School of Design
Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities
DISSERTATION
GUIDEBOOK
2019/2020
FBUY3003/4
FMAN3003
BA (Hons)
Fashion Buying with Marketing
Fashion Buying with Merchandising
Fashion Management
ii
Good research be like ..
iii
Poor research be like ..
iv
Contents
Contents …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iv
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Module Aims …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Module Team …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Module Details …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Study Tools ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2
Assessment ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Assessment Schedule and Weighting …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
DMU Assessment Procedure ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Turnitin …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
Teaching and Learning …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7
T&L Rationale …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7
T&L In Practice ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
T&L Schedule ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
T&L Pre-sessional Learning Tasks …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
Further Faculty Documentation …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
Project Practicalities ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 13
Topics ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 13
Project Supervisor and Meetings ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
Planning and Recording Progress ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 15
Timetabling and Access to Resources ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
Collection and Analysis of Data ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
Research Ethics ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 16
Writing Up and Typing ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 16
Presentation and Style of Thesis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
Language ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
Word Count ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 18
Layout and order of sections ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 19
Page Layout …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 21
Confidentiality ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 22
Binding and Presentation …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22
And Finally …. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 24
Appendix A – Autumn Project ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
Background ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 25
Task ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 25
Plan ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 25
Support ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
Appendix B – Full Project Plan …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 27
Background ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
Task ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
Marking Criteria ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 27
Submission Details …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
Appendix C – Literature Review …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 28
Brief ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 28
Task ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 28
Notes …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 28
Marking Criteria ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 28
Submission Details …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 28
Appendix D – Sample Title Page …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 29
Appendix E – School Staff Details ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30
Appendix F – SI Units ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 31
Appendix G – Assessment Criteria and Procedure …………………………………………………………………………………… 32
Appendix H – Warning, It’s The Internet! ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 34
Appendix I – Further Reading ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 35
Essential Reading Material ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 35
v
Recommended Further Reading Material ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 35
Appendix J – Assessment: Difference Between Formative And Summative ……………………………………………….. 38
Appendix K – What Does It Mean: Good Research …………………………………………………………………………………. 39
Appendix L – What Does It Mean: Poor Research …………………………………………………………………………………… 40
vi
Science Definitions Research
Researcher Dissertation
1
Introduction
Welcome to your final year project module. This is your time to shine, to follow a path that interests
you personally and/or professionally: to choose a topic, develop a research plan, undertake the
research, analyse it, draw conclusions and present it. Easyozy.
This handbook is your guide to the purpose and operation of the module. It contains a teaching plan,
assessment information, the assignment briefs (Appendices B and C), staff contact information (E),
some research activities (K and L), further reading (I), writing guides, workshop access information
and other useful information. You should print this and use it as the basis for the module, and you will
be notified as and when it is updated on BlackBoard.
It is supported by additional content on BlackBoard, such as Learning Materials, presentation slides,
DMUReply recordings, Turintin submission points and various Tools (Email and access to Module
Resources Lists).
Module Aims
The module provides you with the opportunity to undertake an in-depth investigation into an area of
personal interest related to your course of study. It is the ideal culmination to your studies as it allows
you to draw upon the knowledge, understanding, skills and experience of your previous 2 or 3 years
undergraduate work.
The module aims to :-
• Provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to retrieve and sift
information, think critically and analytically, make informed decisions and communicate
effectively.
• Provide opportunities for undertaking an independent research investigation in an area
related to one of the main study areas of the programme and hence to demonstrate an
appropriate level of knowledge and investigative skills in an area of fashion, textiles,
business, retail, marketing, merchandising or technology, or any combination of these.
Projects that do not exactly fit this may be undertaken if they are thought to be appropriate
through discussion with, and with the full agreement of, the Module Leadership team.
The module is entirely student led. To support you in this, lectures, seminar sessions, tutorial advice
and guidance are available to help you to choose, direct and successfully undertake a project that is
relevant to your individual interest and academic strengths. The result of the approved programme of
work will be presented in the form of a ready-to-bind dissertation.
Module Team
Module leadership team Dr. Mark Bradshaw and Helen Burbidge.
Module staff team Fiona Bailey, Dr. Mark Bradshaw, Helen Burbidge,
Pippa Clarkson, Dr. Angela Davies,
Professor Carolyn Hardaker, Kaye Herriott,
Karen Hickinbotham, Lianne Lewin, Julia Ling,
Siobhan Merrall, Dr. Claire Orwin, Professor Jim Shen,
Dr. Edward Smith.
2
Module Details
This is predominantly a one term, in depth module that allows you to focus all your attention on your
own project. You will engage with lectures and seminars to inform and challenge your thoughts about
research, and 1-2-1 tutorials to direct your work.
The module actually incorporates 3 different modules, full details of which are shown in Table 1,
which also shows the detailed assessment plan. Please note that :
1. Lectures and seminars. All students undertake the same programme of study and all
students are expected to attend all timetabled lecture and seminar sessions. This will be
further clarified in the first lecture.
2. Assessments and differentiation. The modules are differentiated by the number and
weighting of assessments. It is recommended that all students undertake and submit work for
each assignment so that you can receive summative and/or formative feedback on it.
3. Support materials. Teaching materials and module information and are located in the
Fashion Buying programme shell W23051 Fashion Buying on Blackboard, not in the three
individual module shells.
4. Turnitin. All Turnitin assessment points are in the individual module shells and not in the
programme shell.
5. Tutorials. The timetabled tutorial sessions will be updated once students are allocated to
their supervisors. You will only need to attend the ones allocated to your supervisor.
For the purposes of this handbook, and to avoid any further confusion between the 3 modules, this
module will henceforth be solely referred to as the Project module.
Study Tools
There are a growing number of excellent tools to support you in your studies. It is recommended that
you learn to use the following resources as their use is built into the module study programme and
you will be expected to use those marked * and use those not marked as and when needed.
Mendeley *
Excellent online tool for storing, organising and annotating your information sources, including books,
web sites, journals, videos, TV programmes, etc. You can use it via a web browser or download a
desktop app, and an extremely useful feature allows you to install a Web Installer button on your
browser for easy importing of source data. Go to www.Mendeley.com, create an account and use
some of their excellent online guides to learn it.
Mind View *
An excellent mind mapping tool that is available for download via the DMUHub. It allows you to
capture your thoughts and visually organise and link them together in various ways. Learning and
training resources are available from https://www.matchware.com.
Microsoft Office *
Wherever possible, you should use Microsoft Office as your document tools, whether you use a Mac
or PC. While other tools are available, such as Pages, LibreOffice, OpenOffice and many others,
DMU has an extensive suite of campus computers, support mechanisms (eg, training, online guides)
and experience with Microsoft Office, having recently updated everything to Office365. You can
download desktop, online and mobile versions from the My365 Student Portal.
Microsoft Planner/Sharepoint Project in Office 365 *
This will help you to plan, schedule and manage your project, keeping your supervisor informed of
your progress.
3
Nvivo
Nvivo is a Qualitative Data Analysis tool and is available for download from the DMUHub. This is very
specialised analysis software, and although it can take some time to learn and master, it offers
another dimension of data analysis via a relatively intuitive interface. It is used extensively by PGT an
PGR students.
4
Assessment
The project is an important component of the final year’s work for Honours students and contributes
either 60, 45 or 30 credits that are used in the calculation of the degree classification, depending upon
which module you are taking. Lectures and seminars on research methods and associated topics
introduce project planning, investigative methods, critical thinking, data analysis and reporting and are
designed as a support for the research and to help you develop the framework required for your
project. These aspects of your work are assessed in a variety of formats.
Assessment Schedule and Weighting
Table 1 shows the module assessment details. Please note the difference between formative and
summative feedback, as visualised in figure 1.
Module
code
Module
name
Credit
value
Programme Assessments
Project
Plan
Literature
Review
Dissertation
FBUY3003 Dissertation 60 BA Fashion Buying with
Marketing/Merchandising
15%
Summative
Formative
15%
Summative
Formative
70%
Summative
12000 – 15000
FBUY3004 Dissertation 45 BA Fashion Buying with
Marketing/Merchandising
with a 15-credit language
20%
Summative
Formative
Formative
80%
Summative
9000 – 12000
FMAN3003 Research
Project
30 BA Fashion Management
Formative
Formative
100%
Summative
6000 – 9000
Project Plan. Appendix B.
Week 11, Friday 13th December 2019
Literature Review. Appendix C.
Week 19, Friday 7th February 2020
Dissertation.
