T

THESES GUIDE FOR PhD/MSc CANDIDATES

by

Sonila Gruda, BA,MA,MSc

Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD/Master of Science/Professional MasterDepartment of Business Administration

Epoka University

March 2013

Approval PageThesis Title:Thesis Guide For PhD/MSc Candidates

Author:Sonila Gruda, BA, MSc, MA, MBA,

Qualification :Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science, Professional Master

Program :Business Administration/ Political Science and International Relations/

Department :Political Science and International Relations, Banking and Finance

Faculty :Economics and Administrative Sciences

Thesis Date:March 2013

I certify that this thesis satisfies all the legal requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)/Master of Science (MSc)/Professional Master (PM).

(Title, Name and Signature) Head of Department

I certify that I have read this study that is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)//Master of Science (MSc)/Professional Master (PM).

(Title, Name and Signature) Supervisor

Exam Board of Thesis

Thesis Title:Thesis Guide For PhD/MSc Candidates

Author:Sonila Gruda, BA, MSc, MA, MBA,

Qualification:Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science, Professional Master

Date:09 March 2013 (DD/MM/YYYY)

Members(Title, Name and Signature).

(Title, Name and Signature).

(Title, Name and Signature).

AbstractThis guide is aiming at securing an appropriate preparation of theses for the PhD/MSc. candidates at the Epoka University. It consists of three parts after the introduction that is included to answer the question what is a thesis? and explores what a thesis is all about, how it differs from other writings or other scientific works. The first part following it that is named parts of the thesis identifies what parts should or may a thesis comprise and one by one it explains the nature, content and organization of each of them. The second part is about the form of presentation, in other words, format of the thesis. This part shows the preferences of the institute for the physical designation of the thesis in addition to the general formatting rules about the thesis writing. The guide is finalized by the part on the defense and submission of the thesis, which wants to help the candidates for the process after writing the thesis, how to submit it, where to submit it, what is a defense, what follows the acceptance of the defense and the like. All the work is to depict the general rules enabling successful thesis writing. Of course the factor that is of primary significance is the text itself and what deserves the most attention is the proper organization and presentation of the ideas. Keywords: PhD/MSc candidate, scientific work, defense, thesis format, presentation, submission

Abstrakt Ky udhzues ka pr synim prgatitjen e duhur t tezave per kandidatt e masterit n universitetin Epoka. Ai prbhet nga tre pjes q iu prgjigjen pyetjeve far sht nj Tez? far shqyrton teza n tersi? Dhe Si ndryshon ajo nga shkrimet e tjera ose punime t tjera shkencore? Pjesa e par paraqet Pjest e Tezs t cilat prfshijn cfar duhet t prmbaj teza duke shpjeguar nj nga nj natyrn, prmbajtjen dhe organizimin e secils pjes.Pjesa e dyt ka te bej me format e prezantimit,me fjal te tjera, format e tezs. Kjo pjes tregon preferencat e institutit pr hartimin dhe formatin e prgjithshm t shkrimit te tezs.Finalizimi I ktij udhzuesi ka t bej me mbrojtjen dhe dorzimin e tezs. N kt pjes dshirojm gjithashtu t ndihmojm kandidatt n lidhje me procesin pas shkruajtjes s tezs duke I informuar ata, si dhe kur ta paraqesin tezn, cfar sht mbrojtja dhe far vjen pas pranimit.Gjith puna sht br pr t prshkruar rregullat e prgjithshme pr shkrimin e nj teze t suksesshme. Sigurisht faktori kryesor q meriton vmendje maksimale sht teksti I ofruar nga ju, por gjithmon duhet zgjedhur organizata e duhur pr prezantimin e ideve.Fjalet Kye: Kandidati M.A, Punim Shkencore, Mbrojtja, Formati I Tezes, Prezantimi, Paraqitja.

Dedication

AcknowledgementsI gratefully acknowledge all those who have contributed to the preparation of this guide. Especially those who prepared the thesis and dissertations guides for their universities, that is, Boazii University, Harvard University, New York University and University of Tirana, deserve very much thanks for their excellent works inasmuch as they all collectively served as the models for the preparation of this guide. I owe my special thanks to Mustafa who provided me with the Students Guide to Preparing Dissertations and Thesis and thereby the author of that work, Brian Allison. Without this comprehensive and excellently organized work much of the information regarding thesis writing would be troublesome to access, not the less how to organize the relevant material would be an unsolvable problem. I should also mention Esmir Demaj without whose encouragements maybe I would not find any motivations to begin with writing this study. Also Nertil Mera, who is responsible for my undertaking this project, is another academic staff that I owe my thanks.

Declaration Statement 1. The material included in this thesis has not been submitted wholly or in part for any academic award or qualification other than that for which it is now submitted.2. The program of advanced study of which this thesis is part has consisted of:i) Research Methods course during the undergraduate studyii) Examination of several thesis guides of particular universities both in Albania and abroad as well as a professional book on this subject.

Sonila GrudaMarch 2013

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Figure 1: A Sample Figure

List of AbbreviationsEU: Epoka UniversityMA:Master of ArtsMSc:Master of SciencePhD:Doctor of Philosophy

List of Publications by the Candidate

List of AppendicesAppendix A: Final Format ChecklistAppendix B: Common Abbreviations

xii