MSc Dissertation Pack

2015-16

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO STUDENTS

This handbook contains important information about MSc Dissertations.
We expect you to read this document thoroughly and be fully familiar with its
contents. If there is anything that you do not understand or is unclear, you should
contact your Programme Administrator as soon as possible and seek clarification.

MSc Dissertation Pack 2015-16

Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 3
STAFF ................................................................................................................................ 3
DISSERTATION CALENDAR 2015-16 .............................................................................. 5
WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION ..................................................................................... 6
SUPERVISION OF YOUR DISSERTATION ...................................................................... 9
SUBMITTING YOUR DISSERTATION ............................................................................. 10
MASTERS DISSERTATION TITLE AND ETHICS STATEMENT .................................... 13
EXTENSIONS AND MEDICAL/MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES ................................... 13
WORKING ON YOUR DISSERTATION OUTSIDE THE UK ............................................ 13

Appendices
APPENDIX A: Ethical Approval Guidelines ...................................................................... 14
APPENDIX A2: MBS Masters (PGT) Programmes Research Ethics Policy and
Procedures ....................................................................................................................... 14
APPENDIX B: Masters Dissertation Title and Ethics Statement Form............................. 14
APPENDIX C: Guidance for the Presentation of Taught Dissertations for PGT Provision in
Alliance Manchester Business School .............................................................................. 14
APPENDIX D: Research Outside the UK Form ................................................................ 14
APPENDIX E: Destination Form (submit with dissertation) .............................................. 14

Introduction
This document provides information on the dissertation component of Alliance Manchester
Business Schools Postgraduate Taught Masters Programmes. You should read this
document carefully in conjunction with the handbook specific to your programme. In particular,
your programme handbook contains important information about plagiarism, assessment, and
personal mitigating circumstances. Please refer to your handbook for these details. All
students received their programme handbook during the induction week (the PGT Office has
limited additional copies should you require one).
Please also refer to the following University links for further policy information with particular
emphasis on plagiarism and academic malpractice.
Plagiarism and Academic Malpractice - Guidance for Students
http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=2870

Procedure for Handling Academic Malpractice Cases

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=639

Staff
Administrators
The following staff provided administrative support for Masters dissertations on the
programmes listed, respectively:
Vickie Barlow (Victoria.Barlow@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative support for:
MSc Human Resource Management & Industrial Relations
MSc International Human Resource Management & Comparative Industrial Relations
Please direct all initial queries and requests to her in the first instance (PGT G.017 Dover
Street).
Svetlana Budyakova (Svetlana.Budyakova@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative
support for:
MSc International Business and Management
Please direct all initial queries and requests to her in the first instance (PGT G.016 Dover
Street).
Lesley-ann Dunn (Lesley-ann.Dunn@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative support for:
MSc Marketing
MSc Corporate Communications & Reputation Management
Please direct all initial queries and requests to her in the first instance (PGT G.016 Dover
Street).
Paul Guy (Paul.Guy@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative support for:
MSc Management
MSc Operations Project and Supply Chain Management
Please direct all initial queries and requests to him in the first instance (PGT G.017 Dover
Street).
Lucy Filmore (Lucy.Filmore@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative support for:
MSc Business Analytics: Operational Research and Risk Analysis

Please direct all initial queries and requests to her in the first instance (PGT G.017 Dover
Street).
Emily Marsden (Emily.Marsden@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative support for:
MSc Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship
Please direct all initial queries and requests to him in the first instance (PGT G.017 Dover
Street).
Pippa Paga (Pippa.Paga@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative support for:
MSc Accounting and Finance
MSc Finance
MSc Finance and Business Economics
MSc Quantitative Finance and Financial Engineering
MSc Quantitative Finance and Risk Management
Please direct all initial queries and requests to her in the first instance (PGT G.016 Dover
Street).
Matthew Przysiecki (Matthew.Przysiecki@manchester.ac.uk) provides administrative support
for:
MSc Business Analysis & Strategic Management
MSc Organisational Psychology
MSc Business Psychology
Please direct all initial queries and requests to him in the first instance (PGT G.017 Dover
Street).

Dissertation Calendar 2015-16

Please note that your supervisor(s) should give you further information regarding exact dates
for meetings and deadlines for submitting written work etc.

