Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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Oh, good morning, everyone.
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So this is just a very quick video to talk
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you through some feedback.
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Read your chapters now and there is some consistent feedback
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that's needed across the entirety of the group or nearly
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universally across the whole group.
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So I wanted to make sure that I did this
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in the most efficient way possible by sharing this with
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everybody. So there are certainly lessons that every student will
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get something out of from this very brief video that
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touches on both what you've done in your literature review
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and your methodology is some of the same areas are
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coming through.
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So it's up to you guys now to very carefully
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go through this.
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There is detailed feedback available for you as well.
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That's actually posted as part of the model page.
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If you go into the turn it in draft links,
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you'll be able to see that.
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But this really is high level to make sure that
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everyone is fully aware of what some of the issues
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are that you're facing.
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So for a lot of people were seeing quite a
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bit of old literature, outdated literature.
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So try and avoid this as best you possibly can.
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Now it's absolutely fine to you, seminal and important works
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of literature that are the foundation of some of your
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literature. Review.
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However, I'm getting a lot of information that is 15
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2025 years old.
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That isn't that important in terms of its credibility in
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the grand scheme of things.
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So if you're talking about, let's say and subs matrix,
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it's absolutely important to include that reference from Igor Answer
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from the late fifties early 19 sixties, of course, because
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it builds the foundation.
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But if loss of your work is talking about contemporaneous
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and modern subjects, but it's 2025 years old, you're starting
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to get out of date with us.
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So have the foundational stuff.
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Have the parted history, the short history.
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But make sure the majority of your literature falls within
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that 5 10 years at the absolute most boundaries.
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So some of your literature will need updating now.
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This isn't as grand challenges it might seem.
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You actually not have to rewrite everything.
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You'll be able to revisit some of those particularly old
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references and take a look on the universities databases, the
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library site.
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Take a look on Google Scholar and invariably you'll be
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able to find more up to date information.
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It may change some of the arguments that you're making,
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but largely it will just make this a more modern
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piece of work, so I wouldn't worry too much about
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it. But it is something that you need to take
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a look at.
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So also, I want to talk to everyone about their
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citation format and as well as that, the reference format
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at the back of the document.
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Now this, I understand, is a challenge for a lot
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of students coming into the final year, particularly our top
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up students who may not have been in the good
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habit of using the Harvard referencing system.
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So I do urge everybody to take a look at
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the university's guidelines on referencing to make sure that you're
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getting this correct.
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It's a very formulaic, simple and straightforward thing to do,
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but it does require practice now.
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I have been through this in a session with you
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guys separately about how to use Google Scholar to do
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this, and it's simply a matter of putting your reference
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into Google Scholar.
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Using the quotation marks and copying and pasting the Harvard
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reference, and that's for the back of the reference at
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the back of the document and then putting that in
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alphabetical order.
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So we want to see plenty of citations.
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Modern citations best we possibly can as well up to
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date and from credible sources of information, but making sure
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that you are falling within the bounds of the Harvard
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referencing format at all times.
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It's a very easy place to drop marks, so try
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your very best to follow that format.
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Also, I would suggest a good proof read of your
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work. Now it's taking quite a generous reading of some
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of your work to understand exactly the point you're trying
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to make.
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So absolutely share your work with your peers.
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Share your work with students services, have a chat with
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the international office who are looking after some of the
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English language and say, Can you help me with some
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of this?
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And you will get that help and support?
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I'll do my best.
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They possibly can in looking at your drafts and pointing
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in the right direction.
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But as you can imagine, with some 20 plus students
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actually proof, reading your work wouldn't be a good use
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of our time collectively, so I want to guide you
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academically. Best they can, but it's very important that you
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do carefully proof.
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Read your work because you're starting to see a few
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errors and difficult to decipher arguments on occasion as well.
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So best you can fastidiously carefully go through your work.
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Make sure that it's making sense that it's clear, cogent
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and fluid in the arguments that you're trying to make
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as well.
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One of the biggest concerns, probably the biggest concern I
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do have, is the risk for plagiarism.
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So having looked at a number of drafts now are
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all of the drafts.
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I'm seeing fairly continual scores of 35 40 45% on
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turning in now.
