Need Results and analysis for my Theory topic

Attached a document for my Thesis. Please read the thesis and add results sections as per template which is also attached in the document below. 

Running head: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

1

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY 1

5

Artificial Intelligence and Employee Productivity in MCDONALD

’

S
GRAD

6

9

5
KRISHNA MAREPALLI (1

7

006

8

)
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Harrisburg, Pensylvannia
December 2017

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence otherwise known as AI, it is the development and the theory of some computer systems which are able to undertake certain tasks which will normally need the intelligence of humans. The tasks that are normally in need of the human intelligence are the likes of translation of languages, making decisions recognition of speech among others. Good examples of these technologies that fall under the AI are; augmented reality, Virtual Assistants, and robots. On the other hand, employee productivity can also be called workforce productivity. Productivity is evaluated in terms of the output of employees within a given time. A Lot of US multinational have embraced the use of this technology as it has been touted as leading to some financial benefits(Bobrow,2005). My research is limited to the company McDonalds.

Keywords:

Introduction

,

Literature Review

, Proposed Research Methods and Design.

Table of Contents

List of Tables

4

Introduction

5

Background

5

Problem Statement

6

Purpose Statement

6

Research Questions and Objectives

6

Theoretical Framework

7

Hypothesis

7

Significance of Study

8

Definition of Terms

8

Ethical Considerations

8

Delimitation

8

Limitation

8

Literature Review

9

Research Headings

9

Review of Methodologies

10

Review of Theories

10

Theoretical Framework

10

Factors affecting the Study

11

Total Factor Productivity can affect a company

’

s growth

11

Research Design

and Methodology

12

Research Worldview

12

Research Design

13

Research Strategy

13

Method of Data Collection

14

Method of Data Analysis

14

Population

14

Sample

15

References

16

List of Tables

Proposed Capstone Schedule …………………………………………………………………..14

Introduction
Background

Many of tech companies and organization are putting into use the AI technologies that are made up of the robots, augmented reality and even the virtual assistants. Recently there was a report that was undertaken by Accenture in 12 nations and it showed that AI that is able to sense the environment has the ability to know what is happening to lead to the taking of an action. All these would, later on, lead to the rise in the levels of productivity to sales of 40% in the year 2035.The report goes on to show that once AI is well utilized, there will be chances of economic growth by American multinational companies from a 2.6% to 4.6% in the same period(Hunt,2009). This is why it is important for the scholarly community to research this topic at this time. My research is specific to AI in American corporations like Amazon, Google and Facebook only. There are not many companies out there capable of AI level research. I am trying to measure the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) that measures the growth of economy that comes from technology and innovation changes. With this research, I would like to answer the question “Is AI replacing human work force or is it adding more productivity by assisting”. There is less knowledge out there about AI but it is still researchable. This research would give confidence to the future generations especially after the recent Facebook AI incident where the bot created its own language to communicate with other bots.

A group of robots runs a new McDonald’s store in Phoenix Arizona totally. The company made this move after seeing a decline in sales for the first time in 9 years. The store has opened on July 4, after the robot models have remodeled the store. These robots are supposed to work 50 times more efficient than human workforce is. This would help McDonald’s to make a comeback with their share price increasing back to 105$/share.

McDonald’s has announced that it would roll out digital self-order kiosks and table service in all of its 14,000 US stores which will eliminate the need for human labor and also to make the process more efficient to increase sales and profits. This led a crowd of 1500 protestors to hold a rally at McDonald’s corporate campus.

Problem Statement

Currently each McDonald’s store needs a minimum of six employees per store to run the business. However, McDonald’s response to changing business environment with customers and competitors evolving preferences with Artificial Intelligence is affecting their work force. The reality in the future is to run a store totally on robots using AI.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this report is to explain how the move of the company into hiring robots is putting human work force at the risk of job loss. This will include replacing entry-level jobs like cashier all the way to flipping burgers in the kitchen. To my knowledge, so study has not yet quantified how recent AI technologies are going to affect future employment.

Research Questions and Objectives

The questions this proposal will investigate through this paper are as follows:

RQ1: Is the human workforce replaceable by a robot with AI?

RQ2: What is the productivity of a machine compared to a human?

RQ3: How is automation using AI currently affecting the human work force of McDonald’s?

