Resource Centre

A dissertation is an essay of between 10,000 - 12,000 words on a subject of the student’s own choice. It is open to any student to write a dissertation. Instead of looking at it as 10,000 words, try thinking of it as writing 5 or 6 essays of 2,000 words. It doesn’t seem as bad that way, and becomes a much more manageable task as well. A dissertation tests your ability to manage a research project, and write it up in a clear and orderly fashion. The most important requirement is that the dissertation be on a subject you want to spend a year writing and thinking about.

Your aim should be to write a piece that contains elements of originality or distinctiveness, that is, something that is more than a summary of other people’s ideas. There are a number of advantages to writing a dissertation:

• You will have greater control over and flexibility in the use of working time
• Mistakes can be corrected through the assistance of the supervisor
• It reduces the pressure during exam time
• It results in the creation of a piece of work, which can be taken away and shown to prospective employers
• Above all, it allows for the detailed study of a subject of particular and perhaps long-standing interest

If you are required to write a dissertation as part of your course, then in your second year you should:

1. Write a dissertation proposal - identifying the key question you wish to address - 200 words. Use the form provided by the department.
2. Take this proposal to an academic you would like to act as your supervisor. If they approve of your proposal they will sign it. Then leave the completed form outside the departmental office. Steps 1 and 2 should be completed by the end of the second term.
3. Register for the dissertation module in the same way.

You can only take the dissertation if you have had your proposal signed.

The step to successful dissertation writing is all in the preparation. Considered preparation and organisation can make the difference between a good dissertation and a mediocre one. So, consider the following things you must know before you start on the bulk of your work:

• When is your dissertation due in?
• How must it be presented?
• Who is your supervisor?
• What kind of research are you required to do?

These practical pieces of information will affect your approach to your dissertation. Read your dissertation module handbook through carefully to make sure you know exactly what is expected of you. If anything is unclear ask your supervisor.

Selecting a subject to focus your dissertation is not always easy. As with any piece of research work, you are choosing to research something without knowing what the outcome of your research will be, or how wide a scope it may cover. There are some general rules, which, if you follow them, will help you to select your specific topic:

• Choose something manageable - nothing too large-scale or greatly time consuming.
• Choose something in which you are interested. This will help to motivate you and give you encouragement to study.
• Choose something, which doesn’t overlap too much with other assessments you have submitted. For example, if you have already handed in an extended essay on a topic, don’t choose it for your dissertation topic - you could be accused of self-plagiarism.
• Discuss your choice, and your reasons behind it with your supervisor who should be able to give you an indication of the feasibility of the study.

Although rules and regulations preside over all dissertations, there is scope for you to undertake a wide range of work within a dissertation - just be sure to discuss any plans with your supervisor first.

When you undertake a dissertation module, you will be allocated a supervisor. Your supervisor is there to do just that:

• Check that things are going OK
• Give you advice
• Point you in the direction of relevant source materials.

Your supervisor is not there to:

• Tell you what to do,
• Chase you up if you fall behind, or
• Read and correct your dissertation before you submit it.

A dissertation is a piece of self-directed study, so your dissertation supervisor cannot get too involved with the work you are doing, and is likely to be one of the people who mark it. However, your supervisor can be of great use in giving you guidance, support, and advice, and you should make the most of this important resource.

Ultimately students must take responsibility for their own studies.

• Your subject area will give you guidelines about how much of your supervisor’s time you are entitled to.
• Make good use of your supervisor - prepare for your meetings, and turn up when you have arranged to do so. Submit an agenda so that the supervisor can prepare for the meeting and which will also remind you of what you wanted to discuss.
• Be sure to maintain contact with your supervisor - don’t hide from him/her because you haven’t done as much work as you had anticipated.
• You may want your supervisor to comment on a piece of work, which you have completed. It would be helpful to let them have this in advance.

Get problems sorted out at an early stage - go and see your supervisor if you get stuck, or encounter any major problems with your work. To delay could be catastrophic.

Planning is a key element in undertaking a dissertation. You not only need to plan the content and structure of your piece of work, but also the time in which you have to complete it. Planning the content of a dissertation is not always easy at first; you are often unsure of what your research will reveal. However, if you have done some basic research into your subject area before deciding on a topic, you should have a fairly good idea of what your dissertation will need to cover. Often, subject areas will give you specific advice on what they expect to be included within the dissertation, and this is an excellent guide to planning your work.

