ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

Department of Business Administration
*****
Guidelines for Research Project (8565) for MBA 3 Years and MBA 2 Years Programs
A student will be required to complete Research Project of 06 Credit Hours under
supervision of appointed supervisor as per AIOU rules, and submit to the ASC that
would be evaluated on the guidelines given by HEC and AIOU.
The study centres will arrange research workshop for guiding the students regarding
selection of the topic and preparation of research proposal.
The topic of research project should be approved by supervisor/ committee. The
synopses need to be approved from the Department of Business Administration as
well. Student would proceed for research after the approval of synopsis .
The Research Project duly signed and stamped by supervisor and ASC would be sent
to the department of Business Administration by the ASC . Students are not allowed
to submit the project directly to the department of Business Administration. Research
project must be sent along with the approved copy of synopsis.
Supervisors will be appointed by ASCs with the consultation and approval of the
Department. The study centre will provide supervisors to the students. The supervisor
must be at least MS/M.Phil in relevant discipline. Details of the students allotted to
the supervisors are required to be sent to the Business Administration Department
alongwith supervisor's CV. It has to be ensured that the supervisors are either from the
middle management of an organization or should be a faculty member in any HEC
recognized university. The supervisor should supervise the student by all means, but is
not supposed to do work for the student. One supervisor may supervise maximum up
to 10 students.

 The project would be evaluated by the Department, The Dean will approve the name
of the External Evaluator out of the Panel of three Experts recommended by the
Chairman from the Panel of Experts approved by the Vice-Chancellor and forward the
Project to the External Evaluator for his/her opinion.
The External Evaluator will evaluate the project, award marks out of the maximum
of 100 marks and send the result with his/her comments to the Chairman. In case
some changes or amendments are required in the Research Project the same will be
communicated to the student.
An extension of six months will be allowed twice beyond one year by the Chairman.
Any extension beyond initial two years will be approved by the Dean on the
recommendation of Chairman/ Chairperson/Director. The student will have to pay fee
equal to three credits of master level program concerned for each extension.

Viva-Voce
The Viva Voce would be arranged at the Department of Business Administration, AIOU, Islamabad.
If

student

gets

pass

marks

i.e.

50

percent

from

both

the

Evaluators,

the

Chairman/Chairperson/Director will arrange viva-voce. The Vive-Voce Committee will comprise

the following:
i) Chairman, Department of Business Administration

Chairman

ii) Internal Expert

Member

iii) External Expert

Member

The Viva-Voce Committee will certify satisfactory defense of the Research Project and its
acceptance for Master's Degree and award marks out of 100. The marks awarded by the External
Evaluators and the Vive-Voce Committee will be added to arrive at the score for the project. The
marks so awarded will be forwarded by the Chairman to the Controller of Examinations for
notification and award of the Degree.
In case the student is not able to satisfy the Vive-Voce Committee, he/she will be allowed two more
chances to appear for Viva-Voce within six months. If he/she does not satisfy the Viva-Voce

Committee the third time, the project will be rejected finally and the student will be allowed to enroll
in the project with some other topic.
Academic Guidelines regarding the preparation of Research Project are as follows for facilitation.
AIOU rules and regulations already operative in Master Programs and enforced from time to time
will strictly be followed in MBA program as well.

(FRONT TITLE PAGE FORMAT)

TITLE OF THE RESEARCH

By
Name of the Student
Roll No:
Registration No:

Masters of Business Administration

ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY
YEAR________________

(
INNER
TITLE
PAGE)

TITLE OF THE RESEARCH

Submitted to:
Chairman,
Department of Business Administration
Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad
Supervised by:
Name of the supervisor at the approved study
centre and stamp of the study centre (MANDATORY)
Submitted by:
Name of the student
Roll no:
Registration no:
Address:
Email:
Cell no:
A Research Project Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the
degree of Masters of Business Administration (----years) Program

ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

YEAR________________

SYNOPSIS/PROPOSAL & FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT

GUIDELINES

Title page

Supervisor Signature page

Attestation of Authorship

Declaration

Acknowledgement

Dedication

Abstract

Table of Contents
Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Background of Study

1.2 Problem Identification
1.3 Problem Statement
1.4 Objectives of the Study
1.5 Significance of the Study 1.6
Contribution of the study
Chapter 2

Literature review

Literature must be relevant to the variables of the study. Give proper headings of each
variable and relationship with dependent variable. Write literature rationally, thematically,
and in chronological order. The Hypotheses should be developed in the light of reviewed
and cited literature. Research Model/Theoretical framework/Conceptual Framework
should be after literature. If your thesis data is based on time series data then give measures of
variable and justify the application of model. Develop hypotheses and write after the model.
Also provide description of your model. Distribute this chapter according to heading and
sub-heading.
Chapter 3

Research Methodology

3.1 Population of the Study

3.2 Sampling Techniques
3.4 Sample Size
3.4 Research Tools / Questionnaire: The questionnaire must be reference/s based. Write
about the questionnaire and it must measure the variables taken in your research study. If

your research data is based on time series/panel data then give measures/proxies of variable and
justify the application of model. Then make appropriate analysis.
3.5 Data Collection Procedure
Chapter 4

Data Analysis and Interpretation (Tools and Techniques)

4.1 Data Analysis (Complete, May include descriptive statistics, frequency distribution,
correlation, regression, Anova, use of E-views, Strata, MATLAB, NVIVO, AMOS, etc).
Every table, graph, figure, etc should be numbered according to the chapters.
4.2 Discussion (The results should be discussed in the light of previous literature)
Chapter 5

Conclusion

5.1 Major Findings

5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Practical Implications / Recommendations
References: Must be according to latest APA style. For latest APA style please Google.