The objectives I am trying to achieve with this paper are as follows:

RO1: Based on empirical studies of data from different news and statistical sources, I would like to make a statement about the impact Artificial Intelligence is creating on the human work force.

Theoretical Framework

In the Theoretical framework, I designed the variables are Capital, Labor, Artificial Intelligence and Total Factor Productivity. In a traditional model, there are only 3 variables Employee Productivity is a dependent variable, which contribute to the growth of productivity, but in my framework a new variable called AI would be added and it is an independent variable now-a-days which can affect the growth of a company both positively and negatively.

Hypothesis

Based on the theoretical framework designed, it is hypothesized that even though McDonald’s have increased their sales and profits, by using robots with AI technologies in their restaurant it can negatively affect the total factor productivity since it also includes human labor. The most frequently cited prediction of John Maynard Keynes “due to our discovery of means of economizing the use of labor outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labor” (Keynes, 1933, p. 3) is a huge motivation for my research.

In the last decade, many jobs like telephone operators, cashiers have been replaced by AI technologies and it is predicted that increase of AI controlled equipment is a huge factor in the increase of jobless growth in human labor. Recent developments in Machine learning technologies like Data Mining, Machine Vision and Machine Reality technologies like Augmented Reality add additional dimension of susceptibility to jobs of the future.

Significance of Study

The present study will try to answer the impact of AI technologies on the occupation composition of labor market. With the availability of huge amounts of data, a wide range of non-routine tasks are being automated or being handled by Artificial Intelligence bots.

Definition of Terms

Total Factor Productivity is the growth that comes from Technological advances and innovations.

Ethical Considerations

This paper will be done in an ethical manner. Human subjects are not involved for my study. This study also did not include any information that is private or confidential.

Delimitation

The delimitations of my research are particular to Artificial Intelligence technologies like facial recognition, machine learning and natural language processing in the company McDonald’s in the demography of United States.

Limitation

For a study this huge, I have a few constraints that should be considered.

1. Time

2. Non-availability of historic studies/ journals for reference.

Literature Review

For my study, I will be considering AI to be only computational devices and system made to act in a manner that can be deemed intelligent. Many of the current research have explained positives of AI on work, education, healthcare and decision-making. Nevertheless, my study will concentrate on concerns of Artificial Intelligence like Loss of Control, AI displacing human jobs. According to article by Ethan Fast (2016) analysis conducted contained articles published by New York Times from January 1986 to May 2016 (p. 964) includes more than 3 million articles, it was concluded that Artificial intelligence “has great potential to benefit humanity in many ways.”

According to article by Matthew Hutson (2017) which is a recent article summarizing the work of a AI teaching company Microwork stated that even though AI is advancing at a great pace it still needs humans to teach the system the dataset which can be created only by humans. His statement is “No matter what the profession we will work with alongside AI in our everyday lives”. None of the above literature talks about the concern of AI impacting work force.

My study will determine if the progress of AI will have a negative impact on employee productivity and in turn US economy by answering the below questions: These questions below might help us understand how impact of AI will make or break the employee productivity across different companies:

Research Headings

The researchable heading that must be included for this thesis topic are the range of AI impact over US Economy in the future, McDonalds initiative of making totally automated store, laying off low paying jobs of Food preparation and serving workers, AI helps keeping costs down and Production high.

Review of Methodologies

I have reviewed some methodologies that are mostly quantitative where it was surveys conducted citywide which are purely statistical and data collected through interviews and surveys and all of these have been talking about how AI can perform operation with the press of a button and can do it better than human work force. However, these methodologies are missing out explaining how the human workforce is negatively affected due to this growth of AI technologies and how AI machines are overtaking the low paying jobs. My study would concentrate and try to explain this side of the coin.

Review of Theories

The theories currently used in most of the research papers base on an assumption that AI technologies can increase productivity by reducing costs of labor and efficiency of Production. Even though this assumption is valid, it lacks human context. AI automation might increase the economy of a company, but at the cost of human workforce losing their work. Since this aspect of the above assumption is not studied, I will like to make an assumption that even though AI technologies increase the overall profits of a company, it also decreases in the headcount of employees and loss of human work force.