Week 31, Monday 27th April 2020
Table 1. Module and Assessment Structure
Figure 1. Formative and Summative Assessments. Source:
https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/04/the-differences-between-formative-and-summativeassessment-
infographic )
5
DMU Assessment Procedure
Assessment is an important part of your learning and development and DMU operates a
comprehensive assessment and quality control procedure.
Assignments
Assignments are marked in the first place by the assessing tutor. A sample of 10%, and all failed
work, is then moderated by a member of the module team, to ensure parity with standards. The
assessors discuss the marks and arrive at agreed provisional marks, which are then passed to the
external examiner for moderation, who will select a sample of assignments to read.
Dissertation
A collective process is adopted to assess the written thesis. There are two assessors for each
dissertation: the supervisor, and a second staff member selected from the module team who will mark
the project without seeing the first mark. The assessors discuss the marks and arrive at an agreed
provisional mark, which is then passed to the external examiner for moderation, who will select a
sample of dissertations to read. The comprehensive nature of the marking process means that strictly
comparable standards of marking are achieved for projects of widely differing character and content,
yielding marks that are well correlated between assessors.
Assessment Boards
All marks awarded by staff and returned to students are provisional until ratified by the Faculty
Assessment Board, which sits in June. Only then are the marks finalised.
The electronic version of your dissertation will be added to the School database of final year projects
for reference by staff and future students. The university no longer requires submission of a hard copy
of any written work, including the dissertation. You may, however, wish to create a bound copy of
yourself and details of this can be found later in this handbook.
Turnitin
All work for this module is to be submitted via Turnitin, with the exception of any practical work. To
ensure that Turnitin does not mess up your layout and images, it is strongly recommended that you
always submit your work as a PDF file and not a Word or Pages file. A PDF file fixes the location of
images and tables ensuring that they do not move or get relocated in your documents when we open
them. Note the following regarding Turnitin.
The ABCs of Turnitin
Note Good practice Poor practice
Submit your work as a PDF file – the
Turnitin Viewer can mess up the layout
of Word documents.
Submit as a PDF. Submit as something else.
Submit your work as many times as you
want to.
This module allows unlimited submissions on
each of the assignments and the final
dissertation. The last version submitted will be the
only one that we can access.
Submit the first draft of your
work when it is complete.
Make further use of submissions as
needed.
Submit only once.
Or not at all.
All Turnitin submission uploads need to
be complete BEFORE 12 midday on
the deadline date.
Begin your final submission by
11am at the latest on the
deadline date.
Begin your final submission
between 11 and 11:59am on
the deadline date.
Submission
6
This is DMU policy and is immutable. Any work
submitted after this will be penalised in
accordance with university policy.
Enjoy the glow that comes from
knowing you have successfully
submitted your work.
If you are late submitting, whether
through missing the deadline or by
having an extension, you need to
submit via the appropriate LATE
submission point which is located in
the module shell.
These submission points will close
FOUR weeks after the original date
but remember that each piece of work
is date and time stamped and will be
assessed accordingly. Therefore,
successful submission is not a
guarantee that the work will be
accepted.
Work submitted up to 2 weeks late will
be capped at 40%. After that, work will
be failed.
It can take many minutes to upload your
work. You need to allow time for the
busyness of the network connection,
Turnitin, etc.
Your work is stamped with the date and
time of submission and this is visible to
assessors.
All work submitted after the original
deadline date is to be submitted via the
appropriate LATE submission point.
Turnitin merely finds text matches from
published textual materials.
It compares your work to billions of textual
sources, including books, journals, magazines,
newspapers, web sites, previous student work,
PhD theses, Standards, government reports, etc.
In fact, pretty much anything that has ever been
published. Consequently, if you copy from a
source, Turnitin will find and highlight it.
The Similarity Index is colour coded
Green (< 25%), Amber (25-49%) and
Red (>= 50%).
Ignore the colour coding. Change your work and
resubmit.
Each time that Turnitin finds a match
with a source, it increases the Similarity
Index.
Turnitin will highlight similarities even if
you have cited them correctly.
Turnitin is fairly ‘dumb’ and only finds text
matches – it cannot determine whether you have
cited or quoted appropriately.
Read and learn to interpret the
full Turnitin feedback report.
Turnitin’s Similarity Index score is
indicative only. It means little and
should not be taken as a guide to the
quality or overall similarity of your work.
The full report uses colour coding to
highlight matched work in the text and
displays where it found the work in the
right-hand column, along with an
indicative Similarity Index for that
specific match. Note that this is not
necessarily the original source, it is
merely where Turnitin matched it to.
Usually, a Similarity Index of 1 or 2%
for a single match is acceptable, but
more than 2% is questionable. The
overall Similarity Index is the sum of all
the individual Similarity Indices.
Ignore the feedback or only
check the Similarity Index.
A Similarity Index score of 5% is not
an indication that your work is suitable
and appropriate. For instance, it could
relate to a large chunk of copied text,
which is very bad practice, or it could
be a specific quotation that is fully
cited.
Turnitin generates a feedback report
and makes it available to you.
Turnitin generates your feedback report quickly
for your first submission to a Turnitin submission
point. Any subsequent submissions to that
submission point may take upto 24 hours. This
does not affect the acceptance of your
submission.
The Turnitin report gives no indication
of the quality of the work.
Turnitin makes no attempt to rate the quality of
your work – it merely finds text matches. This is
why the summary score on its own is of little
importance.
Table 2. Turnitin Information
Turnitin Similarity Index
Interpreting Turnitin Report Submission
7
Teaching and Learning
T&L Rationale
The teaching and learning on this module contains 4 distinct aspects, as presented in the schedules
shown in Tables 4 and 5. This will engage you in a broad range of sessions and activities that support
each other,
1. The Lectures, where we will cover some of the key theories and thinking surrounding
research and its application in an undergraduate dissertation.
2. The Seminars, where we will undertake a range of activities to unpack aspects of the taught
curriculum and assignments.
3. The Tutorials, where we will support and guide you in your individual project direction.
4. The Pre-Sessional Learning tasks. These form an integral part of your learning and you will
notice that there are unique tasks for Lectures (eg, Lec1) and for seminars (eg, Sem1). It is
important that you engage with this fully as they are pre-requisites for the subsequent
session, which will follow on and build from them.
For instance, referring to Table 4 shows that the pre-sessional learning for the seminar on
week 10 is Sem1, and referring to Table 5 shows that this requires you to do 2 things:
a. To create and investigate a range of project ideas.
b. To create your own critical framework for research.
These are time consuming tasks and you should not leave them to the last minute.
T&L In Practice
The university expects that a module should occupy the following amount of your time:
Module
credit
value
Lectures Seminars Tutorials
Total
scheduled
time
Self-directed
study time
Total study
time
30 credits
2 hours/week
for 7 weeks =
14 hours
2 hours/week
for 7 weeks =
14 hours
13 sessions,
each one 20
minutes = 4
hours
32 hours
268 hours = 13
hours/week 300 hours
45 credits 418 hours = 20
hours/week 450 hours
60 credits 568 hours = 27
hours/week 600 hours
Table 3. Teaching and Learning Commitments
You can clearly see that there is a lot of self-directed time for you to spend on your studies. It is
anticipated that some of the pre-sessional tasks could take you 5-10 hours each, which still leaves
you much time in which to read, plan and undertake other aspects of your work.
8
T&L Schedule
Week Lectures Seminars Tutorials
3
Introduction to module
Module handbook, layout of resources.
Dissertation topics, previous projects.
Project ideation.
4 Purpose and philosophy of research
Originality.
Project planning.
Introduction to research methods.
10
Research paradigms
Worldviews, including frameworks for criticism.
Consideration of quantitative vs qualitative approaches, deductive or inductive.
Project planning as part of your research.
Critiquing the work of others using the Critiquing Research Proposal
Template.
11
Research process and methods
Types and consequences of research data.
From research idea to research question (Uwe Flick).
Overview of data collection methods.
Critique your own research proposal using the template.
Submission of Assignment 1, Project Plan. Friday 13th December 2019. Summative for FBUY3003/3004, formative for FMAN3003.
12 – 14 Christmas Vacation
15
Literature review
Literature sourcing and critique, its purpose.
Research ethics.
Exercise on literature critique.
Exercise on completing an Ethics Form.
ü
16 Survey research methods
Survey (including questionnaire), interview,
Developing your own methods – 1 ü
17
Further research methods
Focus group, experimentation
Mixed methods research, triangulation
Developing your own methods – 2 ü
18
Netnography
Using online tools for research
‘E-research’). Alis Iacob.
