieve it?  By choosing a good topic

 By being methodical (definition of research)

 By planning your work schedule

 By adhering to the University’s criteria

 By having a good working relationship with your supervisor

 By getting (legitimate) support from peers and others

 By writing well

 By getting formative feedback on your work in progress

 By generally working hard!

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Major Project

What makes a good major project?  Your topic is relevant to your course

 Your research is unique, offers new insight or development

 Your title, aims, and objectives are all clear and succinct

 You’ve conducted some thorough and comprehensive background research which is well referenced

 You’ve chosen suitable research methods and used them well

 Your project report is the right length, well-written, well- structured, well presented and free from mistakes

 Your arguments are convincing and well-thought out with evidence of critical thinking and analysis

 Your conclusion is interesting and provides a good summary of the research

Source: (Dawson, 2006)

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Major Project

4 module options  Option 1: Dissertation including primary data

collection and analysis as well as a literature review

 Option 2: Dissertation including only secondary

data analysis as well as a literature review

 Option 3: A work-based placement – your project

report must be based on this

 Option 4: A business plan – only open to

Entrepreneurship students

Note: All non-entrepreneurship students who took

Module 7058 (Research Project Management)

should do Option 3

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Assessment  Part 1 (25%) by Wednesday 3rd July:

 Options 1 and 2: A proposal (1,500 words, submitted via Moodle)

 Options 3 and 4: A presentation (10mins + 10mins questions and answers – as arranged with your supervisor) – also submit your presentation file on Moodle

 All options must also upload an ethical approval form (via Moodle)

 Part 2 (75%) by Friday 20th September:

 Options 1 and 2: a dissertation (8,000 words, via Moodle)

 Option 3: a project report (8,000 words, via Moodle)

 Option 4: a business plan (8,000 words, via Moodle)

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A supervisory relationship

is a bit like a dance  Content (c.f. dance steps)

 Other technical elements (e.g. academic writing, analysis software)

 Overview (c.f. choreography)

 Personal relationship

 Developing your ‘voice’ as an academic researcher/writer (c.f. smile)

Source: (Derounian, 2011)

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Supervisors  We are aiming to allocate supervisors to all

students who submitted an acceptable research topic or who are on the Entrepreneurship pathway by Wednesday this week (12th June)

 The following students have not yet submitted a topic idea:

Junyi Shangguan

Ishann Mittal

Xuewei Li

Anita Raju

Zakariya Mear

Nuno Maria Vazao De Almeida Barata Da Cunha

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Major Project

Supervisors (continued)

 Most of the interaction in this module takes place via your supervisory relationship

 It is your responsibility to contact your supervisor to arrange meetings

 There is no set number or length of supervisory meetings (although the brief suggests six). However, supervisors are only expected to spend a total of 10 hours on each major project including supervisory meetings, marking and administration.

 The last date for supervisory meetings is Friday 6th

September

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Supervisors (continued)  Supervisors can only provide you with one written

feedback on your proposal and each chapter of your dissertation

 They cannot proofread or ‘approve’ your work – their feedback is indicative of possible improvements and developmental rather than systematic or indicative of a pass or a specific mark

 Please give them sufficient time to do this (up to one week)

 If you are sending draft work in advance of a supervisory meeting please send it 3 working days in advance

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What you should do  Attend all the support lectures

 Keep regular contact with your supervisor – make them aware of a potential problem before it becomes big

 Submit your draft work to your supervisor (once)

 Take the lead but expect guidance

 Respect the time constraints of your supervisory meetings

 Respect the feedback you receive from your supervisor by trying to incorporate it into your revised work

 Keep records of tutorial meetings: complete the template provided (on Moodle) and email it to your supervisor within 3 days of the meeting; also include a copy in your dissertation/project report appendices

 Carry out any actions you agreed with your supervisor

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Tutorial

record

form

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What your supervisor can do  Support you to focus your topic idea

 Assign you some directed reading (but most of the responsibility for literature searching is yours)

 Help you to draw up your dissertation plan

 Provide you with a steady stream of interaction of ideas and guidance

 Help you to develop a suitable methodology (e.g. mixed methods survey via a questionnaire)

