Reading 10.1 Complete Structure Document 2010

8/12/2019 Reading 10.1 Complete Structure Document 2010

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he paper has t+o parts$ /irstly, the five !se"tion# or !"hapter# stru"ture is introdu"ed, possible"hanges to it are ustified and +riting style is "onsidered$ portantly, there does not have to bee@a"tly five !"hapters#, for adding one or t+o "hapters to the five presented here "an be ustified,

as dis"ussed belo+ and sho+n in able 1$ hat is, soeties refer to the five se"tions or"hapters as !"hapters# belo+ erely for easy referen"e, and having t+o "hapters in ?e"tion 2 ort+o "hapters in ?e"tion &, for e@aple, "an be easily ustified in a Ph thesis$ n the se"ond part,ea"h of the five "hapters and their se"tions are des"ribed in soe detail introdu"tion, literaturerevie+, ethodology, analysis of data, and findings and ipli"ations$

Del#!#tat#ons$ he stru"tured approa"h ay be liited to postgraduate theses in ar-eting andrelated areas su"h as strategi" anageent that involve siilar uantitative and ualitativeethodologies$ hat is, the stru"ture ay not be appropriate for theses in other areas or fortheses using relatively unusual ethodologies su"h as histori"al resear"h designs or groundedtheory$ 3oreover, the stru"ture is a starting point for thin-ing about ho+ to present a thesis

rather than the only stru"ture that "an be adopted, and so it is not eant to inhibit the "reativity ofpostgraduate resear"hers$

Another deliitation of the approa"h is that it is restri"ted to presenting thefinalversion of thethesis$ his paper does not address the te"hniues of a"tually +riting a thesis$ 3oreover, theapproa"h in this paper does not refer to the a"tualse!uenceof +riting the thesis, nor is it eantto iply that the issues of ea"h "hapter have to be addressed by the student in the order sho+n$/or e@aple, the propositions at the end of Chapter 2 are eant to appearto be developed as the"hapter progresses, but the student ight have a +ell'developed idea of +hat they +ill be beforehe or she starts to +rite the "hapter$ 3oreover, although the ethodology of Chapter & ustappearto be been sele"ted be"ause it +as appropriate for the resear"h proble identified and

"arefully ustified in Chapter 1, the student ay have a"tually sele"ted a ethodology very earlyin his or her "andidature and then developed an appropriate resear"h proble and ustified it$3oreover, after a student has s-et"hed out a draft table of "ontents for ea"h "hapter, he or sheshould begin +riting the !easiest parts# of the thesis first as they go along, +hatever those partsare ' and usually introdu"tions to "hapters are the last to +ritten (Phillips F Pugh 19G, p$ %1)$4ut bear in ind that the resear"h proble, deliitations and resear"h gaps in the literature ust

be identified and +ritten do+n before other parts of the thesis "an be +ritten, and that ?e"tion 1$1is one of the lastto be +ritten$ Eor is this stru"ture eant to be the forat for a do"toral"andidate#s resear"h proposal ' one proposal forat is provided in Par-er and avis (19G9)$

Table % Se&'ence o( a str'ct'red t)es#s

itle pageAbstra"t (+ith -ey+ords)able of "ontents


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1$% efinitions1$G eliitations of s"ope and -ey assuptions, and their ustifi"ations1$ Con"lusion

2 ;esear"h issues (?e"tions 2$& and 2$H ight be allotted a "hapter to theselves in a Ph or 4A thesis)

2$1 ntrodu"tion2$2 (Parent theories and "lassifi"ation odels)2$& (;esear"h proble theory analyti"al, theoreti"al frae+or-s and related resear"h issues or propositions)

(this se"tion soeties has its o+n "hapter)2$H Con"lusion

& 3ethodology (there ay be separate "hapters for the ethodologies of stages one and t+o of a Ph or4A thesis)

&$1 ntrodu"tion&$2 Justifi"ation for the paradig and ethodology&$& (;esear"h pro"edures)&$H =thi"al "onsiderations&$5 Con"lusion

H Analysis of data (this "hapter usually refers to the analysis of the aor stage of the resear"h proe"t)H$1 ntrodu"tionH$2 ?ube"tsH$& (Patterns of data for ea"h resear"h issue or hypothesis)H$H Con"lusion

5 Con"lusions and ipli"ations5$1 ntrodu"tion5$2 Con"lusions about ea"h resear"h issue or proposition5$& Con"lusions about the resear"h proble5$H pli"ations for theory5$5 pli"ations for poli"y and pra"ti"e5$5$1 Private se"tor anagers

5$5$2 Publi" se"tor poli"y analysts and anagers5$%


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n brief, the thesis should have a unifiedstru"ture (=asterby'?ith et al$ 1991)$ /irstly, Chapter 1introdu"es the "ore resear"h proble and then Dsets the s"ene and outlines the path that thee@ainer +ill travel to+ards the thesis "on"lusion$ he resear"h itself is des"ribed in Chapters 2to 5$ the resear"h proble and propositions*hypotheses arising fro the body of -no+ledge

developed during previous resear"h (Chapter 2),

$ ethods used in this resear"h to "olle"t data about the hypotheses (Chapter &),$ results of applying those ethods in this resear"h (Chapter H), and$ "on"lusions about the propositions*hypotheses and resear"h proble based on the results

of Chapter H, in"luding their pla"e in the body of -no+ledge outlined previously inChapter 2 (Chapter 5)$

/'st#(#cat#on o( t)e str'ct'red a..roac)$ his five "hapter stru"ture "an be"ustified$ /irstly,the stru"ture is unified and fo"ussed on solving the one resear"h proble$ hus it addresses theaor fault of postgraduate theses in Eightingales# (19H) survey of 1&9 e@ainers reports, thatis, it "learly addresses those e@ainers diffi"ulty in dis"erning +hat +as the !thesis# of the thesis.

Eightingale "on"luded that unity and fo"us depend on supervisors ephasising !throughout

students "andida"ies that they are striving in the thesis to "ouni"ate one big idea# (Eightingale19H, p$ 1GH)$ hat one big idea is the research problemstated on page 1 or 2 of the thesis ande@pli"itly solved in Chapter 5$ =asterby'?ith et al$ (1991) also ephasise the iportan"e of"onsisten"y in a Ph thesis, Phillips and Pugh (19G, p$ &) "onfir that a thesis ust have athesis or a Dposition, and


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is e@pli"itly or ipli"itly follo+ed by any +riters of arti"les in top tier a"adei" ournals

su"h as #he Academy of Management Journaland $trategic Management Journal(fore@aple, atta et al$ 1992), and so students learn s-ills reuired by revie+ers of those

ournals +hile +riting their thesis, as sho+n ne@t note that>aradaraan (199%), the =ditor of

the respe"tedJournal of Marketing, offered guidelines for arti"les that are rear-ably siilarto those presented belo+$

trains Ph students in ho+ to +rite ournal arti"les (Carson, ilore F Perry 200% Perry,

Carson F ilore 200&) parent theories 1 and 2 in Chapter 2 of the thesis norally go intoparagraphs 2 and & of an arti"le ?e"tion 1$& of the thesis goes into an arti"le#s paragraph Hthe resear"h proble theory of the thesis# ?e"tion 2$& goes into the


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fields using "oon ethodologies su"h as stru"tural euation odelling$ 8o+ever, soeualitative ethodologies su"h as "ase studies and a"tion resear"h (Perry F Nuber'?-erritt 1992199H Perry 199) "an fit into the stru"ture$ etails of ho+ the "ase study or the a"tion resear"h

proe"t are presented in Chapter & and "ase study details or the detailed report of the a"tion

resear"h proe"t are pla"ed in appendi"es$ n theses using these relatively ualitativeethodologies of "ase studies or a"tion resear"h, the analysis of data in Chapter H be"oes acategorisation of data in the form of words, +ith inforation about ea"h resear"h issue "olle"tedtogether +ith soe preliinary refle"tion about the inforation$ hat is, the thesis still has five"hapters in total, +ith Chapter H having preliinary analysis of data and Chapter 5 "ontaining allthe se"tions des"ribed belo+$

Eevertheless, soe ethodologies ay be diffi"ult to fit into the stru"ture$ /or e@aple,grounded theory resear"h ay not pla"e as u"h signifi"an"e on Chapter 2#s revie+ of theliterature and histori"al resear"h ay reuire different stru"tures$

n brief, the five "hapter*se"tion stru"ture has soe liitations but it also has any benefits forstudents learning the basi"s of their resear"h "raft and beginning their resear"h "areer, as +ell asfor a busy supervisor +ho has had little training in resear"h +riting or supervision$ he stru"ture

provides a starting point for understanding +hat a thesis should set out to a"hieve, and alsoprovides a basis for "ouni"ation bet+een a student and his or her supervisor$ he stru"ture isnot eant to be a straighta"-et that inhibits a resear"her#s "reativity, for it erely provides a

preliinary frae+or- for reporting that resear"h$ ndeed, +ith this tested and proven stru"ture,students "an fo"us on being "reative in their resear"h and not dissipate their "reative energies$