Theoretical Framework

Constructing a framework for my topic is quite hard, since it is new and still evolving enormously, nevertheless my entire study is anchored to the point that employee productivity in a company is in declining state due to growth of AI implementation in McDonalds. The key variables in my research will be Total Factor productivity, Employee morale, Job security. Until today a company’s growth is measured based on production and employees, now this new variable called AI is added. In my literature review, I have studied only the benefits of AI in multiple areas of different companies; nobody has done enough research about the negative effects of automation using AI technologies. There are only a few articles written by certain individuals who have identified this aspect. My thesis will include some of the ideas presented by these individuals as well.

Factors affecting the Study

This is an important factor, since most of the companies in the US, which harness the power of AI for user information management and advertising, are all billion-dollar companies on the stock exchange and can change the phase of economy, which in fact drives the number of jobs created. After reviewing the article Purdy (2016) on how the advance of AI is leading us to rethink fundamental economic relationships and how value is created. (p. 5)

Now-a-days consumers use AI for simple tasks such as creating alarms, read and reply messages on their compatible mobile devices. However, in the near future AI might be used to replace human work force itself. According to Journal of Biomedical Informatics (vol. 46, Is. 5, 2013, p765-773) many tasks are accomplished by a capable AI system and it can do it more efficiently and quickly using Natural Language processing than human workforce.

Total Factor Productivity can affect a company’s growth

This measure is an important factor, which decide the overall productivity of a company or a system based on usage or technology and innovation. This is a volatile factor since it can rocket high or plummet down in abyss based on the technology or the innovations created. The only regions, which still maintain an acceptable TFP score, are Middle East and North Africa according to Purdy (2016).

Private Industry Monarchy

Most AI systems that are common for general consumers are personal assistants on mobile devices and major tech companies created all these systems, but it is not available to everyone. The technology has not reached to the level total autonomy for it to be adapted countrywide or across the government sector. A set of multimillion-dollar private corporates currently own the technology that can change the phase of workforce and economy in the future. Google is currently the leading tech company, which has a monarchy in the private industry.

Past Technological Advances to predict future

During the last decade, the technological innovations and new technologies has grown leaps and bounds, which became large drivers of growth in economy as well as in labor force. These advances have paved a structure where future technologies are built upon. Lot of these companies use robots and AI systems for their everyday tasks. Therefore, the factors, which would affect the technological advances in the future and how it would increase or decrease the employee productivity, is a question to answer.

Research Design and Methodology

Research Worldview

In order to look at the question on Artificial Intelligence and Employee Productivity in McDonald’s a pragmatic worldview need to be followed. Since the organization- McDonald’s is comprised of people from different categories and with different education level, the open method will allow me to conduct an exhaustive research without any restriction t any point of the research. Pragmatism will allow us to use all the methods of data collection including the use of case studies. The two transcendent methodologies for studying the communication of AI, administration, and associations are contextual analyses (both single and various) and experimental investigations. The greater part of the case examines are about effective applications; there is a lack of cases about disappointments which might be considerably more vital to break down in respect to victories (Creswell, 2013).  Cases give both reasonable bits of knowledge and a reason for creating hypotheses to be in the end tried by experimental strategies

Research Design

Following the research worldview to complete this research this study will employ mixed method approach. In this method, I will use both the quantitative and qualitative research design to find a mathematical and statistical conclusion. In a quantitative research design, researchers seek to establish a rationale-and-outcomes relationship by way of forming organizations of members/objects. The unbiased variable is a gift or absent or reward at a few levels- after which making a choice on whether the groups differ within the stylish variable (Creswell, 2013) whereas quantitative research design is where data will be collected using closed ended questions and observations. This research, therefore, will assess the impacts of AI and employee productivity in McDonalds.

Research Strategy

In order to explore how Artificial intelligence will affect the employee productivity at McDonald’s and having employed mixed research method then the strategy to be used will be sequential research strategy.  In this strategy, a qualitative data collection will be done then an analysis carried out (Mertens, 2014).   Thereafter a quantitative data collection will be carried out and an analysis given. In the quantitative research, records of the employee in the organization are analyzed and data recorded then after that it open ended question and interviews will be conducted and the data collected will be analyzed.

Method of Data Collection

In order to get the proper relationship between AI and employee productivity at Macdonald data will be collected using mixed methods. Firstly, data will be collected using an open-ended questionnaire that will be given to the employee as well as the management.  In addition to the open-ended question, we will also look at the employee performance in the previous financial years before the introduction of AI and compare it to the employee productivity after AI. All this information will then be analyzed and a conclusion made on the matter.