 Help you to improve your research instrument

 Provide you with feedback on your analysis and conclusions

 Inform you in advance when they will be on leave

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What your supervisor cannot do

 Choose a topic for you

 Provide feedback several times on the same chapter

 Proofread your work

 Reply to your messages out of hours or at weekends

 Reply to many messages in a short period

 Be available outside appointments

 Chase you to book appointments

 Give supervisions after the end of supervisions deadline (email support is at their discretion)

 Indicate what mark you might expect to receive

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Learn to be assertive

Respect for others

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Assertiveness techniques  Broken record: Repeat a suitable phrase, such as,

“This item is faulty. Under the sale of goods act I am entitled to my money back.” (without getting angry or further justifying yourself – until you are asked to)

 Empathy: Express how you feel and that you are trying to understand how the other person feels (e.g. “I understand you need help but I’m sorry I can’t this time because …”)

 Offer a compromise, whilst maintaining self- respect

A combination of all three techniques is often best

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Firming up your topic idea

 What makes a good topic?

 Strategies for selecting a good topic

 Creativity and divergent thinking in topic

selection

 Suggested approaches

 Example concept map

Your topic must lie within the scope of your

degree course

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Attributes of a good topic  Relates to theory

 Tightly defined: can be expressed succinctly as a research aim or question

 Relates to individuals, groups or organisations

 Small enough to be carried out in the time available

 Big enough to be potentially original and contribution to research / practice

 Feasible in terms of costs

 Personal interest

 Easy to access participants / data

 Meets university requirements

 Can be supervised

Adapted from (Horn, 2012)

Often a good way to

refine an initial idea

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Topic selection strategies Horn (2012) gives 8 possible strategies:

1. Burning desire – a long cherished idea

2. Replication – take published research and change its scope slightly

3. Career goals – something to assist your career path in the next few years

4. Solving a practical (organisational) problem

5. Convenient access, e.g. work placement, your workplace, family’s business, BCU data

6. Tutor driven – one of their current research areas

7. Development of your previous work

8. Important problem to society

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Creativity in topic selection

 Creativity requires divergent thinking

 There is an over-emphasis on convergent thinking in our education system

Source: (Robinson, 2010)

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Possible approaches

 Brainstorming

 Concept maps

 Background reading

 Talking your ideas over with others

 Reflection

Topic ideas take time to crystallise

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Example topic concept map

Business

Retail

SMEs

Use of ICT

UK Nigeria

Developed Developing

Case studies

Effectiveness

Change theory

Systems analysis

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The written proposal  Options 1 and 2 only (but this section is also relevant

to Options 3 and 4, so please listen)

 1,500 words

 25% of total mark

 Submit by noon on Wednesday 3rd July via Moodle

 Structure (with marks breakdown):

 Title and Background (10%)

 Aims and Objectives (10%)

 Rationale (10%)

 Outline Literature Review (30%)

 Outline Methodology (25%)

 Project Plan (15%)

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Major Project

Front matter writing

 Title

 Aim

 Research question(s)

 Objectives

  

Each states what

the research is about

in a different way

States how the

research aim is going

to be achieved or

how the research

question(s) is(are)

going to be answered

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Title writing  Purpose: to describe what your study is about

Qualities – it should:

 Be clear

 Be concise – not more than about 20 words

 Avoid jargon and abbreviations

 Avoid rhetoric (asking a question)

 Express the aim, research area, data source and possibly methodology

 Indicate an appropriate scope for a single MSc project

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Major Project

Aim and research question(s) writing

 Your aim should be synonymous with your title but written in the form of an action – good idea to start with “To …”

 It should state what you are planning to achieve in your MSc project

 Your main research question should be synonymous with your aim

 It can be broken down into sub-questions which either explain your aim in more detail, or are more aligned with your objectives

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Writing objectives

 State how your aim is going to achieved

 More specific

 Like your aim, it is good to start with “To …”

 Ideal number: between 3 and 7

 They could explain your topic in more detail…

 Or they could indicate the different tasks you

need to carry out in sequence in order to

achieve your aim (e.g. literature review,

methodology, data collection, data analysis,

etc.)