ü
19
Data analysis
Quantitative analysis, eg, surveys
Qualitative analysis, grounded theory and coding
Analysis of research dataset ü
Submission of Assignment 2, Literature Review. Friday 7th February 2020. Summative for FBUY3003, formative for FBUY3004/FMAN3003.
20 – 21 ü
22 Enhancement Week
23 – 27 ü
28 – 30 Easter Vacation
9
Key: Lectures Seminars Pre-sessional work Tutorials No scheduled contact
31 Submission of Dissertation, Monday 27th April 2020. Summative for all.
Table 4. Teaching and Learning Schedule
10
T&L Pre-sessional Learning Tasks
These tasks are designed hand in hand with the lecture and seminar sessions and will support the work and activities of that particular session. Engagement
with them is not just desirable – it is essential in maximising your learning and developmental opportunities. Some of these tasks will clearly take a long time,
so plan them into your work schedule and start them early.
• Where the work requires you to read, make plenty of notes and bring these with you.
• Where the work requires you to complete forms or templates, print your work out and bring these with you.
• Where the work requires you to think, write and create a document, print your work out and bring these with you.
If you have a mobile device that allows you to access your work, you can bring this too, but you should not rely solely on this.
NB
1. You will notice that the contents of this table are still a work in progress – please check back regularly to see the latest updates to the pre-sessional
work. The work written in light blue has yet to be finalised.
2. Where the work relates to particular text books (eg, Nicholas Walliman’s Research Methods: The Basics), you can gain online access to these via the
Module Reading List, which is located in the MODULE shell on BlackBoard (ie, FBUY3003/3004 or FMAN3003) in the Learning Materials menu item.
Description of pre-sessional work to be undertaken and brought to the session
Week Lectures Seminars
3
1. Download for digital annotation and/or print a copy of the Module Handbook.
Bring this with you to the lecture.
2. Read Chapter 1: Research Basics, in Nicholas Walliman’s book Research
Methods: The Basics.
Download and begin to complete the KWORTS form. Bring this with you to class.
4
1. Find materials on rationalism and empiricism – ask students to read and make
notes on what each is.
2. Read Chapter 3: Structuring The Research Project, in Nicholas Walliman’s
book Research Methods: The Basics.
Download and complete the Project Planning Template. Bring a printed copy with you to class.
10
1. Complete first draft of Autumn Project, Appendix A in the Module Handbook.
2. Read all 4 sections under Foundations – Philosophy of Research menu in the
Research Methods Knowledge Base (RMkb at
http://socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php ).
Select 3 of the sample Project Plans on BB (Learning Materials, Week 10) and complete a
Research Proposal Critique Template for each. Choose what you consider to be a top/middle/low
quality plan and justify your reasoning.
11 1. Read Chapter 6: The Nature of Data, in Nicholas Walliman’s book
Research Methods: The Basics.
In light of last week’s work, complete:
11
2. Read Chapter 6: Data and the Nature of Measurement, in Grazio and
Raulin’s book Research Methods: A Process of Enquiry.
1. An updated version of your Project Plan.
2. A completed Research Proposal Critique Template for your own project plan.
3. A Critiquing Your Own Work Template for your own plan.
12 – 14 Christmas Vacation
15
1. Read Chapter 4: Research Ethics, in Nicholas Walliman’s book Research
Methods: The Basics.
2. Read Chapter 5: Finding and Reviewing The Literature, in Nicholas
Walliman’s book Research Methods: The Basics.
Literature Review.
You are to identify 3 academic sources specific to your project and critique them using the
framework supplied in the lecture.
Bring all of this with you to the seminar.
Undertake exercises found at https://www.monash.edu/rlo/graduate-research-writing/write-thethesis/
introduction-literature-reviews.
16
17
18
Enquiring Minds.
Identify why certain people made amazing discoveries while others, who must have come across
the same situations and opportunities, didn’t. some didn’t. Give specific names, such as George
Crumb, Louis Pasteur, Alexander Fleming, Percy Spencer, etc.
Also read Isaac Asimov’s lecture on people and creativity at
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/531911/isaac-asimov-asks-how-do-people-get-new-ideas/.
19
Download and begin to analyse Fake News data set.
Needs guidance and rules for analysis.
Table 5. Pre-Sessional Learning Tasks
Further Faculty Documentation
Coursework extensions Faculty Student Handbook, section 5.8
Deferrals Faculty Student Handbook, section 5.9
Failure of coursework Faculty Student Handbook, section 5.11
Academic offences Faculty Student Handbook, section 6
Academic Practice Officers Faculty Student Handbook, section 6.4
Student appeals Faculty Student Handbook, section 5.14
Student complaints Faculty Student Handbook, section 3.8
13
Project Practicalities
All students should read the following notes very carefully before beginning their work. Failure to
present the project in the required form could result in loss of marks. It is also advisable to re-read the
notes from time to time. In the past a number of students have suffered through making mistakes due
to not reading the notes properly. In one case an almost complete retyping had to be carried out
which was costly in time and money for the student concerned. Don’t be that person.
Students should also read projects completed in previous years. A large collection is held by the
School and can be accessed online via Blackboard – they can be found under the Past Dissertations
button in Fashion Buying programme shell. Although they will demonstrate varying levels of quality
(reflecting the differences between different students), they will give a good indication of the style and
standard expected.
The project is worth 60 credits and accounts for half the final year’s work, and although sufficient time
is available to complete the project within the specified period, you must start your project prior to your
return to university, even though you may have other activities to undertake. If you are carrying out
work with your industrial placement/experience company, plan carefully as much time can be wasted
in travelling to and from the company premises and sending information by post.
Topics
The first decision to be made is the choice of topic. Do discuss possible topics with the appropriate
subject expert who will be able to advise you of the suitability of your choice. Important considerations
are whether or not there is a chance of a successful outcome, whether the topic has been covered
before and whether or not you are really interested in the topic. Experience shows that a topic which
is the student’s choice and in which he or she is keenly interested will be the most successful.
It is intended that wherever possible projects should be undertaken in areas of current commercial
importance and to this end the linking of projects with your industrial placement is encouraged.
Students often use the experience and contacts gained in the industrial placement year to focus on a
suitable topic and gain first-hand information. Some placement employers are only too pleased to
offer continued help during the final year and in many cases will suggest a suitable topic that it is in
their interest to have investigated. If you find yourself in such a situation during your placement year,
check that the suggested topic is acceptable and start work on the literature survey as soon as
possible. This will undoubtedly help with the workload you face in this most critical, final year.
It is good practice at the beginning to list a small number of questions that you would like to find the
answer to by the end of the dissertation. This often shows you the direction your work should take
and can also restrict the range of your work to something manageable.
It is very important that your dissertation contains some original work. Whatever the topic or direction
of your dissertation you must show that you have added to the body of knowledge on the subject.
You must discuss with your supervisor and other members of staff the relevance and academic
quality of the approach that you intend to take. You should have confidence that by the end you can
defend your dissertation, including its relevance and the originality of the work. Members of staff
(details can be found in Appendix E – School Staff DetailsX) often have suitable projects available,
sometimes linked with current research projects. Details of any such projects may be given during
Project lectures or made available on Blackboard.
Project Supervisor and Meetings
Many staff supervise students on this module, including team staff, the wider School staff who do not
lecture on the programme, and there are a number of research staff whom you might not normally
meet that are highly experienced in some fields of textiles and design. Although you may consider
that the supervisor should be an expert in the chosen field of work, it is more important that the
supervisor be able to direct the work, and this may entail you speaking with other subject experts
14
within and beyond the team. The supervisor therefore will be allocated by the course team on the
basis of your Project Proposal submission.
At the outset, the project work should be seen as the responsibility of the student with supervisors
taking the role of advisors. To this end, you can demonstrate your professionalism by proactively
driving the project forward with your own ideas, initiatives and suggestions, rather than waiting
reactively to hear what your supervisor thinks. This will impact positively on your mark for Project
Management.
Tutorials
The first meeting with your supervisor may be a group tutorial as concerns and questions at the
beginning of the project tend to be common to all students. From week 15 onwards, you will have a
weekly individual 20-minute tutorial, or 40 minute tutorials every 2 weeks, depending upon what is
arranged mutually with your supervisor.
Tutorials are booked in one-hour slots, though your supervisor will have 3 students to see in that time.
Ensure that you know whether you are first, second or third during that hour. Please KEEP
appointments made with your supervisor! Time is precious to staff and it is frustrating to waste
time waiting for students who fail to turn up.
Supervisors will provide advice on all aspects of work and may help arrange meetings with holders of
specialist knowledge from the University and Industry as well as approve visits to other organisations
in support of the work, if appropriate. Links with external bodies are encouraged.
Once the choice of topic and supervisor are confirmed the hard work can begin. In the early days,
reading and planning will occupy much of the time but soon any practical/experimental work may take
over. At all stages of the work it is essential to make copious notes and keep in contact with your
supervisor. The supervisor is there to help, support and guide you but cannot write the project for you.
If you are lost or do not know what to do, please see your supervisor – please do not hide and work
alone. If problems do arise, you MUST contact your supervisor immediately. If action has to be taken
to put things right, the sooner that action is taken the better. By March it may be too late, but in
December or January things can be investigated to improve matters.
Strategies for maximising the benefit of your meetings with your supervisor
(Taken from http://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/phdwriting/phlink14.html#Strategies )
1. Be prepared. Go to each meeting with things to report (even if you are reporting little progress),
with particular issues you want to discuss and with questions you want to ask. Remember that
you are seeking guidance, not necessarily solutions.
2. Know what you want from the meeting. For instance, if you are handing in a draft of anything
you’ve written, decide at what level you are seeking feedback. You could specify that you need
feedback on:
• general structure;
• the quality of the evidence you are using;
• the general flow of ideas;
• the appropriateness of writing style;
• the best arrangement of your data in tabular or graphic form.
This won’t guarantee that you will get what you want but it does give your supervisor something to
focus on and is more likely to meet your needs than merely asking ‘What do you think of this?’ or
‘Will you look at my writing?’
3. Ask questions. It is a truism that the better the questions you ask, the better the feedback and
answers you will receive. For example, it is better to ask :
“Do you think the theories of Hamilton and Parker are more appropriate to my work than
those of Taylor and Blake?”,
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or
“Is this argument on UK productivity still relevant in today’s context?”
rather than
“What theories are there?”
Likewise, if you have a particular problematic area, it is better to propose possible solutions and
ask which is most suitable, rather than merely asking “What do I do now?”
Planning and Recording Progress
You should use an online planning tool, shared with your supervisor, so that your progress is easily
monitored.
Ø Plan ahead the content of your weekly meeting and to record its outcomes
Ø Plan the weeks activities
Ø Record findings, contacts, notes, etc.
Timetabling and Access to Resources
The module is not formally timetabled into any of the Textile labs. If you require access to these, this
should be arranged in conjunction with the lab technician. We have made improvements in the
breadth and quality of our resources, but the total provision is finite and therefore restricted. Technical
support staff generally enjoy working with final year project students and will be as helpful as possible,
but demand means that they may operate a rota system for access to some equipment; all students
are expected to co-operate and accommodate this. You may also wish to consider using equipment
that are more frequently available, or of limiting the number of finished samples that you
make/experiment with.
Consequently, it is in your best interests to make a prompt start to the work. Historically, the main
problems that arise in the module have arisen through students trying to fit the work in at the last
minute.
Collection and Analysis of Data
Marketing, buying and management projects often rely on social research methods to obtain data,
such as questionnaires/surveys, observations, interviews, focus groups and social experiments.
Careful consideration should be given to the design, development and operation of these methods to
minimise bias and enhance the validity and reliability of your data. You should not underestimate the
amount of time it will take to do this – it is no small task – and under no circumstances should you
knock up a quick questionnaire (for example) and make it live. It will most likely yield poor or unusable
results, and you may be likely to damage the reputation of yourself and/or the university.
The purpose of collecting this information is to do something with it (not just describe and present it)
and projects should thus aim to analyse data with inductive and/or deductive methods. Nvivo is a
useful tool for this, details of which can be obtained from the library.
Some projects require the use of the Product Performance/Testing laboratory and technology projects
will, almost certainly, involve laboratory work or the taking of measurements. Statistical analysis and
graphical representation of the results will help to improve the quality of such projects but if you do
use computer software for the statistics make sure you are fully conversant with the significance of
the results. The ultimate aim is to produce a piece of work worthy of an honours degree,
demonstrating the ability to plan and conduct the work and bring it to a successful conclusion. The
intellectual ability of the student should be clearly evident to the reader.
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Research Ethics
The University has adopted a policy regarding the protection of individuals who are the subjects of
research and this policy applies to student projects. It follows the guidelines of the Helsinki
Declaration of Human Rights to assess all studies that involve human volunteers.
Ethical issues arise when the conduct of a project involves the interests and rights of others. For
instance, the project may impinge on the confidentiality, privacy, convenience, comfort or safety of
others – such threats potentially constitute ethical problems. Full details of this will be provided during
the lecture series, and all students are expected to complete and submit a research ethics form to the
supervisor. The ADH Guidelines for Good Research Practice can be found at
http://www.dmu.ac.uk/research/ethics-and-governance/faculty-specific-procedures/art-design-andhumanities-
ethics-procedures.aspx.
Writing Up and Typing
Your final year project is a major piece of work and you should not underestimate the amount of time,
effort and resources it will require to write it up. Please be aware of the following points.
1. Start writing up during the project itself and do not leaving the bulk of the typing to the end.
For instance, you can probably complete the Introduction and Background Research chapters
early in term 2.
2. Leave as much time as possible for the final writing up stages and proof reading as they often
take longer than anticipated. In the past, some good projects have been spoiled by poor
writing up, inadequate proof-reading and incomplete conclusions, all due to last minute
rushing and this, inevitably, has resulted in a lower mark being awarded than might have
been expected. Your supervisor may be able to help with style and structure but do not
anticipate that they will proof read a whole thesis – this is your task, not theirs. It often helps if
you can get a friend or relative to proof read it. Most staff will be supervising 6 or more
projects and reading them alone is a full week’s work.
3. Allow at least two weeks for all typing corrections and proof reading prior to submission.
4. IT issues.
a. The University has standardised on Microsoft Office365 as the business IT suite of
choice and to this end there are many computers with this installed around the
campus. Additionally, you have access to the full suite for download via MyDMU. You
will not be supported if you choose to use a different word processor.
b. You have to submit a copy of your thesis electronically as an Adobe Acrobat file. The
conversion process from Word to PDF works reliably with Word and Excel files.
c. Your Office365 account gives you 1TByte of online storage and you should make use
of this for your data and document storage. As well as this, ensure that you devise
and operate a good backup regime, remembering that it is your data, not ours or
Microsoft’s. Computers often breakdown – and always at the most inconvenient time!
It is therefore imperative that you backup your data files properly. No allowances for
extensions will be made for lost data.
d. Finally, problems related to typing, computers crashing, compatibility issues, lost and
broken files/USB sticks/laptops, printer problems or any other IT related issues will
not warrant an extension to any submission deadline.
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Presentation and Style of Thesis
The presentation of the project is just as important as the work itself and sufficient time should be
allocated to the writing-up. Once your course is completed and you have received your degree, the
project will be essential, tangible evidence of your studies and something to show to future employers.
Remember that very few universities request a hardbound dissertation and yours will make you stand
out from the crowd. You will, therefore, want to produce the best possible project using good quality
English.
As the early sections of the thesis are completed in draft form, they should be handed to your
supervisor for checking. The purpose of this is to ensure that you are using appropriate academic
language and conventions, and once you have received feedback, it is expected that you will continue
to do so without further feedback. If issues arise in the early stages of writing-up, they can be
corrected and it should be possible to avoid making the same mistakes again. This saves time in the
long run.
Language
The Tense
Correct English grammar and spelling should be used at all times. You are writing about the project
that you have already conducted and therefore accounts should be written in the past tense, not in
the present or future. Even if the subject is in the present it will be in the past when the project is read.
For example, consider the following sentence.
‘Before processing is commenced, strings must be inserted into both selvedges of each piece
of fabric at 1 metre intervals throughout’.
While this is perfectly acceptable for a set of notes describing a set up procedure, it is not suitable for
a report/thesis as it is in the future tense. Likewise, the information should not be written in note form
such as might be obtained from a laboratory sheet or a manufacturer’s leaflet, which is often in the
present tense. For example:
‘Tie strings in both selvedges at 1 m intervals’.
An appropriate method for writing this could be as follows.
‘Strings were inserted into both selvedges of each piece of fabric at 1 metre intervals
throughout prior to the commencement of processing’.
The Grammatical Person
The thesis should be written in the third person and not the first. This is actually a very simple
concept to grasp – write about the subject and not about you. It may be tempting to write the previous
example as ….
‘I tied strings into both selvedges at 1 metre intervals throughout’.
Although this is written in the past tense, the most important aspect of the sentence is that ‘I’ tied the
strings. As you are the named author, it is naturally assumed that you conducted the work and you do
not need to keep reminding the reader. By concentrating on the subject and not yourself, your writing
will become more lucid and your argument more clearly focussed.