Method of Data Analysis

After collected data, using the mixed method then a mixed method of analysis will be employed to study the data collected. The data collected using quantitative method will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis and then reported in analysis form. In descriptive analysis, descriptive coefficients that summarize a given data set, which can be either a representation of the entire population or a sample of it (Mertens, 2014).   The data collected using qualitative analysis will be analyzed using 3-level coding where all the data from the questionnaire from both the employees and the managers are coded.    

Population

The research is to be conducted in all the branches of McDonalds in New York City USA. Since USA has some of the largest outlets as well as most of the outlets where the AI has been introduced it will be necessary to collect data in most of the branches. New York has some of the outlets that are frequently visited therefore it will give a good representation of the outlets. These populations will give a proper representation of the general McDonald’s outlets. The populace is the whole group of events, people, objects that have the observable characteristic that is common.

Sample

To come up with a proper study it will call for a sample of at least five employees per outlet and two managers. Since McDonald’s has almost 5 employees per outlets, sampling five of the employees will give a better representation of the whole organization.

References

Bobrow, D. (2005). Artificial intelligence in perspective. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Bourbakis, N. (2006). Artificial intelligence and automation. Singapore River Edge, NJ: World Scientific.
Hunt, V. (2009). Mechatronics: Japan’s Newest Threat. Boston, MA: Springer US.
KolbjOrnsrud V., Amico R., and Thomas R.J., The promise of Artificial Intelligence: Redefining management in the workforce of the future, Accenture, 2016.

Patrick M. Sheridan, Steve Mills and Jennifer Goelz [News Article in CNN money May 21, 2014] 138 Arrested outside McDonald’s HQ. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/21/news/companies/mcdonalds-protest/index.html?iid=EL
Prudy, M., & Daugherty, P. (n.d.). Accenture-Why-AI-is-the-Future-of-Growth. Retrieved: August 28, 2017, from https://www.accenture.com/lv-en/_acnmedia/PDF-33/Accenture-Why- AI-is-the-Future-of-Growth
Keynes, J.M. (1933). Economic possibilities for our grandchildren (1930). Essays in persuasion, p. 358-73.
Bisel, R. S., & Adame, E. A. (2017). Post-Positivist/Functionalist Approaches. In University of California, & Arizona State University, The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication (pp. 1-22). Hopoken, NJ: Wiley.
Bornstein, M. H. (2017). Parenting in acculturation: two contemporary research designs and what they tell us. Current Opinion in Psychology, 15, 195-200.
Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2011). Business Research Methods. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches2014. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cristina-Elena, M. (2017). Conceptual Delimitations Regarding School Show Choreography. Young Scientist, 43.1(3.1), 16-19.
Eriksen, C. (2016). Research Ethics, Trauma and Self Care: reflections on disaster geographies. Australian Geographer, 1-6.
Lee, N., & Lings, I. (2008). Doing Business Research: A guide to theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2011). Designing Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nitescu, A., & Dobre-Baron, O. (2017). Theoretical Delimitations Regarding the Management of Start-up Business. Calitatea, suppl. , 354-357.
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (2014). Basics of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Todd, M. E., Torrence, B. S., Watts, L. L., Mulhearn, M. S., Connelly, S., & Mumford, M. D. (2017). Effective Practices in the Delivery of Research Ethics Education: A Qualitative Review of Instructional Methods. Accountability in Research, 24(5), 297-321.
Walton, N. (2017). What is Research Ethics? Retrieved May 31, 2017, from Research Ethics.ca: https://researchethics.ca/what-is-research-ethics/
Matthew Hutson (2017) The Future of AI depends on a Huge Workforce of Human Teachers
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-07/the-future-of-ai-depends-on-a-huge-workforce-of-human-teachers
Purdy, M & Daugherty, P (2016) Why Artificial Intelligence is the Future of Growth https://www.accenture.com/us-en/_acnmedia/PDF-33/Accenture-Why-AI-is-the-Future-of-Growth
Carol Friedman, Thomas C. Rindflesch, Milton Corn, Natural language processing: State of the art and prospects for significant progress, a workshop sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, In Journal of Biomedical Informatics, Volume 46, Issue 5, 2013, Pages 765-773, ISSN 1532-0464, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2013.06.004.
Keywords: Natural language processing; Biomedical language processing
Mertens, D. M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Sage publications.

