THESIS PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

B.COM (HONS)

SECTION A

SESSION: 2012-16

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

GC UNIVERSITY LAHORE.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. THESIS PROPOSAL GUIDELINES ......................................................................................... 1

1.1. Research Topic ................................................................................................................. 1

1.1.1 Attributes of a good research topic ........................................................................... 1

1.2. Introduction/ Background of the study ............................................................................. 1

1.3. Objectives of the study ..................................................................................................... 3

1.4. Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 3

1.5. Problem Statement ........................................................................................................... 3

1.6. Hypothesis ........................................................................................................................ 4

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 5

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 8

3.1 Data Collection Procedure (Sample selection and data sources) ...................................... 8

3.3 Research Method (Design) ................................................................................................ 9

4. CONTRIBUTION/ UTILIZATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS ......................................................... 10

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 10

THESIS PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

RESEARCH TOPIC:

(The proposed title of your research project should be as brief as possible and yet the reader should

be able to understand what the research is about from the title. Title should reflect the objectives

of the study. It must be written after the whole Proposal has been written so that it is a true

representative of the plan (i.e. The Proposal).

Attributes of a good research topic:

Capability: is it feasible?

Are you fascinated by the topic?

Do you have the necessary research skills?

Can you complete the project in the time available?

Will the research still be current when you finish?

Do you have sufficient financial and other resources?

Will you be able to gain access to data?

Appropriateness: is it worthwhile?

Will the examining institute's standards be met?

Does the topic contain issues with clear links to theory?

Are the research questions and objectives clearly stated?

Will the proposed research provide fresh insights into the topic?

Does the research topic match your career goals?

INTRODUCTION

Write out introduction to give a broad overview of scenario/background surrounding the title.

OBJECTIVES

Describe the overall aim(s) of the research:

The objectives of a research project summarize what is to be achieved by the study and

make sure the objectives support your research problem.

Objectives must identify the variables involved in research.

You may use a general focus question as a base from which you write a set of research

objectives.

Research objectives are likely to be more specific than research questions.

Personal objectives may be added to the list of research objectives:

Specific learning objectives (to learn how to use a particular statistical software etc.)

More general personal objectives (enhancing your career prospects through learning about

a new field of your specialism)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In this section you also specify the research questions:

Express a relationship between variables.

More specific research questions you wish to address.

Make sure that your questions are researchable.

Your research questions must be a mirror image of your research objectives.

Avoid the research questions that will not generate new insight (understanding), it depends

upon the extent to which you have consulted the relevant literature.

Research question may not emerge until the research process has started.

Sr. # RESEARCH IDEA GENERAL FOCUS RESEARCH QUESTION

1. Advertising and Share Prices How does the running of a TV advertising campaign

designed to boost the image of a company affect its

share prices?

2. Job recruitment via the

internet

How effective is recruiting for new staff via the

internet in comparison with traditional method?

3. The use of aromas as a

marketing device

In what ways does the use of aromas in supermarkets

affect buyer behavior?

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The problem statement introduces the key problem that is addressed in the research project.

A problem statement is a clear, precise, and brief statement of the specific issues that a

researcher wishes to investigate.

There are three key criteria to assess the quality of the problem statement: It should be

Relevant, feasible, and interesting.

The problem statement is normally only one or two sentences long. Try to be as specific as

possible. This should include

(a) A clear statement that the problem exists

(b) Evidence that supports the existence of the problem

HYPOTHESIS

A hypothesis is a statement about the relationship between the dependent and independent

variables.

The null hypothesis (H0) states that the two variables are independent of one another and the

alternative hypothesis (H1) states that they are associated with one another. The null hypothesis is

always stated first.

LITERATURE SURVEY

Give a brief review of recent relevant literature (along with references). The preliminary literature

review should be a critical analysis of major studies already conducted and other key contributions.

Your literature review must refer to the classical and most influential pieces of research in the topic

area.

A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and

researchers.

In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader

- What knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic?

- What their strengths and weaknesses are.

- How do they relate or not relate with your research.

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.

