The introduction to your dissertation should explain to the reader what you are going to investigate. The essence of a dissertation is critical thinking, not experimental data. You have already seen in the section Help with Finding Literature and Research  how you can get a list of useful references. At this early stage, your title may be a provisional one that you will revise later. When you have completed the main body of the work and your tutor has commented on your complete draft, you may well wish to revisit the introduction to take into account your findings and your tutor's comments on their significance. Remember to adhere to any format stipulated by your department. When you have divided your literature review into general works and works of central importance, you should also further divide the literature into sub-categories. Discussion of main findings of important empirical studies and their critiques To ensure that your argument is clearly developed from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph. Supervisors have different ways of working and you will, to some degree, need to negotiate your approach to supervision style. Once you start you might find that some literature is of little relevance to your study. Before one can write a dissertation defending a particular thesis, one must collect evidence that supports it. The conclusion offers the opportunity to review your work as a whole, to identify the points of comparison and contrast the various texts you have examined, and to show that, in the process of your study, you have developed a more precise, critical understanding of the way they deal with your topic. In this sense you are prefacing your work and how it relates to other academic studies by your discussion of it in your literature review. In this way the literature review can provide a justification of your own research. How is it different from the way others have dealt with this issue? You may even need to go back and look over something that you looked at earlier in your studies that may have more relevance than you first thought. A Perspective on Writing an Effective Doctoral Dissertation in the Arts Program A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication of the College of Arts and Sciences by Janet Doe M.A. 2 However, practice varies, and your supervisor will advise you on how to proceed. Agree these with your supervisor if you think that will motivate you. You will decide with your supervisor precisely when to produce drafts, but if you are taking a dissertation module over one academic year then by the end of the first semester you would normally expect to produce a proposal or abstract and a first draft of one or two chapters. Often students ask how long a literature review should be. 34 0 obj Try and get a sense of the theoretical perspective of the author, this will be of use when you organise and present your literature review. They may have a well defined research question, yet without placing this question in the appropriate context, it can lose its significance. For example, each chapter may have focused discussion on a particular text. All the modules in the final year are important. theories and concepts; policy analysis; empirical studies and so-on. Decide the most suitable type of article for the message you wish to convey whether you are writing a scholarly article, describing an innovation, or offering your opinions or ideas in a perspective. The introduction to your dissertation should explain to the reader what you are going to investigate. The Good Research Guide for Small-scale Social Research Projects. Accomplishing each small goal may provide additional momentum. You need not go into great detail about these more general works, but by highlighting these works you are demonstrating your awareness of the scope and limits of your study and how it touches upon other areas of study. This is also an appropriate place for you to point to the limitations of small-scale research of this kind and to indicate possible avenues for researchers to address the issues in the future. © Dr Malcolm Todd (Leeds Met), Ian Baker (Sheffield Hallam University), Professor Chris Winch (NCU), Andy Pilkington (NCU), Dr John Steel (University of Sheffield), Dr Anne Hollows (Sheffield Hallam University), © This resource has been developed in partnership by the Higher Education Academy and Sheffield Hallam University, Help with finding literature and research, Revising sections after supervisor's comments, Developing Your Academic Style of Writing, Watch Different types of dissertations video (.wmv), http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/, http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html. If you are taking a dissertation over two semesters, you should aim to spend the equivalent of one full half-day per week working on your dissertation during each semester of your final year if it is worth 20 credits - nearer twice that amount of time if it is a 40-credit dissertation. By the time you start to write the first draft of your dissertation, you will probably already have accumulated a wealth of notes, scribbles and ideas. To write a good dissertation literature review, you need to have a fair idea of what sources you would like to review. Or, you may prefer to collect your data by taking another approach such as looking at and analysing existin… Also, emphasise the way in which the piece of literature you are reading seeks to set itself apart from other literature. For example you might adopt a similar methodological or theoretical approach in your work to one that exists within the literature, yet place your actual emphasis elsewhere. Depending on the credit rating of the dissertation, the amount of time you devote to it should be equivalent to the time you would devote to a taught course with the same credit rating; that is, seminar and lecture time plus time for private study. Alternatively, it may make you aware of gaps in your knowledge and understanding, and show you the areas that need further thought and research. This is a difficult question given that the total length of your dissertation might be anything from five to twelve thousand words. Éíçëí®Ó´»\f7>]§×^¢óú'©]ßæ¶ÓǼ™î i{{y?¶Ÿ}-ğ¯X.