RESEARCH THESIS WRITING GUIDELINES

Topic Selection
Important points before selecting a topic 1. Select a topic that you are passionate about. You must invest a great amount of time in the research so if you are not truly interested in it, the necessary commitment may waver. 2. Second, I suggest that you select a topic that you know about or one with which you have a unique vantage point to make a genuine contribution. There is a movie that's about 20 or 25 years old that reinforces this point very strongly -- it is called "Cross Creek." I recommend that you find a copy of the movie and watch it with your cohort of new researchers, then discuss it. It may greatly influence your thinking about research.

Methods to select a topic

Few areas from which you can generate a topic 1. Your personal experience, thought or idea 2. Reading article 3. Expert opinion a. Ask Pakistani and international experts in your field what plausible problems they are encountering, you can find many email IDs at the end of each Journal article, web site of any renowned Universities, and website of multi-national corporations, remember Hard work does not have any alternative but smartness has its own charm (TMQ) 4. You can also read comments by Martin Charles editor Journal of service marketing on Eleven years of scholarly research in journal of service marketing by Deon Nel, et al., (2011). In this article note Charles comment about Paul Koku's research. His approach to finding research topics is an excellent and creative one. (Article can be furnished upon request)

Refinement of topic
1. In order to refine the topic I would recommend instead of reading cumbersome articles to identify gap in literature, read special issues of different journals or meta-analysis pertinent to the area you have identified, remember to have quality you must read quality not quantity, go for top tier journals in idea refinement phase a. Special Issues (e.g.,) i. Marketing 1. Road map of CRM (2004), Journal of Marketing 2. Food, Marketing and children, Journal of consumer behavior, call 2011 3. European Journal of Marketing (Issue 5, 2010 Branding and marketing, Issue , 2010 Political marketing) ii. HR 1. Career Development International (Issue 2, 2011 Temporary employment costs and benefits) 2. Human Resource Management International Digest (Issue 2, 2011 leadership) 3. Personnel Review (Issue 6, 2010 Islam and Human resource management) 4. Academy of management Relational Pluralism Of Individuals, Teams And Organizations call October 2011 iii. Accounting & Finance

1. Accounting Research Journal (Issue 2, 2009 Governance issues in accounting) 2. International Journal of Managerial Finance (Issue 2, 2011 Rethinking international finance) List of forth coming special issues can be found
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/authors/writing/calls.htm

b. Meta analysis (e.g.,) i. Reward, punishment and cooperation: A meta-analysis by Balliet et al., 2011 ii. Eleven years of scholarly research in journal of service marketing by Deon Nel, et al., (2011)

Check list after Topic selection (Knowing end before start can clarify many points)
You must know plausible reasons for any topic to get accepted in an Impact factor journal. Thus your topic must be broad and refined enough to cover all stated points a. After topic selection make sure your purpose is clearly written, e.g., what you want to do, what actually you want to find from this research, where shall you publish it, what is your core area of focus (This point provides a base for the whole research, if base is weak or blurred than you cannot build huge and strong buildings on it) b. Can your topic address multiple audiences? (If two papers are otherwise similar the one that speaks to both academics and practitioners will have an advantage) c. Can your topic cover multiple industries (Papers that cut across multiple types of businesses tend to have an advantage compared to those that people from only one or a few industries would be interested in reading) d. At the current moment or in future does your topic have potential to collect data from different countries (If two competing papers are otherwise similar, the one with international data is likely to have an advantage) For an example Here's a simple example: If you are interested in branding research in services, consider a cross-cultural approach to the selection of service brand names. As brand names help create and communicate an image of the service and organization, what constitutes an effective brand name for a service? Moreover, as many service firms seek to establish an international presence, to what extent to service brand names (or key words in those names) share similar meanings around the world? This is an example of a research topic that could be of potential interest to both academics and business practitioners. Also, if you collected data from three or more quite different countries (with different languages and cultures) and compare/contrast the findings, your research might have an advantage in that many journals seek to publish truly international papers

Proposal writing (Proposal if made clear and well-defined can eliminate 40-50% problems that you may encounter during thesis writing) Make sure you have covered all these points
Clear purpose Theoretical framework well supported by (theory, empirical evidence, econometric modeling) Variables (Independent and dependent) there definitions (operationalization) Relationships that are to be studied between variables correlation/regression etc properly backed by literature Validity of construct Research Methodology matched with the theoretical framework or study objective Population, sampling unit Sample size to be collected (it must be gerneralizable) Sampling technique (is it matching with research methodology, have you ample arguments to support this sampling technique What are the data collection tools (scales etc), how are they best suited for this study construct What are the analysis tools, are they sufficient to explain hypothesis/ Research question/ purpose Do not forget to include timeline (Its not about only writing it down but importantly knowing it)

(There are other elements as well hypothesis, research question, introduction, limitations, ethical consideration etc) Tip: While covering every phase e.g., sampling, methodology make sure you have gathered at least 2 to 3 arguments to support your work e.g., why this sample size, how can it be generalized, why not more or less than what you have selected

Thesis writing & Finalizing

1. Proof reading Am I conveying the ideas in a symmetrical form Have I answered all Research questions and hypothesis, are the answers clearly mentioned Are my ideas clearly and logically defined Spellings Solution: I recommend that you work closely with someone who is fluent in English someone who can help you to communicate your ideas. It is very important to proofread the paper carefully -- scrutinizing every sentence, every word. Word should be spelled correctly as well as scholars' names. o When you spell Peter Drucker's name, for example, as "Druker" and Likert as "lkert", as examples, o Readers may not trust that you did not misplace the decimal points in Table 1 (is the first Cronbach's alpha 0.854 or should it be .0854?) Readers use what they do know and can evaluate (spelling of Drucker and Likert) as springboards to evaluate what they cannot objectively know (e.g., Cronbach's alpha).