BUS7048:

Major Project

Writing your background Purpose: To provide context for your proposed research topic

One or two paragraphs should be sufficient

Metaphor: A big

cat marking its

territory –

demonstrate that

you are in control

of the broader

academic context

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BUS7048:

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Rationale

 Explains why your proposed study is interesting

or important

 Might also include limitations of the study

 One or two paragraphs should be sufficient

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Paragraphs: definition

 A paragraph is a group of connected sentences which develops one new topic, idea or theme

 They are the ‘building blocks’ of your writing, dividing it into easy-to-follow, comprehensible parts

 A paragraph should be like a mini essay with some sort of introduction, main body and conclusion

 The ideal length for a paragraph is about 125 words – use this to help you plan your writing

Always leave a blank line between paragraphs

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Argumentation styles

 Arguments form the backbone of academic writing

 Choice of appropriate style depends on the part of your proposal, e.g.:

 Discursive structure more appropriate in your literature review section

 Single argument/opinion more appropriate for your background, rationale and methods sections

Single argument/opinion Discursive

Already made up your mind

 Introduce assertion

 Supporting evidence from different sources

 Conclusion (as expected)

 Introduce topic

 Evidence from one side

 Evidence from another side

 Evaluation / Conclusion (can’t be anticipated)

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Major Project

Literature reviews  Initial conception: an annotated bibliography:

 About 4-5 paragraphs, each of which summarises or critiques an individual study relevant to your proposed study, with an introduction and conclusion

 This is not enough for a literature review:

 You need to combine sources thematically

 Give more prominence to some sources according to their relative importance using critical thinking

 Also use critical analysis

The purpose of a literature review is to provide your reader with an essential background

perspective to understand/evaluate your research

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Step by step guide to doing a literature review

1. Have a plan

2. Use critical thinking to select your sources

3. Divide your literature into themes

4. Structure and plan your review

5. Carry out some critical analysis – use discursive

style paragraphs

BUS7048:

Major Project

1. Have a plan

 Initially capture your reader’s interest

 Move from the general to the specific

 Include relevant theories

 Finish by summarising your findings

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2. Use critical thinking to select your sources

 WHAT? Define the purpose of your review

 HOW BROAD? Define the scope of your review

 HOW TO CHOOSE? Establish and apply appropriate selection criteria consistently, e.g.:

 Quality of research

 Quality of publication

 Age of publication

 Relevance

 Have you emphasised recent developments?

 Have you focussed on sources involving primary research with only selective use of secondary sources (which add value to other primary sources)?

 Note: You will need to find more sources than you use

BUS7048:

Major Project

Ways of obtaining sources  Use Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) or

Summon (https://bcu.summon.serialssolutions.com/)

 Enter key words, or phrases using “”

 Try a variety of synonyms, not just one word

 The best hits with the most people citing them are displayed first

 Try not to get too many or too few hits (between about 10 and 500)

 Some sources are freely available

 In Google Scholar the “cited by” link can be useful for obtaining additional sources or missing details of references

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 A specific journal (full list of available journals) or database (full list of available databases) such as WARC (Marketing) might also be particularly relevant to your review

 Consider doing a keyword search of all articles published in one of them in the last 10 years

 For more information on information searching please check out the specific Lib Guide for your course at http://libguides.bcu.ac.uk/?b=s or contact:  Linda Garratt for Marketing, or

 Sharon Stephens for everything else

 You can also book an appointment with them from here

BUS7048:

Major Project

The 50:40:10 principle

10%

40%

50% Evidence found

but eventually

not used

Less important

evidence used:

generally

assert or quote

More important evidence

used: generally

summarise or critique

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How to cite information

 Back up factual assertions – every claim

needs to be backed up with evidence

 Direct quote:

 There are two formats (short and long)

 Use sparingly, e.g. at the start to get you flowing

 Summary – go into more depth and rewrite in

your own words

 Critique – go beyond a summary and provide

an objective evaluation of the findings/claims

made

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Theme 2

~4 references

Theme 1

~4 references

Main research

question/’niche’

~2 references

3. Divide your literature into about 2 initial themes

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4. Structure your review

Suggested structure:

 Paragraph 1: introduction

 Paragraph 2: theme 1

 Paragraph 3: theme 2

 Paragraph 4: main research question

 Paragraph 5: conclusion / conceptual

framework

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5. What is critical analysis?