Appendix A

Appendix B
15 | Page

Running head: GRAD 699 TEMPLATE 1

GRAD 699 TEMPLATE 19

Research Methodology and Writing Template
GRAD 695
Stanley Nwoji, PhD
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Harrisburg, Pensylvannia
May 2017

Abstract

This template covered different sections of the ISEM thesis including: introduction, literature review, research design and methodology, results, discussion of results, recommendation, and conclusion. The components of the introduction were all given: background, problem statement, purpose statement, research questions and objectives, theoretical framework, hypothesis(es), significance of study, definition of terms, ethical considerations, delimitation and limitation. In the literature review section, the topic must be operationalized to researchable headings, and existing literature on the headings sourced and critically examined to: build the proposal on a wider context, find gaps in literature, methods, and theories. The research design and methods section must convince readers about the research worldview, research design, research strategy, method of data collection, method of data analysis, population or unit of analysis, and sample (if needed). The result section must show the results of analyses of collected data. In the discussion of results section, the results are discussed based on existing literature, theories, and methodologies. Finally, recommendations and conclusions are included. If students follow the sequence in this course, they will be able to produce publishable and excellent theses.

Keywords: Thesis, Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methods and Design.

Table of Contents

Different Sections of the Thesis

5

The Front-Matter

5

The Title Page

5

The Abstract

6

The Table of Content

6

List of Tables

6

List of figures

6

Introduction

7
Background 7
Problem Statement 7
Purpose Statement 7
Research Questions and Objectives 7
Theoretical Framework 8
Hypothesis 8
Significance of Study 8
Definition of Terms 8
Ethical Considerations 8
Delimitation 9
Limitation 9
Literature Review 9
Researchable headings 9
Factors affecting the Study 9
Review of Methodologies 10
Review of Theories 10
Theoretical Framework 10
Research Design and Methodology 11
Research Worldview 11
Research Design 11
Research Strategy 12
Method of Data Collection 12
Method of Data Analysis 12
Population 12
Sample 12
Results 12

Presentation of Quantitative Design Results

13

Presentation of Qualitative Design Results

14

Presentation of Mixed-Method Design Results

15

Discussion of Results

15

Recommendations

16

Conclusions

16

Back-Matter

17

References

17

Appendices

17
References 18

Different Sections of the Thesis

The thesis has different sections including the following: The Front-Matter, Introduction, Literature Review, Research design and methodology, Results, Discussion of Results, Recommendation, and Conclusion. The thesis must also have sections on references and appendices. These sections of the thesis are discussed in this template. It is important that students understand each section, and write accordingly, to be able to meet the standards of an excellent thesis.

The Front-Matter

The front-matter are those sections of the thesis that are first seen by the audience. They include the following: the title page, abstract, table of content, list of tables, and the list of figures. These sections are very technical and must follow, as is in the other sections of the thesis, the APA style of writing. Technical mistakes could add noise to the thesis, and students must work hard to prevent this. Although, the front-matter is the first part of the thesis to be seen by the audience, it should be the last part to be written. For instance, since the abstract is the summary of the whole paper, there is no way you can write a good abstract at the beginning of the paper. The table of content shows the pages of the first level headings and the second level headings. There is no way this component of the thesis can be done if the thesis has been completed. Again, the front-matter should be the last aspect of the thesis to be completed.

The Title Page

The title page must have the following information: the title or topic of the thesis, the name of the author, the name of the university, a statement about the submission of the thesis (Thesis submitted to Dr. Stanley C Nwoji in fulfillment of GRAD 699), and the date of the submission of the thesis. All these statements must be centered in every direction of the paper. The title page must be in the APA style. The font must be New Times Roman, 12”. It must not be colored or bold. The font must be more than 12 points. There must not be any decorations or underlining.

The Abstract

The abstract is the summary of every aspect of the research in not more than 200 words. The abstract must include the problem statement, the research design, the research strategy, the method of data collection, the method of data analysis, the results, and the recommendation. Abstracts must end with keywords.

The Table of Content

The table of content directs the audience of the thesis to the pages containing the first level headings and the second level headings. Note that the second level headings in the table of contents are indented to the right, while the first level headings start from the margin of the paper.

