CENTRE OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

FACULTY OF ACCOUNTANCY
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
SHAH ALAM

Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research for

Master Programmes by Coursework

2015

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

EDITORS

The editorial members for the Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research for Master
Programmes by Coursework, Faculty of Accountancy are:

Professor Dr Rozainun Hj Abdul Aziz

Professor Madya Dr Norashikin Ismail
Professor Madya Dr Azmi Abdul Hamid
Dr Tuan Zainun Tuan Mat
Dr Suhaily Hasnan

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

CONTENTS

EDITORS ………………………………………………………………………. ii

CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………………. iii

1.0 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1

2.0 GUIDELINES FOR DISSERTATION........................................................ 1

2.1 Nomination of Supervisor............................................................... 1
2.2 Changing of Supervisor................................................................... 2
2.3 Technical Specifications................................................................... 2
2.4 Organization of Dissertation............................................................ 3
2.5 Expectation Regarding Research...................................................... 5
2.6 Evaluation Standards and Criteria of Dissertation.......................... 6
2.7 Submission of Dissertation............................................................... 7
2.8 Examination of Dissertation............................................................. 8

3.0 GUIDELINES ON APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECT................................ 9

3.1 Pre-requisite...................................................................................... 9
3.2 Supervisor......................................................................................... 9
3.3 Project’s Specifications..................................................................... 9
3.4 Submission and Evaluation............................................................... 9

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................................................................... 17

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
This handbook of Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research project is
prepared by the Centre of Postgraduate Studies, Faculty of Accountancy in an attempt
to outline clear guidelines for the Master programmes by coursework students in
preparing a Dissertation / Applied Research Project that meets the faculty’s expected
quality standard.

This handbook covers issues related to:

 Nomination of supervisors
 Technical specifications of dissertation
 Expectation regarding research
 Evaluation standards and criteria of dissertation
In cases where there are ambiguities, the latest edition of the Academic Rules and
Regulations for Graduate Studies (IPSIS) takes precedence.

2.0 GUIDELINES ON DISSERTATION

Dissertation is a 6 credit unit course. Students will undertake this course during their
final semester (Semester 3 for full time students and Semester 4 for part time
students). Students are also required to pass a Research Methodology course (RAC
733) as a pre-requisite for the dissertation.

2.1 Nomination of supervisors

a) Nomination of supervisor must be made in semester 2.
b) Students may choose their own supervisor. Lecturers that taught RAC733
may recommend a potential supervisor to their students based on students’
area of research and supervisor’s interest and expertise.
c) Potential supervisor must be an academic member of the faculty with a
PhD qualification. Students may refer to the list of potential supervisors
from the Postgraduate office.
 Students must seek an approval from the potential supervisor by filling
in the “Nomination and Confirmation of Supervisor” form. Upon
approval by the Postgraduate office, letter of appointment will be
issued to the respective supervisor.
d) Each student can appoint one supervisor only.
e) Each supervisor can supervise only one new student in each semester (up
to a maximum of 3 students including those from prior semesters).
f) Supervisor’s role and duty begin once the appointment is approved by the
Postgraduate office.

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

g) Appendix 1: Appointment of Supervisor

2.2 Changing of Supervisor

Students are not allowed to change supervisor once the official appointment is
made. It is only allowable in the following conditions:
a) The present supervisor is no longer in a position to continue with
supervision duties
b) The present supervisor joins other institution
c) The present supervisor retires
d) It is upon request by the students
e) The present supervisor withdraws

2.3 Technical specifications

a) The research area must be within the Accounting field.
b) The length of the dissertation should be between 15,000 to 30,000 words.
c) Research can be qualitative, quantitative or combination of both.
d) May replicate research from other studies. (with modifications , e.g. add
new variables, different research questions /objectives)
e) Concept paper-typed of research is not considered as dissertation.
f) All dissertations must be written in English.
g) Students should use the following format:
Spacing 1½
Font Types Times New Roman
Font Size Body Text: 12
Title: 14 (UPPER CASE and BOLD)
Footnotes: 10