From this, it can be seen that use of ‘the author…’ and ‘the researcher…’ is merely a replacement for
writing ‘I’ and should be avoided at all times.
Spelling and Grammar
The onus of responsibility for using correct spelling and grammar is on yourself and not Microsoft
Office. Therefore, use these Office tools carefully and do not accept every offering that it provides.
While the spell checker (Office usually underlines in red what it considers to be a spelling mistake)
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Turn off the Word grammar
checker and sign up to
Grammar-Monster.com
can be useful, it is far from infallible. For instance, spell check will rarely fined words witch are miss
used butt spelled rite. Additionally, Office usually defaults to an American dictionary, meaning that
colour is spelled color, fibre is spelled fiber and food is spelled hamburger.
More problematic is the use of the grammar checking tool, which underlines in green that which it
considers to be either a mistake or could be improved upon. It also has a habit of marking
grammatically correct text as poor, often suggesting alternatives that are not only grammatically
incorrect but also substantially inferior in style and substance.
It is amazing to consider that Office finds few (if any) grammatical problems with the following
paragraph.
“Marketing are bad for brand big and small. You Know
What I am Saying? It is no wondering that advertisings
are bad for company in America, Chicago and
Germany. … McDonald’s and Coca Cola are good
brand. … Gates do good marketing job in Microsoft.”
In light of this, you are strongly advised to turn off or ignore any grammar suggestions that Office,
or any other grammar tool, offers. Additionally, you should subscribe to the Grammar Monster mailing
list at www.grammar-monster.com website and you will receive a short weekly email with really good
grammar tips and links to associated explanations. You will not regret it!!
Apostrophy
If there is one aspect of the English language that causes more consternation than any other, it is the
correct use of the apostrophe. Briefly, it is used for contraction/omission, to show possession and for
plurals of letters and numbers.
Indicating contraction/omission. It is used to show the omission in a contracted word. It is
mine may be written as It’s mine, the apostrophe showing that a letter is missing from the word
‘is’. There are many examples, such as can’t (cannot), we’re (we are) and I’ve (I have).
Indicating possessives. The childrens ball went over the fence should be written as The
children’s ball went over the fence, as the ball belongs to the children. Other examples are
Susan’s computer (the computer belonging to Susan), New York’s parks and Natalie’s
dissertation.
Plurals. Used before an ‘s’ to form plural of figures and numbers, such as the 1980’s, binary
consists of 0’s and 1’s, and there are four i’s in Mississippi. Note that it is not used to indicate
plurals in other situations, such as apples and pears.
You can follow this up in more detail in Lynne Truss’s excellent book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, or
Gyles Brandreth’s new book, Have You Eaten Grandma?
Other notes
(i) Correct abbreviations should be used at all times. If you use many specific abbreviations, it
may prove useful to include a glossary of them.
(ii) Units should be expressed according to the SI system (Appendix F – SI Units).
Word Count
The main body of the thesis (the chapters) should normally contain 12-15,000 (or 9-12,000 or 6-
9,000) words, excluding numeric tables and data. This may initially sound a lot, but as you begin to
write up your thesis, you will realise that it will be an exercise in brevity rather than verbosity. There
are many good reasons for limiting the word count, including:-
• It is good academic practise to write in a style that is concise and to the point rather than
excessively wordy.
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• It is good research practise to be very selective in which research work you include in any
written work (especially true of secondary research, but also primary work), instead of merely
including everything that you find.
• It forces you to revisit your writing in order to improve it.
• There are academic guidelines concerning word count.
Clearly, the first three issues are key and consequently a penalty of 10% reduction in final thesis mark
will be applied if over the word limit. For every additional 1000 words over the limit, a further 10%
reduction will be applied. Just to clarify this, anything over the word limit will warrant a penalty.
There are circumstances, however, where a student has justifiable reasons for requiring an extension
to the word count and if you find yourself in this situation, you MUST come and talk to the module
leader ASAP to negotiate it. Extensions are sometimes granted, but only after other options have
been exhausted.
Layout and order of sections
The exact layout of the chapters in each thesis will depend on the choice of topic and should be
discussed with your supervisor before the writing-up is commenced. In general, between 5 and 7
chapters are adequate, although you are advised to look critically at previous dissertations. The layout
of the thesis should follow the format shown below.
Title page
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction, Aim and Objectives, Subject History
Chapter 2. Previous and Current Work
Chapter 3. Special Requirements and Design of Appropriate Tests
Chapter 4. Primary Research
Chapter 5. Discussion and Analysis of the Results
Chapter 6. Conclusions and Suggestions for Further Work
References
Appendices
The layout and purpose of each section is described below.
Title page
The title page gives the reader a snapshot view of the thesis. It tells them what it is about (title), who
wrote it (your name), the area of study (course name and supervisor) and where the work was
undertaken. An example title page is given in Appendix D – Sample Title PageX and this layout should
be adhered to. Do not put a page number on the Title page.
Abstract
This should be a concise statement of the outline of the work and the major conclusions reached. It
should be around 300 words (about a single side) and although it is the first thing in the dissertation, it
should be the last page actually written. It should be written in the present tense, describing the
dissertation. Do not put a page number on the Abstract.
Acknowledgements
The supervisor and any person or company that has helped with the work should be given a word of
thanks. Do not put a page number on the Acknowledgements.
Contents
This contains a listing of all headings (including sub-headings) from Chapter 1 to the end of the
dissertation, with associated page numbers. It should then show List of Tables, List of Figures and
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List of Equations, if appropriate. Detail each appendix individually rather than merely putting
“Appendices”.
These pages should be numbered using Roman Numerals (i, ii, iii, etc).
Chapters
These detail the work that you have undertaken for the project. Chapter 1 (the Introduction) will
comprise a brief account of previous work in the chosen field (where appropriate) or the source of
inspiration for the choice of the work. It will tend to include a justification for the study, the aim and
objectives and will outline the plan of work to be followed. Everything from Chapter 1 onwards should
be numbered sequentially.
The nature of succeeding chapters will depend upon the nature of the work but you should aim for 5
or 6 further chapters. They will be selected so that a reader of the final project may follow the course
of the work in a logical order. You should seek feedback on your choice of chapter contents and titles
from your supervisor. It is often convenient to sectionalise chapters, in which case it is best to number
the sections in a decimal fashion as shown below. It is unlikely that you will need to create
subsections more than 3 deep. For instance,
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Preamble
1.2 Aim
1.3 Objectives of the work
1.4 Review of previous work
1.4.1 Other research in the area
1.4.2 Previous research outcomes
1.5 Plan of work
Tables, diagrams, graphs, equations and photographs
In many cases much writing can be saved by the inclusion of information in the form of tables, figures
and graphs. In projects where experimental work or questionnaires yield results, a summary of the
results may be included in the appropriate chapter but the raw results and any associated calculations
should be included in an Appendix. All such tables and figures must be titled, numbered and referred
to from the preceding text. For example, “Table 6.3 shows” or “as shown in table 6.3” are both
acceptable methods of referencing your table.
The numbering convention is straightforward – they are numbered sequentially within a chapter,
where the number before the decimal point is the chapter number and the number after it increments
sequentially. Therefore, Chapter 1 may contain Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, Figures 1.1, 1.2 and Graphs 1.1,
1.2, 1.3, whilst Chapter 4 may contain Tables 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3.
If a figure or table used is not your own work then its source must be referenced along with the title.
Appendices
An appendix is used to present large quantities of information that would otherwise interrupt the flow
of the text. Typical uses are for presenting multiple pages of results from an experiment, or the
contents of a 5 page questionnaire. Copies of existing information (eg, British Standards, whole
websites) should not normally be presented here as they can be referenced. The Appendices should
be lettered sequentially as Appendix A, B, C etc. Use appendices with care and question whether the
information in an appendix really needs to be there to support the integrity of the thesis.
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Referencing and citations
Your work will reference previous work undertaken in your field of research. Whenever you wish to
include a statement or some information provided by someone other than yourself, a citation and the
reference must be included. This information may be facts or opinions obtained from a wide range of
sources, such as other publications, public lectures or seminars or by personal contact with a third
person. There are many methods for implementing this and you are to adhere to the Harvard System.
You can and should use other people’s work, either by quoting it directly, by summarising it or by
drawing on it for information. When doing so, you must include the source of your information. There
are many reasons for this, including:-
• Demonstrating the breadth of your research.
• You inherit the credibility of the author and/or the publication.
o For instance, if discussing the forthcoming Olympics, citing Lord Coe has
considerably more impact than citing your mate Steve from the local pub.
o Likewise, citing research from Mintel has considerably more impact than citing an
article from Heat magazine.