List of Tables

Tables are made up of rows and columns. Graphics, in the thesis, which do not have columns and rows are figures. Labels must be on top of each table. These labels must explain the table. A list of tables must be provided, resembling a table of content, showing the pages where the tables are located.

List of figures

Figures are every graphic that do not have rows and columns. They could be maps, drawings, charts, etc. Labels for figures must be put after the figures, unlike, the tables where the labels are above the tables. The labels must explain the figure. A list of tables, resembling a table of content, must be provided. It must contain the pages where the figures are located.

Introduction

Background

This section should hook the reader. My preference is that the student should use statistical data or a scholarly story (a story that can be traced to a reputable article or magazine or news or …). The student must show how because of the statistics there is need to do the research.

Problem Statement

A problem is the difference between the actual and the desired (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). I like to see students write about the desired, and then show how there is a gap between the actual and the desired. They then state the problem in such a way that no one can doubt that this is a problem. This section should end with the student showing that the research is set up to address this problem.

Purpose Statement

A purpose statement is not merely about writing a purpose. The elements of a purpose statement should be the following: the problem, the research design, research strategy, the method of data collection, the method of data collection, the variables, and the reasons for choosing the design (Creswell, 2014).

Research Questions and Objectives

Questions should be derived from a well formulated theoretical framework (Marshall & Rossman, 2011). This section must have researchable questions, not merely a set of questions that have no link to any theoretical framework.

Theoretical Framework

In this section of the paper discuss the theoretical framework you designed. Take each variable and explain how they interact and iterate to cause or solve the problem being studied (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016; Lee & Lings, 2008).

Hypothesis

Based on the theoretical framework designed, formulate hypothesis or hypotheses for the research. Remember that hypotheses are intelligent conjectures that need to be accepted or rejected based on findings from inferential statistical analyses (Strauss & Corbin, 2014).

Significance of Study

This section must show that the research is important (Marshall & Rossman, 2011). To show that a study is important, it must demonstrate it has filled gaps in literature, gaps in methodology, and gaps in theory. It should also be shown that the study affects other areas of knowledge.

Definition of Terms

All terms contained in topic must be defined. Definitions must be scholarly; they must be extracted from journal articles and books (Creswell, 2014; Cooper & Schindler, 2011). They are to be critiqued, not merely written down. The preferred definition must be shown.

Ethical Considerations

Research must be done ethically (Walton, 2017; Todd, et al., 2017; Eriksen, 2016). This section of the paper is to show that the research proposed will be done in an ethical manner. Human subjects will not be involved without their consent. The risks of the research must be clearly shown to them. The researcher must be able to say how risks will be reduced.

Delimitation

Delimitations are demographic and other boundaries of the research (Cristina-Elena, 2017; Nitescu & Dobre-Baron, O, 2017). Criteria for inclusion and criteria for exclusion must be given.

Limitation

All the constraints of the research must be shown including time, financial constraints, and other constraints or problems associated with the research.

Literature Review

Topic must be operationalized to researchable headings. For example, the topic: “Remittances to Five English Speaking West African Countries” can be operationalized into the researchable headings, and those headings could then become second level headings.

Researchable headings

The researchable headings that must be included for this thesis topic are: Remittances, West African Countries, Remittances to West African Countries, English Speaking West African Countries, Remittances to 5 English Speaking West African Countries. These headings must be second-level headings, that is, they must be flushed to the left and made bold. You must look for articles that have been written on the headings and critically analyze them using other articles. Other headings that must follow are: factors affecting the study, review of theories, review of methodologies, and theoretical framework.

Factors affecting the Study

The isolation of variables (factors) affecting the study are very important because they will help construct a theoretical framework. They become the independent variables of the study. You must extract these factors from existing scholarly articles and books. In this study, our interest will be Factors affecting remittances sent to 5 English Speaking West African Countries.

Review of Methodologies

Existing methods for studying the topic (in this case, remittances) are reviewed and critiqued. For example, did existing scholars use quantitative or qualitative or mixed-method approaches? Why or why not? If there are gaps in methodologies, then, they must be shown.

Review of Theories

Theories explaining the topic (in this case, remittances) are reviewed, and critiqued. Each of the theories must be named, explained, and critiqued. If there are gaps in theories, then the gaps must be shown.

Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework based on literature is formulated. A schematic diagram shown the model is given, and explained. Hypotheses are then carefully formulated based on the theoretical framework, and research questions are also derived from the framework.