Friday 10th June

2016 by 4pm

Deadline for submitting the Masters Dissertation Title and

Ethics Statement form (agreed and signed by supervisor) to
your administrator/PGT Office

Monday 5th
September 2016
by 4pm

Submission of dissertation hard copies and accompanying

documents to the PGT Office (between 9.004.00) AND
Online (via Blackboard)

Mid-November

Board of PGT Examiners confirm final results

Mid-Late
November

Final results published

Writing Your Dissertation

Your dissertation should state the objectives of your investigation, describe your project work
and research methods, and present and discuss your results.
You should write your dissertation in a thorough and explicit style. That is, you should avoid
skimping over details of theoretical analysis, data compilation, features of other published
studies in the same area of research, and so on. You should describe fully any special
difficulties you encountered in the course of your work; together with the means you adopted
to overcome them.
At the same time, your dissertation style should be concise and focused. You should avoid
irrelevant detail, excessive wordiness, and tangential arguments.
The style should usually be objective rather than subjective. You should avoid the use of
polemical statements.
A satisfactory dissertation should demonstrate:
i)

An ability to carry out original work.

ii)

Familiarity with the work done by others in the field of enquiry to which the
dissertation relates, as well as a thorough understanding of both the nature of the
problems that lie at the focus of that work and of the research methodologies
employed in the related literature.

iii) An ability to criticise and evaluate the work described in the related literature and
your own work as reported in your dissertation.
iv) An ability to write a complete report of your project work in good English, in a logical
order and in your own words.
The final version of your dissertation should be free of spelling mistakes. Modern word
processing packages, such as Word, can check spelling and identify poor grammar.
Examiners may tolerate, at their discretion, a small number of errors. However, a large
number of spelling mistakes and errors in grammar may be reason for judging the
dissertation as not reaching Masters standard.
Your dissertation should contain all necessary diagrams, formulae, tables, charts, and
reference list. You should present these items with appropriate identifying information
(titles, equation numbers, labels etc). You must give sources of data in full detail.
A basic structure to a typical dissertation usually includes the following elements:
Introduction: a brief statement of problems and objectives. What are the purposes and aims
of the dissertation?
Critical review of relevant research: This is an important section, which you should structure
in a meaningful way. Reciting brief synopses of articles in chronological order is not an
appropriate way to review the literature. You must draw attention to research themes in the
literature, or analyse papers according to alternative methodologies for comparison. A good
literature review is comprehensive, critical, and informative. You should conclude it by
identifying your intended contribution to the current literature.
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Development and description of your research framework: This is the research

methods/methodology section of the dissertation. Its content will differ depending on the
particular research undertaken. You may use this section, for example, to explain and develop
researchable concepts, formulate models for estimation, or describe hypotheses you intend to
investigate by specified techniques or procedures.
Data: sources and methods. You must describe methods of compiling, adjusting, and
transforming data in full detail. For example, you should describe and explain: methods of
interpolation or seasonal adjustment (if applicable); details of questionnaire design and
delivery, if applicable; data problems and data transformations/adjustments.
Empirical results: description, interpretation, and evaluation.
Limitations: Discussion of strengths and weaknesses of your reported research.
Conclusions: summary of main findings. Comparison with other published research.
Implications of your research for future research and/or any practical implications for
management or government policy.
Reference list: you must enter references in an appropriate format (see below for examples).
You must check to make sure that no references are missing and that you do not include
references that you do not cite in your dissertation. As with spelling/typing mistakes and poor
use of English grammar, incorrect referencing can cause the award of the degree to be
deferred.
Appendices (where necessary): For example, many examiners believe that it is good
practice for candidates to provide in an appendix a full listing of all data sources used in a
project (if this is appropriate and feasible).
Referencing: There are different acceptable referencing styles. Professional journals and
scholarly books provide examples of different acceptable styles. MBS requires students to
follow a variation of the Harvard Style of referencing for all submissions for assessment, not
just the dissertation, as follows:
References to publications in the text or footnotes, other than to newspapers, magazines, or
popular periodicals, should be as follows:
Smith (1992) reports that , Chan et al. (1995) content analyse , (see Fama and
French, 1994).
Note that you can use et al. where there are more than two authors and you are referring to
the article for a second or further time. Note also that if the passage that contains the citation
is already in parenthesis, we normally omit the parenthesis around the year of the reference.
Finally, when you refer to a very specific point in an article that is incidental to its main
contribution, or when you include a quotation from an article, you should give the specific page
reference to this in the original article. For example, Beaver (1996, p.45) refers to .
You should not list references separately in footnotes. If the footnote itself includes text that
contains a reference, you follow the same procedures as in the main text.
The reference list must be in alphabetical order of the first authors surname. Where there are
several papers by the same author(s) the earliest in date order should come first. Examples of
references are as follows:
For books or monographs:

Author(s), Year, Title, Edition (in brackets), City of publication, Publisher

Example:
Pindyck, R.S., Rubinfeld, D.L., 1991. Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts, 3rd
edition, New York: McGraw-Hill.
For contributions to collective works:
Brunner, K., Meltzer A.H., (1990), Money supply. In: Friedman, B.M., Hahn, F.H. (Eds.),
Handbook of Monetary Economics, Vol. 1. North-Holland, Amsterdam, 357396.
For periodicals:
Author(s), Year, Title, Journal name Volume number, Page numbers
Example:
Acton, J.P., 1975. Non-monetary factors in the demand for medical services: some empirical
evidence. Journal of Political Economy 83, 595614.
For references on the web:
Mauboussin, M.J., 1999. Get real: using real options in security analysis. Credit Suisse First
Boston Corp., http://www.capatcolumbia.com/frontiers/Fof10.pdf
Where the reference list contains more than one source from the same author(s) for the same
year you should distinguished them by 2000a, 2000b, etc.
References to newspapers, magazines, and popular periodicals:
You should refer to these in the text or footnotes as follows, The Financial Times (20 June
2001) reported that , Observers also criticized the extent of Gents control over Vodafone
(Economist, May 2000). You should not include these in your reference list.
Dissertation word lengths
MBS does not specify a required, standard length of dissertation for the content varies with the
nature of the project. However, dissertation lengths normally range between 12 25,000
words depending on the discipline. The average length of a Masters dissertation is around
15,000 words, but may be higher or lower. Some programmes, listed below, have word limit
guidelines. If your programme is not listed, or if you are worried about the length of your
dissertation you should consult with your supervisor or your programme director.
MSc Human Resource Management and
Industrial Relations, MSc International
Human Resource Management and
Comparative Industrial Relations

Target length of around 15,000 words

Normally 15,000 20,000 words (a

quantitative dissertation should be around
15,000 words and a qualitative dissertation
up to a maximum of 20,000 words)
12,000 25,000 words

MSc Marketing and CCRM

Accounting, Finance and Quantitative

Finance Dissertations
MSc International Business and Management

Normally 15,000 20,000

8

15,000 18,000 words

12,000 25,000 words
Approximately 12,000

MSc Operations, Projects and Supply Chain

MSc Business Analytics
MSc Business Analysis & Strategic
Management
MSc Innovation Management &
Entrepreneurship
MSc Business/Organisational Psychology

12,000 25,000 words

(normally around 15,000 words)
The limit is 15,000 words and will not
normally be less than 12,000 words

If you submit a dissertation over the maximum word length, then your supervisor must submit
a supporting letter to the programme administrator explaining why the additional length is
required. You are advised to make sure that you have your supervisors agreement before
writing more than the word limit. Exceeding the word limit without permission may result in a
mark penalty based on the extent to which the limit is exceeded more information can be
found in your programme handbook under Guidelines for the application of penalties when
limits for coursework length are exceeded.
For more detailed guidelines on dissertation length, please refer to your supervisor or
programme director.

Supervision of Your Dissertation

This section identifies the responsibilities of your supervisor and yourself during the period of
your dissertation.
The responsibilities of your supervisor are to:
i)

Discuss the choice of research project with you and, in particular, to make sure that in
general terms the project, including any fieldwork, is feasible within the time available.

ii)

Indicate, at the beginning of the project period if necessary, useful, relevant reading.

iii) Give guidance about: the nature of research and the standard expected; the planning of
the research programme, relevant literature, evidence, sources and requisite research
techniques.
iv) Maintain contact through meetings (the frequency of such meetings agreed in advance).
v) Be accessible at other appropriate times, for example by email or during office hours.
vi) Notify you when they will be absent from the School for more than a few days.
vii) Give advice on the necessary completion dates for successive stages of the work, so that
you submit your dissertation by the required deadline.
viii) Where feasible and reasonable, make you aware when work or progress in your research
is below standard. However, note that you are ultimately responsible for the standard of
your dissertation.
ix) Establish at an early stage their responsibility in relation to your written work, including the
nature of the guidance and comment they can offer. However, you must understand that
you undertake research for a higher degree within the principle that a dissertation must be
your own work.

Note: dissertations must attain a good standard of English. It is not the responsibility of the
supervisor to ensure this. It is your responsibility to ensure that spelling and grammar are free
of errors.
Your responsibilities are to:
i)

Take the initiative in raising problems or difficulties, bearing in mind that prompt discussion
and resolution of problems can prevent difficulties and disagreements at a later stage.

ii)

Establish beyond doubt, and as soon as possible, that the chosen dissertation topic is
feasible. You should make sure, for example, that all of the required information and data
are available. You need to be sure that the planned workload is not too onerous and does
not conflict with the requirement to submit the completed dissertation by the required
deadline.

iii) Maintain progress of your work in accordance with the stages agreed with your supervisor.
iv) Maintain written records of the progress of work and discussions with your supervisor in
order to facilitate the writing of a dissertation.
v) Remain in Manchester for the duration of your project work, except by prior agreement
with your supervisor (which they give only in exceptional circumstances).
vi) Recognise that your supervisor is one of the examiners of the dissertation. Your
dissertation is an examined piece of work: your supervisor and another independent
examiner will assess and mark it. In many ways, therefore, the dissertation is just like any
other examination that you undertake. It is you, and no one else, who must sit a
conventional, written examination. Similarly, it is you alone who must write the examined
dissertation.
Your supervisor gives help and advice on how to carry out the research, but he/she ultimately
assesses and examines that research. Your supervisor has to balance these two roles while
avoiding conflict between them. In practice, this feature of the dissertation process limits the
amount of help and advice that you can expect to receive from your supervisor. If your
supervisor gives too much help, the dissertation reflects (to an unacceptable extent) his/her
work and abilities as well as your own. The purpose of the project is to examine your (not your
supervisors) research abilities. As stated above, you must understand that your undertake
research for a higher degree within the principle that a dissertation is your own work.
In other words, it is your sole responsibility to demonstrate that you can write a dissertation of
satisfactory (Masters) standard. This is a responsibility that you cannot and should not share
with any other personbe it another student, your supervisor, or anyone else.

