Dissertations

1
Dissertations

• How to succeed

2
Choosing a dissertation area

• Interest
• Opportunity
• Job prospects

3
Getting a dissertation

• One page letter
• One page CV
• Research possible
• Write to likely hosts

4
Getting a supervisor

• Two sides of A4 with you idea - dont just book
  one and forget about it
• Only one supervisor!!

5
Your relationship with your supervisor

• Six hours contact
• Use your time wisely - dont fritter it away by
  neurotic behaviour
• The more you do the more value your s/v will add
• If you are committed then the s\v will also be
  committed
• Listen to what your S/V says

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IMPORTANT POINT

• You may ask will it pass? or is it good
  enough?
• YOUR SUPERVISOR CAN ONLY EXPRESS AN OPINION AS
  THERE ARE FOUR FURTHER PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE
  ASSESSMENT PLUS ALL MEMBERS OF THE EXAM BOARD

7
Timing

• Start thinking now
• Have ground work in place before examinations
• Collect data in summer

8
Effort needed in perspective

• A dissertation is like a four week piece of
  consultancy work ( a very busy four weeks)

9
Where to do it

• Anywhere you like
• But always come back to write u p so you can be
  properly supervised.
• Email and fax s/v are risky and not recommended
  for final phase of dissertation
• Be here

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What might it involve, typically

• Initial discussions with host organisation
• Planning
• Further discussions with host organisation
• Develop plan of activities and construct or
  obtain investigative tools
• Pilot/test/dry run
• Collect data from various groups of people
• Be iterative

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Writing up your dissertation

• Two reports, academic paper and clients report
• See hand book for word limit
• Do not copy, paste and then stitch - its a poor
  strategy
• Be concise and remember that brevity and
  relevance are much liked

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Cont

• Do not just list theories in the literature
  without regard for their relevance
• Be focused and do not be afraid to express your
  ideas
• NEVER plagiarise. You could fail the entire course

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What your dissertation should demonstrate

• You can formulate a sensible, realistic and
  meaningful research question (even in highly
  applied settings)
• You can read and understand the literature, in
  its broadest sense. in relation to your
  dissertation.
• You can design a valid, reliable and
  sophisticated investigation to address your
  research question (sometimes, but not always an
  hypothesis)

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Cont

• You can conduct this investigation in a
  professional, effective and timely manner
• You can analyse your data i n an appropriate
  manner
• Write reports in both scientific and professional
  styles

15
Beware the trivial

• do not do over simple dissertations
• you must collect the data

16
Vet your host organisation

• Are they serious people
• Make sure they know what is required of them
• Make sure they will give access to subjects
• That plug will not be pulled halfway through
• Deal with doubts early on in the piece

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and you

• represent the University
• as well as yourself
• so be
• polite
• professional
• consistent
• ethical

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What can go wrong - real life egs

• Fail to see your s/v
• Have a very silly dissertation
• Think that its all really easy or
• Think that its some enormous insurmountable peak
  ( and turn yourself into a quivering jelly)

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Cont

• Spend all your time being frightened or worried
• Doing a dissertation that's far to simple
• Forgeting its you who does the dissertation not
  the supervisor
• Not being critical
• Thinking a content analysis involved 10 minutes
  work on the back of an envelope

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Cont

• Ditto for designing questionnaires
• Doing a good dissertation but fluffing your write
  up