Note

You should note that the topic: “Remittances to 5 English-Speaking West African Countries,” was used for an example. You must do the same with your topic. Each heading operationalized must be properly researched using scholarly articles from reputable journals, books, reputable trade journals, periodicals, conference proceedings, and reports. At this level of education, the use of websites as scholarly articles is prohibited.

Research Design

and Methodology

Research Worldview

Is it post-positivism, or constructivism, or advocacy, or pragmatism (Creswell, 2014; Bisel & Adame, 2017). The chosen worldview must be explained, and the reason for choosing it must be carefully articulated.

Research Design

A research design that is aligned to the chosen worldview is given (Creswell, 2014 (Bornstein, 2017)). The chosen design is explained, and the reason for the choice given.

Table 1: Table explaining the relationship between research worldview, design, strategy, method of data collection and analysis.

Research Worldview

Research Design

Research Strategy

Method of Data Collection

Method of Data Analysis

Post-positivism

Quantitative

Experiment and/or Survey

Close-ended questionnaire or observed experiment

Descriptive and Inferential Analyses

Constructivism

Qualitative

Grounded Theory, Case Study, Ethnography, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, etc.

Open-ended questionnaire, Interview, focus group, panel, observations, video, etc.

3-level coding

Advocacy

Qualitative

Same as above, feminism, participatory strategy

Same as above

3-level coding

Pragmatism

Mixed Method Approach

Concurrent, Sequential, and Transformative

Mixed: e.g. interview and close-ended questionnaire

Mixed: descriptive, Inferential, and 3-level coding.

Research Strategy

See figure 1. A strategy must be chosen that aligns with the research worldview, and the research design. The strategy chosen must be explained, and the reason for the choice given.

Method of Data Collection

See figure 1. A data collection method that aligns with the research worldview, the research design, and the research strategy must be given. The chosen method of data collection must be explained. The reason for choosing this method of data collection must be defended.

Method of Data Analysis

See figure 1. A method of data analysis that aligns with the research worldview, the research design, the research strategy, and the method of data collection must be given. The chosen method of data analysis must be explained and defended.

Population

The population must be explained. Who are they? Their demographic boundaries must be properly explained as well. The reason for choosing this population must also be shared. Are there some peculiarities about them that must be discussed? Are they too large for this research?

Sample

If they are too large, then a sample must be chosen. How the sample was chosen should be discussed. Validity and reliability must be supported.

Results

The presentation of your result is extremely important. Many scholars will argue with you to understand if your research is valid and reliable. It is therefore very important that you show your results to be accurate, valid, and reliable. In this section of the template, students will be shown how to present results for quantitative, qualitative and mixed method designs. It is important to note the differences between the presentation of results of the different designs. Recall that research is very systematic, and when the system is followed, and excellent work results.

Presentation of Quantitative Design Results

There are two important components of the quantitative design, and both must be present in this section of the thesis. These two components are: Results of Descriptive Analyses and Results of Inferential Analyses. The Results of the Descriptive Analyses will describe the results using statistical summaries, tables, and charts. The Results of the Inferential Analyses will show results from tests of hypotheses.

Results from Descriptive Analysis. Descriptive analysis will result in frequencies, measures of central tendencies (mean, median, and mode), measures of dispersions (range, standard deviation, variations), numerical measures of relative standing (z-scores, rank, quartiles, percentiles), and cross-tabulations. It is important to note that descriptive analysis can only summarize data; it does not lead to the acceptance or rejection of hypothesis. It does prepare the data for inferential analysis. “Descriptive statistics are limited in so much that they only allow you to make summations about the people or objects that you have actually measured. You cannot use the data you have collected to generalize to other people or objects (i.e., using data from a sample to infer the properties/parameters of a population). For example, if you tested a drug to beat cancer and it worked in your patients, you cannot claim that it would work in other cancer patients only relying on descriptive statistics (but inferential statistics would give you this opportunity)” (Laerd Statistics, 2013).

