Thinking about dissertations

This post is for those of you who know you will have a dissertation to write over the summer and are starting to think about planning it and preparing your research methods. Some of you may have already written your proposals and Gantt charts and settled on a title. The rest of you just see the dissertation looming ahead as an unspecified challenge that you know you will have to face. This post will enlighten you as to what is involved and make some suggestions to help you get ahead of the game.

A typical Master’s dissertation regardless of the subject area ranges from 12000-20000 words. It is likely to be divided in the following way – Introduction / Literature Review / Methodology / Interpretation of Data / Discussion / Conclusion – although it may include fewer chapters should interpretation of data and discussion be combined.

Before you start your dissertation you will often be asked to prepare a research proposal document - this document and all other work for your dissertation is often graded and so proofreading for all the work associated with your dissertation can put you in a good position from stage 1.  

The dissertation must have a unique angle to it – seek to investigate a new area or provide a new interpretation of an existing area. This can best be achieved by choosing a relatively narrow (but previously unresearched) context from within which to apply your chosen methodology. The new angle you choose may be based on something of personal interest, such as a company you work for or a work environment you are familiar with, or it could be something that you have identified (or your lecturers have identified) as a gap in previous research. Do consider when choosing your angle that you have to write a literature review chapter so don’t choose to write in an area where there is no existing research unless you are confident that you can provide around 4000 words of background that will be relevant and presented critically.

The literature review chapter of your dissertation should be constantly on your mind as soon as your topic is selected. Whenever you read an article, listen to a lecture or sit in a tutorial you should be thinking: Can I use this information for my dissertation? If the answer is yes don’t forget to make a record the same day in a folder marked ‘dissertation’. The information you collect here should be kept with clear references to include in your bibliography.

The methodology you use will depend on the subject you are investigating, but will either be quantitative or qualitative; or most likely a combination of the two. If you don’t know what these terms refer to find out now and decide which will best suit your topic. You may decide to use a laboratory method, questionnaires, interviews or observations as data collection tools – when you have time decide which will best suit your topic area and investigate how best to apply it in view of your time restrictions, sample size etc. You may need to contact people now if you wish to involve their knowledge and/or opinions in your study. Again any information you gather should be stored in your ‘dissertation’ folder.

The interpretation of data, discussion and conclusion sections of your dissertation cannot be effectively prepared ahead of the data collection process, but it is useful to note down your expectations of the results and your ideas for the direction of the discussion chapter as this information will provide you with valuable ideas for your introduction.

I am aware that not all dissertations follow the same model but this is a basic example that many do follow. You will know best how you can prepare to start thinking (and collecting information) that will help you complete your dissertation in a timely and thorough manner - indeed; if you have any useful tips of your own please post them below as comments for other students who may not be as organised as you . . .