• It allows readers to follow up areas that are interesting to them personally.
• It minimises the risk of you being accused of plagiarism.
Harvard Reference System
Referencing is essentially very straightforward and involves 2 parts: the citation and the reference.
• The citation is placed in your text and it shows who said it and when it was said.
o For example, Jones (1992) has provided the evidence that these figures are
incorrect.
o This could also be written as Evidence suggests that these figures are incorrect
(Jones, 1992).
• The reference is placed in the References section at the back of the dissertation and gives
full details of where the source can be located.
o Using the same example, the full reference could be:-
§ Jones, R. (1992). Problems in Textile Manufacturing Automation, Textile
Research Journal, August, vol 13, number 5.
It is most important that each citation in the text can be directly tied to a reference in the References
section. To help the reader find the full reference, all references should be listed in alphabetical order,
ordered by surname.
Any picture or table which is not your own (eg, taken from a book) must be referenced immediately
underneath it.
There are many different information sources, ranging from books and journals to online databases
and the internet. Each needs referencing according to its source and the DMU Self Study Guide ‘The
Harvard System of Referencing’ (http://www.library.dmu.ac.uk/Images/Selfstudy/Harvard.pdf)
provides details of how to do so correctly.
Word also provides a method of maintaining your sources and creating the citations and references
automatically. Although it does not contain the Harvard method, the APA style is suitably close. An
excellent guide to this can be found at http://prezi.com/rafab8qmng_d/harvard-referencing-withmicrosoft-
word-20072010/.
Page Layout
The dissertation should be laid out for single sided A4 paper using 1½ line spacing. Ensure that you
use a good quality printer if you are printing it.
22
To facilitate binding, the following margins should be used:
left hand (binding) side 38mm (1.5 in)
right hand side 25mm (1.0 in)
page top 32 mm (1.25 in)
page bottom 32 mm (1.25 in)
Please ensure that you observe these margins. Remember that all pages from the Introduction
onwards should be numbered consecutively.
Fonts
All text (apart from that in tables) should be Arial font size 12.
Confidentiality
Occasionally, a project carried out with the help of or on behalf of a company may contain sensitive
material. Notwithstanding the copyright statement, special arrangements can be made for these
projects to allow a company to support a student with full confidentiality. Although it is usual for the
copy of the Project to be made available for reference immediately after assessment, it is possible
under these circumstances for it to be withheld for a limited period. The Module Leader is prepared to
give written guarantees to companies concerning this confidentiality. It will still be necessary for the
Project to be seen by the appropriate external examiner for final marking.
Binding and Presentation
You may wish to produce your own hardbound copy, the details of which are shown here. Note that it
is not compulsory for you to do so. Where students have received sponsorship or a great deal of
assistance from a company, they may wish to consider giving them a copy also.
Hardbound
Dissertations should be bound in the standard red one-piece Buckram cloth covering. This can be
carried out by many commercial organisations in and around Leicester or available online, though
students in the past have found it convenient to use the services the following:
Hollingworth & Moss
Online service for printing and binding.
Students have used this in the past and have
been pleased with the service.

Please DO NOT use John E Wright for your binding – their covers are of inferior quality and do not
last well. There are half a dozen other bookbinders in the area all locatable via the Yellow Pages. If
you turn to one of these it might be advisable to show them a previous thesis to make sure the
general format and colour are correct. Whoever you choose to use, make sure that you contact them
at least two weeks prior to submission in advance to book in your request. If you present the binders
with your work the day before it is due in, they will charge you much more or may not be able to do it
in time. Also, ensure that the binding is a one piece cover, not the three piece style that some binders
(eg, John E Wright, DMU student shop) use.
Our requirements for the binding are straightforward and you should make the binders aware of
these.
• The cover must be RED.
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• On the front, in gold block capital lettering, there should be the title of the work (reduced to
around 6 words) and the name of the student. A longer, more descriptive title may be used on
the inside title page if desired.
• The spine should have the name of the candidate at the top, the letters BA (Hons) in the
centre and the year of submission at the bottom, again all in block capital gold letters. An
example is shown below. This is referred to as Down The Spine (as opposed to Up The
Spine) and is readable when the thesis is placed flat with the front cover face upwards.
Other Content
If you wish to include photographs or place samples within the thesis, it may be helpful to include a
thin strip of cardboard at the binding edge the full length of the page. This prevents the project gaping
open when bound. Seek advice from your binder on such matters.
If you need to submit a large number of bulky diagrams or fabric/garment samples, these should be
included in a separate folder and submitted with the dissertation.
Hardbound thesis
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And Finally ….
… enjoy! We look forward to reading your dissertation!
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Appendix A – Autumn Project
Background
The planning of your final year project is a major key step in its success and writing your proposal
prior to returning for the final year will help you to start your research as early as possible in term 1.
Your proposal is the vehicle to focus your mind and your project.
In writing this, you need to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve (the AIM), the
goals/milestones needed along the way to obtain it (the OBJECTIVES), how you intend to achieve it
(the WORK PLAN), what you intend to do that has not been done before (the ORIGINALITY) and
what you expect to accomplish (the OUTCOMES).
Task
You are to write your project proposal detailing the aim and objectives, the proposed work plan, and
the results of your preliminary background research. Bear in mind that you need to select a project
topic that will sustain your interest, as you will be working on it for over 20 weeks!
To support you in the development of your project idea and plan, you should try to develop around 3
unique project ideas in this format – this will help to clarify your ideas and you may also find that ideas
from one project will translate well into another project. Remember though that you only need to
submit ONE of these, your preferred option, at the start of term.
Plan
Your plan should comprise the following.
1. The aim and objectives (100-200 words).
o Aim. There should be a single aim written as a single sentence statement of what you
want to achieve (ie, the purpose of the project).
§ A good example of this is ‘to use contemporary yarns to develop new fabrics using
the traditional colour and weave process.’ This is concise and the purpose is clear.
§ A poor example of this is ‘to analyse Next Retail and compare its standard of quality
in clothing in relation to price, and to compare rival retail outlets, and to gauge
customer perception of quality within the range’. This is not concise; the main aim is
unclear and there are separate and (potentially) unrelated aims within it.
o Objectives. These are intermediate goals that are to be achieved along the way. You may
have around 5 or 6 objectives and they are useful targets against which performance and
progress can be measured during the project.
§ A good example of an objective is ‘to establish consumer awareness of altered-reality
technologies’. From this, methods can be designed that will enable the researcher to
measure how much consumers are aware of these technologies. Useful adjectives to
define an objective are identify, compare, describe, establish.
§ A poor example of an objective is ‘to undertake a questionnaire to find out whether
consumers support ethical trading’. This is a rather naïve and vague objective. It
focuses on undertaking the questionnaire rather than what the study is trying to
establish, and it is likely that all respondents will claim to support ethical trading
anyway, rendering the results moot. Poor phrases to define an objective are to
research, to investigate, to find out, to gain understanding.
2. Your work plan and a statement of the originality of your work (250 words).
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o Work plan. This requires that you consider how you are to approach the research,
what data you will need to collect and what methods you will use to obtain and
analyse this data. This is essentially identifying and developing the research methods
for your own primary research and will be the subject of much of the lectures
associated with this module.
3. Results of a preliminary background/literature search (500-1000 words).
o This is establishing the context of the secondary research, the summary results of
your initial investigation into the subject area and should be fully referenced using the
Harvard System. A comprehensive literature search will come later in the project and
is an essential part of any research undertaking, and this brief literature search will
help you in that. You may wish to use the guides listed below to help you in this task.
Support
To assist you in writing these 3 aspects, it is recommended that you:-
• Read many of the past dissertations on Blackboard. These can be found on BlackBoard
under Past Dissertations in the Fashion Buying programme shell. Read a wide range of
topics, not merely those relating directly to your subject specialism or what you are planning
to do. Practice criticising them objectively, particularly their aim and objectives. As you do
this, you will begin to learn to identify what is good practice and what is not. Like many other
aspects, this will be developed further during the lecture series.
• Read widely on the subject of Research Methods. There are numerous books covering this
subject from many different angles, including design, sociology and scientific. The lecture
programme for this module will develop this topic in some detail, but it is beneficial for you to
start your study early. There are also some very good online resources, such as the
Research Methods Handbook produced by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies at
http://www.cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Research-Methods-Handbook.pdf and
the Research Methods Knowledge Base at http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/.
• Make use of the excellent Manchester Academic Phrasebank at
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk. This gives you many good examples of how to use
academic phrases to convey your argument and thinking in specific situations.