3oreover, +ith these guidelines for "hapter "ontent and "onstru"tion, it is possible to plan apostgraduate resear"h proe"t$ As a rough rule of thub, the five "hapters have these respe"tive

per"entages of the thesis +ords %, &H, 1, 22 and 20 per"ent$ 6sing these appro@iateper"entages, a "andidate "ould plan the appro@iate tie and pages for any "hapter$ /ore@aple, if a "andidate plans to do a 50 000 or so +ord 4A thesis in 2H onths, the planning

pages and onths for ea"h "hapter "an be +or-ed out along the lines sho+n in able 1$ heserule of thub per"entages are slightly different if a thesis has two stages of data "olle"tion ratherthan ust the one stage that "an be neatly des"ribed in a five "hapter thesis$ n this "ir"ustan"e,Chapters & and H +ould be devoted to the t+o stages of ethodology$ ;ule of thub

per"entages for a si@ "hapter thesis are about %, &&, 11, 1G, 20 and 1& per"ent$ /or e@aple, atypi"al, a t+o'stage Ph thesis of %5 000 or so +ords done in 2G onths ight loo- li-e able2, and a t+o'stage 4A thesis of 50 000 +ords done in 2G onths ight loo- li-e able &$hese three tables are erely e@aples and are not teplates for every thesis, be"ause ea"h

resear"h proe"t ust do +hatever is reuired to solve its o+n, ustified resear"h proble$ hetables easure pages fro the start of Chapter 1 to the end of the final "hapter and so theyin"lude tables and figures but do not in"lude the table of "ontents, the list of referen"es or theappendi"es$ Eote that soe onths have been added to dire"t per"entage durations for the firstand final "hapters, to allo+ for starting and final drafting of the thesis$ have assued that theargins, the font and the line spa"ing are those des"ribed belo+$

able 1An a..ro0#!ate .lan (or a 12 222 or so word D*A t)es#s3 co!.leted #n 45 !ont)s

C)a.ter To.#c 6 Paes -ont)s

1 ntrodu"tion % 10 &2


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& 3ethodology 1 &0 HH ata analysis 22 &5 55 Con"lusions 20 &0 %otal 100 1%0 2H

able 2 An a..ro0#!ate .lan (or a 71 222 or so word P)D t)es#s w#t) two !et)odolo#es3co!.leted #n 48 !ont)s

C)a.ter To.#c 6 Paes -ont)s

1 ntrodu"tion % 1H 22


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St9leAs +ell as the stru"ture dis"ussed above, e@ainers also assess atters of style (8ansford F3a@+ell 199&)$ ithin ea"h of the "hapters of the thesis, the spelling, styles and forats of $tyle

Manual(Australian overnent Publishing ?ervi"e 2002) and of Mac!uarie %ictionaryshould

be follo+ed s"rupulously, so that the student uses "onsistent styles fro the first draft andthroughout the thesis for pro"esses su"h as using bold type, ephasising +ith itali"s, indenting

blo"- uotations, using single and double inverted "oas, a-ing referen"es, spa"es before andafter side headings and lists, and gender "onventions$ After all, the $tyle Manual+ill be thestandard for later subissions to the Australian ;esear"h Coun"il and to ost ournals publishedin Australia$ 3oreover, using the authoritative $tyle Manualprovides a defensive shield againstan e@ainer +ho ay "riti"ise the thesis fro the vie+point of his or her o+n idiosyn"rati" style$4y the +ay, Peters (1995) ay also be useful on style atters, for it elaborates on issues that$tyle Manualis soeties too su""in"t about$ A suary of ain points about style andreferen"ing in Australia is in appendi@ A$

n addition to usual style rules su"h as ea"h paragraph having an early topi" senten"e, a thesis hassoe style rules of its o+n$ /or e@aple, Chapter 1 is usually +ritten in the present tense +ithreferen"es to literature in the past tense ost of the rest of the thesis is +ritten in the past tense

be"ause it "on"erns the resear"h after it has been done$ n ore detail, in Chapters 2 and &,s"hools of thought and pro"edural steps are +ritten about using the present tense, and publishedresear"hers and the students o+n a"tions are +ritten about using the pasttense$ /or e@aplehe e"le"ti" s"hool has presentQ several strands$ ?ith (1990) reported pastQ that$$$ and Dhefirst step in "ontent analysis is presentQ to de"ide on "ategories$ he resear"her sele"ted pastQten do"uents$$$ 8o+ever, in Chapter H,use thepresent tense for "oents about results"urrently in front of the reader (!he in'depth intervie+s +ere ore effe"tive, as able H$2sho+s $$$#) and for "on"lusions that are ore general than the spe"ifi" results (Rn brief, high

po+er distan"e people are ore brutal +henK#)# (4e 2002)$ n Chapter 5, use the present+hen fitting the "on"lusions into the body of -no+ledge, for e@aple, !his effe"t is a"ontributionK# (but use the past tense +hen referring to the findings fro Chapter H, of "ourse)$

n addition, value udgeents and +ords should not be used in the obe"tive pursuit of truth thata thesis reports$ /or e@aple, Dit is unfortunate, Dit is interesting, !it is believed#, and !it is+el"oe# are inappropriate L they are too sube"tive$ Although first person +ords su"h as !# and!y# are no+ a""eptable in a thesis (espe"ially in Chapter & of a thesis +ithin an interpretive

paradig), their use should be "ontrolled ' the student is a ere private in an ary pursuing truthand so should not overrate his or her iportan"e until their degree has been finally a+arded$ nother +ords, the student should al+ays"ustifyany de"isions +here his or her udgeent +as

reuired (su"h as the nuber and type of industries surveyed and the nuber of points on a


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thesis, for e@aple (=asterby'?ith et al$ 1991), or an e@ainer +ho +ill reuire three resear"hethods is not "hosen for a straightfor+ard thesis +ith only one$ hat is, do not get involved inthe "rossfire of !religious +ars# of soe dis"iplines$

3oreover, this early and open "onsideration of e@ainers allo+s the student to thin- about ho+his or her ideas +ill be per"eived by li-ely individual e@ainers and so e@press the ideas in asatisfa"tory +ay, for e@aple, e@plain a line of arguent ore fully or ustify a position ore"opletely for an e@ainer +ho ay not have a strong ba"-ground in a parti"ular area$ 7nestarting point for thin-ing about +ho "ould be an e@ainer is to "onsider the ournals in +hi"harti"les about the resear"h ay be published during or after the "andidature$ hen finding out+ho is the =ditor and +ho is on the =ditorial 4oard of these ournals +ill be a starting point forthin-ing about e@ainers and their interests, publi"ations and styles$ (ay (199%) "onfirs theiportan"e of this pro"edure for getting arti"les published in a"adei" ournals)$ hat is, in astudent#s thesis, he or she ust "ouni"ate +ith real'life people in an easily'follo+ed +ay$

his issue of "ouni"ation +ith e@ainers is "ru"ial$ Consider an e@ainer$ 8e or she ay bereading the thesis at 11 p on /riday after a hard day#s +or- on ore iportant things li-e theiro+n resear"h, their o+n students# resear"h or orale in their epartent$ A aor reason fortheir agreeing to e@aine the thesis is a sense of duty to their dis"ipline$ hus the student shouldtry to a-e the pro"ess of e@aination as u"h li-e a ourney on !autopilot# as possible, +ith"hanges in dire"tion "learly ar-ed, the tra"- "learly flagged and ea"h step in an arguente@pli"itly e@plained, as des"ribed belo+$ he e@ainer should not have to do any hard "riti"althin-ing as he or she follo+s the student#s ourney$ n brief, the "andidate should try to neithera-e the e@ainer think too muchnor togo to sleep rather, the e@ainer ay hopefully dro+seoff for a inute or t+o, snapping fully a+a-e every no+ and then to "he"- that the thesis is still!on tra"-# and fulfilling the e@pe"tations set up at the start of ea"h se"tion and sub'se"tion of

aterial$ n brief, the reader ust be guided along a sooth, easily'follo+ed path to+ards the"on"lusions that have e@"ited the "andidate and +ill hopefully e@"ite the e@ainer into passingthe thesis and perhaps as-ing the "andidate to +or- +ith hi or her on a resear"h proe"t in thefuture$

his easily&followed communication"an be a"hieved by using several prin"iples$ /irstly, havese"tions and sub'se"tions starting as often as very se"ond or third page, ea"h +ith a des"riptiveheading in bold$ ?e"ondly, start ea"h se"tion or sub'se"tion +ith a phrase or senten"e lin-ing it+ith +hat has gone before, for e@aple, a senten"e ight start +ith !iven the situationdes"ribed in ?e"tion 2$&$H# or !urning fro international issues to doesti" "on"erns, $$$# heiportant issue here is that the e@ainer is led on fro old ideas +hi"h he or she has already

digested +ith, to ne+ ideas +e all need !an opportunity to get S"ofortableM +ith old aterialbefore ne+ aterial is thro+n at us# (


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not be left dangling ' they should al+ays refer to an obe"t for e@aple, !his rule should befollo+ed# is preferred to Dhis should be follo+ed#$ ?oe supervisors also suggest that bra"-etsshould rarely be used in a thesis ' if a "oent is iportant enough to help ans+er the thesisresear"h proble, then it should be added in a straightfor+ard +ay and not be hidden +ithin

bra"-ets as a inor "on"ern to distra"t the e@ainer a+ay fro the resear"h proble$

As +ell, definite and indefinite arti"les should be avoided +here possible, espe"ially in headingsfor e@aple, D?upervision of do"toral students is ore taut and less presuptuous than Dhesupervision of do"toral students$ Paragraphs should be short as a rule of thub, three to four

paragraphs should start on ea"h page if y preferred line spa"ing of 1$5 and ies ;oan 12point serif font is used, to provide adeuate stru"ture and "ople@ity of thought on ea"h page$ (Aline spa"ing of 2 and ore than about three paragraphs per page a-e a thesis appear disointedand Dfla-y, and a sanserif font is not easy to read$) A final note of style is that argins should bethose noinated by the university or those in $tyle Manual(Australian overnent Publishing?ervi"e 2002) the left hand argin is usually set at & or H "entietres$

C)'nk#ness$he "on"ept of a !"hun-# "an help suarise soe of the dis"ussion above$ Assho+n at the start of the thesis in ?e"tion 1$2, the +hole thesisis one big "hun- of an idea$ 4utea"h part of the thesis should be a "hun-y part of the +hole thesis, +ith lin-s to other parts$ /or astart, ea"h chaptershould have its o+n role +ithin the thesis su"h as Chapter 2#s identifi"ation ofresear"h issues about +hi"h data is "olle"ted in Chapter &$ =a"h "hapter hassection andsubse"tion "hun-s +ith a nubering syste that refle"ts their interrelationships (su"h as &$2,&$2$1 and &$2$2)$ hen ea"h subse"tion has "hun-s of paragraphs +ithin it, soeties indi"ated+ith run'in headings$

Ee@t there are individualparagraphs$ hese are alost al+ays longer than one senten"e and ta-e

up about one third of a page or so$ =a"h paragraph usually have a !lin-er# +ord at the start su"has !Ee@t# or !/urtherore#$ hese lin-ers at the start of a paragraph lead the e@ainer froalready'digested ideas into a ne+ idea$ =a"h paragraph deals +ith one idea that is introdu"ed andsuarised in a thee senten"e near the start, for the start of a paragraph is a !hot spot# that thereader +ill norally "on"entrate upon (


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those topi"s$

8ere is the e@aple (adapted fro 3":insey 199H, p$ H2'H&)

$% ;)9 so!e


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of "ontents of a "hapter and a se"tion, through the Dright, "reative side of the brain and +illephasise basi" ideas +ithout u"h "on"ern for detail or pre"ise language$ ?upervisors and otherstudents should be involved in the revie+ of these drafts be"ause resear"h has sho+n that goodresear"hers !reuire the "ollaboration of others to a-e their proe"ts +or-, to get the to

"opletion# (/rost F ?tablein 1992, p$ 25&), and that so"ial isolation is the ain reason for+ithdra+ing fro postgraduate study (Phillips F Conrad 1992)$ 4y the +ay, resear"h has alsosho+n that relying on ust one supervisor "an be dangerous (Conrad, Perry F Nuber'?-erritt1992 Phillips F Conrad 1992)$

ndeed, by fa"ilitating the "reative first drafts of se"tions of a thesis, the relatively visible andstru"tured !pro"ess# of this papers stru"ture allo+s the student to be ore "reative andrigorous +ith the !"ontent# of the thesis than he or she +ould other+ise be$ After the firstrough drafts, later drafts +ill be in"reasingly "rafted through the !left#, analyti"al side of the

brain and ephasise fine tuning of arguents, ustifi"ation of positions and further eviden"egathering fro other resear"h literature$

DETAILS OF CHAPTERS AND THEIR SECTIONS

Turning from the general issues of style and structure above to morerecise details of the structure of each section! each chater of a thesis andits arts are discussed ne"t#

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Backround to the re!earch

$ection 1#1 outlines the broad %eld of study and then leads into the focus ofthe research roblem# This section is short and aims to orient the readersand gras their attention# &n 'ournal articles! the introduction has fourstages ($)ales 1984*+ establish the overall %eld! summarise reviousresearch! indicate the research ga! and state the urose of the articleand outline it# ,o)ever! in a thesis! these stages are sread through the)hole of -hater 1 and arts of -hater 2! rather than in $ection 1#1#.evertheless! the %rst three stages could be borne in mind )henstructuring $ection 1#1! )ith the follo)ing $ection 1#2 roviding the fourthstage# &n grahical form! $ection 1#1 is the triangle sho)n in /igure 2#

thesis should be able to reference at least four or %ve )riters in the %rstone or t)o aragrahs! to demonstrate from the start of the thesis thatcare has been taen to acno)ledge and chart the deth and breadth ofthe e"isting body of no)ledge# ost of the material in $ection 1#1 iscovered in more detail in later sections such as $ection 1#3! and so thesesections )ill have to be referred to and $ection 1#1 is usually only aboutone or t)o ages ma"imum# /or this reason! $ection 1#1 is often one of thelast sections of Chapters 1 and 2to be )ritten#

$ection 1#1 could use either a %eld of study aroach or a historical

revie) aroach# /or e"amle! using a %eld of study aroach! $ection 1#1of a thesis about a %rms licensing of technology )ould start )ith


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comments about international trade and develoment! ustralias ! therole of ne) roduct and rocess develoment in national economic gro)th!and then have an e"lanation of ho) technology licensing hels a %rmsne) roduct and ne) rocess develoment leading into a sentence about

ho) little research has been done into it#

/igure 2 The trian"e o# Section 1.1 o# Chapter 1

n alternative to the %eld of study e"amle of the revious aragrah is torovide a brief historical revie) of ideas in the %eld! leading u to theresent# &f this alternative aroach to structuring $ection 1#1 is adoted! itcannot relace the comrehensive revie) of the literature to be made in-hater 2! and so numerous references )ill have to be made to -hater 2#hile the brief introductory history revie) may be aroriate for a 'ournalarticle! $ection 1#1 of a thesis should usually tae the %eld of study

aroach illustrated in the aragrah above! to revent reetition of itsoints in -hater 2#

1.$ Re!earch pro%"e&' propo!ition!(re!earch i!!ue! andcontri%ution!

Re!earch pro%"e&. $ection 1#2 outlines the core or one big idea of theresearch! starting )ith the research roblem rinted in bold or italics onage 1 or 2 of the thesis# The research roblem is one or t)o sentencesthat cannot be ans)ered yes or no: it is the broad roblem that theresearcher )ill e"amine more recisely later in the roositions;researchissues;hyotheses and is the roblem romting and lacing a boundaryaround the research )ithout secifying )hat ind of research is to be done


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(eedy (1989! # 61* notes in his thoroughintroduction to )riting research roblems! The statement of the researchroblem mustimly that! for the resolution of the roblem! thinking on thepart of the researcher)ill be re?uired# $ometimes there may be sub@

roblems to the ma'or research roblem#


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its alaysian conte"t! then Dalaysia should be included in the researchroblem statement# This issue of the conte"t of research is e"lored furtherin the discussion of -hater 2 belo)#

&n eHect! the research roblem and the delimitations in the later $ection 1#7outline the research area! setting boundaries for its generalisability of+J one broad area of interest! for e"amle! telecommunications

mareting! (students might consider ensuring that this area ofinterest has its ownacademic disciline from )hich severale"aminers could be selected @ a t)o@disciline thesis may roduceconGicts among e"aminers from diHerent discilines*!

J level of decision maing! for e"amle! directors! managing directors!senior managers! customers! or ublic olicy analysts!

J rivate or ublic sector organisation!J industry! for e"amle! transort industry!J geograhic limits! for e"amle! Aueensland or ustralia! andJ time or business cycle limits! for e"amle! in the late 1980s before

the ustralian economy entered a recession#sing the familiar ?uestions of D)ho! D)hat! D)here! Dho) and D)hy (Kin1989! # 17* may lead the student to)ards lacing these aroriateboundaries around the research roblem#

ll the boundaries of the research roblem )ill be e"licit in the researchroblem orin $ection 1#7! ho)ever! allthe boundaries should bejustiedin$ection 1#7# &n the e"amle above! restricting the research roblem to

Aueensland and .e) $outh ales telemareting could be based on thosestates being more advanced than the rest of ustralia# That is! theboundaries cannot be arbitrary# ithin those boundaries! the data and theconclusions of this h research should aly: outside those boundaries! itcan be ?uestioned )hether the results )ill aly#

&dentifying the research roblem )ill tae some time! and is an e"ercise inDgradually reducing uncertainty as it is narro)ed and re%ned (hillis andugh 1987! # 37*# .evertheless! early identi%cation of a reliminaryresearch roblem focuses research activity and literature searches! and sois an imortant early art of the h research ro'ect (Luber@$erritt =

Mnight 1986*# The &ntroductory .otes on age 1 of these notes outlinedsome considerations in choosing a research roblem# n e"amle of thegradual narro)ing of a research roblem is a students roblem about theartners in small ustralian architectural ractice )hich initially referred toractice of strategic management! then to designing and imlementing astrategy! then to imlementing a strategy and %nally to the rocessesinvolved in imlementing a strategy#

fter the research roblem is resented! a short aragrah should say ho)the roblem )ill be solved in the thesis# This ste is necessary becauseacademic )riting should notbe a detective story )ith the solution et amystery until the end (Iro)n 1995*# n e"amle of this aragrahfollo)ing a research roblem statement is (based on ,eide 1994! # 71*+


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The roblem addressed in this research is+How can relationships involved in interorganisational governance inmarketing channels be managed?


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imortant data or )asting time on unimortant material# &n other )ords!the research Dload must be identi%ed! sorted out and tied do)n before theD)agon of research methodology begins to roll# esite this recaution!students )ill robably have to continue to re)rite some arts of -haters 1

and 2 to)ards the end of their candidature! as their understanding of theresearch area continues to develo#

Contri%ution!.s art of the aroach to a thesis not being a detectivestory! this $ection 1#2 should also brieGy describe the contributionsthatthe thesis )ill mae in its %nal chater# This descrition should be limitedto less than one or t)o ages# This art could begin )ith Dns)ering theresearch issues rovided contributions that )ill be resented in $ection5#2# &n summary! this research made seven contributions# /irstly!N

1.) *u!ti+cation #or the re!earch


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each#

1., -ethodo"o

$ection 1#4 is an introductory overvie) of the methodology! and is lacedhere in -hater 1 to satisfy the initial curiosity of the e"aminer# This sectionshould refer to sections in -haters 2 and 3 )here the methodology isdescribed and 'usti%ed in far more detail#

That is! this section %rst describes the methodology in general terms!including a brief! one or t)o aragrah descrition of ma'or statisticalrocesses! for e"amle! of regression# Then the section could refer tosections in -hater 2 )here methodology is discussed! and ossibly 'ustifythe chosen methodology based uon the urose of the research! and'ustify not using other techni?ues# /or e"amle! the choice of a mail surveyrather than a telehone survey or case studies should be 'usti%ed#lternatively and referably! these 'usti%cations for the methodology usedcould be left until the revie) of revious research in -hater 2 and the startof -hater 3# etails of the methodology such the samling frame and thesiPe of the samle are rovided in -hater 3 and not in $ection 1#4#

&n summary! this section merely hels to rovide an overvie) of theresearch methodology! and can be erfunctory @ t)o ages )ould be ama"imum length# Iecause of the oenness of thesis )riting noted above!this section should also introduce the data analysis methods as )ell as the

data collection methods and brieGy summarise the %ndings of the dataanalysis#

1./ Out"ine o# thi! report


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so that the thesis can )ithstand attacs by e"aminers )ith trivial ersonalreferences# /or e"amle!


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$ome students might lie to describe the unit of analsishere! for e"amle!%rm or manager# hether it is described here or in -hater 3 is notimortant! 'ust as long as it is identi%ed and 'usti%ed some)here in the

thesis#

1.4 Conc"u!ionThe %nal aragrah of each chater usually summarises the eyachievements of the chater# $o the conclusion of -hater 1 should readsomething lie+

This chater laid the foundations for the reort# &t introduced the researchroblem and research issues# Then the research )as 'usti%ed! de%nitions)ere resented! the methodology )as brieGy described and 'usti%ed! the

reort )as outlined! and the limitations )ere given# Qn these foundations!the reort can roceed )ith a detailed descrition of the research#

Chapter $ Re!earch i!!ue!The second chater aims to build a theoretical foundationuon )hich theresearch is based by revie)ing the relevant literature to identify researchissues )hich are )orth researching because they are controversial andhave not been ans)ered by revious researchers# That is! the literaturerevie) is not an end in itself! but is a means to the endof identifying the)orthy research issues that )ill be listed in the chaters conclusion and)ere brieGy introduced to the e"aminer in $ection 1#2# &t is this oint aboutthe chater being a means to an end that romts its title being DSesearchissues rather than >iterature revie)# &ncidentally! the chater is about thee"tant literature! so the students o)n ideas or oinions have no lace inthis chater! e"cet )here they are used to structure the treatment of theliterature and to create the theoretical frame)or at the end of the chater!andare clearly suorted by authorities! evidence or logic#

The survey of the literature in a thesis should not only concentrate on thearea of the research roblem described in $ection 1#2! for as )ell as

including the research problem theorof the research roblem (fore"amle! emloyee motivation or customer service*! the literature revie)should also demonstrate a familiarity )ith someparent theories (fore"amle! emloyee sychology or services mareting*# Rniversity ofQregon (n#d#* called these t)o tyes of Dtheories the arent andimmediate discilines# The authorities hillis and ugh (1987*descritively named these t)o tyes of theories as bacground and focustheories! resectively# & refer to combine these t)o sources into theDarent theory and the Dresearch roblem theory because Darentemhasises that the arent must be relevant to resolving the researchroblem and not any mere bacground theory! and Dresearch roblem

emhasises )hy the theory is a focus of -hater 2! that is! and )hy it isimmediate#


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Selatedly! hillis and ugh (1987* said that a students research should beDtesting out research! that is! research )hich tests out the limits ofreviously roosed theories# /or e"amle! theory about mareting brands

has almost been comletely based on research about goods: h researchcould test out )hether this goods@based theory alies to services# Irandsand services mareting )ould be the arent theories and the researchroblem theory )ould consider them together# nother e"amle )ould beto test out )hether the theory about relationshi mareting alies tocybermareting# Ket another e"amle )ould be to test )hether traditionaltheory about roduct strategy alies in database mareting# Thus thisconcet of testing out research is valuable for ensuring ostgraduateresearch maes a contribution and hels the design of -hater 2#

The research roblem theory should referably relate to oneacademicdisciline from )hich e"aminers )ill be selected! as noted above# ,o)ever!there may be more than one arent theory: for e"amle! a thesise"amining the research roblem of mareting orientation might discuss t)oarent theories of mareting theory and strategic management# &n other)ords! the literature revie) of a thesis tends to e"tend further beyond theboundaries of the research roblem than it does in most other tyes ofresearch# .evertheless! the literature revie) should be focussed and shouldnot contain theories that are not directly relevant to the research roblemtheory @ these indirectly associated discilines should be relegated to$ection 5#4 of the thesis as areas for )hich the research has imlications# &n

other )ords! onlyparenttheories needed to develo a theoreticalframe)or in the research roblem theory are involved! not uncles! aunts!or other relatives#

The relationshis bet)een several of the concets above are sho)n in/igure 3# &n that %gure! the literature revie) covers the arent theories andthe research roblem theory# .ote that the research roblem theory is onlyabout the research roblem# Qf the total! ossible asects of the researchroblem! only some asects are )ithin the delimited scoe described in$ection 1#7! but the literature revie)ed about the research roblem theoryusually covers all asects of the research roblem# That is! in /igure 3!

some boundaries of the research roblem are made e"licit in $ection 1#2and all are made e"licit in $ection 1#7: this diHerence is sho)n by somebut not all of the line around the boundaries of the delimited researchroblem in the %gure being the same as the line around the researchroblem area# ll boundaries of the research roblem should have been'usti%ed in $ection 1#7! as noted above#

/igure 3 also sho)s that some of the literature about the research roblemtheory )ill already rovide some ans)ers to arts of the research roblem!but it is the gapsof unresearched or controversial arts of the researchroblem about )hich the research )ill collect data# That is! the statementsof the research issues or roositions about these gas are the ultimategoal of -hater 2! and rovide a focus for the data collection and analysis


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described in the ne"t t)o chaters#

/igure 3 Re"ation!hip! %et2een the parent theorie! and re!earchpro%"e& theor' and %et2een the re!earch pro%"e& and the

re!earch i!!ue! or propo!ition!

C"a!!i+cation &ode"! o# the "iterature re5ie2 and ana"tica" &ode"!o# the theoretica" #ra&e2ork# $ome 'udgement may be re?uired tobalance the need to focus on the research roblem theory! and the need fora thesis to sho) familiarity )ith the literature of the arent theories# Qne)ay of balancing these t)o needs is to develo mind mas such as a ne)classicationmodel of the body of no)ledge sho)ing ho) concets canbe groued or clustered together according to schools of thought orthemes! )ithout necessarily considering relationshis bet)een grous

(/igure 3 is an e"amle*# These concets could be the section headings inthe outline of the chater that should recede the )riting of the chater(Luber@$erritt = Mnight 1986*# The ne) classi%cation model )ill begin tosho) that the students literature survey is constructively analytical ratherthan merely descritive! for the rigour in a thesis should be redominantlyat the uer levels of Iloom and Mratho)ls (1956* si"@level hierarchy ofeducational ob'ectives# >evels 1! 2 and 3 are mere no)ledge!comrehension and alication that every undergraduate should dislay#>evels 4! 5 and 6 are analysis! synthesis and evaluation @ the higher@ordersills )hich academic e"aminers consider a ostgraduate research studentshould develo (


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%gure near the beginning of -hater 2 )ill hel the e"aminers follo) these?uence of the chater# Seferring brieGy to the %gure as each ne) grouof concets is begun to be discussed! )ill hel the e"aminer follo) theintellectual 'ourney of the chater# &n other )ords! the literature revie) is

nota string of ointless! isolated summaries of the )ritings of others alongthe lines of Cones said###$mith saidNreen saidN Sather! the lins bet)eeneach )riter and others must be brought out! and the lins bet)een each)riter and the research roblem should also be clear# hat the studentsays about a )riter is more imortant than a descrition of )hat a )ritersays (>eedy 1993*! and this emhasis is heled by using a bracetedreference lie (>eedy 1993* in the %rst art of this sentence! rather thanleading )ith the )riter by saying >eedy (1993* says#### That is! the thesisshould not be an annotated bibliograhy lie an undergraduate )ould )rite(lie D$mith (2008* saidN*: rather! it demonstrates )hat the thesis )riterthins about the ideas that the authors have )ritten about and ho) he orshe has incororated those ideas into his or her o)n thining andarguments! and then merely cites the author within brackets# &n brief! theliterature revie) is not a te"tboo that describes the literature for areader )ho no)s little about a toic! rather! it is an interestingrearrangement and synthesis of material )ith )hich the e"aminer shouldalready be familiar#

fter the classi%cation models of the arent theories are develoed! theresearch roblem theory is e"lored to unearth the research issues orroositions: these should aear to gro) out of the discussion as gas in

the body of no)ledge are discovered# This research roblem theory of theliterature revie) is clearly diHerent from the arent theory arts! for thestudents ownvie)s come to the fore no)! as he or she constructs a ne)theoretical frame)or )hich has not been develoed reviously in theliterature @ this theoretical frame)or is used to develo the roositions orresearch issues about the reviously une"lored research roblem theory!about )hich data )ill be collected in later chaters# The arent theories)ere merely thepoints of departurefor the main 'ourney of the research!that is! the develoment of the newtheoretical frame)or that is theresearch roblem theory )ithin this theory! research issues;roositionsfrom the theoretical frame)or )ill be used to focus data collection#

&ndeed! some thesis )riters refer to ut this research roblem theory intoa chater of its o)n! to clearly demonstrate ho) it diHers from thesome)hat less creative literature revie) of the arent theories#

second! more analticalmodelof core constructs and their relationshisbased on this analysis of the research roblem theory! is develoed as thete"t describing the theoretical frame)or that is created# This analyticalmodel )ill usually e"licitly consider relationshipsbet)een concets! andso there )ill be arro)s bet)een the grous of concets (/igure 1 is ane"amle*# $earan (1992! -hater 3* discusses this model buildingrocedure for ?uantitative research# This analytical model is a veryimortant art of -hater 2! for it summarises the theoretical frame)orfrom )hich the roositions or research issues Go) at the end of the


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chater# $ho)ing aroriate section and subsection numbers on thesemodels (lie 2#1! 2#2 and so on* )ill hel referencing of them in the body ofthe reort# &n other )ords! a theoretical frame)or )ith 'usti%ed variablesand their relationshis that rovides an anchor for the develoment of

research issues;roositions to)ards the end of -hater 2! is essential#

E6a&p"e!# &n brief! -hater 2 revie)s the arent and research roblemtheories! )ith the aims of charting the body of no)ledge )ith a summarymodel or t)o! sho)ing )here the research roblem %ts into that body ofno)ledge and then identifying research issues or roositions# These )illfocus the discussion of later chaters on directions )here further researchis re?uired to ans)er the research roblem! that is! having sections in-hater 3 and 4 e"licitly related to the roositions or research issuesfacilitates the Dseamless characteristic of an eHective thesis#

Qf course! each student )ill )rite -hater 2 diHerently because it involvesso much ersonal creativity and understanding and so the chatersstructure may end u being diHerent from that suggested in these notes#.evertheless! t)o e"amles of -hater 2 based on the structure might beuseful for beginning research students# .ote ho) silfully the students havelined their revie)s of the arent and research roblem theories#The %rst e"amle of ho) to structure -hater 2 is rovided in a h thesis)hich had a research roblem about in)ard technology licensing# -hater 2began by develoing a de%nition of in)ard technology licensing! and then

revie)ed the arent theory of ne) roduct develoment# &n a chronologicaldiscussion of ma'or researchers! the revie) sho)ed a familiarity )ith ma'orconcetual issues in the arent theory of ne) roduct develoment suchas+ aroaches to ne) roduct develoment )hich are alternatives toin)ard technology licensing! the imortance of ne) roduct develoment!its risiness! and its stages )ith their inGuencing factors# The revie)acno)ledged disagreements bet)een authorities )ithout develoingresearch issues or roositions! and established that in)ard technologylicensing )as an interesting art of the arent theory to research!summarised in a table )hich comared in)ard technology licensing )ithsome other methods of ne) roduct develoment on three criteria! using a

high@medium@lo) scale# fter %fteen ages of revie)ing the arent theory!the chater addressed the research roblem theory of in)ards technologylicensing by revie)ing literature in four grous of inGuencing factors!summarised in a classi%cation model of the theoretical frame)or beingconstructed# s sections of the chater considered each of these grous!researchers )ere comared )ith each other and some hyotheses )eredeveloed )here controversy or methodological )eanesses e"isted orresearch gas in ossibly interesting areas )ere identi%ed# articularconcets and the hyothesised directions of relationshis bet)een them)ere summarised in a detailed analytical model that gre) out of the earlierclassi%cation model used to structure the literature revie)#

The second e"amle of -hater 2s structure is from a h thesis )ith a


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research roblem about the mareting of suerannuation services# -hater2 %rst demonstrated a familiarity )ith the arent theory by tracing thehistorical develoment of the term service so as to develo a de%nition ofthe term! but this survey became too big for -hater 2! and so it )as

laced in an aendi" and the main oints summarised in $ection 2#2 of-hater 2 in )ords and a classi%cation model )ith three ma'or grous! eachhaving four sub@grous# The research roblem theory )as then identi%ed asfalling into one of the sub@grous of the arent theory! its imortancecon%rmed! and roositions )orthy of further research unearthed as thechater rogressed through the research roblem theorys o)nclassi%cation model and develoed an analytical model of the theoreticalframe)or being constructed# (&ncidentally! some e"aminers may thin toomany aendices indicate the student cannot handle data and informationeUciently! so do not expecte"aminers to read aendices to ass thethesis# They should be used only to rovide evidence that rocedures orsecondary analyses have been carried out#*

Conte6t o# the re!earch. $ome candidates might thin that the conte"tof the research should also be described in the literature revie)# Iut shoulditB /or e"amle! should the economy of Thailand be summarised in theliterature revie) if cases )ere to be collected in that country! or should the%nancial services industry in ustralia be described if a survey )as to bedone in that industry in that countryB &n my o)n oinion! including adescrition of the conte"t in the literature revie) is re?uired only if themain contributionof the research deends on this conte"t (this issue )as

introduced in the discussion of the research roblem statement in $ection1#2*# /or e"amle! consider a student )ho is researching ho) internetmareting communication ()hich )as established in the est* is done inThailand )ith its diHerent tye of economy and diHerent culture ()here thetoic has not been researched by academics*# That student should resenta bacground to Thailand as one of the arent theories# Iut in a seconde"amle! a student )ho )as researching the eHect of internet mareting onrelationshis in the %nancial services industries in ustralia )ould notneedto include a descrition of the %nancial services industry in -hater 2# Thereason is that internet mareting might be done a bit diHerently in ustraliathan the )ay it is the Rnited $tates! but that diHerence is not as imortant

to the researchs contributions as the diHerence bet)een internet and non@internet mareting# &n this second e"amle! the arent theories )ould beinternet mareting and relationshi mareting! and examples from %nancialservices in ustralia )ould be used to illustrate the oints being made inthose arent theories and in the research roblem theory of -hater 2# &nthis second e"amle! a brief descrition of the ustralian economy andinternet activity )ithin it could be laced in -hater 2 'ust before theresearch roblem theory is resented! or in an aendi"#

Detai"! o# Chapter $. ,aving established the overall rocesses of -hater2! this discussion can no) turn to more detailed considerations# ost iecesof literature should be included in a summary table )hich covers all or mostof the details belo)# The accomanying te"t does not need to be as


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detailed unless some of the details are articularly relevant! but the te"tshould nevertheless demonstrate that you have read the understood therole that each reference has layed in the develoment of the body ofno)ledge! that is! the contribution to the body of no)ledge that is

relevant to the research problem !ho) it comares and contrast )ith theositions develoed by other researchers#The details in a table should cover all or most of+J toics covered! including the year! the industry! the country and;or

region! and the sub'ects in the research (for e"amle! managingdirectors or middle managers*!

J survey and statistical methodologies used!J %ndings! andJ limitations and roblems of the research! for e"amle! )as the data

collection or its analysis aroriateB&n brief! roviding a concise descrition of the research toics andmethodologies underlying %ndings reached by )riters )ill rovide a basisfor the students vie) of the value of their %ndings to the body ofno)ledge! )ill remind the e"aminer of the research involved! and )ill helthe student to carefully chart the boundaries of the body of no)ledge#(&ncidentally! it is courteous to reference as many ublications as ossibleof liely e"aminers#*

Rseful guides to ho) contributions to a body of no)ledge can be assessedand clustered into grous for classi%cation and analytical models are many

articles in each issue of "he #cadem of $anagement %eview! theliterature revie) arts of articles in the initial overvie) section of ma'orarticles in "he #cadem of $anagement &ournaland other restigiousacademic 'ournals! and the chairersons summing u of various aersresented at a conference# ,eide (1994* rovides an e"amle of a veryanalytical treatment of t)o arent theories and one research roblemtheory! and >eedy (1993! # 88@95* rovides a thorough guide to collectingsources and )riting a literature revie)# /inally! -ooer (1989* discussessources of literature and suggests that ey)ords and databases beidenti%ed in the thesis to imrove the validity and reliability of a literaturerevie)#

&f a ?uotation from a )riter is being laced in the literature revie) orelse)here in the thesis! the ?uotation should be receded by a briefdescrition of )hat the student erceives the )riter is saying# /or e"amle!the indirect descrition receding a ?uotation might be+ DLuber@$erritt andMnight (1986! # 93* list three bene%ts of having a research roblem toguide research activities+N $uch an indirect descrition or recis receding?uotations demonstrate that the student understands the imortance ofthe ?uotation and that his or her o)n ideas are in control of the shae ofthe revie) of the literature# oreover! ?uotations should not be too long!unless they are esecially valuable: the student is e"ected toprecis longslabs of material in the literature! rather than ?uote them @ after all! thestudent is suosed to be )riting the thesis# /or this reason! one suervisor


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& no) insists on students eeing ?uotations to less than three )ords#Seferences in -hater 2 should include some old! relevant references tosho) that the student is a)are of the develoment of the research area!

but the chater must also include recent)ritings @ having only oldreferences generally indicates a )orn@out research roblem# Qld referencesthat have made suggestions )hich have not been subse?uently researchedmight be )orth detailed discussion! but )hy have the suggestions not beenresearched in the astB

&ncidentally! having numbers in the headings of each section andsubsections of the thesis! as sho)n in Table 1! )ill also hel to mae thelarge thesis aear organised and facilitate cross@referencing bet)eensections and subsections# ,o)ever! some suervisors may refer a studentto use headings )ithout numbers! because articles in 'ournals do not haveheadings )ith numbers# Iut articles are far shorter than theses! and so &refer to include an e"licit seleton in the form of numbered sections andsubsections to carry the e"tra )eight of a thesis#

E6p"orator(theor %ui"din re!earch and re!earch i!!ue!. &f theresearch is explorator'theor building and uses a ?ualitative researchrocedure such as case studies or action research! then the literaturerevie) in -hater 2 )ill unearth research issues or(uestionsthat )ill bethe focus of the data collection described in later chaters and ans)ered in-hater 4# (


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sub'ective understandings! and the research issues should only be raised asrobes to)ards the end of the intervie) if their toics have not beendiscussed in the earlier unstructured discussion (erry = -oote 1994: erry1998b: atton 1992*#

Iy the )ay! the )ord Dho) in an e"loratory research issues does notmean that an e"eriment is re?uired to establish a direct cause and eHectlin bet)een and I# &n social science research! such lins are very hard toestablish and so e"loratory research searches for causal tendencies orgenerative mechanism that suggest a causal relationshi only in somelimited conte"ts (erry! Seige and Iro)n 1998*# s )ell! as noted earlier!the %rst erson may be used in -hater 3 of e"loratory research theses)hen describing )hat the researcher actually did: similarly! many?uotations from intervie)ees should be used in -hater 4 to illustrate%ndings#