Shallower

questions

Deeper

questions

Source: (Plymouth University, 2010 )

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Other forms of critical analysis  Discursive style argument (see next slide):

 Introduce topic

 Summarise one side

 Summarise another side, etc.

 Evaluate / conclude

 Levels of criticality: 1. Describe, summarise, present facts

2. Make simple implications / analyse (half critical)

3. (Personal) interpretation, evaluation

 Questioning a topic:

 Brainstorming, common sense, anticipating reader’s questions

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[Topic sentence] There is disagreement between researchers over the

appropriateness of a deep approach to studying within STEM subjects. [First

view] There is some alignment between the deep learning construct and

relational understanding construct in Skemp’s (1962) schematic learning theory,

which he promotes as being particularly effective in mathematics education,

providing evidence of improved retention of concepts. [Evidence] In a study of

236 first year undergraduate mathematics students in Australian, Crawford et al.

(1993) demonstrated a significant (p < 0.001) association between a cohesive

conception of mathematics (similar to Skemp’s relational understanding) and a

deep approach to studying, and a fragmented conception of mathematics

(similar to Skemp’s instrumental understanding) and a surface approach to

studying. However, [Alternative view] Kirschner et al. (2006) argue against the

effectiveness of discovery-based learning and constructivism, providing

evidence that students learn more deeply from strongly guided learning

experiences. In addition, [Another view] Beattie at al. (1997) also argue against

the universal appropriateness of a deep approach to studying where learning

requires the practising of skills and processes, as is common in STEM subjects.

In summary, [Evaluation] a deep approach to studying does not appear to be

universally appropriate in STEM contexts.

Notice how the evaluation is more specific than the topic sentence

The discursive style paragraph

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The methods section

 Different argumentation style to the

literature review – outlines and justifies the

method you have chosen and how you are

planning to implement it

 About 4 paragraphs:

 Conceptual framework / philosophy

 Strategy (e.g. survey – why?)

 Data collection (e.g. questionnaire, semi-

structured, via email, etc.)

 Data analysis (use tentative language)

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Purposes of a conceptual framework

 To apply relevant theories to your context

 To explain how you believe a situation will work (e.g. a business intervention)

 To inform the design of your study:

 This may translate into measurable variables in a quantitative study but you should not assume this

 Your study might need to be mixed methods

 It may be difficult to measure your constructs

You conceptual framework should relate directly to the discussion/conclusion of your literature review

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Example

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Focus on these areas

Source: (Saunders et al., 2016)

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Common mistakes  Writing a section about every layer in Saunders et

al.’s “onion” to “educate” your reader

 Describing what these layers mean rather than focusing on your choices

 Not explaining how you are planning to implement your choices, e.g. a questionnaire:

 Who is your population?

 How will you choose your sample (random/non-random)?

 How large will it be?

 How will you maximize your response rate?

 Including too much critical discussion (this belongs in your literature review)

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Project plan  Best to use a GANTT chart

 You can modify the template provided Week commencing 10/06 17/06 24/06 01/07 08/07 15/07 22/07 29/07 05/08 12/08 19/08 26/08 02/09 09/09 16/09

Number 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

Firm up topic

Prepare research

proposal

Literature review (1st

draft)

Methodology (draft)

Design research

instrument

Methodology (final)

Collect data

Analyse data (draft)

Literature review (final)

Data analysis (final)

Discussion (draft)

Discussion (final)

Full dissertation (draft)

Proofreading and final

preparation

Proposal deadline

End of supervisions

deadline

Hand-in deadline

20/09/19

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Major Project

Proposal presentation (Options 3 and 4)