Margin Left : 1.5 inches

Right: 1 inch
Top: 1 inch
Bottom: 1 inch
Main Body Text Justified
Pagination Bottom of the page and centered

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

2.4 Organization of Dissertation

The format of the dissertation must have at least the following components:
a) Abstract
5 key words
250 to 300 words
Contents of the abstract:
- Purpose of study
- Research design
- Brief discussion of main findings
- Significance of the study

b) Introduction:
Preamble/background (overview of the study)
Statement of Research Objective
- problem statement/motivation of the study
- Research questions and research objectives
- Organization of the dissertation structure

c) Review of Literature:
- Introduction (discuss the organization of the chapter)
- Reviewing the literature relevant (including landmark
literature/specific literature in the area) to the dissertation.
- Citation should include seminal papers and authors with high-quality
scientific publications and authoritative works.
- References should include the most recent articles.
(Note: unpublished works (Master and PhD dissertations) should not
be cited unless they have been published).
- Variables to be identified from the literature review and relevant
theories (Students are required to paraphrase and not “cut and paste”).
- Conclusion - Summary of the chapter and introducing the next chapter

d) Research methodology/design:
Method used would depend on the research objectives, bearing in mind
the scope of research.

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

Quantitative Qualitative
Introduction (discuss the overview of the Introduction (discuss the organization of
methodology of the research and the chapter)
organization of the chapter)

Ethical considerations (such as obtaining Ethical considerations (such as obtaining

letter of approval / consent whenever letter of approval / consent whenever
relevant) relevant)

*Students are required to fill up and *Students are required to fill up and
submit the research ethics approval forms submit the research ethics approval forms
(Form No. 2 – No. 5) available at (Form No. 2 – No. 5) available at
https://uitmethics.uitm.edu.my/v1/index.php/2015- https://uitmethics.uitm.edu.my/v1/index.php/2015-
08-27-04-50-03 08-27-04-50-03

Population/ Sampling Identification of case firm(s)

Data collection method (Must have Data collection method
justification from prior research) o Interview protocol
o Primary data (survey, interview, o Interview
observation) o Observation
o Secondary data (annual reports, o Focus group interview
databases, economic report, etc)

Measurement of variables Measurement of variables

(Must have justification from prior
research)

Theoretical Framework- Need to embed Theoretical Framework- Research issue

underpinning theory in the conceptual should be based at least from practical
framework issue

Discussion of the development of Discussion of the development of

hypotheses. propositions
o Draw arguments from prior research,
frame your arguments based on
conceptual framework and supported
by theory

Data analysis Data analysis

o Descriptive o Interpretation
o Inferential (minimum: correlation) o Thematic content analysis
o Validity and reliability tests o Descriptive
o Univariate statistics or multivariate o Validity and reliability tests
analysis (optional)

Summary of the chapter and introducing Summary of the chapter and introducing
the next chapter the next chapter

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

e) Findings, analysis and discussions:

- Introduction (discuss the organization of the chapter)
- Discuss results of the study in relation to the research hypothesis,
research questions / objectives (the discussions must relate to results /
findings of prior studies)
- Strengths & weaknesses of the results should be discussed
- Conclusion - Summary of the chapter and introducing the next chapter

f) Conclusions:
- Introduction (discuss the organization of the chapter)
- Summary of the main findings
- Implications / contributions of the study
- Limitations
- Future research

g) References:
All references and citations should follow APA format (latest version).

h) Appendices:
For example, copies of questionnaires and permission letters.

i) Formatting:
Specific formatting style should be referred to the latest edition of
Guidelines on Dissertation Format for Postgraduate, published by IGS.

