Steps involved in Capstone Project

By Dr. Sharad Kumar

Selection of Topic
Topic should briefly convey the purpose of the

study Examples:
A Comparative Study of Organizational Climate in

Banks Study of Organizational Climate of Banks: A Comparative Study Factors Influencing Customer Preferences in Choosing a Mobile Network Service Benchmarking Distribution Practices in Pharma & Food Sector Service Quality in Public and Private Sector Banks A Comparative Study

Situation Analysis and Problem Definition

Why this topic?
Problems faced by the industry/sector selected for the study Relevance to the present situation/environment/

developments Describing the Industry(ies)/Sector(s) to be studied, their performance and impediments

Defining objective of the study
Clearly defining the purpose of the study Defining scope and coverage of the study Defining variables to be studied and their relevance with the

purpose of study Specifying the expected outcome (if possible) and expected benefit to the Industry (this section should be of 5-6 pages) (Last date for Submission: 5th October 2013)

Literature Review
Reviewing the literature/studies already

conducted on the subject

International Studies Indian Studies Studies Conducted on the Sector/Industry under

study Related newspaper reports about the sector/ industry (this section should be about 3-4 pages) (Last date for submission: 15th November 2013)

Methodology of the Study

Defining Population (keeping in view the scope and

the coverage of the study) and Sampling Frame Data Collection and Sampling Method
Data required to be collected (both secondary and

primary) on identified parameters Justification for non-probability sampling (if random sampling is not possible) Size of the sample
Hypotheses to be tested

Methodology of the Study

Statistical Techniques to be used
Descriptive Statistics (including tabulations and graphs) Inferential Statistics (estimation techniques, tests of

significance for testing the hypothesis, etc) Regression Analysis (if the relationship and the impact of independent variables on any dependent variable is to be established) for model building and forecasting. For building a reliable model, minimum 8-10 data points should be considered (This section should be around 4-5 pages) (Last date for submission: 10th December 2013)

Data Collection (Primary/ Secondary)

Identification of data sources Questionnaire Design for data collection Validation of Questionnaire through pilot survey/

expert guidance Conducting Survey/ Data Collection The Format/ Questionnaire should be appended as Annexure (Last date for submission: 15th January 2014)

Data Analysis
Tabulation of demographic data

Tabular/Graphical representation of descriptive

statistics Analysis of results of hypotheses testing Analysis of results of regression analysis (this section should be around 15-20 pages depending upon the number and types of variables and statistical tools used) (Last date for submission 10th February 2014)

Conclusions and Recommendations

Drawing the conclusions based on the statistical

analysis carried out and the results of hypotheses testing Interpreting the results and conclusions with reference to the objective of the study Making recommendations based on the results of the study to resolve problems or improve the situation. Challenges for implementing the recommendations Direction for further Research Also, indicate the limitations of the study (this section should be 3 to 5 pages) (Last date for submission: 20th February 2014)

General Guidelines
The project essentially has to be an empirical study

The data could be primary, secondary or

combination of both A questionnaire/format has to be devised for data collection It is desirable to have a comparative study of two industries If a single industry is studied, it is desirable to collect the data for minimum three companies from the industry If two industries are being compared, data from at least two companies each has two be collected from each industry

General Guidelines
Each of the Items discussed should be covered in

different chapters Paragraph numbers are to be given starting with Chapter Number viz. second paragraph of chapter 4 is to be given as 4.2 At the end of the report Bibliography (references) to be given as per the international practices, internet linkages are not accepted A copy of the Questionnaire should be appended at the end of the report Index of the report should be given at the beginning Published material/studies quoted in the report should have proper acknowledgement to avoid any charge of plagiarism

General Guidelines
Proper acknowledgements to be given to the

people supported the project Final report to be submitted in requisite number of copies in bound volumes alongwith the soft copy The Overall size of the report should be of 40-50 pages Institute will check if there is any piracy using software package to detect plagiarism Good project reports will be considered for publication in reputed journals/ institutes in-house publications as also for awards
and Viva in last Week of March 2014)

(Last date for Final Submission of Report 15th March 2014