>‹}› In short, the literature review is a discussion or 'review' of secondary literature that is of general and central relevance to the particular area under investigation. Before you submit the dissertation, you should check that the final version of the title is an accurate reflection of what the dissertation is about and, if not, change the title. It demonstrates to whoever reads the dissertation that the author of the work has read widely and is aware of the range of debates that have taken place within the given field. For example, to gather the views of patients at a GP’s surgery, volunteers in a police service, children in a play centre or translators in a refugee centre, you have to find ways of asking the individuals involved what they think or review what they’re doing. <. However, don't become pre-occupied with word length, the main thing is that your literature review should capture the general and specific aspects of the literature of your subject. Formulate a clear question that your dissertation seeks to answer. You should explain your reasons for investigating your chosen topic by referring to the appropriate literature. You should explain your reasons for investigating your chosen topic by referring to the appropriate literature. Insofar as the preparation of the dissertation is a process of investigation and discovery, the precise scope of your study may well only emerge as you become closely involved in a detailed review of the literature. Empirical Research, Detailed analysis of theoretical and conceptual debates An empirical dissertationinvolves collecting data. To ensure that you have not contradicted or repeated yourself. Finally, check that the title refers accurately to the finished dissertation. Having completed the work on the main substance of your dissertation, you should have a much clearer idea of its nature and scope than you did when you wrote your preliminary abstract or proposal. In the second semester, when drafting the remaining main chapters of the dissertation, you will follow the practice established in the first semester of submitting the drafts to your supervisor for comments and advice. 9 Even if you write the introduction last, write it as if you have yet to find the answers to your questions. Obviously your supervisor may be able to give some indication of the approximate length of your literature review. If you haven’t been given a formal reference list by your tutor, refer back to the techniques we recommended earlier. This dissertation focuses on the latter perspective and considers the extent to which publicity of the games through social media influenced tourists’ decision to visit London. You will find that once the final year begins, the weeks go by very quickly, and you will need to organise your time well from the start so that the ongoing preparation of your dissertation continues alongside work for the taught units you are studying. For those stressing out about developing an extensive paper capable of filling a gap in research whilst adding value to the existing academic literature – conducting exhaustive research and analysis – and professionally using the knowledge gained over the course of their degree programme, there is still good news in all the chaos. Oxford, Oxford University Press, chapter 26 - Doing a research project It is important to ensure that findings are truly analysed, rather than described. You will also need to further divide the literature into specific areas relevant to your study for e.g. Alternatively, you may have structured your work so that each chapter is devoted to discussion of a particular aspect of your overall topic. Throughout your dissertation process, you will come across literature that is of relevance to your area of study, do not ignore this material, you can always add more literature to your review as you come across it. http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/ By further dividing your literature in this way, you are adding more organisation into your literature review by providing specific sub-categories of relevant literature. You would then produce the drafts of the remaining chapters and complete the process of revision and writing-up during the second semester. (2004). It’s 8000 words, plus there’s so much to do. IMPORTANT: Check how many copies your department requires. An overall assessment of what you found out, how successful you were and suggestions for future research. The field of study, the research question, the hypothesis (if any) or, more generally, the research question that is to be investigated. Decide the most suitable type of article for the message you wish to convey whether you are writing a scholarly article, describing an innovation, or offering your opinions or ideas in a perspective. Once you have a list of references for your dissertation, you now have to access and read this material. BRYMAN, A. They saw it as such an important part of their degree that they wanted to put more into it: It [the dissertation] took up more of my time ... Once you get into it, you have to out in the effort. University of Cincinnati June 2008 Committee Chair: A. 4 In terms of the organisation and presentation of your literature review, it is worth dividing your review into two main areas: general reading and literature that is of central importance. Ethical issues and the ways in which you dealt with them should be noted. There is no fixed pattern to structure the theoretical framework for dissertation. When you’re doing it, it seems so much more that the rest of your work (Todd, Bannister and Clegg, 2004, p341). Prompt revision is easier than letting things drift, and you should do it while the advice of your supervisor is fresh in your mind. It provides the proof that you have more than a good grasp of the breadth and depth of the topic of the dissertation - your dissertation gives you the opportunity to show off how clever you are! Preparing to write. It can allow you to build on work that has already been conducted. In our research we found that students often did not think about the credit rating of their dissertation and actually spent more time working on it than they should have! Importantly, start to think critically about the piece you are reading; ask: what is this person trying to say and why? With reference to the more central literature, you could organise this more important reading in a similar way. It is important, however, to write the introduction as though you are setting out on a process of investigation. If, however, you are taking the dissertation module over one semester, you will need to adjust this time frame accordingly. Do all dissertations look the same? For example in the general works section of your literature review, you might want one sub-heading on the main theoretical debates, one on empirical studies and maybe one on policy. It helps to define the broad context of your study, placing your work within a well defined academic tradition. Review the literature in the field relating to your question. The literature review is an important device in your dissertation as it performs a number of related functions: Writing a literature review is not as simple as at first it may seem. Your dissertation supervisor may advise on the title in order to help you find and define the focus of the dissertation. Theoretical Approaches 2nd ed. To check the accuracy of your spelling and punctuation - do not rely on spellchecker software! Focused analysis of policy implementation. Make sure that your sources are balanced; include enough books and academic journals and any useful published work from reputable scholars. