Dissertation / Research Paper: Designing and Defending Original Wine Research
Dissertation / Research Paper
This domain tests whether you can move beyond tasting and trade knowledge to produce original, defensible research of professional value to the wine industry. The Institute of Masters of Wine assesses the Research Paper as a standalone piece of work: a defined question, an appropriate method, transparent evidence, and conclusions that answer the question actually asked. It is neither a long essay nor a business report.
What the paper must demonstrate
- A research question that is narrow, answerable within your time and resources, and genuinely unresolved in the literature.
- A method matched to the question - sensory panel, laboratory analysis, survey, structured interviews, or market data - with sampling and analysis planned in advance.
- Critical use of literature, with every borrowed figure, dataset or map cited at the point of use.
- Discussion that separates what the data show from what you infer, and names the limitations analytically.
- Conclusions that answer the question directly and state the practical implication for the industry.
Worked example
A candidate proposes 'The effect of closure on Hunter Valley Semillon'. Too broad: which closure, which vintage, which measure of effect? Refined: 'Does screwcap versus natural cork change free SO2 and the sensory profile of Hunter Valley Semillon after five years in bottle?' The refinement fixes the independent variable (closure type), the population and bottle age, the dependent variables (free SO2, sensory descriptors), and implies a paired design and a statistical test. Because the design can now be judged, the methodology and analysis criteria become reachable.
Traps that cost marks
Describing a region or category instead of answering a question; changing an approved topic without re-approval; a sample too small or too convenient to support the claim; treating correlation as causation; uncited secondary data; a limitations section that apologises rather than analyses; padding to length with background.
Exact word count, referencing style, proposal deadlines and supervisor rules are set by the current IMW Research Paper guidelines; verify them before submission.