Ming Chuan University
International Business and Management Program
International College
Thesis Handbook
September 2009
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Undergraduate Thesis Guidelines
International Business and Management Program
All students of International Business and Management Program must complete their
undergraduate thesis before the degree of Bachelor of Business Administration from Ming
Chuan University is awarded.
Thesis requirements:
1. The thesis should be on a topic relevant to international business, international trade,
international finance/investment, international marketing, or other business disciplines.
2. The research objective, structure, concepts, and problems must be clearly defined or stated.
3. Scientific method should be applied throughout the study.
4. Writing style must be appropriate to the level of the Bachelor’s degree. Special attention
should be paid to spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and clarity of style.
5. Students can work on the thesis in groups of no more than 4 students per group.
6. The minimum requirement for thesis by individual student is 8,000 words and 12,000 words
for group work.
Schedule for thesis completion:
1. Students are asked to search for their thesis supervisors and their research topic on the fifth
week in the first semester of the senior year.
2. All Ming Chuan University IB faculty members or adjunct faculty members can be the
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thesis supervisors.
Students are responsible for the selection of their own supervisors and group members.
Students are also responsible for the research topic, group discussion, and work division
within their own group.
The research topic should have the supervisor’s approval in writing.
Students should always work closely with their supervisors and group members.
Work schedule:
 Complete the research proposal on the eleventh week in the first semester of the
senior year (including the outline of all chapters).

Complete the chapter 1~3 on the sixteenth week in the first semester of the senior
year.
 The first draft of the thesis should be submitted to the supervisor/committee on the
fourth week in the second semester of the senior year.
8. After successful completion of the thesis, the thesis should be bound according to
university requirement. It should be finished on the eleventh week and then take one copy
to the supervisor in the second semester of the senior year.
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9. If students want to change their supervisors, they can do so before submitting their research
proposal and is no later than the fifth week in the first semester of the senior year. This, of
course, should have the permission of the current as well as the will be supervisors.
10. Students should complete corrections and revisions of their thesis on the thirteenth week in
the second semester of senior year. Two copies of each thesis are required, one for the
Dean and one for the Program Director.
Structure and Components of the Thesis:
1. A title of the study should summarize the main idea of the study; it should be brief and
clear.
2. Title Page: the title page should be typed in the following format: Ming Chuan University,
Department of International Business, thesis topic, student names, supervisor(s), and date
(see Appendix B).
3. Abstract.
An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the research study. It
should be accurate, self-contained, and coherent and readable.
4. Acknowledgements: Optional
5. Table of Contents: (see Appendix C)
6. Main body of thesis: includes following:
 Introduction
 Introduce the problem
 Develop the background
 State the purpose and rationale
 The importance of the study
 Literature Review: thoroughly researching the related literature and theories.
 Research Methods: Sample design, instruments used, statistical methods, if any.
 Research Findings: Discuss in length of any significant findings in the research.
 Conclusion/Summary.
7. Reference: use APA/MLA Handbook for guideline.
8. Appendix: Questionnaires, statistics, etc.
Formatting instructions:
1. Pages should be numbered in sequence at the bottom and center of each page.
2. Margins and headings:
a. A4 paper size.
b. Margins: 2.5cm top and bottom; 3cm left, 2.5cm right.
c. Double space.
d. 12-point Times New Roman.
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e. Single side.
3. Tables and charts should be numbered in sequence by chapter, e.g. Table 2.1 the first table
in chapter 2. Each figure should be properly referenced and accompanied by a descriptive
title which clearly reflects the content of the figure. It is acceptable to insert photocopies of
tables into the body of thesis.
4. Levels of Headings:
CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING (level 1)
Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Headings (level 2)
Centered, Underline, Uppercase, and Lowercase Headings (level 3)
5. Text: From left to right, top to bottom.
6. Numbers: Use APA style.
7. Footnotes:
Please use footnotes only to provide further information or discussion. Place the note at the
bottom of a page.
8. Format in Text: The Harvard System should be used in the thesis. Examples,
According to Chou (2004), there are three types of….
A recent study (Chou, 2004) suggests there are three types of…
9. Direct quotes should have author(s), year, and page numbers, e.g. (Chou, 2004, pp. 5-8)
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Appendix A:
REFERENCES
I. Periodical Articles
1. Journal articles
Anderson, J.E., & Valentine, W.L. (1994). The preparation of articles for Publication in
the journals of the American Psychological Association, Psychological Bulletin, 41,
345-376.
2. Magazine, newsletter
Posner, M.I. (1993, October 29). Seeing the mind. Science, 262, 673-674
3. Publisher without Author
Write down name of article directly.
The new health-care lexicon. (1993, August/September). Copy Editor, 4,1-2
II. Articles in a Book
1. An article or one chapter in a book
Massaro, D. (1992). Broadening the domain of the fuzzy logical model of perception.
In H.L/ Pick, Jr., P. van den Broek, & D.C. Knill (Des.), Cognition: Conceptual and
methodological issues (pp.51-84). Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
2. An article or one chapter in a series book
Macoby, E.E., & Martin, J. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family:
Parent-child interaction. In P.H. Mussen (Series Ed.) & E. M. Hetherington (Vol. Ed.),
Handbook of child psychology: Vol.4. Socialization, personality, and social
development (4th ed., pp.1-101). New York: Wiley.
III. Theses and Dissertations
1. Unpublished theses/dissertations
Wifley, D.E. (1989). Interpersonal analyses of bulimia: Normal-weight and obese,
unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia.
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Appendix B
Ming Chuan University
International Business and Management Program
Title:
The Ethics of Marketing
Name:
Jones Smith
George Bush
Supervisor:
Dr. Emily Chou
Date:
June 5, 2008
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of
Bachelor of Business Administration
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Appendix C
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Research motivation; state the reasons for choice of research topic
Objectives of the study
Theoretic framework
Importance of the study; expected contributions
Scope of the study
Design of the study
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Rationale for literature reviewed
Critical review of the academic related literature (be objective)
Research Model
Research questions or hypotheses
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Scope of the research; target of the study
Methodology; sample design and data collection (if applicable)
Sources of bias
CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS or SUMMARY
Research results and conclusions or summary
Implications
Research limitations
Future research
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Undergraduate Thesis Timetable
YEAR
WEEK
DATE
5
Oct. 13
Find your
supervisors
11
Nov. 24
Complete the proposal.
Supervisor
16
Dec. 29
Chapter 1~3
Supervisor
4
Mar. 16
First draft
Supervisor
11
May 4
Final copy
Supervisor
13
May 11
Hand in final copies to IC Sammi
office
Fall
2009
Spring
2010
PROGRESS
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group
and Give to Sammi