Applied
Research Thesis
For those who love to work in business enterprise
What is an 'Applied Research Thesis"?
An Applied Research Thesis is designed to be a research that applies economics knowledge and analytical skills to solve specific problems at an organization. Through it, students will see how economic knowledge can help decision makers finding the optimal solution for problems they are facing.
The Applied Research Thesis’ topics are related to the behaviors of the three main economic agents: consumer, worker and producer/employer.
Areas of Application
Research issues that could be applied for an Applied Research Thesis at VNP:
- producer
- employer
- training institution
- public agency
- financial institution
- retailer
- hospitality firm
- health care provider
Structure of Applied Research Thesis
- Cover page
- Title page
- Executive Summary
- Table of Content
- List of Figures/Tables
- Background information
- Identify the problem and justify its relevance
- The purpose of the study and specific objectives
- Brief theoretical foundation, scope, and methodology
- Introduction the structure of the thesis
- Review methods applied in related studies
- Argue to select the research methods
- Model specification
- Variables definitions
- Equations to be estimated (if any)
- Estimation/analytical methods
- Any methods applied to produce the findings
- Data sources
- Sample size
- Sampling methods
- Survey instruments (if any)
- Findings of the study
- Do the findings support theories and previous studies?
- Factors that may have influenced the results
- Implications of the results
- What need to be done?
- Who need to do that?
- How when and where it needs to be done?
References
Appendix
Suggestive Topics for Applied Research Thesis
- Firms of retailing industry would be interested in customers demand for pricing strategies, consumer choices and preferences for product design, and customer loyalty for efficient marketing strategies.
- Employers may be interested in the role of wage, benefits and working conditions on productivity and job performance.
- Financial organizations could be the responses of consumers to financial services: online banking, credit card, debt repayment, and many other topics.
Applied Research Thesis will be a good opportunity for VNP students to learn how economics and analytical skills support the decision making process of firms and organizations.
The introduction of ART provides students a new options for doing thesis, besides the conventional Academic Research Thesis. With Applied Research Thesis, VNP aims to make economics more active in Vietnam, and expects to help its graduates more employable in the non-academic job market.