Submitting Your Dissertation

You should submit your dissertation in accordance with the information set out in the
Universitys Guidance Notes for the Presentation of Dissertations (attached). Please ensure
you follow these guidelines carefully as we will not accept dissertations that do not adhere
to these instructions and hence the publication of your result could be delayed.
Dissertation or project submission dates are normally 51 weeks after the start of the
programme. Please see the dissertation calendar 2016 (page 5) for the exact date for full time
students. You must submit your dissertation by the given date, unless you have applied for,
10

and been granted an extension for extenuating circumstances (see page 13 for guidelines on
the granting of extensions).
The latest date for submission of two bound copies and one electronic copy (via
Blackboard) of your dissertation and the relevant documents is Monday 5th September
2016 to the PGT Office, between 9.00am and 4.00pm. You can submit dissertations and
documents completed before the submission date to the MSc Office during normal office
hours. Please use a completed coursework front cover sheet when submitting your
dissertation, for the provision of a receipt.
Postal submissions will not be accepted. If you are not in the UK, please arrange for
somebody else to submit your dissertation.
Please allow enough time to print and bind your dissertation. Binding services in the
vicinity of the university can be extremely busy in the week before submission (all MSc
students at the university have the same dissertation deadline). Do not leave printing and
binding of your dissertation until the last day. The main providers of printing and binding
services are:
http://www.u-print.com/
http://www.muprint.com/
Please note that you must submit the following documents along with your dissertation:
1. Destination Form (Appendix E): You must complete this form and submit it with your
dissertation.
2. Coursework cover sheet x 1 (available from the PGT Office)
3. If requested by your supervisor, any additional research you have undertaken on a
CD/DVD fixed to the back cover of your dissertation.
Warning: The University subscribes to an online plagiarism detection service specifically designed for
adacemic purposes. Phrases or sentences in your assessed work are checked against material
accessible on the world wide web, using commonly used available search tools, as well as online
journals, ebooks, and work submitted to this, and other institutions of higher learning. It is therefore
important that you reference sources and quotes correctly. You will not be notified if your work is to be
checked in this way.

Failure to submit any of the above at the time of dissertation submission will result in
the PGT Office not accepting your dissertation.
If you fail to achieve the Masters level pass grade of 50% for your dissertation, you will
normally (at the recommendation of the Board of Examiners) be allowed one resubmission
and this will normally be within four months of the date of the publication of your results.
However this is not guaranteed and the Board of Examiners in agreement with the External
Examiner, (see further details below) may exceptionally decide not to allow resubmission and
the Faculty will agree that the grounds for not allowing a resubmission are justified. Please
note that there is an additional fee of 150 for resubmission of a dissertation, details of
which will be provided with notification of resubmission. Resubmitted dissertations will not be
accepted without proof of payment.
If you achieve a dissertation mark of between 40-49% on your first submission, at the
discretion of the Board of Examiners (see above) you may accept the award of Postgraduate
Diploma with no further work required. Alternatively you may choose to resubmit the
dissertation. If you achieve a grade of below 50% for a resubmitted dissertation, you will be
awarded a Postgraduate Diploma.
11

For a resubmitted dissertation you must achieve a mark of 50% or more to be eligible
for the award of MSc but the mark will be capped at the lowest compensatable fail mark
of 40%, or if you have achieved a mark in the range 40-49% at first attempt your mark
will be capped at that level upon resubmission.
If you gain a mark of 39 or less for your dissertation on first submission, you will not be eligible
to resubmit the dissertation and will receive the award of either PG Diploma or Certificate,
subject to confirmation by the Board of Examiners.
Note: You may exceptionally be required to attend an examination, orally or otherwise, in the
subject of your dissertation or project report, or a related matter.

