I attached a proposal with the topic and base knowledgee of the topic.
1. STRUCTURING THE PROJECT
-Title Page
-Abstract
-Table of Contents
-Introduction
-Main Body of the Project
-Conclusions
-Bibliography/List of References
-Appendices (if needed)
Abstract
This is typically between 100-300 words and should contain a brief summary of the study. In the case
of a dissertation, the summary should include brief sentences that describe the issue at hand, the
methodology for researching it, and the main results. The abstract is best written towards the very
end of the project.
Table of Contents
This should give a list of the chapters or sections of the project. Tables, figures and other illustrations
should be listed separately.
ALL PAGES MUST BE NUMBERED.
Introduction
This should provide a statement of the question being asked and a rationale for studying it. The rest
of the Introduction follows different patterns depending on the nature of the project.
For a research project, this should be followed by brief descriptions of the research methods used, of
results obtained and of related studies and their findings. Tips for a good Introduction to a
dissertation.
Progress from the general to the specific
Discuss highlights of relevant published work Include critical appraisal (both methodological and theoretical)
Identify gaps in the literature and how the study aims to fill them
State aims of the study, research question(s) or hypothesis
Formulate a rationale for chosen methodology (briefly here, more detail in the methodology)
For a literature survey, the statement of the question and its rationale should be followed by a
summary description of the state of the existing literature around it, a rationale for how that literature
can be sub-divided into separate strands and brief summaries pertaining to each strand.
The last paragraph of the Introduction should mention how the rest of the project is structured. Note
that, just like the Abstract, the Introduction is best written at the very end of the project.
Main Body
For a dissertation the main body consists of two main sections (which may have sub-sections)
Methodology
This section should provide a clear and detailed account of the steps taken by the researcher. It should:
State the main methods used to study the question
A rationale for the methods
The data used in the study, and software for analysing the data (if applicable).
Results
This section should provide a clear and accurate summary of the major findings of the study. It should:
Present clear, plain statements of what was found including the analysis applied to the data and
summaries of the results of these analyses.
Include tables, diagrams and graphs but only to the extent that they pertain to the main results.
If conducting theoretical research, include sketches of the proofs but not the details.
Detailed calculations, proofs and empirical results that do not directly address the main
question(s) under study should go to the Appendix.
For a literature survey, the main body consists of separate sections and sub-sections, each of which
pertains to a separate strand of the literature. In each section, there should be a critical survey of the
papers that pertain to it. A good literature survey has the following properties:
The structure of the survey, i.e. the choice of sections and sub-sections reflects an informed
overview of the topic. It is best to have read a selection of papers before deciding on the
structure.
It does not discuss papers sequentially, i.e. one at a time, rather it constantly compares papers
with each other, highlighting common findings as well as conflicting ones as it goes.
When papers have conflicting results, it attempts to explain why the conflict might have
arisen.
Since the choice of data and of research methodology can very often influence the results
obtained, it displays an understanding of the role that these elements play in the results
reported in each paper. In other words, a good survey is based on reading not just the
Introduction and the Conclusions of each paper but on understanding the connection
between data, methodology and results. This is also where the critical element of each survey
is brought to bear.
The above hints apply to the literature review section of a dissertation as well.
Conclusions
This section recaps what the project has achieved and discusses the policy implications, if any, of the
findings. It highlights the value added by the project and relates it to previous work. It identifies the
limitations of the study and proposes how these could be overcome in future research. Finally it could
propose directions for future research on the topic.
Bibliography/References
References to the literature should be presented in the main text as follows:
“According to Pilbeam (2005) sterlized interventions is less…….”
“In their analysis of the relationship between migration and infectious diseases, Mesnard and
Seabright (2016) report that …”
“A study by Iori et al (2015) showed that….
In the Bibliography section, all cited papers should be listed alphabetically, with details of year of
publication, full title, journal name, volume, issue number and pages:
Iori, G., Kapar, B. and Olmo, J. (2015), “Bank Characteristics and the Interbank Money Market: A
distributional Approach,” Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics, 19(3), pp. 249–283.
Mesnard, A.M. and Seabright, P. (2016) “Migration and The Equilibrium Prevalence of Infectious
Diseases,” Journal of Demographic Economics, vol 82, no 1, pp. 1–26.
Pilbeam, K. (2005) “The Relative Effectiveness of Sterilized and Non Sterilized Foreign Exchange
Market interventions,” Journal of Policy Modeling, vol 27, no 3, pp.375-383.
Appendices
Appendices may contain raw data and/or any other information which you would like the reader to
consider. Appendices should be numbered (i.e. appendix I, II, III etc) and titled (e.g. Appendix I: Raw
data, Appendix II: Researcher’s Memos, Appendix III: Interview Transcripts, etc) However, there
should be no information in the appendices which is essential to the comprehension of the arguments
presented in the main body of the Project.