READ CAREFULY
Research Project Guidelines:
Dear Student,
You are advised to prepare your research project as per the following guidelines:
1. The title of the research project should be according to the work presented inside the project.
2. Do not write broad titles. The title of the project should be concise, narrow, and must reflect
the research work carried out during your studies. 3.
Align your objective with the hypotheses.
4. Review English language and try to remove spelling as well as grammatical mistakes. 5.
Model must reflect the prior literature.
6. Justify and properly present the population of the study, the sampling technique, and sample
size.
7. If your thesis data is based on time series/panel data then give measures of variable and
justify the application of model then interpret analysis.
8. Title and sub-title in each chapter (Chapter 01 - 05) should be numbered according to the
chapters.
9. The tables, diagrams, charts, and figures should be given proper heading. Each table,
diagram, chart, and figure should be numbered according to the chapters.
10. Discussion should be included in chapter no 04 and the results of the study must be discussed
in the light of previous literature.
11. Recommendations should be based on the findings / results of your research. The
recommendations should not be based on assumptions or predictions. In fact they should be
practical in nature.
12. You are also advised to format your research project as under:
Font (Time new Roman)
Size 12
Line spacing 1.5
Page margins (1 inch)
Headings and Subheadings (Bold)
All charts, diagrams, tables, and figures should be numbered properly
according to the chapters with headings.

13. NOTE: Thesis or Proposal without supervisor signature will not be

evaluated. Always get it
reviewed, signed, and stamped from your supervisor, Please.

SAMPLE OF CORRELATION AND REGRESSION TABLES

Table 4.1: Correlation matrix

Variables
A
B
C
D
E

A
1
.525(**)
.461(**)
.519(**)
.415(**)

B
1
.396(**)
.567(**)
.305(**)

C
1
.277(**)
.325(**)

1
.287(**)

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

INTERPRETATIONS
.
Table 4.2:
Constant
1.441

Regression coefficients, standard errors in parentheses, t-values in brackets and

p-values in italic:
A
B
C
D
RF-Statistics
Square
0.319
0.258
0.292
0.210
0.416
24.623

(0.359)

(0.071)

(0.047)

(0.072)

(0.055)

[4.011]

[4.047]

[2.962]

[3.704]

[2.182]

0.000

0.000

0.002

0.001

0.008

0.000

INTERPRETATIONS
.

PROCEDURE FOR OPTING RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND RESEARCH PROJECT

Dear Student,
Before submission of research project students are advised to submit project
proposal/synopsis to the office of Department of Business Administration, Block no 13, Room no
02, AIOU, Campus, sector H-8/1, Islamabad (051 9250089, 051-9057723). Only upon the
acceptance of proposal and the defense from the department then student will be allowed to start
his/her research work. The final assessment of the Research Project will be carried out through VivaVoce. For appearing in Viva-Voce the student must complete the required courses of the
programme.
This research project is the critical components of the Masters Programme, where the
students demonstrate their ability to apply the various concepts learn by them during the course work
of the Programme. This also allows them to contribute their own analysis and findings towards the
body of knowledge in Business Management studies.
Procedure for opting and completing the Research Project
Following are the requirement to be met by the students for opting and completing project:
1. The student must have a valid admission in Research Project (CC-8565).
2. The student will have to contact his/her supervisor for discussion and guidance.
3. The student will have to complete the synopsis and final project report under the guidance of
supervisor.
4. The synopsis must be duly signed by the supervisor before submission and evaluation.
5. The supervisor is bound to guide the students to complete their proposal/final project report
in stipulated time period.
6. Every draft of final project report must be checked and signed by the supervisor before
submission to the department for evaluation and approval.
7. If any draft report is not approved and sent back to the student with any observation then
supervisor must ensure that the student has incorporated the suggested changes before
resubmission.
8. The student must ensure that he/she has completed required courses, got the project report
approved and received a letter of invitation for appearing in final defense.
9. After approval of the final report the student will have to appear for viva-voce in the
department. Final decision of award of degree to the student will be taken by viva-voce
panel. The student cannot challenge the panel's decision.
10. NOTE: Thesis or Proposal without supervisor signature will not be evaluated. Always get it
reviewed, signed, and stamped from your supervisor at Approved study centre, Please.