In other words, you cannot simply give a concise description of, for example, an article: you need

to select what parts of the research to discuss (e.g. the methodology, variables or relationship),

show how it relates to the other work (How are they similar? How are they different?) and show

how it relates to your work.

A literature review is a piece of discursive (a series of logical discussion) writing style, not

a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another.

It is usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with the name of a researcher.

Organize the literature review into sections that present themes, identify trends including

relevant theory.

SOME IMPORTANT WORDS AND THEIR USES IN LITERATURE REVIEW

To signal a reinforcement of ideas:

Also, in other words, in addition,

for example, moreover, more importantly

To signal a change in ideas:

but, on the other hand, however, instead, yet, in contrast,

although, nevertheless, in spite of,

To signal a conclusion:

thus, therefore, accordingly, in conclusion, finally, so [informal],

Most students' literature reviews suffer from the following problems:

Trying to read everything!

Avoiding feedback on draft!

Reading but not writing!

Not keeping information for references!

Lacking organization and structure

Being repetitive

Failing to cite influential papers

Failing to keep up with recent developments

Failing to critically evaluate cited papers

Citing irrelevant references

The literature review process

LITERATURE SOURCES AVAILABLE

Planning your search strategy

All our students have found their literature search a time consuming process, which

take far longer than expected. Fortunately, time spent planning will be rapid in time

saved when searching the literature. As you start to plan your search, you need to

beware of information overload!

One of the easiest ways to avoid this is to start the main search for your critical review

with a clearly defined research question (s), objectives and outline proposal.

It is also possible to obtain definitions via the Internet. The online search engine

Google offers a define(by typing define:[enter term ]) that provides links to

websites providing definitions .

Searching the Internet

PLAGIARISM

Four common forms

Stealing material from another source

Submitting material written by another

Copying material without quotation marks

Paraphrasing material without documentation

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

You will justify your choice of method in the light of your research objectives. You may

divide your methodology section in two parts: data collection and research design.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE:

The data collection section goes into much more detail about how specifically the data are to be

collected.

If you are using a survey strategy you should specify your population and sample size. You should

also clarify how the survey instrument such as questionnaire will be distributed and how the data

will be analysed.

If you are using interviews, you should explain how many interviews will be conducted, their

intended duration, whether they will be audio-recorded, and how they will be analysed.

Describes the types of data/evidence you propose to collect and explain how they will help you to

answer your research questions.

Identification of the Variables

From the research objectives, identify:

Dependent

Independent

Moderating variables

Methods/Sources for collection of data

Data collection tools (proforma/questionnaire, Interview)

RESEARCH METHOD (DESIGN, TECHNIQUES)

(a) Briefly describe how research will be conducted.

(b) In case of experimental work various steps involved, along with list of necessary

equipment, be described.

For empirical research: Describe the methodology (case study/policy analysis etc.) and methods

(survey, interviews, etc.).

If you intend to do a theoretical or historical study, please describe how you intend to conduct the

research, indicating major sources, methods for analysis and interpretation and overall design.

If your research topic is more generic you will explain which sector(s) of the economy you have

chosen to research and why you chose these sectors.

You will also need to explain the identity of your research population and why you chose this

population.

This section should also include an explanation of the general way in which you intend to carry

out the research. Will it be based on questionnaire, interview, examination of secondary data or

use a combination of data collection techniques? It is essential to explain why you have chosen

your approach.

The research design section gives an overall view of the method chosen and the reason for that

choice.

CONTRIBUTUION/UTILIZATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS

What is the value of the research?

What contribution will the research make?

REFERENCES

In this section, you are required to provide the full bibliographic information for each source you

have discussed. Follow the APA 6th Edition Style for references. References must be listed in

alphabetical order by author.

It is not necessary to try to impress your proposal reader with an enormous list of references. The

key literature sources to which you have referred that is directly informing your own proposal

should be all that is necessary.

APA Referencing

THIS IS A QUICK GUIDE TO THE APA REFERENCING STYLE (6TH EDITION)

The American Psychological Association reference style uses the Author-Date format.

Refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.)

for more information. Check the Library Catalogue for call number and location(s).

When quoting directly or indirectly from a source, the source must be acknowledged in the text by

author name and year of publication. If quoting directly, a location reference such as page number(s)

or paragraph number is also required.

