Saturday, January 17, 2009

Assignment Tips

Some general assignment tips I wrote for my Marketing students at the subject blog, thought I might post them here too:
  • Always 'push the envelope' i.e. read up stuff and issues that not many research into (someone wrote on 'disruptive marketing' which was quite refreshing)
  • Highlight the key points you're trying to make (e.g. by bolding, underlining, etc.) - sometimes I get pages and pages of 'plain text' and it hurts my eyes (so sue me). 'Help' your marker with his marking by making key sections 'jump out'
  • There is no 'maximum' to your references - please remember that academics LOVE to see lots and lots of citations and references (and as I've said, to have very few references is 'suicide')
  • Try to link up your sections - don't "blindly" write on topic A, B, C just because the question says so(!)...make sure they connect to each other somehow (e.g. NOT MANY of you tied the Macro-Environmental Factors to the Marketing Mix)
  • Finally (for now), write with passion!!! Put. Your. HEART into it!!! Your examiner will surely 'feel' the vibes.

2 comments:

U-Liang said...

I'm not too sure about the 3rd bullet point though...Some of the more important papers (mathematics) I've read do not have reams and reams of citations.

I think originality is the key. Citation and reference to me is simply the acknowledgement that somebody else has already done the hard work of thinking for you....

Anonymous said...

you're right; the citation thing is more relevant for non-quantitative subjects.

also, ref and citations also reflect the breadth (or not) of one's reading/research.