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This is far too higher score, I've said to most
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of those people in that scenario, but as this is
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a draft, I'll take it that you're actually just trying
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to build up that body of literature, and your intent
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is to actually summarize that work into your own words
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at a later point.
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But that is where that ends.
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It cannot be your final submission with such a high
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score, so you do have to paraphrase rephrase the work
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of other academics putting that into your own language.
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It's unacceptable to have large copy and paste chunks.
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Also again, going back to the earlier point I made
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about using correct citation formats as well, so you cannot
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pass off work as your own isn't your own.
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And so you have to make sure you're properly citing
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the work.
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But these scores presently are far too high.
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I would say that we want to get down to
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at least sub 20% if not lower than that, if
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possible. But this is certainly going to be a red
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flag. It will be an unavoidable one if we have
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lots of scores around the 40 mark.
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There is a risk then of that being considered academic
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misconduct. And there is a very important point to be
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made here that if that happens, this is a 40
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credit module.
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You would have to then reset with a penalty, and
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that penalty would be capped at 40% having quite the
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significant impact on the overall classification of your degree.
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So please, please revisit this and make sure you're bringing
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that score down to as low as you possibly can
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because You certainly don't want to be a red flag
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for that.
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Okay, so structure is another point that I want to
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talk about, particularly when it comes to your literature review.
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So a lot of people have written some very interesting
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arguments, but it's meanders and goes off in different directions.
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You want a very focused structure.
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So what I would say at the beginning of every
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chapter from your literature review on words, make sure you
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are stating the actual objective that chapter is trying to
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deal with.
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So for your literature review, you would have had an
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earlier objective to review extent literature in a particular field.
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Make sure you restate that, making it very clear to
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the reader the context of this particular chapter.
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I've included an image here of a funnel.
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So my funnel image is basically to say that I
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want you to start off with a broad and move
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towards the specific.
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That's basically the gist of what this image means.
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So at the very beginning, you want to set the
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context. If you're looking at a broad field, I want
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the definitions of that field.
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The main things are going to be talking about across
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the rest of the chapter, and then focus and focus
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get narrower and narrower and nearer to the very specific
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research question that you have.
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Ultimately, what I'd like to see the end of everybody's
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literature review chapter is you started off with these very
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broad ideas.
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So let's say you were talking about corporate social responsibility.
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You would define corporate social responsibility very broadly, and then
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you would talk about the models and the academic work
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that's gone on in corporate social responsibility.
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So this could be Carol's pyramid, for instance, Or it
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could be people planet profit models.
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All of these sorts of things discussed the context and
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its broad sense.
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Then discuss the contents more narrowly related to your research
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questions. So if you were looking at Carol's Pyramid and
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your research question was related to fast food restaurants, then
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you discuss CSR specifically to fast food restaurants.
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And if you are looking specifically at, say, Heidi Lao
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as a company, you might look more at Chinese fast
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food restaurants in relation to CSR, and you get to
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the very bottom of that funnel.
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We have your specific research question and you'll make an
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argument to say the presently there is little literature in
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this specific area that you have chosen, which is why
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you've actually written your thesis in the first place.
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So that's structure in relation to your literature review in
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terms of your methodologies.
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So that again, some issues with structure here I would
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say methodology is reasonably simple chapter as it doesn't move
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in the way that other subjects do.
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Research has been research forever.
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So again, following a very simple and straightforward structure to
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begin that chapter again restating what your objective is for
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that particular chapter.
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So again taking it straight from the objective that you've
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put in your introduction and just restate that objective in
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your methodology.
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Tell me what research is working definition of research?
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I do recommend, perhaps looking at Collison Haci.
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I think it's 2013 business research.
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This is available on the online library, and Collison has
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his book is actually very useful as a foundational part
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of your methodology.
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Anyway, this is very good, very understandable information in that
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book, so that's worth picking up.
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And after you said what researches and the name of
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your particular piece of research, I then suggest you take
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a look at the research onion and use that research
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onion as the structure for the rest of your chapter,
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so you'll work from the outside in.
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You'll talk about what your research philosophy is.
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You talk about what methods you're actually choosing to operationalized
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the research.
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But what I would expect from each subsection is a
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definition and explanation of what that is.