You may also wish to discuss your ideas with various members of staff, who will be happy to give you
feedback on your ideas. I will always reply with comments on your proposals too. Based on this
proposal, the programme team will allocate you to a supervisor during the first week of term 2.
Note that this project proposal is not assessed. Bring a printed copy of this with you to the first
seminar session on week 10. This does not need to be submitted to Turnitin and it will not be marked.
27
Appendix B – Full Project Plan
Background
Planning is a key element of good research practice and needs to be done in a very formal and
comprehensive manner. Planning helps to formulate a project from of a collection of thoughts,
anticipate potential problems and continuously focus the project towards its aim. To do this requires a
clear understanding of:
• what the project is trying to achieve (the AIM);
• what needs to be done to achieve it (the OBJECTIVES);
• how the objectives should be tackled (the METHODOLOGY);
• anticipated outcomes that demonstrate the aim has been achieved (the RESULTS);
• the originality of the work (what will be done/achieved that is new/improved on what has gone
before).
You should consider planning as designing in success rather than merely keeping failure at bay. Also
remember that in the light of new information that you uncover, you may find your original ideas and
concepts challenged, which may necessitate reconfiguring your work plan. This is good and should be
seen as a positive step, as Dwight Eisenhower (former US president and Supreme Commander of
Allied Forces during WW2) once noted,
“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but
planning is indispensable”.
Task
You are to produce a full project plan, which should be around 4 pages. Your plan should consider all
the elements described above, along with:
A justification for the project, showing its context
A work plan in the form of a Gantt chart
A statement of who will find the work useful.
Whilst it is recognised that this may not reflect precisely your final decisions on these topics, it is
essential that you use any feedback and the weekly tutorial help to focus your ideas and develop the
skills needed for good research in your chosen area.
Marking Criteria
Clarity and appropriateness of the aim 30%
Clarity, completeness and suitability of the objectives in meeting the aim 40%
Consideration of appropriate methods for data collection and analysis 30%
Submission Details
Week 11
Friday 13th December 2019.
Submission will be via Turnitin on Blackboard only.
28
Appendix C – Literature Critique
Brief
Every piece of research begins with establishing the current state of knowledge and debate in the
field. This allows you to (a) establish the breadth of knowledge, (b) identify the main debate topics, (c)
highlight any gaps or problems in the knowledge, and (d) develop your understanding of both the
minutia and the bigger picture and context. It will enable you to describe your own research in the
context of what already exists. Clearly, this takes considerable time and effort and you should not
underestimate the task.
Task
You are to select 6 key texts on the main topic area of your project,
You should use Mendeley to organise your sources, create notes and begin the critical analysis. This
should be submitted as an appendix in your final report.
Notes
NOT FINISHED YET
Marking Criteria
Use of Mendeley 30%
Clarity and coherence of argument 55%
Report writing skills (presentation, referencing and citation, ability to sustain an argument, etc)
15%
Submission Details
Week 19
Friday 7th February 2020.
Submission will be via Turnitin on Blackboard.
29
Appendix D – Sample Title Page
(INSERT YOUR TITLE HERE IN BLOCK CAPITALS)
An Account of the Project Work Carried Out for the Degree of
BA (Hons) Fashion Buying with Marketing
Under the supervision of
(Insert the name and qualifications of supervisor here)
__________________________
By
(Insert your name here)
__________________________
School of Fashion & Textiles
De Montfort University, Leicester
May, 2020
Copyright De Montfort University 2020
NB.
Put no page number on this page
Fill in appropriate personal details
30
Appendix E – School Staff Details
Staff member and
location
Interests and research
Dr. Mark Bradshaw
VP3-21
Research, IT, engineering, technical textiles, smart/future textiles,
sustainability
Julia Ling
VP4-73
Buying, merchandising, sourcing & product development, supply chain
management
Helen Burbidge
VP5-23
Pattern cutting, fashion technology, garment fit
Pippa Clarkson
VP4-73
Buying, marketing, merchandising
Fiona Bailey
VP4-73
Fashion business, entrepreneurship, buying, product development
Kaye Herriott
VP4-73
Marketing, fashion business
Prof. Jinsong Shen
VP5-23
Textile chemistry, natural fibres, textile colouration and finishing,
smart/future textiles
Dr. Edward Smith
VP5-23
Textile chemistry, dyeing and finishing, textile testing, sustainability,
smart/future textiles
Dr. Angela Davis
VP3-21
Garment and textile technology, performance and specifications, technical
clothing and materials, sustainability, smart/future textiles
Siobhan Merrall
VP4-73
Merchandising, fashion, business
Dr. Claire Orwin Buying, sourcing, supply chain, ethics, marketing
Professor Carolyn
Hardaker
Technology, fashion business, CAD
31
Appendix F – SI Units
It is important in your discipline to specify and use correct units at all times and you are expected to
do so in your dissertation. The creation of the decimal Metric System at the time of the French
Revolution, and the subsequent deposition of two platinum standards representing the metre and the
kilogram on 22 June 1799 in the Archives de la République in Paris, can be seen as the first step in
the development of the present International System of Units. Whilst the definition of the metre and
the kilogram has subsequently changed, these two platinum standards are of such importance that
they still exist.
The SI (Systeme International) now 7 define base units, with all other units of measurement being
derived units from these. They are Length (metre), Mass (kilogram), Time (second), Electric Current
(ampere), Thermodynamic Temperature (Kelvin), amount of Substance (mole) and Luminous
Intensity (candela). Some excellent websites describing these and all other combinational or derived
units are:-
Hhttp://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/U This is the Daddy of all references!
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sms/ugradteaching/guidetosiunits.shtml A very useful and easy to read
alternative guide.
As a summary, you may find the following useful.
SI Unit
Measure Base or
Derived
Unit name Multiples or Alternatives
Length Base Metre (m) Millimetre (mm)
Kilometre (km)
Mass Base Kilogram (kg) Gram (g)
Time Base Second (s) Minute (min)
Hour (h)
Temperature Base Kelvin (K) 0 Celsius (oC) = 273.16K
Density Derived Kilogram per cubic
metre (kg/m3)
Linear Density (Count) Derived Tex, grams per 1000m deciTex (dTex)
Frequency Derived Hertz (Hz), cycles per
second
kilohertz (kHz)
Force Derived Newton (N)
Area Compound Square metre (m2) Square millimetre (mm2)
Volume Compound Cubic metre (m3) 1 Litre (l) =0.001m3
32
Appendix G – Assessment Criteria and
Procedure
Project work will be assessed against the specified criteria. Aspects that will be examined will include
the method, suitability and conduct of the work undertaken, the depth of research and critical thinking,
significance and quality of the analysis and conclusions, the demonstration of creativity, the use of
previous knowledge and skills, together with the overall quality of the language and presentation
materials. The work will thus be the vehicle for demonstrating true honours degree ability. In light of
this, you are strongly advised to become familiar with the University Grading Criteria as shown below
(highlights added), as found in the DMU Handbook & Regulations for Undergraduate Awards booklet.
Mark
Range Criterion
90 – 100 Fulfils all the assessment criteria for the component at an exceptional level
Displays exceptional degree of originality and/or creativity.
Exceptional analytical, problem-solving and/or creative skills.
No fault can be found with the work other than very minor errors, omissions or
limitations.
80 – 89 Fulfils all the assessment criteria for the component at an outstanding level.
Displays high degree of originality and/or creativity.
Work of outstanding quality, evidenced by an ability to engage critically, analytically
and creatively.
Exhibits independent lines of argument and/or practice.
Demonstrates extremely wide and relevant contextual understanding.
70 – 79
This is
first class
honours
level
(1st)
Fulfils all the assessment criteria for the component at an authoritative level.
Extremely well developed work showing a clear and authoritative understanding of
the subject through its practice, interpretation or application.
Demonstrates significant originality, creativity and/or insight.
Significant evidence of ability to sustain an argument and/or concept, to think
analytically, critically and/or creatively.
Evidence of extensive study and appropriate contextual understanding and where
applicable draws on an appropriate range of properly reference sources.
Achieves an excellent standard of technical accomplishment.
60 – 69
This is
upper
second
class
honours
level
(2-1)
Fulfils the assessment criteria for the component thoroughly.
Demonstrates a thorough grasp of relevant theory, concepts, principles, methods and
practices.
Clear evidence of concept development and critical judgement in making,
selecting, ordering, analysing and presenting.
Demonstrates ability to synthesise material, to construct responses and demonstrate
creative skills which reveal insight and may offer originality.
Shows evidence of appropriate contextual understanding, and where applicable,
draws on an appropriate range of properly referenced sources.
