Independent study workshop - 2014 Jan

The following information should be noted by students on Independent Study:

Module Handbook pg. 8:

a. Research Proposal: 1,000 words (10% of module assessment mark)
b. Interim Review: 10 min. oral review (10% of module assessment mark)+ 1 A4 page of review note
c. Final report: 5,000 words maximum (80% of module assessment mark)

Things to note in general:
1. Students need to read books on Research Methods and Dissertation Writing;
2. Students also need to learn how to conduct literature review using the facility of the university e-library (and be familiar with academic publishers)
3. Students need to learn what is plagiarism
4. Students need to have good time management.
5. Students need to learn harvard referencing.

References
Previous workshop resources: https://www.facebook.com/josephho33/media_set?set=a.10151391199857090.543740.713727089&type=3
Research methods forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/194088197319308/
Accounting and Finance forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/285637757376/
Survey forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/143861262337078/
Previous oral presentation feedback
Previous IS workshop topics
Research in Finance and Accounting
Videos on Research methods

IS report requirement:
Final Project Structure
Title
(should be concise –short in words)

Abstract (briefly describe what you have done and the main conclusions/contribution(s) of your work) to the current literature.
(5 marks)
Acknowledgements
Contents
1. Introduction (state the objectives of your research, summarize your motivations for having chosen the topic, talk briefly about your sample and the reasons for choosing that sample, briefly state 2-3 articles on which you based your research and the contributions you intend to give to the current literature –be clear, coherent and concise)
(10 Marks)
2. Literature Review (review at least 10-15 articles related which support theoretically and or methodologically the topic chosen. When possible relate those articles findings with your research.
(15 Marks)
3. Data and Methodology
4.1 Data (describe the sample used: time period, variables, sources where you got the data, etc)
4.2 Methodology (introduce your model and respective variables. If you use (multi-regression models state the regression equation(s) and describe in detail all the regression variables)
(20 Marks)
4. Results (present your results and interpret your findings)
(20 Marks)
5. Conclusions (state the main conclusions from your research –focus on the most important results only; be short in words and concise)
(10 Marks)
6. Recommendations and Limitations (state a few recommendations for further work (i.e. possible extensions for your research, ideas, etc) and the limitations of your research (such as time constrains, too small sample, etc).
(10 Marks)
Plus 10 marks for clarity and presentation: (10 Marks)
(Total 100 Marks)