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So if you're choosing perhaps positivism, you explain to me
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what positivism is.
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But then, after you've done that, explain to me why
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positivism is the appropriate approach for your particular type of
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research. So it's numbers based.
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You're trying to perhaps test the hypothesis.
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That's why you've chosen positivism, and it fits in with
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the philosophy of the research thesis.
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Just follow that exact same structure all the way through.
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So looking at where you are in the research onion,
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tell me what it is you're doing and why it
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is you're doing it.
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Just follow that through, and you can't go too far
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wrong again.
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As with the literature review, we do want this backed
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up by credible literature, the dates, perhaps less matter less
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in this instance.
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As I said, research doesn't move as much as other
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topics do, so make sure you're following that formula.
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There are a few other things you do need to
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include that aren't particularly crystal clear in the research.
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And you and I would say one of those is
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the sample populations that isn't particularly well dealt with in
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the research.
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And then So tell me who your sample is, how
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you're selecting that sample.
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So is it a random sample?
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Is it a purpose, for example, again backing that up
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with the literature following on from that as well?
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How are you going to contact your sample?
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So I've seen some very interesting ideas for your dissertations
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and some reference speaking to quite high level people, and
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it could be the case that you have access to
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those people, but you need to make it clear to
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the reader how you're going to contact these people.
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So if you're intending to speak to five managers, let's
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say as part of an interview process, tell me exactly
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how you're going to source those managers.
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And if you're going to send a questionnaire or to
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150 people, tell me exactly how that questionnaire is going
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to arrive with them.
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Is it going to be on Facebook?
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Twitter, Sina Weibo Are you going to get it out?
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Fire a different medium?
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Is it going to be face to face interviews?
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Is it going to be via Microsoft teams, etcetera in
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all the detail of that as well, how we are
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putting your thesis into action, the other things that aren't
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particularly well covered in terms of the research Onion is
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ethics, so make sure you're putting your ethical considerations in.
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Now. For most undergraduate dissertations, the ethical considerations will be
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largely the same.
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But you still need to make sure that you're stating
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them one.
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You would have complete an ethics form, and that's a
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very good thing to append to your dissertation.
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What I would say is generally that most students will
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be telling me that they're keeping people's data safe so
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it's encrypted in some way and kept on a memory
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stick. In that memory stick is password protected.
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Also, that you would be keeping that data anonymous.
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Who wouldn't be identifying anybody and also that anything said
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is confidential as well, so make sure they're making those
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points. Don't just write that out.
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As I've said it again, engage with the literature.
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Tell me why.
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Confidentiality, anonymity security are all important, and there will be
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plenty of information.
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And again, you're building up a body of work to
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support what you've done.
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So you have your ethical considerations, and then finally, you
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would have your limitations.
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Now a lot of people shy away from limitations as
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they feel they're suggesting their work will be good enough.
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But that absolutely isn't the case.
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This is about us being honest as students and us
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as academics, about where there's potential for these to fall
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short. So I think covid is one thing we can
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certainly mention, as this has changed the dynamic greatly for
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any form of research, from undergraduate all the way through
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to postgraduate doctoral and people working in research based universities
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as well.
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Covid is an enormous challenge.
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For most of you, Time is going to be constraint
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and perhaps resources money.
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All of these things may be potential limitations for your
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study. Again include them.
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Don't shy away from them because you feel you're sharing
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a light on potential problems.
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It's far better for us to be honest and candid
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about what those issues might be.
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So that's what the structure you expect to see from
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your both your literature review and methodology chapter.
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And finally, I want to say, email me.
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So we had a discussion very kindly with two academics
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from the Confucius Institute, which helped with some of the
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translation and language barriers that we might have encountered so
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far. But I do want an open dialogue as much
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as I possibly can and attend the sessions that I
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set up.
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I know attendance has been a little bit spotty, a
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little bit sporadic at time, so please do get in
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touch, and I will look at the draft for you.
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I will give you detailed feedback.
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I will give you all the help I possibly can.
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I would suggest email rather than model going forward only
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because I will keep it.
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Close that tab on that and respond directly to you,
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and nothing will fall between the gaps then because you'll
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have the response that you need.
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So I'm here to support and help in every capacity
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I possibly can keep those channels