Behavioral pension Plan design” in “dessertation topics economics
Behavioral pension Plan design” in “dessertation topics economics
MSc Dissertation Abstract submission
Title The thesis title should give a clear indication of the topic being studied. Keep in mind: There is always the possibility to improve the wording at later stages of your research. Your future employer may ask you about the topic of your dissertation so try to make it interesting!
The Problem: The proposal should contain a description of the study problem which includes specification of the study question(s), in relation to previous research and to the literature. Keep in mind: A well ? stated description of the problem will also help you to stay focused during your research . Theoretical Framework and Background Information: the proposal should discuss the major theoretical premises and the salient concepts which underlie the problem or question(s). The proposal should then outline a framework, based on literature, for analyzing the problem and question(s).
Behavioral pension Plan design” in “dessertation topics economics
Design and Methods The questions and/or hypotheses for the thesis are formulated clearly and in such a way that all the study variables and their anticipated relationships are specified. Procedures should be clearly outlined, including details of about data (for empirical projects) and resources (for literature review) that will be used. Keep in mind: The objectives of your thesis should be specific, measurable (you must know when you have reached your goal), achievable (don?t try to attempt too much given the time you have to complete your dissertation. A complete dissertation is always better than an incomplete one!), and realistic (for example, in the case of an empirical project do you have the resourcesneeded to collect your data?).
Behavioral pension Plan design” in “dessertation topics economics
Data Analysis (for empirical projects): The methods of analysis appropriate for the study design should be described.
Work Plan: The proposal should include a detailed work plan, with estimates of time needed to complete each phase of the proposed research. Keep in mind : You have time constraints!
Wordcount: min 500 – max 750 words
Penalisation: See your guidelines
DISSERTATION GUIDELINES (ECOM093)
1. Aim and Objectives
Enable students to advance their knowledge of the field covered by their degree programme
Independent research project
Ability to evaluate, challenge, modify and develop theory and practice.
Offer synthetic and coherent solutions
2. Requirements
Well-defined research question
Logically developed argument supported by evidence
Element of your own independent research
Relate existing literature in the field to your work
3. Timetable
January 2016. Overview presentation on dissertations. List of suggested topics circulated
January 2016. Students allocated to supervisor
January to March. Data Analysis presents a set of potential dissertation topics and data sources to help students choose their topic and use appropriate methods and data.
March 2016: First meeting with supervisor. Students should bring a draft of their dissertation abstract to this meeting. The draft should specify the research idea, techniques to be used and data sources required as well as references to a few articles that look at the same issue or use similar techniques. After this meeting students can update their abstract before submission
Deadline for abstract submission: 23:55 Thursday, 31st of March 2016
13th June to 12th August Progress meetings with supervisor. Students have two compulsory and one optional meeting with their supervisor over this period to discuss progress on their dissertation and other issues
13th June to 12th August Technical meetings with TA supervisors Students can arrange meetings with TA supervisors to discuss issues such as data sources, software issues, estimation techniques etc.
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Deadline for final submission: 23:55 Thursday, 1st of September 2016
Dissertations that are submitted late will be penalised at the rate of 5 marks deduction for each 24 hour period after the set submission time, down to the pass mark. Work submitted 14 calendar days or more after the deadline will be awarded zero (check your handbook). This rule applies for all days including weekends. Students are advised to submit at least a day before the deadline in case of unforseen technical problems etc.
4. Plagiarism
Your dissertation should be the output of your own work. University of London and the College take plagiarism very seriously.
Incorrect referencing and citations may be considered plagiarism.
For detecting plagiarism, the School uses Turnitin. Turnitin checks your dissertation against 24+ billion web pages, 300+ million student papers and 110,000+ publications and provides a similarity index. Once you will have completed your dissertation, you can test it on Turnitin to verify that the similarity index is acceptable (green light) before your official submission.
Important: An acceptable similarity index could be anything below 20%. What does this mean in practice? An originality report from Turnitin may have a similarity index of 24% with the similarity coming from hundreds of different sources, each making up less than 1% of the student?s work, other originality reports with an index of 15% may have the similarity coming from just one or two web pages or published sources, potentially a much more serious matter.
After the exams in June, there will be a 2-hours session on how to avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity. The attendance is compulsory for all students taking ECOM093. More details about the date and the venue will follow at a later stage.
5. Style and Format
Front page: You must indicate the following:
your programme of study
your full name
your student ID number
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the title of your dissertation
the full name of your supervisor
Use 1.5 spacing
Number your pages
Use 2.5 or 3cm on all margins
6. Dissertation Length
Maximum 5,000 words excluding references, tables and appendices. Lower or higher than this may lead to a penalty in your overall mark and this is under the discretion of your supervisor.
7. Citing and References
Follow the link and use Harvard Style criteria
http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/referencing#1
8. The role of the supervisor
Number of meetings with the supervisor: 1 meeting before the abstract submission and up to 3 meetings (2 compulsory, 1 optional) during the period of supervision in summer (see above for dates).
The dissertation is intended to provide an opportunity for students to pursue a research project independently so students are entirely responsible for the work for their dissertation.
The role of the supervisor is to offer advice and guidance, not to direct the research.
Your supervisor will help you to identify a topic, to draw up a suitable preliminary bibliography and to plan the primary and secondary research you will need to do for the dissertation. He/she will be available to advise you on approach, coverage, questions to be asked and the outline structure and research design.
More specifically, the supervisor is expected to:
assist you in the definition and organisation of your project in the early stages of preparation;
offer you advice about sources;
advise you on the feasibility of what you plan to do; and
Approve your dissertation proposal.
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9. The role of the Teaching Assistant (TA)
3 or 4 optional meetings in total during the period of supervision
You must not expect the TAs to do the work for you, the role of the TA is to offer assistance at various stages of your dissertation
For empirical projects, the TA will assist you on how to download data and use library resources. If you also need help with the statistical package (Eviews, STATA etc) you use, TA will give you guidance.
? The TA will not give you suggestions about your research approach and will not recommend research methods and literature. The TA has a supportive role only. ? Skype meetings with the supervisor and/or TA are not allowed. except under verified Extenuating Circumstances (please consult your handbook) which must be approved in advance. Separate EC must be submitted for extensions after the deadline.
10. Structure for an empirical study
The introduction: It should state the topic and the general aim of the dissertation. It should also describe the structure of the dissertation (i.e. how you organise your dissertation in the various sections)
Literature Review: should review the literature on the topic and clarify how your dissertation fits within this literature. You can give any title to this section as long as, at the beginning of the section, you state clearly that the objective of this section is to review the literature on the topic under investigation.
Empirical Framework and Data Description: it is important that you summarise the method you use and that you describe the data use in your dissertation. You can give any title to this section as long as, at the beginning of the section, you state clearly that the objective of the section is give a description of your method and of the data you use.
Empirical Analysis: this section is dedicated to the illustration of your analysis and of your findings. You can give any relevant title to this section as long as, at the beginning of the section, you state clearly the objective of the section.
Conclusion: this section presents a summary of the findings of the dissertation, relates these to the argument outlined in the introductory chapter and states precisely what has been demonstrated.