12

Masters Dissertation Title and Ethics Statement

Before the semester two examination period you must agree with your dissertation supervisor
the title of your proposed dissertation. You must indicate your proposed title on the Masters
Dissertation Title and Ethics Statement form (Appendix B). Your supervisor must sign this
form and you should return it to the MSc office on or prior to the deadline of Friday 10th June
2016. If you are unsure of your title, please do not delay in completing the form as you can
make minor changes until the submission of your dissertation.
It is important that you read carefully the guidelines on ethical approval on pages 14-16
(Appendices A & A2), as well as at the link below, and if you or your supervisor thinks that
ethical issues may arise in your research that require approval by a University Research
Ethics Committee you must complete an Application form for ethical approval of a research
project by a University Research Ethics Committee, as well as submitting a completed
Dissertation Title and Ethics Statement form to the PGT Office by Friday 10th June 2016.
You can find more information about ethical approval on the AMBS intranet at:
https://intranet.mbs.ac.uk/Services/ResearchSupport/Researchethics.aspx

Extensions and Medical/Mitigating Circumstances

Extensions for dissertations are granted only if you have strong medical/mitigating
circumstances. You must inform your Programme Administrator of your application for an
extension as soon as you identify the problem. Please note that granting of extensions is
not automatic. It depends on whether you establish sufficient grounds for mitigation and
whether these warrant an extension. We consider any request very carefully as extensions
can generate extra work for the supervisors and administrators, whilst creating a snowball
effect on the whole process and may severely delay your eligibility to graduate. Please refer to
your programme handbook for details of what constitutes personal mitigating circumstances
and illness and how to go about providing certification of this. Please note that any problems
with your computer or loss of data do NOT constitute a mitigating circumstance and it is
therefore your responsibility to back-up all of your work regularly onto your university P drive.
Where the final dissertation (or equivalent) is submitted after the deadline, at the
discretion of the Board of Examiners it may be treated in the same manner as a
resubmission following failure with the mark capped at 50% (or 40% for programmes
with a pass mark of 40%) with no further opportunity for resubmission.

Working on your dissertation outside the UK

As part of your dissertation/project you may need to conduct research outside of the UK, or
choose to work on your dissertation from home (e.g. not in the UK). If this is the case you must
inform your programme administrator and dissertation supervisor and also complete a
Research Outside the UK form (Appendix D). The form must be signed by you and your
supervisor.

13

APPENDIX A

Ethical Approval for Research Involving Human Participants: Guidelines

for postgraduate taught students
In carrying out their work researchers inevitably face ethical dilemmas which arise out of
competing obligations and conflicts of interest. All research proposals involving data collection
involving human participants normally requires prior ethical approval to ensure the safety,
rights, dignity and well-being of the participant and those of the researcher. This is why you
are required to declare whether or not this applies to your dissertation / project topic and, if so,
how these ethical issues are to be addressed. In doing so, you are providing assurance that
you have read the guidelines and considered whether your proposed dissertation / project
research raises ethical issues which require the attention of the Schools ethics coordinator
and/or the Universitys Senate Committee on the Ethics of Research on Human Beings.
Ethical approval should not be considered as a bureaucratic obstacle; it is a mechanism for
ensuring and demonstrating that the design of your research respects the rights of those who
are the participants of the research.
Examples of activities for which approval is required include questionnaire and interview based
research involving sensitive or confidential issues, telephone interviewing or recording by
audio or video tape and contact with participants who are children or considered as potentially
vulnerable adults.
Guidelines on applying for ethical approval and templates for required documents (e.g.
information sheets, consent forms, advertisements) are available via the AMBS and
University intranet at:
https://intranet.mbs.ac.uk/Services/ResearchSupport/Researchethics.aspx
http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/services/rbess/governance/ethics/obtaining-ethicsapproval/

Template for Ethical Approval for Research Involving Adults Able to Give Informed
Consent:
(You should only complete this form if you tick the second box in the Masters Dissertation Title and Ethics
Statement form Appendix B)

https://intranet.mbs.ac.uk/Services/ResearchServices/Researchethics/HowdoIgainethicalappro
val.aspx
Application form for ethical approval of a research project by a University Research
Ethics Committee can be found at:
(You should only complete this form if you tick the third box in the Masters Dissertation Title and Ethics
Statement form Appendix B)

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=23384

14

APPENDIX A2

Alliance Manchester Business School Masters Programmes (PGT)