E6p"anator(theor te!tin re!earch and propo!ition!. Qn the otherhand! if the research is explanator'theor testing and so refers to ?ueriesabout ho) or )hy and uses some (uantitative researchmethodologyoften used in e"lanatory research such as regression analysis of surveydata! then -hater 2 unearths testableroositions that can be ans)ered)ith a Dyesor Dno )ith a recise ans)er to ?uestions about Dho) many orD)hat roortion (


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their suervisors may refer to not mae this distinction bet)eenroositions and hyotheses if the diHerences are small#

&n some h research! there may be a mi" of ?ualitative research issues

and ?uantitative hyotheses! and a case study methodology can combineboth in either e"loratory and e"lanatory research (Kin 1989*# enerallyseaing! the total number of research issues and;or roositions shouldnot e"ceed about four or %ve or so: if there are more! suUcient analysismay not be done on each )ithin the sace constraints of a h thesis#hether research issues or roositions are used! they should be resentedin the )ay that informed 'udges accet as being most liely# /or e"amle!the roosition that smoing causes cancer is referred to smoing doesnot cause cancer# The transformation of the roositions into statisticalnull and alternate hyotheses ()here the null hyothesis al)ays refers to aDno diHerence situation! for e"amle! that Dsmoing does not causecancer* is left until -hater 3#

The research issues or roositions develoed during -hater 2 could bedeveloed in a relationshi theory section to)ards the end of the chater!or they could be resented throughout the chater as the literature surveyunearths areas that re?uire researching# herever they are resented! theyshould aear to Dgro) out of the revie)! even though the student mayhave decided on them long before )hile )riting very early drafts of thechater# That is! the develoment of the research issues or roositionsshould mae it clear that ideas from the arent theories have laid the

ground)or for their develoment by referring to relevant ideas and gasin the literatures! and mae it clear that they are gas that this research)ill %ll#

hen %rst resented in -hater 2! the research issues or roositionsshould be numbered and indented in bold or italics# The concluding sectionof -hater 2 should have a summary list of the research issues orroositions develoed earlier in the chater#

/igure 4 summarises the lins bet)een the research roblem! the arentand immediate theories and the research issues;roositions that )ere

develoed above# .ote that the %gure clearly sho)s the lin bet)een theresearch roblem and the theory that is the focus of its solution#

/igure 4 The "ink %et2een the re!earch pro%"e& and the theoretica"#ra&e2ork de5e"oped in the re!earch pro%"e& theor to !o"5e it'and the parent theorie! and the re!earch i!!ue!(propo!ition!

Sesearch roblem

arent theory 1 arent theory 2


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Sesearch roblem theory )ith the theoretical frame)or

Sesearch issues;roositions develoed from

the theoretical frame)or to focus data collection

&n brief! -hater 2 identi%es and revie)s the concetual;theoreticaldimensions of the literature and discovers research issues or roositionsfrom a ne) theoretical frame)or that are )orth researching in laterchaters#

Chapter ) -ethodo"o-hater 3 describes the ma'or methodology used to collect the data )hich)ill be used to ans)er the hyotheses# &n some theses! severalmethodsmay be used because increasingly authors and researchers )ho )or inorganisations and )ith managers argue that one should attemt to mi"methods to some e"tent! because it rovides more ersectives on thehenomena being studied (


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ostgraduate courses! one or t)o of the e"aminers may have to beDbrought u to steam on the techni?ue and so more material )ill benecessary to cover more details of the techni?ue and )hy they )ere used!than )hen a basic techni?ue is being used#

That is! e"aminers need to be assured that allcritical rocedures androcesses have been follo)ed# /or e"amle! a thesis using regression asthe rime methodology should include details of the ilot study! handling ofresonse bias and tests for assumtions of regression# thesis using factoranalysis )ould cover reliminary tests such as Iartletts and scree testsand discuss core issues such as the samle siPe and method of rotation# thesis using a survey )ould discuss the usual core stes of oulation!samling frame! samle design! samle siPe and so on in order (avis =-osenPa 1993! # 221*

&n addition to critical rocedures and rocesses! students must sho)familiarity )ith controversies and ositions taen by authorities# That is!students must sho) familiarity )ith the body of no)ledge about themethodology! 'ust as they did )ith the bodies of no)ledge in -hater 2#&ndeed! hillis and ugh (1987* e?uate the body of no)ledge about themethodology )ith the body of no)ledge about the bacground and focaltheories of -hater 2! calling the former the data theory# n e"amle ofthis familiarity for students using a ?ualitative methodology )ould be ana)areness of ho) validity and reliability are vie)ed in ?ualitative research!in a discussion of ho) the ideas in incoln and uba (1985! -hater 11* )ere used in the research#/amiliarity )ith this body of no)ledge can often be demonstrated )henthe methodology isjustiedand )hen research rocedures are describedandjustied! rather than in a big section about the body of no)ledge onits o)n# /or e"amle! roviding details of the telehone survey used for theresearch is inade?uate! for the advantages and disadvantages of othertyes of surveys must also be discussed and the choice of a telehonesurvey 'usti%ed (avis = -osenPa 1993! # 287*# nother e"amle )ould beto sho) a)areness of the controversy about )hether a >iert scale isinterval or merely ordinal (.e)man 1994! # 153! 167* and 'ustifyadotion of interval scales by reference to authorities lie a student )ho

said+

number of reasons account for this use of >iert scales# /irst! these scaleshave been found to communicate interval roerties to the resondent! andtherefore roduce data that can be assumed to be intervally scaled (adsen1989: $chertPer = Mernan 1985*# $econd! in the mareting literature >iertscales are almost al)ays treated as interval scales (for e"amle! Mohli1989*#

Ket another e"amle )ould be to sho) a)areness of the controversy aboutthe number of oints in a >iert scale by referring to authorities discussions

of the issue! lie rmstrong (1985! # 105* and .e)man (1994! # 153*#


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This issue of ho) much detail and )hat detail to ut into the methodologychater is not a clear cut one# The student has to steer a %ne line bet)eengiving the e"aminers a Dtutorial about the methodology ()hich thee"aminers de%nitely do not need for the reasons noted above*! and merely

telling the story of )hat )as done to collect the data and analyse it# That is!the thesis )riter has to demonstrate research training and 'ustify the stesundertaen but )ithout boring the e"aminer# Qne )ay to steer the %ne lineis to fre?uently reference literature about the methodology and to describe)hat )as done in the order and using the language of that literature# Thefollo)ing e"amle sho)s ho) this could be done# The sentences are )rittenin the ast tense but clearly demonstrate that the )riter is familiar )ith themethodology literature that is lavishly referenced+

he fourth issue about this resear"h design "on"erned saple design$ ?aple design involved thesele"tion of a te"hniue to "hoose eleents fro the population of interest and involved the "hoi"e

of either probability or non'probability design ( =ory F Cooper 1991 /raIer F


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&ncidentally! & thin that as rough rules of thumb! h research re?uires atleast 350 resondents in a ?uantitative survey or at least 35 to 45intervie)s in four to t)elve ?ualitative case studies# ,onours research

re?uires about 50 to 100 resondents in a survey! or at least four to %veintervie)s! in four to %ve case studies# asters research )ill be bet)eenthese t)o limits#

A riorou! &ethodo"o# &n brief! -hater 3 describes the methodologyadoted (for e"amle! a mail survey and a articular need for achievementinstrument*! in a far more detailed )ay than in the introductory descritionof $ection 1#5# The operational denitionsof constructs used in?uestionnaires or intervie)s to measure an hyothesised relationshi )illbe described and 'usti%ed! for e"amle! ho) an interval scale )as devisedfor the ?uestionnaire# .ote that some authorities consider that hresearch should rarely use a reviously develoed instrument in a ne)alication )ithout e"tensive 'usti%cation @ they )ould argue that an oldinstrument in a ne) alication is merely asters level )or and is notaroriate for h )or# ,o)ever! oftenpartsof the h instrumentcould have been develoed by authorities (for e"amle! a need forachievement instrument*! but those arts must still be 'usti%ed throughrevious studies of reliability and validity and;or be iloted to the hstudents re?uirements in order to assess their reliability and validity! andalternatives must be carefully considered and re'ected# ny revisions to theauthoritys instrument must be identi%ed and 'usti%ed# lternatively! multi@

item measures could be develoed for constructs that have beenreviously measured )ith a single item! to increase reliability and validity# &tcan be argued that an old instrument in a ne) alication )ill be anoriginal investigation! and so a ne) or artly@ne) instrument is not anabsolute necessity for h research (hillis!


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J the unit of analsisand sub'ects or sources of data! for e"amle!e"licit reference to stes such as deciding the oulation! thesamling frame and the samle! and the samle siPe: for case studyresearch! these are discussed in erry = -oote (1994* and erry

(1998b*:J instruments or rocedures used to collect data! including ho) the

dependent variable)as measured! details of ilot studies and e"licitconcern about seci%c rocedures used to handle internal ande"ternal validity (as in Kin 1989! # 41: arhe 1993! # 260@261 and @for ?ualitative research @ >incoln = uba 1985! # 290@294*: notethat the boundaries of e"ternal validity )ere implicitladdressed in$ections 1#2! 1#6 and 1#7:

J administration of instruments or rocedures (for e"amle! )hen!)here and )ho! non@resonse bias ()hich is a verimortant issueand is discussed in rmstrong = Qverton (1977**! resonse rates!dates and rotocols of intervie)s (Kin 1989**! so that the research isreliable! that is! it could be reeated:

J limitationsof the methodology if they )ere not e"licitly discussed in$ection 1#7! for e"amle! ractical limitations on the samling frameor siPe of ?uestionnaire in survey research might be clari%ed and'usti%ed (for e"amle! some tyes of resondents might have beenmissed because of their religious beliefs*! and arhe (1993! # 255*discusses some ossible limitations of the case study methodology)hich should have been addressed in a thesis:

J any secial or unusual treatments of data before it )as analysed (for

e"amle! secial scoring of ans)ers to a survey ?uestion*:J evidence that the assumptionsof analytical techni?ues )ere met! fore"amle!

that the samle siPes )ere large enough and assumtions ofnormality )ere tested for (,air at al# (1995* clearly discusses theseassumtions for each multivaraite techni?ue*: validity and reliability issues and ho) they )ere addressed: in

?ualitative research! these issues )ill be discussed in the )ayformulated in >incoln and uba (1986*:

J comuter rograms used to analyse the data! )ith 'usti%cations fortheir use (for

e"amle! )hy chis?uare )as used instead of a ilco"on test* @ thismay re?uire a brief descrition of the tye of data and somearoriate references )here similar rocedures had been used insimilar circumstances: and

J ethical issues#

&n addition to the above! -hater 3 should sho) that other variables thatmight inGuence results )ere controlledin the research design (and so heldat one or t)o set levels* or roerly measured for later inclusion instatistical analyses (for e"amle! as a variable in regression analysis*# Thisoint is a very imortant consideration for e"aminers#


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Table 2 A!pect! o# a uni+ed the!i!