 10 minutes + 10 minutes questions and answers

 Arrange with supervisor to present by 3rd July

 Also upload your presentation file on Moodle by Noon on 3rd July

 Structure – Option 3:

 Background of your chosen organisation

 Identified business problem

 Literature review

 Appropriate methods, techniques and approaches

 Scope of your research project

 Justification for the project

 Detailed project plan with clear timelines, deliverables and milestones, resource requirements and control mechanisms

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Structure – option 4

1. An analysis of the customer problem(s), the suggested

solution(s) and features delivering that solution including

the value proposition

2. A brief analysis of the associated industry and market(s)

3. The start-up costs and likely costs (expenditure) and

sales (income) of running the business for the first 3

years

4. The research plan for identifying and proving market

demand exists for the stated value proposition

5. A project plan for completing the business plan project

and presentation

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Ethics request form  Please complete with your proposal by noon on 3rd

July via Moodle (all options)

 Download and complete the online form provided

 Should be straightforward once you have written your proposal (it might even help you to write your proposal methodology section)

 Make sure it is consistent

 Send it to your supervisor for approval

 They will sign it and send it back to you, then you should upload it

Please do not upload the form unless your supervisor has signed it!

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Major Project

Avoiding plagiarism

 Plagiarism is using some else’s work without

proper citation

 It is viewed as a form of academic stealing at

BCU and may lead to a reduction in your marks

or disciplinary action

 Your proposal will be checked for plagiarism

 You can submit a draft for plagiarism checking

here

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Turnitin reports  Click on the percentage when it appears – it opens your

Turnitin report

 Then click on this number: makes the matching text and match overview appear

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Understanding your report  A high percentage might indicate plagiarism

 Obviously, the higher the number the bigger the potential problem, but there is more to it than just the percentage

 Matching can be caused by:

 Standard forms (e.g. participant information sheet, cover sheet, etc.)

 Quotations

 References

 None of these indicate plagiarism

 So what is plagiarism?

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Which of these is plagiarised?

A A paragraph is copied but some small changes are made, for example, a few verbs are replaced, an adjective is replaced with a synonym. There is an citation in the reference list.

B

A paragraph is written by taking a number of short phrases from a single source then modifying them. These phrases are put together using your own words to create a new paragraph. There is an in-text citation plus a reference to the source is placed in the reference list.

C

A paragraph is cut and pasted retaining some of the original sentences. Some of the sentences are omitted, and one or two of the sentences are placed in a different order. There are no quotation marks. There is an in- text citation plus a reference to the source is placed in the reference list.

D

A paragraph is rewritten making major changes in the language and organisation. More details and examples are used from other sources. There is an in-text citation plus a reference to the source is placed in the reference list.

E A paragraph is copied word for word, from a source without any citation.

F A paragraph is quoted. There is an in-text citation plus a reference to the source is placed in the reference list.

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Solution

 A – plagiarised: definitely don’t do this – either rephrase or quote and include a citation

 B – fine: this is a summary

 C – plagiarised, despite there being a citation: don’t do this – rephrase or use quotation marks

 D – fine: most well referenced provided that the other sources are cited

 E – most plagiarised: definitely don’t do this

 F – ok, but avoid too many quotes

 The best way to avoid plagiarism is to learn how to summarise, cite and reference correctly

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What is summarising?  Summarising is saying the same as your source (or a section

from it) but in your own words. The source must always be

acknowledged, as with a quotation.

 Try to get away from the original language as much as possible: it

is not enough to simply change one or two words. However, at the

same time, you need to be careful not to change the meaning.

 Summarising is an opportunity to show your reader that you are in

control of your material. A successful summary means that you

have thought carefully about what you have read and are able to

manipulate the information for your own ends.

 It is a difficult technique to master, especially if English is not your

first language. Many students worry that their writing is not going

to be as good as the original: well, it probably isn't, but that

doesn't matter. What is important is your ideas, your arguments

and your ability to fulfil the task.