Research Ethics Policy and Procedures
Purpose: To provide guidance to staff and students so as to ensure that particularly primary
research (and specifically research with members of the public or other students) undertaken
by PGT students is conducted within an appropriate framework. This policy applies to both
research undertaken as a part of coursework and to that for a dissertation.
Principles: Most research a PGT student undertakes as part of their course will not involve
more than minimal ethical risk. Where ethical issues are most likely to occur (fieldwork or
extensive research for a dissertation for example) there must be evidence of adequate
supervision and approval. In particular, no primary research involving human subjects is to be
begun by any student without (a) a discussion having first taken place with a faculty member
(normally a supervisor or tutor) about any potential ethical issues and (b) written approval
being obtained of any research process and instruments by the student from the supervisor of
the research. In certain circumstances (specified below) it will also be necessary to obtain prior
approval for the research design from an Ethics committee of the University (Full Ethics
Approval).
Documentation: For any research work involving human beings and for the dissertation,
students are required to complete an Ethics Approval form: Masters Dissertation Title And
Ethics Statement (Appendix B in the MSc Dissertation Handbook) and this, or any variant
approved by the relevant course committee and the PGT director, is to be agreed by the
supervisor. For any research that requires Full Ethics Approval further documentation is
required: an Application form for ethical approval of a research project by a University
Research Ethics Committee (see appendices A and B).
Stakeholder Protection: Three key stakeholders in the research process might be adversely
affected by the conduct of the research: any respondent to the research; the student; and the
University. Their interests must be safeguarded.
Vulnerable respondents: Research that might, for example, involved children or young adults
(anyone aged under 18), respondents who are ill or infirm has to be subject to Full Ethics
Approval.
Sensitive Issues: Research into topics that might be considered intrusive or private, (such as
sexual orientation or behaviour) potentially criminal activity (such as drug taking) obtaining
confidential information (such as precise income) has to be subject to Full Ethics Approval.
Informed Consent: In most research involving members of the public the principle of informed
consent will be paramount. Respondents need to be competent to respond to any survey and
to understand what will happen to their data. Good practice might include briefing the
respondent before they are asked to participate or giving them the option to withdraw at any
time from the process, even after the end of any interview. A written statement should be
agreed with the supervisor to be included in any survey (at beginning or end) to ensure
informed consent. For a questionnaire survey it may be perfectly adequate to assume
informed consent if the respondent returns or completes the survey. Only in exceptional
circumstances should consent be sought in writing as this creates separate data protection
issues.

15

Data Protection: Any data that are obtained and stored in any way (hard copy or electronically)
where the respondents identity is also obtained or might be inferred creates specific
challenges under data protection legislation and the procedures required by the University.
Good practice might then include not asking respondents for their names and/or signatures to
indicate consent. Data with the potential to identify the respondent must only be stored
electronically on an encrypted device (computer or memory device) or, if on hard copy, in a
locked cabinet.
Protecting the Student: No student should be put or allow themselves to be put in potential
danger by undertaking research here. For example students might be encouraged to work in
pairs when approaching members of the public. They should be discouraged from giving out
personal contact details such as a private address and phone number and encouraged to use
University contact details instead.
Monitoring: Two monitor issues need to be addressed by course committees or MBS divisions:
first to sample or oversee ethics forms to ensure that, for example, all research that that
should have been submitted for full ethics approval has been submitted and; second that
research being put forward for full ethics approval has the appropriate documentation.
(Inadequate or incomplete documentation creates delays in the approval process). It is
recommended that there is a nominated person for each course/division responsible for
monitoring.
Template for Ethical Approval for Research Involving Adults Able to Give Informed
Consent: If your research involves more than minimal risk but not serious risk, you can obtain
approval by completing the AMBS research ethics template. See the guidelines on the AMBS
intranet:
https://intranet.mbs.ac.uk/Services/ResearchServices/Researchethics/Informationfortaughtpos
tgraduatestudents.aspx
Full Ethics Approval: If your research involves serious risk (e.g. working with children or
vulnerable adults, investigating sensitive topics, gathering data without consent, conducting
fieldwork in potential dangerous locations), a full application is made by completing an
Application form for ethical approval of a research project by a University Research Ethics
Committee and emailing it to ambsethics@manchester.ac.uk (see appendices A and B).

16

APPENDIX B

MASTERS DISSERTATION TITLE AND ETHICS STATEMENT

When you have agreed your dissertation title with your supervisor, please bring this completed form to the PGT Office by
10th June 2016.

Please write clearly in BLOCK CAPITALS

Surname:

Student Number

..............................

Forename(s):

School:

Alliance Manchester Business School

MSc Programme:
Title of dissertation: (in capitals)

Declaration: I have understood the Guidelines for postgraduate taught students on Ethical Approval for Research Involving
Human Participants (Appendices A and A2) and I confirm that
the ethical issues relating to this research have been considered and discussed with my
supervisor. There are no ethical issues that need taking forward to the School or University
Research Ethics Committee for review and/or approval.

Or
the ethical issues relating to this research have been considered and discussed with my
supervisor. The proposed research raises more than minimal risk, which I have set out on
the attached template for Ethical Approval for Research Involving Adults Able to Give
Informed Consent, to be submitted to ambsethics@manchester.ac.uk for approval.

Or
the ethical issues relating to this research have been considered and discussed with my
supervisor . The proposed research raises serious ethical issues that require review by the
Universitys Research Ethics Committee, which I have set out on the attached Application
form for ethical approval of a research project by a University Research Ethics Committee,
to be submitted to ambsethics@manchester.ac.uk for pre-screening.

