MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION

1. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION MASTERS RESEARCH DISSERTATION GENERAL GUIDELINES

2. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Aim of the Research Dissertation The aim of this component is to assess whether you have mastered the principles of the research process and are able to apply these to your dissertation. While doing the dissertation, you will also be introduced to the ethics involved in research where human participants are used to provide research data.

3. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Logistics of the Research Dissertation The staff in the Organisational Psychology Section present various research projects in their areas of specialisation to you during orientation week During orientation week you make appointments with the lecturers whose projects interest you By the end of the orientation week the research convener will inform you which supervisor has accepted you as a research student Deadlines for submission of specific sections of the dissertation are provided at the start of the academic year. The dissertation is completed in the year in which you do your coursework

4. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Assessment of the Research Dissertation Your supervisor will guide you, read and provide feedback on the following sections of your dissertation: Literature reviewProposalMethodResultsDiscussionFinal draft Your supervisor will choose two examiners outside the University to assess your completed dissertation. You have no input in the selection of these examiners. If the marks awarded by the two external examiners differ by more than 10%, the dissertation is referred to a third external assessor for a final decision. There is no appeal procedure regarding the final mark awarded for a Master’s dissertation.

5. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Format of the Research Dissertation All research documents (except for figures and tables) use 12-point font in a clear letter type (e.g. Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman, etc.); 1.5 line spacing; top, bottom, left and right margins of 3.17 cm All pages are numbered consecutively. All research documents use the referencing conventions of the American Psychological Association (APA). Major headings are centred and in upper case; secondary headings are flush left, italicised and in upper and lower case. The layout of the document follows this sequence: title page; acknowledgements; abstract; table of contents; literature review; method; results; discussion; references; appendices.

6. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Length of the Research Dissertation Academic writing is concise and to the point. The maximum length of the research dissertation is 20,000 words (approximately 80 pages) excluding the reference list and appendices. There are four main sections in the dissertation (literature review, method, results and discussion). The literature review and the discussion section are usually the longest sections. As a rough guideline, plan on a literature review of 20-25 pages, a method section of 5-10 pages, a results section of 10-15 pages and a discussion section of 20-25 pages.

7. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Starting the Research Dissertation Once you have been informed of who your supervisor will be, you should arrange a meeting with him/her during the first three days of the academic year. Supervision is highly individualistic, so do not expect that you will have the same supervision experience as your fellow students. However, you can expect that your supervisor will spend at least 50 hours managing, advising and guiding you; reading your work; and giving feedback on the documents you have produced. After your first meeting you and your supervisor should have a written agreement regarding the research dissertation (deadlines, meeting times, number of drafts admissable, possible absence of supervisor, etc.)

8. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Literature Review • Two workshops, one on academic writing and the other on searching electronic databases, will be presented to you before you start your literature review. • In your Research Methods module, you will get extensive information on writing a literature review. Please refer to the readings and notes for that module. Also refer to the Publication Manual of the APA (2001), Section 1.08 Introduction, pp. 15-17. • Some of the most common mistakes students make in their literature review are listed below. Please try and avoid these. • Poor organisation and structure (sub-headings may help you to sort this out) • Failure to stay focused on your research question(s) • Being repetitive and writing in a rambling style • Failure to cite influential papers

9. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Literature Review (2). • Failure to keep up with the latest research • Failure to evaluate the literature you have cited • Citing irrelevant or unrelated papers • Depending too much on secondary sources (you are supposed to read the original papers) • Failure to develop clear research question(s) at the end of your review • Incorrect referencing in text (not according to APA format) • Adding irrelevant and unrelated literature just before you hand in your final draft

10. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION The Method Section One of the fundamental requirements of a scientific study is that it should be replicable. In other words, other scientists should be able to repeat your study and obtain the same results. Your method section should provide enough information about the participants, the measuring instrument and the procedure to enable other researchers to repeat your study. In your Research Methods module, you will get extensive information on writing a the method section. Please refer to the readings and notes for that module. Also refer to the Publication Manual of the APA (2001), Section 1.09 Method, pp. 17-20.

11. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION The Method Section (2) We use the following headings and sub-headings for the method section: METHOD Participants Measuring Instrument Procedure

12. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Method Section (3) • Some of the most common mistakes students make in their method section are listed below. Please try and avoid these. • The demographic details (e.g. sex, race, occupation, school attended, etc.) you collect by means of your questionnaire should be presented as a description of your sample/participants; these demographic details are NOT results (except where used as independent variables) • Unclear and incomplete descriptions of the nature of your participants – you are engaged in measurement, therefore you should tell the reader clearly what kind of people responded to your measuring instrument • Collecting irrelevant demographic data that have nothing to do with your project (participants get irritated if they have to complete too many unnecessary questions!) • Describing a research instrument which has been published before in detail – just refer the reader to the reference

13. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Method Section (4) • Developing a new research instrument and not describing it in full • Placing a research instrument in an appendix when it should go into the method section – readers do not want to go and search for information • Using a URL that does not work to present an electronic research instrument • Presenting the procedure sub-section in a confused manner – this is a logical sequence of what you did to collect your data • Confusing the research instrument and procedure sub-sections – check module reading material and the Publication Manual of the APA to see what goes where

14. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION The Results Section In your Research Methods module, you will get extensive information on writing the results section. Please refer to the readings and notes for that module. Also refer to the Publication Manual of the APA (2001), Section 1.10 Results, pp. 20-26. This is the section where most mistakes are made and where students are generally quite heavily penalised. There are specific formats for reporting your results; if you do not follow these formats and conventions your results section will not be acceptable. You learn how to report results by reading original research. Before you report your results, your supervisor will request you to find and read at least two papers from a recent edition of the South African Journal of Organizational Psychology or the South African Journal of Psychology. These two papers should report the same kind of results you are going to report. Your supervisor will explain the conventions to you and your job is to report your results in the format used in these two journals.

15. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Results Section (2) • Some of the most common mistakes students make in their results section are listed below. Please try and avoid these. • Not reading original research and noting how results are reported in published articles • Reporting unnecessary results – the convention is that only statistically significant results are reported in full • Including reams of individual results and raw data • Leaving out crucial information (e.g. sample size, level of significance, mean, standard deviation, etc. – where required) • Using the wrong format for figures • Using the wrong format for tables • Not numbering figures and tables consecutively

16. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Results Section (3) • Tables and figures not following immediately after you have mentioned the table or figure in text • Splitting a figure or a table over two pages – all figures and tables should be reported in full on one page. For this reason the font size of figures and tables can be smaller than 12 point • Reporting results haphazardly – report your results in the sequence you used for your research questions at the end of your literature review

17. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION The Discussion Section In your Research Methods module, you will get extensive information on writing the discussion section. Please refer to the readings and notes for that module. Also refer to the Publication Manual of the APA (2001), Section 1.11 Discussion, pp. 26-27. In this section you evaluate and interpret your results against the research you cited in your literature review and the research questions you formulated at the end of your literature review. It is admissable to combine your results and discussion in a single section. You have to decide which format (two sections or a single section) would be the easiest to read for the people who assess your project

18. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Discussion Section (2) • Some of the most common mistakes students make in their results section are listed below. Please try and avoid these. • Being too brief and not interpreting all results against the research in your literature review • Simply repeating sections of your literature review without any application, interpretation or evaluation • Leaving out alternative explanations of your results • Not applying your results to the specific context from which your data were gathered – you have generated new knowledge by means of your project and have to show how this knowledge can be used • Adding substantial new information, which you have not mentioned in your literature review. It is acceptable to mention one or two recent studies which support/contradict unexpected findings. It is not acceptable to start off in a whole new direction here

19. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION • The Discussion Section (2) • Not discussing the limitations of your dissertation • Not discussing the contribution your dissertation is making to the field of organisational psychology/the issue under research • Writing the section in such a way that your reader is left with the impression that you have run out of energy to finish your dissertation properly

20. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION First Things Last This may seem strange, but you usually do your front page, acknowledgements and table of contents just before you hand in your final draft. The following sections will deal with these final additions.

21. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION The Front Page Please click hereto view the format of the front page.

22. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Acknowledgements When you submit your dissertation for examination, you complete a formal requirement for your degree and the dissertation becomes the intellectual property of the University of Cape Town. It is customary to thank your supervisor, the participants and the people who provided access to the participants. You may also want to thank the people who assisted with you data analyses or the editing of the manuscript. Please note that this section is written in academic style – in other words, formal and concise. Avoid emotional and intimate declarations of gratitude to your partner, dead grandmother, pet, any god or spirits. A scientific document required for degree purposes is not the place for such inappropriate revelations.

23. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Abstract Refer to the Publication Manual of the APA (2001), Section 1.07, Abstract, pp. 12-15. The abstract is the one of the most difficult sections to write and it may be a good idea to leave it until the last stages of your dissertation. This is the first section the reader will see of your writing – it can make or break you! It should be 100% accurate and correct – no referencing or grammatical errors, coherently presented (do not cut and paste here as you want a flowing style) and a very specific description of your research. Abstracts are usually not longer than 120 words and are presented in a blocked, indented, 1.5 line-spaced format.

24. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Table of Contents The table of contents should enable the reader to find specific sections within the dissertation document quite easily. Use MS Word to construct your table of contents, as the template will ensure that the page numbers in your table correspond to the page number of the specific section you are looking for.

25. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Handing in your Dissertation Please hand in two hard, ring-bound copies of your dissertation to your supervisor. Your supervisor will hand these copies, together with the necessary documentation, to the Head of Section. Please hand in one electronic copy to your supervisor. This copy is for your supervisor’s records. The Higher Degrees Committee (HDC) of the Commerce Faculty is the custodian of the integrity of the external examination process. Two examiners, external to the University, have two months to examine your dissertation. Thereafter, the HDC contacts the Head of Section who makes a recommendation to the Committee. This recommendation is based on Faculty rules: the average of the two marks awarded by the external examiners is recommended; however, if there is a discrepancy of more than 10% between these two marks, the Head of Section recommends that an assessor be appointed to award a final mark. As this process involves two or three independent examiners from outside the University, there is no appeal procedure.

26. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Why you did this dissertation You may wonder why you have spent half of your time during your Master’s year doing a research dissertation. You may say to us that in your job as a people manager you never do research. So why do we think that producing a research dissertation is a valuable learning experience which will enrich your future working life? Let us first look at what you have learnt by doing this dissertation. You have learnt how to formulate a problem clearly and concisely (your research question). You proceeded systematically to collect existing evidence that illustrated your research question. Then you designed a process to collect further evidence in a manner that will stand up to scrutiny (your method). You also reported clearly and concisely how you analysed your own evidence. Finally, you engaged in a very complex mental operation – you interpreted and evaluated your evidence against the existing evidence of other scientists. These are the short term outcomes of doing a research dissertation.

27. MASTER’S RESEARCH DISSERTATION Why you did this dissertation(2) However, our concern is with the transfer and application of this knowledge and these skills to your job as a people manager. In South Africa, most people managers have very busy jobs and have to make many important decisions which affect people’s lives at work. They seldom collect existing evidence, or produce new evidence or evaluate the new evidence against the existing evidence when they make these decisions. Very often their decisions are ineffective, they backfire, or they have unintended consequences. Sometimes, unintentionally, they even make decisions that are harmful to people. You have the skills to evaluate interventions and future decisions critically – you know how to collect the evidence to do this and how to evaluate the evidence systematically. We expect strategic partners to be able to deal with complexity. This is exactly what you dissertation has enabled you to do.