Results from Inferential Analysis. Whereas descriptive analysis describes and summarizes data collected, inferential analysis makes generalized inferences about the data collected. This means that through inferential analysis, the hypothesis propounded, is accepted or rejected using statistical inferential models. The conclusions from inferential analysis extends beyond collected data to a larger population. Examples of inferential tests include: t-tests (one sample t-test, paired sample t-test, and independent group t-test), ANOVA (One-Way ANOVA, and Two-Way, ANOVA), Correlations (Pearson and Spearman), and Regressions (Simple Linear, Multiple-Linear, and Logistic). Data can show a parametric or non-parametric distribution. Non-parametric distributions have alternative inferential analytical models. It is important, therefore, to: (1) show if your distribution is parametric or non-parametric (2) understand and use the right inferential model for your thesis. The results of these analyses must be presented using tables and charts and explaining them.

Intelligent Tools can help. There are intelligent tools like MS-Excel, SAS, and R, which are able to help students do descriptive and inferential analysis with the click of the mouse. The added advantage is that these tools can produce the tables and charts you need for your result section.

Presentation of Qualitative Design Results

The best way to present results of a qualitative research is to divide the results into concepts, categories, and themes. First, show a table of concepts. Second, show a table of concepts, categories and themes. Finally show the triangulation of the themes into theoretical constructs. Each table must be explained.

Concepts. Participants responses must be coded into concepts. As a researcher, take careful notes of participants responses. These responses must be read over and over again to understand all the concepts within the participants’ responses. These concepts must be written down. A table of the concepts can be shown in the results.

Categories. Concepts, certainly, will be too many to grasp. They must, therefore, be put into categories. This means that related concepts must be combined (or coded) into categories to reduce the large number of concepts. This will lead to better understanding of the concepts within the participants’ responses.

Themes. The categories must also be coded into themes, which means that related categories will be combined into themes. This is the final level of the analysis.

Themes must be triangulated. The themes must be triangulated into theoretical constructs. This means that each theme must be related to the dependent variable of the research so that a theoretical framework or construct is modeled.

Intelligent tools can help. There are qualitative analytical tools that can help students analyze qualitative data. They include the following: Nvivo, MAXQDA, Atlas.ti, and Dedoose.

Presentation of Mixed-Method Design Results

The presentation of mixed-method design results is a combination of the quantitative and the qualitative. There must be a section showing the quantitative results, then, followed by the qualitative or vice versa. A section that compares the two results must be present.

Note

The result section of the thesis does not discuss the result; it simply shows and explains the results. It does not share any opinions about the result. It does not relate the result to existing literature or theories. It simply states the result as it is and adds nothing to it. Results cannot be tampered with. There is a section of the thesis that is dedicated to the discussion of the results.

Discussion of Results

Results must be discussed, not merely shown. There are many ways to discuss results. First, discuss whether the results solved the problem of the research. Second, show how the results have answered the various research questions posed by the research. In quantitative research, acceptance or rejection of hypotheses can help support your answers. Third, discuss how the results relate to existing literature. For instance, do the results agree with existing literature or do they disagree? Do they modify existing assumptions and literature? Fourth, do the results agree with existing theories? Why? How? Fifth, discuss new discoveries made by the research. Are there gaps in literature, theories, and methodologies that the research has filled? Sixth, discuss the significance of these findings.

Recommendations

The thesis must have a section for recommendations. Recommendations can be prescriptive. Prescriptive recommendations suggest things that must be done to solve the problem of the research. These prescriptive recommendations must be based on the findings of the research and supported by existing literature.

Recommendations, however, must not be merely prescriptive. They must include recommendations for future research. In fact, in a thesis, the recommendation for further research is more important than prescriptions. Every research is a template for further investigations. It is not academic to see a thesis as being terminal. It must be programmatic; it must lead to more research.

Conclusions

The conclusions must summarize the whole research and all the findings of the research. The conclusion being a summary should not be more than 500 words. It should include: the problem statement, the research questions, the research design, the research strategy, the method of data collection, the method of data analysis, the results of the research, and the recommendations of the research.

Back-Matter

The back-end of a thesis must include the references and the appendices. The reference must have a matching list of all in-text citations. The appendices must include all the important documents and tables not included in the body of the thesis.

References

Every literature cited in-text must be included in a reference list at the end of the thesis. This reference list must follow the APA style. See the reference list in this template to understand how to present an APA styled reference list.

Appendices

Appendices will include all materials that were not included in the body of the thesis but are important for understanding the thesis. Examples are: consent forms, questionnaires, pictures, important tables and diagrams, etc. Appendices must be labeled using alphabets: Appendix A, Appendix B, … Appendix N.

References

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