(Please tick one box)

Guidelines on applying for ethical approval and required documents (e.g. the AMBS Research Ethics Template, information
sheets, consent forms, advertisements) are available via the AMBS and University intranet at:
https://intranet.mbs.ac.uk/Services/ResearchSupport/Researchethics.aspx
http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/services/rbess/governance/ethics/obtaining-ethics-approval/

Student Signature:

Date:

Supervisor
(please write clearly in BLOCK CAPITALS)

Supervisor Signature:

Date:

17

APPENDIX C

Guidance for the Presentation of Taught Dissertations for

PGT Provision in Alliance Manchester Business School

IMPORTANT
Please note that the guidance for the presentation of taught dissertations was updated in
January 2016. The new guidance supersedes the guidance in your Programme Handbook
APPENDIX A (GUIDANCE NOTES FOR THE PRESENTATION OF TAUGHT MASTERS
DISSERTATIONS, AUGUST 2010).
PLEASE IGNORE APPENDIX A IN YOUR PROGRAMME HANDBOOK.
For reference purposes only the new guidance is available here:
http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/map/teachinglearningassessment/assessment/sectionbthepracticeofassessment/guidanceforthepresentationoftaughtdissertations/
Whilst the new guidance does not, Alliance MBS still requires hard copy submission of your
Masters dissertation (in addition to electronic submission). To this end, Alliance MBS will
publish a revised version of the new guidance before the end of semester 2 Guidance
for the Presentation of Taught Dissertations for PGT Provision in Alliance Manchester
Business School. Students will be notified via email and the guidance will be published on
Blackboard.
You MUST use the new Alliance MBS guidance which will be available in
late April/May 2016.

18

APPENDIX D

Faculty of Humanities
Masters Dissertation Research Outside the UK
Please complete if you will be carrying out research for your dissertation outside of the UK for
a period of time and submit it to your Programme Administrator.
Student Number:..
Full Name:.
School: Alliance MBS
Programme:
Dissertation Supervisor:..
Dissertation Title:
.......................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
Will you be conducting primary research for your dissertation?

YES / NO

Country/Countries where you intend to carry out the research:..

.
Address and contact details whilst away from Manchester:..

.
Period of time spent outside the UK for research purposes (Only include days which are
actually spent outside the UK: that is, if a 4 day research visit is preceded by 5 days of preparation and
there are 6 days of follow-up, use 4 days for the calculation. Do not include days spent travelling).

..days.
Please also state the dates that you will leave and return:
Leaving on: .Returning on:
Student Signature

Date:

Supervisor Signature:

Date:

Remember that in addition to maintaining contact with your supervisor, it is your responsibility to
regularly check your university e-mail and Blackboard pages whilst away from Manchester.
Any Additional Information:

19

APPENDIX E

Thank you very much for completing this questionnaire.

Please complete this form and hand it in when you submit your dissertation.
Personal Details
Surname:

First Name:

Middle Name:

Title:

Nationality:

Student registration no:

Date of birth:

Programme Details
Course/Degree:

From:

To:

Full-time/Part-time/Distance Learning:
Home Details
Address:
City:

Post Code:

Telephone:

Fax:

Mobile:

Email:

Country:

Employment Status
Please tick the appropriate box to indicate which of the following best describes your current employment position.
1. I am currently looking for a full-time job
2. I have a full-time job.
3. I have received a job offer and will be starting full-time employment in the next three months.
4. I am taking time out to travel and will be seeking a full-time job after this is completed.

5. I am pursuing further study.

If you ticked 2 or 3 above please complete:

Employment Details
Job Title:
Company Name:
Address:
City:

Post Code:

Company Tel No:

Direct Tel No:

Company Fax No:

Direct Fax No:

Email:
Company Industry Code (See Page 3):
Date Job Started / To Start:
Please indicate your annual starting salary (excluding benefits):

20

Country:

If you ticked 5 above please complete:

Further Study
Postgraduate qualification pursued and subject area (e.g. PhD Finance etc):
Further Study Institution (e.g. University of Manchester etc):
Professional qualification pursued (e.g. CFA etc):
Consent Data Protection

Alumni from my programme to see my details (e.g. Bachelor, PGT, MBA, PhD)

Yes

No

If yes, other alumni of the School to see my details

Yes

No

I can be contacted by prospective students

Yes

No

I can be contacted by current students

Yes

No

I want to receive communications from the School (e.g. Email bulletin, magazine)

Yes

No

I want to receive communications from the University of Manchester

Yes

No

Alliance Manchester Business School holds and processes data submitted by alumni in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, and uses the information for a variety of
administrative purposes, such as YourManchester/MBSNetwork Online the alumni online services, informing alumni of news, events, courses and fundraising opportunities. By
returning this form, which will later be forwarded to the Alumni Office, you are consenting to the School processing your data for internal use. Also, as part of our Lost Alumni
strategy and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, we will need to have your consent to actively search for you by using your details (first and second name, year of
graduation) in case we lose contact with you. This search will be conducted by distributing the list of graduates (by year group) to all members of the graduating year group you
belong to. Please tick the relevant box to indicate whether you consent to the usage of this information:

