Module
Masters Dissertation

Type
Core module (30 hours)

ECTS
20

UoW credits
40

Coordinator
Dean of Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Management

Prerequisites
Information Retrieval, 30hours, 5 ECTS
Research Methods, 30 hours, 5 ECTS

Aims/outcomes
Knowledge & Understanding
On successful completion of this module students know about:

• How to form a clear hypothesis and research question.
• The critical and academically rigorous review of related literature.
• The identification of appropriate research tools and techniques.
• The acquisition of primary and secondary data.
• The rigorous analysis and evaluation of data.

Cognitive Skills
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• Think critically, and challenge viewpoints, ideas and concepts
• Examine complex problems and issues from a number of perspectives and make well reasoned judgements

Subject-specific skills
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• Select, define and refine a topic for research.
• Integrate knowledge acquired from secondary and primary sources.
• Critically evaluate current literature related to the dissertation topic.
• Design and develop a research proposal appropriate to a specified context.
• Collect, analyse and present data in an academically rigorous manner.

Key transferable skills
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• Work with minimum guidance;
• Identify and select relevant information from available resources;
• Deal with complex problems, using appropriate concepts, models and tools for problem identification, definition and resolution;
• Use written formats to communicate ideas and information clearly, effectively and in a reasoned way.

Content

The content of the dissertation will be dictated by the area of research. The tools and techniques used will also be directly linked to the research topic.
However, all dissertations will have the following common elements:

• A clear hypothesis / research question.
• A critical and academically rigorous review of related literature.
• A well stated and well defended rational for the choice of research tools and techniques adopted.
• A reliable and valid approach to the acquisition of all primary and secondary data.
• A rigorous analysis of all data and a critical evaluation of such data.
• The compilation of a 60-100 page dissertation.

Learning approach
The teaching and learning methods are an extension of the learning that took place while studying the research methods module. Each student will be guided by a supervisor to undertake a substantial piece of research (secondary and primary) and write a 15000 word dissertation that will demonstrate academic ability at Masters level.

Literature
Fisher,C (2004), Researching and Writing a Dissertation for Business Students. Financial Times. Prentice Hall.
Theitart,R A, et al (2001), Doing Management Research: A Comprehensive Guide, sage.
Rudestam,Kjell. Eric. And Newton. Rae. R (2001) Surviving your dissertation: A comprehensive guide to content and process. 2nd edition London: Sage Publications.

Assessment
Step 1: Dissertaiton is reviewed by TWO examiners.
Step 2: Dissertation grade is an average of both.
Step 3: Dissertation Defence.

Final grade for the Programme for the POLISH WSB-NLU DEGREE of "Magister in Management & Marketing":
4/6 of final grade: average grade from programme of study (all modules)
1/6 of final grade: average grade from dissertation
1/6 of final grade: thesis defence grade

Final grade for the Programme for the UK UNiversity of Wales DEGREE:
4/6 of final grade: average grade from programme of study (all modules)
2/6 of final grade: average grade from dissertation