Aualitative research Auantitative research

Sesearch roblem+ho)B )hyB

Sesearch roblem+)ho (ho) many*B)hat (ho) much*B

>iterature revie)+e"loratory @ )hat are the variablesinvolvedBconstructs are messyresearch issues are develoed

>iterature revie)+e"lanatory @ )hat are therelationshis bet)een the variables)hich have been reviouslyidenti%ed and measuredB

hyotheses are develoed

aradigm+critical realism;interretive

aradigm+ositivist

ethodology+for e"amle! case study research oraction research

ethodology+for e"amle! survey or e"eriment

To fully demonstrate cometence in research rocedures! the statisticalforms of hyotheses could be e"licitly develoed and 'usti%ed in a thesis!even though such recision is often not re?uired in far shorter 'ournalarticles describing similar research# $earan (1992! # 79@84* rovides anintroduction to ho) this hyothesis develoment is done# $ome studentsare confused bet)een these statistical hyotheses and the more abstractroositions develoed to)ards the end of a literature revie)# Theroositions are framed in the form with which most experts would agree)for e"amle! that smoing causes cancer# &n contrast! the statisticalhyotheses develoed in -haters 3 or 4 are in a form that is directly readyfor statistical testing and have a format of a formal null hyothesis of+erodi,erence! for e"amle! that there is no association bet)een smoing andcancer! and an alternative hyothesis of some diHerence# The null and the


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alternative hyotheses could be either directional or not# directionalhyothesis )ill re?uire diHerent forms of statistical tests of signi%cance thana non@directional hyothesis: for e"amle! the use of a directionalhyothesis allo)s a one@tailed test of signi%cance#

The enultimate section of -hater 3 should cover ethical considerations ofthe research#


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J highly signi%cant+ 0#01 V W 0#001: andJ very highly signi%cant+ 0#001 V #ll robabilities reorted are based on t)o@tailed tests as each comarisonhad t)o ossible directions#

.ote that some statisticians refer to not acceptthe null hyothesis 'ustbecause it is not rejected(because the tye && error involved in accetanceis not no)n! although the Tye & error involved in re'ection is*! hence thepractical imlications of a statistical test involving no signi%cant diHerencebet)een test statistics must be made e"licit from the statisticallye"ressed result! that is! it should not be not confused )ith the statisticalresult# n e"amle of this searation of statistical and ractical meanings ofstatistical test is sho)n belo)#

The introduction of -hater 4 may be diHerent from introductions of other

chaters because it refers to the follo)ing chater as )ell as the recedingchater! for -hater 5 )ill discuss the %ndings of -hater 4 )ithin theconte"t of the literature# ithout this )arning! an e"aminer may )onder)hy some of the imlications of the results are not dra)n out in -hater 4#-hater 4 should be restricted to resentation and analysis of the collecteddata! )ithout dra)ing general conclusions or comaring results to those ofother researchers )ho )ere discussed in -hater 2# That is! although-hater 4 may contain references to the literature about methodologies! itshould not contain references to other literature# &f the chater alsoincludes references to other research! the more comlete discussion of-hater 5 )ill be undesirably reetitive and confused# &n any case! it istraditional in science to searate the results from the discussion of theirsigni%cance! to reserve ob'ectivity# DTo ?ualify each result! or grou ofresults! )ith comments and comarisons gives the strong imression thatyou are trying to inGuence the ob'ective 'udgment of the reader# (>indsay1995! # 17*

fter the introduction! descritive data about the sub'ects is usuallyrovided! for e"amle! their gender or industry in survey research! or abrief descrition of case study organisations in case study research# Thisdescrition hels to assure the e"aminer that the student has a Dgood feel

for the data! that is! they no) good researchers have to Dhandle their o)nrats (/rost = $tablein 1992! # 271*#

Then the data for each research issue or roosition is usually resented! inthe same order as they )ere resented in -haters 2 and 3 and )ill be in$ections 5#2 and 5#3# $tructuring the data analysis around the researchissues or roositions; hyotheses )ill ensure the student does not maethe mistae of falling in love the data (Iro)n 1996* and tell the reader ho)beautiful all the data is the data analysis must focus only on solving theresearch roblem by looing at each research issue or hyothesis in turn#$ensitivity analyses of %ndings to ossible errors in data (for e"amle!

ordinal rather than assumed interval scales* should be included# &f?ualitative research is being done! an additionalsection could be rovided


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for data that )as collected that does not %t into the research issuecategories develoed in the literature revie) of -hater 2#

.ote that the -hater 4 structure suggested in the t)o aragrahs above

does not include tests for resonse bias or tests of the assumtions ofregression or similar statistical rocedures# $ome students may lie toinclude them in -hater 4! but they could discussed in -hater 3 for theyrefer rimarily to the methodology rather than to the data analysis )hich)ill be directly used to test research issues or hyotheses#

&n -hater 4! the data should not be merely resented and the examinere"ected to analyse it# Qne )ay of ensuring ade?uate analysis is done bythe studentis to have interretive )ords describing the data follo)ed bynumbers laced in bracets! for e"amle! Dmost survey resondents (69ercent*N /or the same reason! test statistics! degrees of freedom orsamle siPe (to allo) the e"aminer to chec test statistics details in tables!if he or she )ishes* and values should be e"lained in )ords that sho)the student no)s )hat they mean! follo)ed by their values laced inbracets# n e"amle of an aroriate analysis is+

Auestion 9 e"lored attitudes to roduct ?uality and resondents ans)ersare summarised in Table 4#6# ost resondents (59#2 ercent* agreed thatthe roduct ?uality )as imortant! but a siPeable minority (27#8 ercent*had no vie) about roduct ?uality @ a some)hat surrising %nding )hich )illalso be discussed )ithin the conte"t of the literature in $ection 5#4#3### t@test )as used to discern the relationshi bet)een attitudes to roduct?uality and rice ($ection 4#9*! because both )ere measured )ith aninterval scale# .o signi%cant diHerence bet)een the means of attitudes tothe t)o variables )as found (t X 1#56! dof X 23! 25: X 0#35*# racticalimlication of this %nding is that the shoers considered roduct ?ualityand rice searately#

ost researchers in reutable 'ournals do not rovide recise values )henreorting the analysis of their data and merely say )hether the teststatistic is signi%cant at a certain level! for e"amle! DW0#05# ,o)ever!other researchers consider that this rocedure does not rovide all theinformation oHered by modern comuter rograms and so refer to reortthe recise value! as )as done in the e"amle above# Qne comromisebet)een these t)o ositions )ould be to use a articular level in the te"t!for e"amle! DW0#01! and have the recise levels listed in a table#

The discussion of results above )as based on ?uantitative analysis#Seorting the analysis of ?ualitative data is slightly diHerent# /irstly! theoverall atterns in the data are resented! )ith reasonsfor those atternsoccurring included# There is no reference to numbersof resondents orcases here! because the samle )ill have been chosen in a urosive )ayand so there can be no claim for statistical reresentativeness (atton

1992*# Then the reader could be referred to a matri" of the %ndings (iles= ,uberman 1994* )here more details can be found to suort the claim


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that the attern in the data does indeed e"ist# /inally! seci%c e"amlesand ?uotations to further corroborate the e"istence of the attern in thedata! are resented# n brief e"amle of this resentation of ?ualitative%ndings is+

3ost respondents thought shipping +as not iportant be"ause s"hedules +ere reliable (ro+ 2of able H$&)$ !han- goodness the unions are tae# (A2)$# Eo +orries ' +e have good portagents and shipping lines# (41)$

resenting analyses of ?ualitative data can be diUcult becausepatternsifthe )ordy data must be made clear )ithout overlooing theparticularsinthe data that rovide the indeth strength of ?ualitative data# Thesearagrahs from the introduction to a data analysis chater outline theset)o considerations and ho) they )ere addressed in the chater+

T)o considerations made it diUcult to blend ?ualitative details andsynthesised atterns in the data! )ithin this chater: that is! blend theD)ood and the Dtrees# The atterns in the data that e"lained )hy and ho)the )orld oerates is the D)ood and )as the rimary concern of thischater# ,o)ever! details of the Dtrees also had to be resented in thischater to con%rm the trust)orthiness of the atterns described# /irst!because this research )as an in@deth investigation of a comle" and under@researched area! this chater had to be ?uite detailed in some arts of itsanalysis! for e"amle! there are matrices for each tye of %nding (iles and,uberman 1994* that sho) the results for eachcase# $econdly! there?uirement for trust)orthiness in ?ualitative research made it necessary to

rovide detailed ?uotations and other evidence for the atterns found in thedata! together )ith the sources of the ?uotations# &n brief! atterns had tobe synthesised from the data )ithout losing sight of the rich! ?ualitativesources on )hich they )ere based#