I dont consent

I consent
Please turn over for Company Industry Codes

21

COMPANY INDUSTRY CODES

Code
01
02
05
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Description
Agriculture/Hunting
Forestry
Fishing
Coal/ Peat
Petroleum/Natural Gas
Mining Of Uranium
Mining Of Metal Ores
Quarrying
Food And Drink
Tobacco
Textiles
Clothing
Leather/Leather Products
Wood/Wood Products
Pulp, Paper, Paper Products
Publishing, Printing And Reproduction Of
22
Recorded Media
23 Coke, Petroleum Products & Nuclear Fuels.
24 Chemicals & Chemical Products
24.4 Pharmaceuticals
24.5 Cosmetics/Cleaners
25 Rubber & Plastic Products
26 Non-Metallic Mineral Products
27 Basic Metal Manufacture
28 Fabricated Metal Products
29 Machinery & Equipment
30 Office Machinery And Computers
31 Electrical Machinery
32 Radio, TV & Communication Equipment
Medical, Precision, Optical Instruments, Watches
33
& Clocks
34 Motor Vehicles/Trailer Manufacture
35 Other Transport Equipment
36 Other Manufacturing
37 Recycling Metal/Non Metal Waste & Scrap
40 Electricity & Gas
41 Water
45 Construction
50 Sale/Repair Of Motor Vehicles
51 Wholesale & Commission Trade
52 Retail Trade
55 Hotels And Restaurants
60 Land Transport

INDUSTRY
Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing
Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing
Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing
Coal/petroleum/natural gas/nuclear fuels
Coal/petroleum/natural gas/nuclear fuels
Mining & Quarrying
Mining & Quarrying
Mining & Quarrying
Food/Drink/Tobacco
Food/Drink/Tobacco
Textiles/Clothing/Leather
Textiles/Clothing/Leather
Textiles/Clothing/Leather
Wood/Cork/Paper
Wood/Cork/Paper

Code
61
62
63
63.2
63.3
64

Publishing/Printing/Media

73 Research & Development

74 Business Services
74.11 Business Services

Coal/petroleum/natural gas/nuclear fuels

Chemicals and chemical products
Health Services
FMCG
Rubber/Plastics/Non-Metallic Products
Rubber/Plastics/Non-Metallic Products
Metals & Metal Products
Metals & Metal Products
Machinery & Equipment
Office Machinery & Computers
Electrical Machinery
Radio, TV & Communication Equipment
Medical & Precision Instruments
Motor Vehicle Manufacture
Transport & travel
Other Manufacturing
Metal recycling
Electricity/Gas/Water
Electricity/Gas/Water
Construction
Transport & Travel
Wholesale
Retail
Hotels/Restaurants
Transport & travel

Description
Water Transport
Air Transport
Transport Support
Other Supporting Transport Activities
Travel Agencies
Post & Telecommunications

65

Banks, Building Societies, Intermediaries

66

Insurance & Pension Funds

67

Ancillary Activities To Financial Intermediaries

70
71

Estate Agents
Renting Machinery & Equipment

72

Computer & Related Services

74.12 Business Services

74.13 Business Services
74.14 Business Services
74.15 Holding Companies
74.2

Business Services

74.3

Business Services

74.4
74.5
74.6
74.8
74.9
75
80
85
90
91
92
93
95
99

Business Services
Business Services
Investigation And Security Activities
Business Services
Business Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
Public Administration & Defence
Education
Health And Social Work
Other Community & Social & Personal Service
Other Membership Organisations
Recreational & Cultural & Sporting Activities
Other Service Activities
Private Households With Employed Persons
Extra-Territorial Organisations

22

Industry
Transport & travel
Transport & travel
Transport & travel
Transport Support Services not elsewhere specified
Travel Services
Post & Telecommunications
Banks/Building Societies/Intermediaries (except insurance,
pension funds)
Financial/Insurance (includes accounting, fundmanagement etc)
Financial/Insurance (includes accounting, fundmanagement etc)
Estate Agents
Machinery & Equipment Rental
Computer & Related Services (includes IT, Hardware,
Software)
Research & Development Services
Financial, Advisory & Other Consulting
Legal (includes soliciting, law)
Financial/Insurance (includes accounting, fundmanagement etc)
Advertising/Marketing (includes market research)
Management Consultants
Holding Companies
Technical Consultancy (includes engineering, architectural
consulting)
Technical Consultancy (includes engineering, architectural
consulting)
Advertising/Marketing (includes market research)
Recruitment Consultants
Services
Other Service Activities
Other Service Activities
Government/Public Administration
Training/Education Providers
Health Services
Health Services
Membership Organisations
Recreational/Sporting/Cultural Activities & Services
Other Service Activities
Self-Employed
Government/Public Administration