Outline Guidelines for Dissertation Students

Remember that the outline will count for 10% of your dissertation final mark, so try to follow as closely as possible our instructions below. Do not worry about the number of words, but do worry about us understanding what you are writing (re-read it after you finish, and when you are done, re-read again and then you can re-read it one more time after that and before you re-read it again). Make sure that Microsoft Word does not find any spelling or grammar mistakes (red or green underlined words in the document).

Title
In a few words, the reader should immediately see what your dissertation is about. The title should be concise (15 words maximum) and clear. You should watch for spelling or grammar mistakes throughout your whole dissertation but this is most important in the title (use the Microsoft Word spell and grammar checker). The title should be a reformulation of the aim (see below) as a statement, rather than as a question.

Introduction
You should first state the purpose of your research. Indicate then why do you think it is interesting and relevant. Do not attempt to write too much here. A short paragraph of 10 to 15 lines will suffice. Also, remember to define any acronyms (such as ECB or WTO) you use anywhere in the outline here.
Aim
The aim should come in the form of a research question. You should state in this section “I want to answer the following question:” and then you should state the question you want to answer.
Examples:
• What are the causes of the changes in Chinese trade after the accession to the WTO?
• What is the impact of the recent increase in oil prices on the Sterling/Dollar exchange?
• How does the decision of the ECB to cut interest rates affect the level of GDP in Belgium?

Objectives
Each objective tells how you plan to achieve your aim (to answer your research question) for each part of the dissertation:
• The objective associated with the literature review is to report economic contexts, theories and empirical studies (carried out by other researchers before you) which will help you achieve your aim (to answer your research question).
• The objective associated with the research methods chapter is to explain the appropriate analytical tools (such as econometric and statistical methods) and present the empirical data which will help you achieve your aim (to answer your research question).
• The objective associated with the research findings chapter is to present, interpret and analyse the results. More than any other chapter in the dissertation this one will help you achieve your aim (to answer your research question).
• The objective associated with the conclusions chapter is to discuss and summarise the main findings, state any caveats and emit policy recommendations. In short, it should express the extent to which you manage to achieve your aim (to answer your research question).#p#分頁標題#e#

Research Methods
Here you should specify what specific methods (such as econometric and statistical methods) you intend to use to obtain and analyse data. You should give a meaningful explanation of how each method you plan to use will help you answer the research question. You should also explain where and how you plan to obtain the data that you will analyse (provide the relevant list of variables, countries, frequencies and time ranges that you will use).

Potential limitations
Here we want you to display awareness and maturity about what you can actually achieve. You will have to identify possible problems such as low number of observations, poor accuracy of the data itself, large number of missing data, insufficient knowledge of more complex and accurate methods, limited time to absorb the vast amount of information in the literature. Remember that the above list is not exhaustive, and that you must identify those limitations that apply to your own dissertation and adapt them accordingly.

Timetable
You should incorporate the timeline (the series of deadlines) for the different tasks that you set out in your timetable. Of course you will need to include the approximate dates when you plan to start and finish writing the different chapters.

Resources
Here you just need to mention where you plan to obtain your information from (library, www, etc.) and the computer programs you will use (SPSS, Excel, etc…).

Proposed chapter headings
Initially we will work under the assumption that the five chapters of your dissertation will be: Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methods, Research Findings and Conclusions. Note that there might be modifications to this structure if the need arises later on. Please make sure that when choosing your chapter headings, you adapt them to your own topic.

References
Choose five academic references (you must include at least one relevant journal article). Remember that textbooks used for the research method and theoretical background are also valid references.