RAP – Topic 8

Great
Thanks both of you

Hi rafa2302,
You MUST reference every single source of info that you use…this includes webpages, books, articles etc. The BSc guide on the ACCA website has a whole section on referencing and lists in precise detail how each type of source must be referenced…ie the way you reference a webpage is slightly different from how you reference a book, and this in turn is slightly different from how you must reference an article, and so on….
I found referencing extremely tricky, as i had never had to do it before…but OBU regard it as so important that they fail candidates who don’t reference their sources.
All I can suggest is that you follow the referencing guide on the ACCA website to the letter…reference each of your sources exactly how they ask you to do it, and then you can’t go wrong.

As to how reliable the websites are….well, this is where you’re gonna have to use your judgement. Some websites are abviously reliable and fine to use…eg ACCAglobal. You may also feel sites like BBC, or well known newspapers or periodicals such as Telegraph or Guardian are also reliable sources for news/info. Other sites you may not be so sure of, in which case you’re gonna have to try to verify their info from a second/third source, to be doubly sure it is realiable.
This is all part of the reasearch process and you can refer to this process of elimination/verification/selection in Part 2 of your RAP when you talk about sources of info, the methods used to collect the info, and the limitations of the data….it shows you’ve thought about the realiablility of info on websites and it shows the steps you took to verify/check your data sources.

Hope that answers your query.

To add on, my mentor previously did talk about referencing from website. And of course reliability is one of the problem. If you’re unsure about the reliability of a certain piece of information, either check the reliability or simply don’t use it and look for another. Don’t you think logical? Better to change it than risk it.

Do remember there is more than one source f referencing. You can always make reference to journals, published books, articles or newspapers. Therefore a combination of all these sources will impress the marker about you’re well read.

One question flash through my mind and that’s : How long should the list be?

My mentor did talk about having a list of 1.5 page (minimum) which i think quite logical for a 6,500 words report. Try to avoid to have a full list of internet websites as you might fall into risk of reliability and a very long list of referencing say 3 full pages.

Hi rafa2302 ,
What tanahteck79 said is quite right…you must be satisfied that the info you use is accurate and reliable….otherwise you should not use it…and therefore you have to be extra vigilant with data from websites and do all your checks before you use it.

And as tanahteck79 said, a reference list with a variety of sources shows you did a bit of reading around…..however, remember that any “articles”, newspapers and journals which have been accessed online (as opposed to paper versions) have to referenced slightly differently to the paper versions….as per the ACCA OBU instructions.

I also was under the impression that a bibliography is not required (unlike a reference list…which is essential). However, in the end I did have a very short bibliography of about 5 articles/books i’d read but not actually used/quoted in the final report.
You may well find that there are books/articles that you used in your decision making or research, but which did not make it into the final RAP, so these could be included in a bibliography.

Hope that helps.

Hi rafa2302, my email add is tanahteck79@gmail.com

@rafa2302

i had replied to you. hope it’s clear and helpful.

Dear all i need ur help, I have been trying to make payment online, but its not working and time is running out……do u also experience the same or its only my end?

Hi Leemce, base on my experience, i think you can breakdown the appendix in this manner:-

appendice 1: List of reference
appendice 2: Statement of financial position and Statement of comprehensive income. Please compile into a sheet using excel and don’t print out what you see in the report otherwise your appendice be very thick.
appendice 3: The formula that were used in the RAP
appendice 4: For here, i make it into a 6-column showing the calculation of the financial ratios for both companies. However do remember to show the extract in your main report. Meaning to extract the final figures to show in the report. The presentation is also one of the criteria for IT literacy.

I hope this clear your doubt.

@sn0b01 said:
Tanahteck
I dont think i quite agree with you there…
The guide is pretty clear in saying that they wan actual extract of relevant pages from the annual report….I dont think compilation in an excel sheet would do the good..

IMHO of course..
Regards

Hi people, like what i’ve said in previous post :

The above is solely based on my knowledge and experience. If there is anything you think is not right, please correct me. Or you would want to add on, be my guest.

Of course you can attach extracts the relevant pages from the annual report based on the guide. What i given is only a suggestion (not an answer) and based on what i’ve done. Maybe we can check with fellow graduates 🙂 ………..Techno, what’s your stand?

All the best to whoever submitting this round.

@leemce

This will be too late as submission period has ended however, you should have contacted OBU about this. I did the same too by showing excerpts from my excel sheet and when contacted, they said this was sufficient to serve as IT evidence but you have to remember that there is a limit to the number of appendices – check the project guide.

Hi,

I received the confirmation, but only on Monday.

Hi,

I’m just starting my RAP but I have no idea how I should go about this.If someone could please guide me or send my their RAP for topic 8 so that I can have a basic idea on presentation and what exactly I should do… would be a really big help.This is my email cidado2310@yahoo.com…Thanks!

hey richardade,

could you possibly send me same email on topic 8 as i have also just started mine.
my email is salle205@yahoo.co.uk.

many thanks.
Osariemen