IN-TEXT

Direct quotation use quotation marks around the quote and include page numbers Samovar and Porter (1997) point out that "language involves attaching meaning to symbols"

(p.188).

Alternatively, Language involves attaching meaning to symbols" (Samovar & Porter, 1997, p.188).

Indirect quotation/paraphrasing no quotation marks Attaching meaning to symbols is considered to be the origin of written language (Samovar &

Porter, 1997). N.B. Page numbers are optional when paraphrasing, although it is useful to include them (Publication Manual,

p. 171).

Citations from a secondary source As Hall (1977) asserts, culture also defines boundaries of different groups (as cited in Samovar & Porter, 1997, p. 14).

At the end of your thesis, you are required to provide the full bibliographic information for each source.

References must be listed in alphabetical order by author.

EXAMPLES OF REFERENCES BY TYPE

IN A REFERENCE LIST IN-TEXT CITATION 1. Book with one author

King, M. (2000). Wrestling with the angel: A life of Janet Frame.

Auckland, New Zealand: Viking. N.B. The first letter of the first word of the main title, subtitle and all proper

nouns have capital letters.

(King, 2000) or

King (2000) compares

Frame ...

2. Book with two to five authors (see Library APA referencing webpage for six or more

authors)

Krause, K.-L., Bochner, S., & Duchesne, S. (2006). Educational

psychology for learning and teaching (2nd ed.). South Melbourne,

Vic., Australia: Thomson. N.B. Use & between authors names, except when paraphrasing in text. When a work has three, four or five authors, cite all authors the first time,

and in subsequent citations include only the first author followed by et al.

(Krause, Bochner, &

Duchesne, 2006)

then (Krause et al., 2006)

3. Book or report by a corporate author e.g. organisation, association, government department

University of Waikato. (1967). First hall of residence (Information

series No. 3). Hamilton, New Zealand: Author. N.B. When the author and the publisher are the same, use Author in the

publisher field.

(University of Waikato,

1967) Some group authors may be abbreviated in

subsequent citations if they

are readily recognisable.

4. Book chapter in edited book

Helber, L. E. (1995). Redeveloping mature resorts for new markets. In

M. V. Conlin & T. Baum (Eds.), Island tourism: Management

principles and practice (pp. 105-113). Chichester, England: John

Wiley. N.B. Include the page numbers of the chapter after the book title.

(Helber, 1995) or

Helber (1995) compares

luxury resorts ...

5. Conference paper online - (see Library APA referencing webpage for alternative formats)

Bochner, S. (1996, November). Mentoring in higher education: Issues

to be addressed in developing a mentoring program. Paper presented

at the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference,

Singapore. Retrieved from

http://www.aare.edu.au/96pap/bochs96018.txt

(Bochner, 1996) or

According to Bochner

(1996) ...

6. Course handout/Lecture notes

Salter, G. (2007). Lecture 3: SPLS205-07A [PowerPoint slides].

Hamilton, New Zealand: University of Waikato. N.B. Put format in square brackets - e.g. [PowerPoint slides] [Lecture notes]

(Salter, 2007)

7. Film (see Library APA referencing webpage for music and other media)

Zhang, Y. (Producer/Director). (2000). Not one less [Motion picture].

China: Columbia Pictures. N.B. For films, DVDs or videorecordings use [Motion picture] in square

brackets. Give the country of origin and the name of the motion picture

studio.

(Zhang, 2000)

8. Journal article academic/scholarly (electronic version) with DOI (see also Library APA referencing webpage)

Hohepa, M., Schofield, G., & Kolt, G. S. (2006). Physical activity:

What do high school students think? Journal of Adolescent Health,

39(3), 328-336.

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.12.024 N.B. A capital letter is used for key words in the journal title. The journal

title and volume number are italicised, followed by the issue number in

brackets (not italicised).

(Hohepa, Schofield, &

Kolt, 2006) then subsequently, if 3-5

authors

(Hohepa et al., 2006)

9. Journal article academic/scholarly (electronic version) with no DOI

Harrison, B., & Papa, R. (2005). The development of an indigenous

knowledge program in a New Zealand Maori-language immersion

school. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 36(1), 57-72.

Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals database.

(Harrison & Papa, 2005) or

Harrison and Papa (2005)

recommend ...

N.B. Undergraduates: Give the name of the database. Researchers: Give the

URL of the journal homepage. e.g. Retrieved from

http://ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=aeq

10. Journal article - academic/scholarly (print version)

Gibbs, M. (2005). The right to development and indigenous peoples:

Lessons from New Zealand. World Development, 33(8), 1365-1378.

(Gibbs, 2005) or

Gibbs (2005) contradicts ...

11. Journal article - academic/scholarly (Internet only no print version)

Snell, D., & Hodgetts, D. (n.d.). The psychology of heavy metal

communities and white supremacy. Te Kura Kete Aronui, 1. Retrieved

from http://www.waikato.ac.nz/wfass/tkka N.B. (n.d.) = no date. For html version only, cite the paragraph number in

text

(Snell & Hodgetts, n.d.)

or Snell and Hodgetts (n.d.)

suggest ... (para. 3)

12. Magazine article popular/trade/general interest

Goodwin, D. K. (2002, February 4). How I caused that story. Time,

159(5), 69. N.B. Full date is used for weekly magazines; month and year for monthly

magazines

(Goodwin, 2002) or

Goodwin (2002) defends ...

13. Newspaper article (Print version)

Hartevelt, J. (2007, December 20). Boy racers. The Press, p. 3. N.B. Include p. or pp. before the page number for newspapers only, not magazines

(Hartevelt, 2007)

14. Newspaper article (Database like Newztext Plus) (also see Library referencing webpage for

Internet version)

Cumming, G. (2003, April 5). Cough that shook the world. The New

Zealand Herald. Retrieved from Newztext Plus database. (Cumming, 2003)

15. Newspaper article with no author

Report casts shadow on biofuel crops. (2007, October 16). Waikato

Times, p. 21. N.B. Article title comes first. In the text, abbreviate title and use double

quotation marks.

(Report Casts Shadow, 2007)

16. Personal Communication (letters, telephone conversations, emails, interviews)

N.B. No reference list entry as the information is not recoverable.

(H. Clarke, personal

communication, March 19,

2004)

17. Thesis print version - outside the US (NEW)

Dewstow, R. A. (2006). Using the Internet to enhance teaching at the

University of Waikato (Unpublished masters thesis). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.

(Dewstow, 2006) or

Dewstow (2006) identified

...

18. Thesis Institutional or personal webpage - outside the US (NEW)

Dewstow, R. A. (2006). Using the Internet to enhance teaching at the

University of Waikato (Masters thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand). Retrieved from

http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/2241

(Dewstow, 2006)

19. Webpages (When multiple webpages are referenced, reference the homepage)

Statistics New Zealand. (2007). New Zealand in profile 2007. Retrieved from

http://www.stats.govt.nz N.B. Author (could be organisation), date (either date of publication or latest update), document title, date

retrieved if contents are likely to change, URL

APPENDIX

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

The general instructions for thesis proposal are given below:

I. SPACING

The line spacing for the text of the proposal should be one and one-half (1.5), with the

exception of the topic, captions, table or figure headings, extensive quotations, and entries

in the References section where single spacing should be used.

II. FONT SIZE

Use a font size of 12. The only allowable exceptions to this font size are captions (not

smaller than 9 point) and headings (not larger than 20 points). Use of italics is restricted to

foreign words, book or periodical titles, taxonomic names, letters used as statistical

symbols or algebraic variables, test scores and scales.

III. ALIGNMENT

Full justification alignment is acceptable for the body of the text. Orphans (headings or

sub-headings located at the bottom of a page that are not followed by text) and Widows

(short lines ending a paragraph at the top of a page) should be avoided.

IV. OVERALL PRESENTATION

The proposal that is submitted must be free from errors. All corrections should be made

before the final copy is printed. Overstrikes, cross-outs, handwritten additions or

corrections, and use of corrections fluid are not acceptable in the final copy.

V. BINDING OF PROPOSAL

The Proposal should be submitted without binding but staple with one pin at the top left

corner.