A good way of starting is to try and do a rough, long term plan. This could include time planning for the following things:

• By when do you want to have each chapter completed?
• How much time will you need to complete any primary research?
• When do you want to have all your research work completed?
• How long will you need to write up your dissertation and check it for errors?
• Will you need to get your dissertation bound in any special way? Is this going to take time?

By making a rough plan of the above long-term goals, you can often make your dissertation a much more controllable task. Remember to be pragmatic about time scales; allow yourself plenty of time in which to complete tasks. If your timetable doesn’t go to plan, simply reorganise it. Flexibility is very important in dissertation preparation and writing; your work will not always go smoothly, so you need to regularly review your goals and adjust them accordingly.

If you intend to use questionnaires, interviews, or conduct experiments for your dissertation, give yourself plenty of time in which to get these done. Writing to request an interview with someone two weeks before your dissertation is due in will rarely be of any use; the person may not even agree to be interviewed, which would leave you stuck, with no time to approach someone else.

Once you have a rough plan of what you are going to do, its time to get started. How you go about this will depend very much on your dissertation topic. A good way to begin, however, is to do some good background research into your subject area. This will give you ideas and resources for future work, and get you immersed in the subject. Use as many different types of source as possible; TV, radio, newspapers, journals, CD-ROM, the Internet, interviews, government publications - whatever you find to be relevant and of use.

• Always keep your eyes open for material.
• Whenever you read something or take notes on a source, always take down full bibliographic details. This will save you time later when compiling your references and bibliography. Using an index card system is useful for this.
• Focus your reading once you have a general background picture of the subject - make sure everything you read is for a purpose, not just for the sake of ‘doing something’.
• Don’t avoid reading just because your project will contain a lot of fieldwork - you will still need to refer to other research in your field, and may even end up having to rely on written materials more heavily than you had first thought. It is a good idea to put your research into context in relation to the work of others.

Try and start writing up as soon as possible. There is no rule, which says you must first do all your research, then spend three weeks writing it up. Writing as you research gives a sense of achievement, and can help avoid any last minute panic attacks.

Even if you have been doing some writing up as you researched, you will get to a stage where you simply cannot research any more, and you must put your mind to getting your dissertation completed. It is extremely important that at this stage you make sure you follow the guidelines given to you by your supervisor about the format required for your dissertation. In particular, make sure you know what is expected of you in the following areas:

• References and bibliography - what format should they take? Different disciplines have different requirements.
• Layout - do you have to include an abstract? Are you allowed appendixes?
• Margin sizes, font, general layout of the dissertation.

Try and follow the points raised below to ensure your dissertation is written well:

• Prefer the short word to the long.
• Prefer the single word to the roundabout expression.
• Prefer short sentences and paragraphs to long.
• Never use a foreign, slang, or jargon word unless there is no equivalent in everyday English.
• Punctuate sparingly, and remember there is more to punctuation than the full stop and the comma.
• Never use an exclamation mark except for the purposes of quotation.

Write in an objective way - be impersonal. This said however, some disciplines do encourage a more personal style. If in doubt, consult your supervisor.

The following ideas may be useful to you while trying to put your dissertation together, but still remember to refer to your subject area’s instructions regarding format and what is expected. Ideas for the Introduction:

• a clear statement of your subject
• an explanation of why the research is worthwhile
• an outline of methods used
• an indication of the restrictions of the study
• a summary of the chapters to follow
• thanks to any person or group who gave you special help

Ideas for the Chapters

• each one should answer a major question
• each chapter should contain lots of answers to smaller questions
• use sub-headings to guide your reader
• develop points carefully, step by step
• each chapter should make sense if it were to be read on its own
• give chapters introductions and conclusions as well

Appendices

• are designed to let you include material which could not be fitted easily into any chapter

When taking your dissertation, do remember that it is only part of the work that you will need to complete in that academic year. Try not to get too engrossed and to spend proportionate amounts of time on other areas of your course.

For additional advice it is recommended that you see a course lecturer or course director.