2.5 Expectation regarding research.

Students are expected to demonstrate competence on the following:
a) Able to identify the issue to be researched
b) Reviewing the literature relevant to the dissertation
c) Capability in applying appropriate research techniques to address
research questions/problems
d) Capability in data analysis and interpretation cross referring to other
studies from the literature review (descriptive and inferential –
minimum correlation)
e) Validity and reliability tests

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

f) Capability in drawing conclusions supported by data.

g) Capability in making recommendations supported by the implications
of the research
h) The ability to carry out supervised research in the field
i) Ethical considerations

2.6 Evaluation Standards and Criteria of Dissertation

The dissertation is evaluated based on the following criteria.
a) Title
 Is the title reasonably short, descriptive and correctly worded?

b) Introduction
 Is the issue to be researched clearly defined?
 Is the statement of the problem clearly stated?
 Are the research questions clearly formulated?
 Are the objectives of the study accurately addressing the issue posed
by research questions?
 Do the basic assumptions involved in the solution of the problem are
made clear? Are they justified?
 Do the findings from the study contribute to the body of knowledge in
the area of research?

c) Literature Review
 Is the discussion of previous related research adequate?
 Is the continuity with previous research made clear?
 Is there evidence of a satisfactory literature search?

d) Research Method
 Is the data available? If available, is the data collected adequate for the
solution of the problem.
 Does any peculiar sampling appropriately accounted for?
 Are the selected research instruments directly addressing the research
objectives?
 Is the method of solution logically sound?
 Are the assumptions involved in the procedure made clear?
 Are the necessary assumptions defensible/ justified?

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

e) Analysis of Results
 Do the analyses follow an explicit logic?
 Have the statistics or model comparisons been appropriately analyzed
and presented?

f) Conclusions
 Are the conclusions justified by the evidence submitted?
 Do the conclusions answer the questions or the issues raised in the
problem statement?
 Do the conclusions indicate practical recommendations or have defined
policy implications.

g) Form and Style

 Is the writing accurate, precise and clear?
 Does the style of writing demonstrate coherent flow from beginning to
end?

2.7 Submission of Dissertation

a) Date of submission will be determined and announced by the faculty’s
Head of Postgraduate Program to all supervisors and students at the
beginning of the semester. Dissertation that is submitted after the
submission date will not be accepted for examination.
b) Consent form - Student must get supervisor’s approval for submission.
c) Dissertation must be sent for English editing before submission.
d) Students must submit two (2) copies of soft bound dissertation and
similarity reports to the Postgraduate office. Dissertation with similarity
report equal or more than 30% will not be accepted for submission.
Similarity test should be run by the supervisor.
e) Part time students must submit their dissertation in semester four or latest
in semester eight.
f) Full time student must submit their dissertation in semester three or latest
in semester four.
g) Appendix 2: Evaluation Process for Dissertation

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

2.8 Examination of Dissertation

a) Students are not allowed to communicate with examiners while they are
assessing the dissertation. Forcing the examiners to expedite the
assessment process is further disallowed.
b) Students need to consult their supervisor on how to do the corrections if
they are any.
c) Corrections must be endorsed by supervisor before final submission.
d) Examiner may give the following recommendations:
Level Description Requirement to Students

Straight Pass without further amendment. Student should submit a CD and a

Pass hardbound copy to the
Postgraduate office within 2
weeks
Minor Pass with only minor Student should made a correction
Correction grammatical and editorial and submit a CD and a hardbound
– Level 1 changes required and subject to copy to the Postgraduate office
supervisor’s approval. within 2 weeks
Minor Pass, subject to specific minor Student should made a correction
Correction revisions having been made to and submit a CD and a hardbound
– Level 2 the satisfaction of the supervisor. copy to the Postgraduate office
within 2 weeks
Major Major revisions are required, Student will be given a TL status
Correction with the revised manuscript for that semester and must re-
returned to the same examiners enrol in the following semester.
for re-evaluation within 3
months.
Re-do A new manuscript need to be Student will be given a TL status
submitted to the Postgraduate for that semester and must re-
office on the submission date in enrol in the following semester.
the following semester.
Fail Be classified as failed. Student will not be awarded a
master’s degree.
e) After examination, students should not appeal for change of marks from
examiners.
f) Students will be given a TL status for that semester if they fail to submit
the final copies of the dissertation on the specific date given by the
Faculty (MPU, 27 September 2013).
g) Students who are required to make amendments to their dissertation are
expected to complete this task within a specific period given to them. If
additional time is required, student must apply for extension in writing to
the Head of Postgraduate Program and may be requested to re-enrol for
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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

the following semester. A TL status will be given for that semester.

Students need to be aware that re-enrolment in the following semester
requires payment of student registration fees for the period concerned.

3.0 GUIDELINES ON APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECTS

3.1 Pre-requisite
a) Applicable to students who have relevant working experience and
currently attached to an organization.
b) Full time students without relevant working experience are not allowed
to do applied research.
c) Student who is interested and eligible to do applied research should
apply to the Head of Postgraduate by filling in an application form for
Change of Study Plan from Dissertation to Applied Research.

3.2 Supervisor
a) The teaching lecturer is the supervisor.
a) Student does not have to nominate a supervisor.

3.3 Project’s Specifications

a) The length of the project paper should be between 10,000 to 15,000
words.
b) Study research approach should be towards “Case study of situations
and problems in an organization”.
c) Applied Research project with plagiarism report equal or more than
30% will not be accepted for submission.
d) Applied Research project must be sent for English editing before
submission.
e) The chapters in applied research project include but not limited to:
a) Introduction
b) Background of the study
c) Research Issues
d) Results of Findings
e) Conclusions and recommendations

3.4 Submission and Evaluation of Projects

Student must submit the project before or on the deadline determined by the
teaching lecturer.
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APPENDICES

1. Flowchart 1: Appointment of Supervisor

START

Submission of
Supervisor’s Nomination
form
NO

Availability of
Supervisor

YES

Confirmation of
Supervisor

Appointment Letter

FINISH

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

2. Flowchart 2: Evaluation Process For Dissertation

START

Submission of No
Dissertation

Yes

Appointment of
Supervisor’s Report
Examiners

Examiner Examiner
1 2 Dissertation progress
Report

Examiners’ Report

Correction Key-in Result into the

system
(Marks / TL)

Hardbound Copy
FINISH

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

3. Nomination & Confirmation of Supervisor Form

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

4. Form E: Student’s Report on Dissertation Corrections (Minor)

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5. Form E: Student’s Report on Dissertation Corrections (Major)

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6. Dissertation Progress Report (Programme by Coursework)

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 Guidelines on Dissertation and Applied Research

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Appreciation goes to the following names for their invaluable contribution towards the
completion of this guideline.

Professor Dr Rozainun Abd Aziz

Dato’ Professor Dr Mustaffa Mohamed Zain
Professor Dr Zubaidah Zainal Abidin
Professor Dr Rohana Othman
Professor Dr Syed Noh Syed Ahmad
Prof Madya Dr Ruhaya Atan
Prof. Madya Dr Faizah Darus
Prof. Madya Dr. Arun Mohamed
Prof. Madya Dr Zaini Ahmad
Prof. Madya Dr Nagarathnam Thirumanickam
Prof. Madya Dr Norhanim Sulaiman
Prof. Madya Huang Ching Choo
Prof Madya Dr Nizal Haniff
Prof Madya Dr Nik Kamaruzaman Hj Abdulatif
Prof Madya Dr Norashikin Ismail
Prof. Madya Dr Kalsom Salleh
Prof. Madya Dr Lai Ming Ling
Prof Madya Dr Azizah Abdullah
Prof. Madya Dr Noraini Mohamad
Prof. Madya Dr Indra Devi SK Kandasamy
Prof. Madya Dr Azmi Abdul Hamid
Dr Tuan Zainun Tuan Mat
Dr Sharifah Norzehan Syed Yusof
Dr Najihah Marhah Yaacob
Dr Anuar Nawawi
Dr Wan Adibah Wan Ismail
Dr Wan Nazif Wan Mohd Nori
Dr Corina Joseph
Dr Syahrul Ahmar Ahmad
Dr Normah Ahmad
Dr Norli Ali

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