To dra) these considerations together! this chater is clearly structuredaround the three research issues and there are fre?uent summaries of theatterns of data being uncovered! )ith suorting ?uotations# &n articular!the tables and %gures are critical to follo)ing the atterns being uncoveredin the data! for readers can gain an overall icture of the %ndings from them#&n articular! /igure 4#9 summarises the %ndings e"amined throughout the)hole chater and so rovides an overvie) of the )hole chater#

hether the data is ?ualitative or ?uantitative! all atterns of results in-hater 4 must be suorted by the evidence unearthed by the roceduresdescribed in -hater 3# That is! a reader should be able to chec %ndingsby looing at tables or %gures# $o each table or %gure should be referred toin the body of the chater! )ith the reason for its resence# s the e"amlein the revious aragrah sho)ed! a toic should be introduced in )ordsand the main %ndings resented: thenthe table or %gure referred to andevidence from it should be introduced in one or t)o sentences: and thenthe highlights of the table or %gure should be discussed more fully!together )ith a brief descrition of )hat the reader )ill loo for in the tableor %gure )hen he or she turns to it# &n other )ords! a reader should not bee"ected to develo the lins bet)een the )ords in -hater 4 and a table


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or %gure by himself or herself# &ndeed! the reader should be able to grasthe meaning by reading eitherthe )ords orthe %gures )ithout reference tothe other#

hen %gures are used! the table of data used to construct the %gure shouldbe in an aendi"# ll tables and %gures should have a number and title atthe to and their source at the bottom! for e"amle! D$ource+ analysis ofsurvey data# &f there no source is listed! the e"aminer )ill assume theresearchers mind is the source! but a listing such as D$ource+ develoed forthis research from -hater 2 might reinforce the originality of the students)or# The title of a table or grah should contain enough information thatits %ndings can be discerned )ithout referring to the te"t! for e"amle!DSelationshi mareting roensity among Qverseas -hinese andustralians+ they are similar desite cultural diHerences#

Chapter / Conc"u!ion! and i&p"ication!

/.1 Introduction-hater 5 is the most imortant chater of the thesis! for after ensuring themethodology and research rocesses are sound! the e"aminers )ill sendmuch time studying -hater 5# Iut the chater is often mared by fatigueand hillis and ugh (1987! # 56* note that in our e"erience itsinade?uacy is the single most common reason for re?uiring students toresubmit their theses after %rst resentation# $o the student must

discover srings of interest and creativity to mae his or her -hater 5)orthy of the rest of the thesis! and mae it clearly sho) that the researchdoes mae a distinct contribution to the body of no)ledge# Thus theresearchs contributions to no)ledge should be the explicittheme of$ections 5#2 to 5#4#

ctually! identifying )hat is a distinct contribution to no)ledge canbe)ilder some students! as hillis (1992! # 128* found in a survey ofustralian academics and students# .evertheless! maing a distinctcontribution to no)ledge D)ould not go beyond the goal of stretching thebody of no)ledge slightly by using a relatively ne) methodology in a

%eld! using a methodology in a country )here it has not been used before!or maing a synthesis or interretation that has not been made before# $othis tas should not be too diUcult if the research and the recedingchaters have been carefully designed and e"ecuted as e"lained in thesenotes#

e mae it clear to the e"aminer )hat )e mean by a Dcontribution byhaving a table at the start of the %nal chater )hich lists the seven or soDne) themes of the thesis for each research issue;roosition and notesthe degree that the e"tant literature had e"licitly addressed them! )ith)ords lie Dto some e"tent! Dto a very small e"tent! and Dnone# Then )eintroduce the terms )e )ill use in the %nal chater along the lines of+

?oe of this resear"h#s findings do "onfir e@pe"tations fro the e@tant literature but it


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is the first tie that this has been done for Australian situations$ hese +ill be "alledadvanceson that previous resear"h in this "hapter L they are of interest be"ause they adda ne+ depth to our understanding of the phenoenon$ 8o+ever, these advan"es +ill not

be "alled "ontributions in this "hapter be"ause our fo"us +ill be on ore iportant

contributionsor additions to -no+ledge arising fro fro findings about dis"onfirations of e@pe"tations derived in Chapter 2 fro the literature, indi"ated by

the thees +ith a !to soe e@tent# entry in the table

areas about +hi"h there +ere soe spe"ulations in the literature but no epiri"al

testing, indi"ated by the thees +ith a !to a very sall e@tent# entry in the table and

ne+ areas +hi"h had not been raised in the previous literature, indi"ated by thees

+ith a !none# entry in the table$

'igsa) uPPle analogy is useful for understanding )hat -hater 5 isabout# Sesearch begins lie a 'umbled 'igsa) uPPle about the research

roblem# -hater 2s literature revie) starts utting the ieces together totry to uncover a icture! but sho)s that some ieces are missing and so thecomlete icture cannot be no)n# Then -haters 3 and 4 describe thehunt for the missing ieces and the matching together of a fe) ne)lyfound ieces# /inally! -hater 5 returns to the uPPle! brieGy summarising)hat the icture looed lie at the end of -hater 2 and then e"lainingho) the ne) and the old ieces %t to mae the wholeicture clear#

o remember that the introduction to $ection 5#1 is longer than theintroduction of other chaters! as the section above titled D>ins bet)eenchaters noted#

/.$ Conc"u!ion! a%out re!earch i!!ue! or propo!ition!/indings for each research issue or roosition are summarised from-hater 4 and e"lained within the context of this and prior researchexamined in Chapter 2: for e"amle! )ith )hich of the researchersdiscussed in -hater 2 does this research agree or disagree! and )hyB /oreach research issue;roosition! the agreement or disagreement of theresults of a numbered section in -hater 4 )ith the literature should bemade clear and the reason for disagreement thought through# /or e"amle!the disagreement might be because some revious research )as done insia and this research )as done in ustralia# isagreement suggests the

h research is maing a contribution to no)ledge and this contributionof the researchshould be clearly develoed#


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attracted considerable attention in the literature (Cones 1991: nderson =atignon 1986: ,)ang 1988: ,ill et al! 1990*# /or e"amle! inor! u and-hoi (1991* argue that entry mode choice is based on strategic ob'ectives)hen considered in tandem )ith ###

This research had varied %ndings about these factors# $ection 4#3#5s%ndings )ere that innovation learning and )hether %rms consider a globalstrategy! are unimortant# These %ndings are inconsistent)ith theliterature# The reasons for this inconsistency aear to be the small siPe ofthe %rms in this survey and their industry# Cones (1991* surveyed %rms )ithturnovers above Y1 million in the harmaceutical industry! and ,)ang(1988* surveyed### &n contrast! ustralian small 'e)ellers are### resumably!they are more entrereneurial and have less at stae than larger %rmsand ###

/.) Conc"u!ion!a%out the re!earch pro%"e&Iased on $ection 5#2! imlications of the research for furtheringunderstanding of the research roblem are e"lored# The section goesbeyond the mere number@crunching of -hater 4 and incorporates(ualitative ndings about the research problem developed during theresearch! including those insights discovered during intervie)s in?ualitative research )hich had never even been considered in the literaturerevie)ed in -hater 2# gain the contribution of the research to the body ofno)ledge should be clearly develoed#

Kou are )arned that e"aminers are careful that conclusions are based on

ndingsalone! and )ill disute conclusions not clearly based on theresearch results# That is! there is a diHerence bet)een the conclusionsofthe research %ndings in $ections 5#2 and 5#3 and implicationsdra)n fromthem later in $ections 5#4 and 5#5# /or e"amle! if a ?ualitativemethodology is used )ith limited claims for statistical generalisability! theconclusions must refer seci%cally to the eole intervie)ed in the ast Dthe ,ong Mong managers laced small value on advertising rather thanthe resent tense of D,ong Mong managers lace small value on rice#

This section may sometimes be ?uite small if the roositions or researchissues dealt )ith in the revious sections cover the area of the research

roblem in a comrehensive )ay# .evertheless! the section is usually )orthincluding for it rovides a conclusion to the whole research eHort# Thus it isadvisable to try to ut together a %nal conceptualframe)or thatencasulates the achievements of the thesis# /or e"amle! a thesis thatused structural e?uation modelling could resent the nalmodel chosenfrom the rival models in -hater 4! )ithout the coeUcients that clutteredu the many %gures of the several models in -hater 4#

oreover! & suggest that this section conclude )ith a summary listing of thecontributions of the research together )ith 'usti%cations for calling themDcontributions! if that is not clear from the discussion in the revioussections of this chater# s noted earlier! the e"aminer is looing for thesecontributions and it may mae his or her tas easier if the student e"licitly


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lists them after introducing them in earlier arts of this chater#

This section should be esecially imortant for ?ualitative! theor!buildingresearch for it )ill sho) the %nal theory that is develoed and have a

model of it in a %gure! and also develo some roositions )hich laterresearchers can use to test the theory# That is! the section must have Darigorously develoed concetual frame)or )ith clearly de%ned andmeasurable variables! emirically testable research roositions(Oaradarara'an 1996! # 6*# Seference to these roositions )ill be made inthe later D&mlications for further research section#

&n a reort of non@thesis research such as a 'ournal article or a high@levelconsulting reort! this section might be the Dconclusion of the reort! but athesis must also discuss arent and other theories (.ightingale 1984*! asoutlined in the ne"t section#

/., I&p"ication! #or theorThe fullicture of the researchs %ndings )ithin the body of no)ledge isrovided in $ection 5#4! that is! it rovides the theoretical imlications ofthe research# This section aims to convince e"aminers that the hresearch has not only made a signi%cant contribution to no)ledge in itsresearch roblem theory as outlined in $ections 5#2 and 5#3! but also hasimlications for the )ider body of no)

Reading 10.1 Complete Structure Document 2010

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