Master of Wine cheat sheet

Dissertation / Research Paper

• The MW research paper is assessed on the candidate's ability to frame a clear, answerable research question, apply sound method, and draw conclusions that are useful to the trade - not on novelty alone.

• Acceptable research designs include hypothesis-driven empirical studies, structured surveys, sensory or chemical trials, case studies, and critical synthesis of secondary data; the design must match the question and be justified explicitly.

• A defensible sampling plan states the population, sampling frame, method (random, stratified, purposive, convenience), achieved sample size, and known non-response or selection bias.

• Statistical inference rules: report the test, the assumption checks, the test statistic, degrees of freedom, p-value, and effect size; p<0.05 alone does not establish practical significance for trade decisions.

• Sensory work must specify the test type (discrimination, descriptive, hedonic), panel training and size, replication, serving order and randomisation, and controls against expectation and carry-over effects.

• Triangulation - combining, for example, interview, questionnaire, and secondary market data - strengthens validity; the paper should state how conflicting findings were reconciled.

• Ethics and data protection: informed consent, anonymity, secure storage, and disclosure of commercial sponsorship or conflicts of interest are expected and are commonly probed at the viva.

• Referencing must be consistent and complete enough for a reader to locate every source; over-reliance on a narrow set of trade sources weakens the literature review.

• The viva examines the candidate's command of the paper: why the method was chosen, what the limitations mean, and what the findings imply for producers, distributors, or educators.