Topic: The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction amongst VMAL Management & Services Insurance Sales Agent
Word between 6,000 � 7,000 long for MSc Business Psychology and presented in structure, style, content and format as if for publication in a scientific journal such as Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology using APA conventions. However examination of carefully published journals will be sufficient.

1. Title page
This should present a clear but fully descriptive title.

2. Table of contents
This should give a clear picture of the constituent parts of the dissertation. Tables, figures, and other illustrations should be listed on the following page.
All pages should be numbered.

3. Abstract
The abstract should consist of a comprehensive summary of the content of the dissertation that should not exceed 150 words. Consult the Publication Manual of the APA (5th Edition) for detailed information regarding content and style. This should be four or five sentences covering:

� The topic of study
� The participants and the procedure
� The outcome (results)
� Some mention of the interpretation of results

4. Introduction (Literature Review)
The goal of the introduction is to present the specific issue that you are addressing, and its relevant theoretical and research background. At the end of the introduction, you should specify either the hypothesis that you are investigating or your research aims and objectives, and the research strategy that you are employing.

In order for the reader to understand the problem under study, it is important to describe and develop the theoretical background to the problem area. You also need to consider and discuss previous published work that has examined the specific issues that you are investigating.

It is important for you to show the logical continuity between the previous research that you describe and your own study. Thus towards the end of the introduction it should be clear how your question arises from the previous research that has investigated your area.
Essentially the introduction should cover:

� Background to the general area of study
� Why this area is of interest and importance
� What the theoretical issues are
� What the competing theories are
� What previous work has shown
� Terminology and concepts used in the area
� What the aim of the study is
� What the research question is

It is also sometimes helpful to explain what the structure of the dissertation is and how the report is to be structured in to different sections, at the beginning of the introduction.

5. Method
Design: The description of the research design should include a brief statement of the method of statistical analysis employed. It should also include information on the sample used.

Participants: Description of those participating. This needs to include the number, age, sex, and, where relevant, other characteristics (e.g. job titles). The organisation (s) involved also need to be outlined, including a summary of the organisational context.

Materials: This section should incorporate a description of the materials used and details of assessment techniques and tests.

Procedure: The guiding principle here is that the account of the research procedure should be sufficiently detailed to enable someone else to repeat the study in the same way as it was originally preformed. State exactly what you did to obtain your data.

6. Results:
The results of the study are best presented in two places in the project. Raw data should be given in an appendix at the end. This enables the results section, in the body of the project to contain clear summaries of the data. The reader is thus able to gain a clear picture of the results but can refer to the appendix if s/he wishes to make a detailed examination.

The results section should contain:
� Summaries of the raw data in the form of tables and/or figures showing the means or other statistics of central tendency together with standard deviations or other appropriate measures of dispersion. Tables and figures must be allocated numbers by which they may be identified in the text. They must also be given a self-explanatory title: For example:
Table 1: Mean scores of absenteeism and performance

� Clear statements of the analyses employed and summaries of the results of these analyses.
� Reports of any relevant comments made by the participants

There are two fundamental points to bear in mind before presenting your results:
(1) Know what you are trying to communicate.
(2) Select the most clear an appropriate ways to do so.
Have this in mind before you even collect your data.

7. Discussion
A summary and interpretation of the results of the study is offered here. The findings must be considered in relation to previous relevant research, as well as the general problem specified in the introduction.

In this section there may also be included suggestions for improvements to the materials or the research design used. The researcher should also outline any further studies suggested by the outcome of the present one. This is particularly important when the results are very different from those expected.

Generalised statements about the findings should normally be guarded rather than over enthusiastic. The findings should be related back to the theory and research that is discussed in the introduction in order to place the findings in a proper context.

In doing so you should:
� State whether your statistical analysis supports your hypothesis
� State what the results mean
� Point out any peculiarities of the results
� Consider any flaws in the study
� Compare the current results with the results of the previous studies/theories that you have mentioned in the introduction
� Draw out the theoretical implications of the study
� Suggest sensible recommendations for further research

8. References
You must correctly reference all of the papers you have cited in your project. Guidelines on how to do this are in Appendix 5.

9. Appendices