MP final report
General weaknesses as stated in assessment forms (2 graders)
• Not clear what the problem is. What does the student want to solve? Is it a marketing issue?
• Not well structured, nor written. Title on cover is missing, no page numbers, writing style does not take reader by the hand. Writes in “we” form. Chapter of Theory is missing. Student starts with a sub question and then gives a short overview of theory, articles etc.
• Weak research questions
• Not referenced properly
• Some theory is out-dated, from the ‘90’s. Does not involve relation with social media since it did not exist.
• Research not well done. Not well executed questionnaire. Where can the social economical status be seen in his questionnaire? Why not having interviewed marketing people?
• Results can only give an indication to answers, but is very superficial.
• The total gives an impression that not enough time or effort has been put in the MP.
- Not a logical argumentation following the basic structure of a thesis
- Academically weak
- Purpose has to be found between the lines: who can benefit from the research and for what?
- Social media seem to be dragged in. Why is unclear.
- Theories described not worked out in a theoretical framework. Conceptual model not correct.
- Research questions not SMART and relation with framework unclear
- Nor referenced fully
- Link between purpose + research objective and questionnaire unclear. Why these questions?
- Results of survey not worked out properly
Comments and suggestions for improvement from the general structure of a MP report
In italic comments on student’s report
Appendix 5. Requirements MP final report
Most final projects will consist of an/a:
Abstract
No more than two pages which concisely explains your research problem, why your research problem is important and worth studying, your data and methods, your main findings, the implications of your findings in the light of other research. This may be the only part of your project that some may read so it must be well written, short but comprehensive. Prepare an initial draft as this will provide you with your story-line and facilitate the coherence of your full analysis then amend this initial draft.
Only a summary of what has been done. No results.
Introduction
This should give the purpose and scope of your research. It should include a full statement of your research purpose and objectives and position your research against similar studies. If you have used an organisation as a case-study, for example, you could include some background detail.
The scope is the type of product, type of market and region and business area (e.g. is this a marketing issue, a product development issue, a HRM issue etc.). It must be fully clear about which product you are talking. “What is a fad?” is not a research question but should be answered here already.
The purpose of the research relates to the management issue: what is the problem? Who can benefit from you research for what type of decision? Explain and summarise in one sentence. This still has to be read between the lines.
The research objective should be presented in general terms. What will be researched, around what will new insights be developed? The adoption process of consumers or ……? And why do you add the role of social media? It is possible but explain why the focus on this.
Do not present your final research questions (sub-questions) here. These have to be presented after the theoretical framework and deducted from this.
Theoretical framework
The results of your literature review. A literature review extends your discussion of other studies conducted in this area and critically examines and evaluates the issues, ideas, debates and theoretical concepts posed by previous studies which relate to your project. It is not a survey of all the literature ever written on your issue so try to avoid a shopping list of previous studies. Whilst you need to conduct a review of relevant literature early on and continually reflect on and revise this throughout, you should write up your final critical review of the literature after you have completed your results so you clearly identify and express the linkages. If done well, it should indicate all important concepts, variables and links and clearly indicate the variables you need to focus on in the rest of the report. Where possible in the form of a conceptual model.
PM: a draft version of this part of the final report must have been included in the progress report. If this chapter contains long text, put it in an appendix and summarize it in the body text.
A theoretical framework exists of the following elements:
• A description of the variables you want to include in your research (in measurable form)
• Conceptual model: a descriptive representation of your theory with the variables (blocks) and relations between variables (arrows) you intend to research. It must be clear at least what the dependent variable is (what do you want to understand or even predict) and what independent variables are (variables that influence the dependent variable). Possibly mediating and moderating variables
• A theory that provides an explanation for the relations between variables in your model.
A conceptual model is the result of your literature analysis. You present your conceptual model before your literature analysis!
It looks as if your dependent variable is the adoption or participation. Or do you want to research more, e.g. a potential extension of the life cycle? What do you want to achieve? Be clear about this. ( and make sure it comes back in the questionnaire). And what is or are the independent variables?
The right part of your conceptual model – What is a fad, PLC etc. - does not belong in a conceptual model.
After you have made up the conceptual model, define the research questions (what you call sub-questions). These must have a relation with the model. The research questions can be descriptive (describe the content of a block in the model) or causal (describe the relation between blocks = arrows). Make sure that these are SMART, which means that the variables are described in variable terms. You can also present a research question in one sentence and give an explanation of the variable(s) separately. Make sure that we can find this back in the questionnaires questions.
Methodology
You should provide sufficient detail for the reader to assess the reliability and validity of your methods. In a qualitative study, you need to explain your theoretical assumptions, the strategy you adopted and how you can generalize from your analysis. A quantitative study includes detailed information on the research undertaken: secondary data, precise definition of target population; sampling frame; sample size; variables selected for measurement; research instrument (e.g. questionnaire, depth interview, focus group discussion, observation, etc.); sampling procedure; response rates.
This is still too limited. Especially about the sample: see above. Also link between research questions and questionnaire and how the survey was executed Discuss reliability and validity.
Results
Develop a story line. This should be referenced as appropriate. Do not confuse this with your conclusions chapter. Results are what you found, not what it means. Present only results which are relevant and give adequate detail. Refer to appendices for detailed information.
Present the results of the survey in tables not in listings as you have done. E.g.. For research question 1 present the findings of the relevant survey questions.
In the base text discuss the results per research question. Full tables in appendices.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
There must be a clear link between your stated research objectives, the literature, your results and the conclusions you make. Your conclusion section should not be just a summary of what you have explained earlier. Through a critical analysis you should reach conclusions and recommendations which go beyond a summary and demonstrate that you have gained an insight into all the important issues. However, do not introduce new material in your conclusions.
Conclusions are answers to research questions. It is therefore recommendable to present your conclusions around the research questions. If you prefer this can be done in the chapter results.
Final chapter (often called Discussion):
This should be an objective (i.e. honest) assessment of any possible bias in your research and a critical evaluation of the work you have undertaken including any new work appearing since you began, discussion on anything you would now do differently, any implications for policy and practice, limitations of your study and further research that might follow on from your findings. Invariably, an effective research project will raise more questions than it answers.
References and bibliography:
In reading your report, we should clearly know what is your own original work and what is other people’s work that you have summarised or quoted or are your opinions. It is important to use a consistent and recognized referencing style. The Referencing Guide is required. It is to be expected that a literature based project will have more references than one for which an experiment has been conducted. Referencing is not a matter of how many references but rather the appropriateness of the references and the way that they have been used to support the underpinning knowledge and the argument you put forward in the project. In addition to referencing in the text, you must produce a Reference List (Harvard style) which is an alphabetic list (by author) of every work cited in your project. You should also produce a Bibliography which is an alphabetic list of everything you may have read which has informed your thinking but which you have not cited. Your reference list is of greater importance than your Bibliography list as the latter is often subject to ‘padding’: be honest, if you have not read the original but have read about it elsewhere, use ‘cited in …’
Not all statements referenced properly.
Appendices:
These may include research instruments (with an English translation, if conducted in another language), statistical analyses, background detail which you have summarized in the main body, etc. Only include what is of major relevance and note that it must be referenced in the text.
If you did any interviews or circulated questionnaires, the appendices must include a blank questionnaire, interview guide and/or transcripts of interviews (again with English translations if necessary).
No questionnaire in appendices
Finally
• Give the report a title
• Avoid we-form
Sample Solution