Demonstrates and good standard of technical accomplishment.
33
Mark
Range Criterion
50 – 59
This is
lower
second
class
honours
level
(2-2)
Fulfils assessment criteria for the component effectively.
Demonstrates evidence of an effective grasp of relevant material, principles, key
concepts and practices.
An ability to develop and progress a concept/argument and develop reflective
practices.
Demonstrates an appropriate degree of creativity, conceptual ability, critical analysis
and insight.
Accurate, clearly written/presented and adheres to the referencing conventions
appropriate to the subject and/or task.
Contextual understanding is evident.
Some limitations in the attainment of technical skills.
40 – 49
This is
third
class
honours
level
(3)
Fulfils the assessment criteria for the component at a basic level.
A response demonstrating an understanding of basic points and principles sufficient
to show that some of the learning outcomes/assessment criteria have been achieved at
a basic level.
Suitably organised concepts and/or work demonstrating a reasonable level of
understanding
Covers the basic subject matter and is appropriately presented but is clearly
derivative and insufficiently analytical.
Demonstrates limited conceptual ability, levels of evaluation and creative skills.
Demonstrates adherence to the referencing conventions appropriate to the subject
and/or task.
Limitations in technical skills.
30 – 39
Fail
Overall insufficient response to the assessment criteria.
A weak response, which, while addressing some elements of the task, contains
significant gaps, inaccuracies or deficiencies.
Shows only weakly developed elements of understanding and/or other skills
appropriate to the task.
May contain significant weaknesses in presentation.
20 – 29 Overall insufficient response to the assessment criteria.
A poor response, which falls substantially short of achieving the learning
outcomes.
Demonstrates little knowledge and/or other skills appropriate to the task
Little evidence of argument and/or coherent use of material
10 – 19 Overall insufficient response to the assessment criteria.
A very poor response demonstrating few relevant facts
Displays only isolated or no knowledge and/or other skills appropriate to the task.
Little adherence to the task
0 – 9 Overall insufficient response to the assessment criteria.
Displays virtually no knowledge and/or other skills appropriate to the task.
Work is inappropriate to assessment task given
34
Appendix H – Warning, It’s The
Internet!
Here is an extract taken from an article entitled Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply &
Questions to Ask on the University of Berkeley Library website (URL –
HUhttp://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.htmlUH, accessed July 2007). The
highlights have been added.
“The World Wide Web can be a great place to accomplish research on many topics. But
putting documents or pages on the web is easy, cheap or free, unregulated, and
unmonitored. There is a famous Steiner cartoon published in the New Yorker, July 5,
1993 (see below) with two dogs sitting before a terminal looking at a computer screen;
one says to the other “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” The great wealth
that the Internet has brought to so much of society is the ability for people to express
themselves, find one another, exchange ideas, discover possible peers worldwide they
never would have otherwise met, and, through hypertext links in web pages, suggest so
many other people’s ideas and personalities to anyone who comes and clicks. There are
some real “dogs” out there, but there’s also great treasure.
Therein lies the rationale for evaluating carefully whatever you find on the Web. The
burden is on you – the reader – to establish the validity, authorship, timeliness, and
integrity of what you find. Documents can easily be copied and falsified or copied with
omissions and errors — intentional or accidental. In the general World Wide Web there
are no editors (unlike most print publications) to proofread and “send it back” or “reject it”
until it meets the standards of a publishing house’s reputation. Most pages found in
general search engines for the web are self-published or published by businesses small
and large with motives to get you to buy something or believe a point of view. Even within
university and library web sites, there can be many pages that the institution does not try
to oversee. The web needs to be free like that!! And you, if you want to use it for
serious research, need to
cultivate the habit of
healthy scepticism, of
questioning everything you
find with critical thinking.”
Steiners original artwork.
(Taken from the School of
Journalism and Mass
Communication department
website, University of North
Carolina,
HUhttp://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/aca
demics/dri/idog.htmlUH, accessed July
2007)
35
Appendix I – Further Reading
There is a large amount of readily available information to help you with both your research methods
assignments and your dissertation. This is just a small sample and you should consider it a starting
point.
Essential Reading Material
These materials are to be considered an absolute bare minimum of reading.
These is an excellent set of study skills resources on the DMU library website, including such topics
as How To Undertake A Literature Search, The Harvard System Of Referencing and How To find
Journals. There is also a writing quiz that you may find very useful!
http://www.library.dmu.ac.uk/Support/Guides/index.php?page=359
Cottrell, S. (2011). Critical Thinking Skills, 2nd edition, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Williams, K. (2009). Getting Critical, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan
Graziano, A.M. and Raulin, M.L. (2004). Research Methods – a process of enquiry, 5th edition,
Allyn and Bacon
Recommended Further Reading Material
Research Methods Guides
Dawson, C. (2009). Introduction to Research Methods, 4th ed. Oxford: How To Books Ltd.
Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A. (2008). Qualitative Methods in Business Research, London:Sage
Publications
Field, A. and Hole, G. (2003). How to Design and Report Experiments, London: Sage Publications
Gillham, B. (2000). Case Study Research Methods, London: Continuum.
Huff, D. (1991). How to Lie with Statistics, Middlesex: Penguin
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. Thornhill, A. (2003). Research methods for business students, 3rd edition,
Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall. DMU library shelfmark – 658.0072/SAU
Silverman, D. (2004). Qualitative Research – Theory, Method and Practice, 2nd ed. London: Sage
Publications.
Swetnam, D. (2000). Writing your dissertation : how to plan, prepare and present successful
work, 3rd edition, Oxford.
Walliman, N. (2004). Your undergraduate Dissertation, London: Sage Publications
Walliman, N. (2006). Social Research Methods, London: Sage Publications
HUhttp://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/U
Also known as the Research Methods Knowledge Base, an excellent resource.
Hhttp://www.experiment-resources.com/
Another excellent online resource for experimental procedures.
36
Study and Language Guides
Barrass, R. (2002). Scientists Must Write: a guide to better writing for scientists, engineers and
students, 2nd edition, London: Routledge
Copus, J. (2009). Brilliant Writing Tips for Students, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan
Statistics Guides
Wood, M. (2003). Making Sense of Statistics, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
An excellent book on statistical concepts – it is statistics without numbers.
Anderson, D., Sweeney, D. and Williams, T. (1994). Introduction to Statistics: Concepts and
Applications, 3rd edition, St. Pauls: West Publishing Company
Moore, D. And Notz, W. (2006). Statistics: Concepts and Controversies, 6th edition, New York:
W.H. Freeman
HUhttp://www.seeingstatistics.com/
A very good, interactive statistics resource.
HUhttp://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
HUhttp://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/gerstman/StatPrimer/
HUhttp://library.thinkquest.org/10030/statcon.htm
HUhttp://www.xycoon.com/index.htm
HUhttp://www.tufts.edu/%7Egdallal/LHSP.HTMU
Excel Guides and Tips
HUhttp://www.functionx.com/excel/index.htm
Chandoo.org
MrExcel.com
Evaluating Web Pages
http://www.library.dmu.ac.uk/Images/Selfstudy/ISEMLeaflet.pdf
DMU guide to information evaluation
HUhttp://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.htmlU
Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask
37
Visualising Data
Tweets by galka_max
Max Galpa, very interesting ideas
http://www.davidmccandless.com
You absolutely, definitely NEED to see this
…. And this is the website of his book
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net
Hans Rosling is an expert on data visualations. Here are some of his TED sessions
https://www.ted.com/playlists/474/the_best_hans_rosling_talks_yo
Others
Byrson, B. (2003). A Short History of Nearly Everything, London: Doubleday Transworld
38
Appendix J – Assessment: Difference
Between Formative And Summative
Difference 1 – Timing. Formative assessment is
an ongoing activity where the evaluation takes
place during the learning process, maybe not just
one time, but often. A summative evaluation
takes place after it, often after a project or
module completion.
Difference 2 – Purpose. Formative assessments
help to monitor the student learning process.
Summative assessments assign gradings
reflecting whether (or to what extent) the student
achieved the learning goal.
Difference 3 – Outcome. Formative assessment
aims to improve student learning through
meaningful feedback. Summative assessment
provides an evaluation of student achievements.
Difference 4 – Scale. Formative assessment is
often based around small content areas, such as
an initial project plan, a specific tutorial meeting.
Summative assessment usually relates to the
completed project, such as a dissertation.
Taken from:
https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/04/thedifferences-
between-formative-and-summativeassessment-
infographic
39
Appendix K – What Does It Mean:
Good Research
40
Appendix L – What Does It Mean:
Poor Research