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How to summarise  Quickly read through the text to get an idea of what its about

 Decide if any parts of it would be useful for your purposes

 Read the relevant parts in more detail in order to understand the meaning more clearly

 Without looking at the source, make some notes of the points useful for you

 Check that your notes agree with the original

 Write up the summary from your notes (not the original) in order to try and ensure that the construction and wording are different from the original

 Check that you have kept the same meaning and tone

 Check that your summary is consistent with the rest of your writing and flows into it

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BCU Harvard referencing system  A version of Harvard specific to BCU available from here

 Required in the Business School

 Comprises of citing in text and a reference list

 Uses (author, year) style for indirect citations

 Can also use the author’s name directly within the text followed by (year) – more personal style

 References are given in an alphabetically ordered list at the end of the document (all types of source together)

 Reference list entries depend on the type of source but generally have the structure:

Author, Initials (Year) Title. Other required information.

The main document title will be in italics

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Major Project

Citing a single author 1. Plagiarism is an important issue in contemporary higher

education (Neville, 2007). (backing up an assertion)

2. Neville (2007) reports that… (summary)

There are many alternative reporting verbs, e.g.:

 Found

 Argues

 Suggests

 Claims

 Concludes

See Manchester Academic Phrasebank

3. “Referencing is not a new idea” (Neville, 2007: 2) (short quote – must have a page number, if available; page numbers are optional for other types of citation)

34

BUS7048:

Major Project

Citing multiple authors

Two authors – use and:

 Directly:

White and Brown (2004) in their recent study found...

 Indirectly:

A recent investigation (White and Brown, 2004) suggests that...

Three or more authors – use et al.:

 Directly:

Green et al. (1969) identified the following …

 Indirectly:

Further research (Green et al., 1969) showed that ...

BUS7048:

Major Project

Referencing a paper journal article

Format:

Author, Initials (Year) Title of article. Full Title of

Journal, Volume number(Issue/Part number), pp.

page numbers.

Example:

Driscoll, J. and Teh, B. (2001) The potential of

reflective practice to develop individual orthopaedic

nurse practitioners and their practice. Journal of

Orthopaedic Nursing, 5(2), pp. 95-103.

35

BUS7048:

Major Project

Referencing a book

Format:

Author, Initials (Year) Title of Book. Edition (if not

the first edition). Place of publication (this must

be a town or city, not a country): Publisher.

Example:

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2016)

Research Methods for Business Students, 7th

edn. Harlow: Pearson.

BUS7048:

Major Project

Referencing a pdf report

Format:

Author, Initials or Institutional Author (Year) Full Title of

Report. [pdf] Place (optional): Publisher (optional).

Available at: full URL [Accessed date].

Example:

Plymouth University (2010) Critical Thinking. [pdf] Available at:

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/documen

t/path/1/1710/Critical_Thinking.pdf. [Accessed 9

November 2018].

Note: If a report is also published in paper format then cite that

one instead.

36

BUS7048:

Major Project

Referencing a website

Format:

Author, Initials or Institutional Author (Year) Title of

document. Place (optional): Publisher (optional).

Available at: Full URL [Accessed date].

Example:

Coventry University (n. d.) The writing process: steps 1 and

2; step 3; and steps 4 and 5. Available at:

http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/items/58f5ef96-aa60-

316c-c30b-f945aa89bfc7/1/. [Accessed 9 November

2018].

Note: Try to avoid too many electronic sources as they are

often not peer reviewed so less academically important

BUS7048:

Major Project

References Dawson, C. (2006) The Mature Student’s Study Guide, 2nd edn.

374.130281/Daw and e-book.

Derounian, J. (2011) Shall we dance? The importance of staff–student relationships to undergraduate dissertation preparation. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12(2), pp. 91–100.

Horn, R. (2012) Researching and Writing Dissertations: A complete guide for business and management students. 2nd edn. London: CIPD.

Plymouth University (2010) Critical Thinking. https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/1/1 710/Critical_Thinking.pdf.

Robinson, K. (2010) Changing Education Paradigms. [video] RSA Animate. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_par adigms [Accessed 16 August 2018].

Saunders, M. N., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2016) Research Methods for Business Students. 7th edn. Harlow: Pearson Education.