Check for formatting , number the pages, have you observed all formatting requirements as mentioned by institute / journal

Introduction
Is your introduction written in a manner that is giving reader reason to read more (it means is your story written in an interesting and symmetrical form) Make the purpose of your study clear In the first couple of pages explain why you did the research, why it is important and what you intend to share with the reader. Give the reader compelling reasons to keep reading. o Is there a clear research question, with a solid motivation behind it? o Is the research question interesting? o After reading the introduction, did you find yourself motivated to read further? At the ending paragraph define the organization of the study (how well the rest of article or thesis be written)

Literature review
If you have 2 IV and 1 DV than Have explained and defined IV1, IV2, DV, IV1-DV, IV2-DV with the help of literature Have you given logical support to your construct/hypothesis/ Research question/ Purpose of the study Have you summarized the literature in a meaningful way for your reader Here it is important to mention that make sure you have included all related references especially critical references as mentioning brand equity David Askers reference is critical, mentioning customer satisfaction Parsurman is critical

Methodology
Is your research methodology technically correct e.g., means you have not run multiple regression where simple regression was to be run. For another example, If you want to identify buying pattern of consumers than primary research is more appropriate rather than secondary Have you clearly mentioned and logically/clearly supported the research methodology used o Is your schematic diagram/ model/ concept/ theoretical framework well developed, articulated and supported (theoretically, empirically from literature gap, and econometrically) for this I would recommend you to read introduction section of Corporate responsibility and financial performance: the role of intangible resources by Jordi surroca et al., 2010 How was the construct validated? Is the data collection method matching with methodology, Explain how the data were collected, if questionnaire, how many total distributed, returned and qualified What are the measurement tools (scales) there reliabilities (cronbach alpha) What is population of the study What is the sample, sampling unit, sampling technique, how did you opt for this sample size, how is this sampling technique appropriate to chosen research methodology Is your hypothesis supported logically and is it persuasive, is the hypothesis flowing from theory

Analysis

Have you properly shown answers to your research question/ hypothesis with stats (if applicable) (t-test, chi-square, regression, correlation etc) Have you included sufficient tables and exhibits to support your purpose Are the analytical techniques appropriate for the theory and research questions and were they applied appropriately Are the results reported in an understandable way? Are there alternative explanations for the results, and if so, are these adequately controlled for in the analyses? For analysis part I will recommend you to study 1st two chapters of Paul D. Ellis The essential Guide to Effect size especially page number 40-42

Discussion
In this section it is appropriate for you to mention are your results consistent or inconsistent with previous research. Important point is along with mentioning my research findings are consistent/ inconsistent with previous research also mention what can be the reason for this consistency/ inconsistency, and what shall be the practical/academic implication of this result.

Conclusion
Managerial/ academic implications are very important Make sure that the managerial implications are not superficial and clearly supported by the data o For example; if your work is on training and development saying my research gives insights to practitioners that they have to improve training and development; is an abstract term, you must be more specific and clear. For another example; marketing students often give suggestions that practitioners can improve sale or increase customer loyalty/satisfaction by enhancing product quality again statement is abstract make it more specific. o What other implications have you proposed for (if applicable) society, buyers, public policy maker or other non-business and non-academic audiences. What is your studies genuine contribution to the literature Future scope Limitation o Other than limitations pertinent to your specific research area, have you identified inherent limitations in research (as of methodology, sampling size, sampling technique etc)

Overall Is your manuscript well written, interesting reading, reasonably concise

For further support I would recommend to listen workshop on Academic writing challenges conducted by IRP 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oku-suvCbM IRP-Academic Writing Workshop -Video on Writing Challenges 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu_haGJee3Q IRP-Academic Writing Workshop- Video on Thesis writing 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87gu2j1wGtQ IRP-Academic Writing Workshop - Video on Proposal Writing/ Rejection 4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy4d_ug41LQ IRP-Academic Writing Workshop -Video on Writing for Publishing 5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ldcE6t1bX4 IRP-Academic Writing Workshop-Video on After Writing Challenges 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxNBb9LbqRw IRP-Academic Writing Workshop-Video on Academic Writing Challenges Part-2 7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS4GYz2IzI8 IRP-Academic Writing Workshop -Video on Proposal Writing & Rejection Note: Yes research requires time but not 12 hours a day, only 2-3 hours every day (doing research with intervals will always bring you to zero point and hamper your learning curve) The above suggestions are a part of my experience in research and my discussion with Martin Charles, editor Journal of Service Marketing

Acknowledgement I thank all my teachers and Martin for providing me such insight in research

Regards, Waseem Irshad Coordinator Academic Wing Resource Mentors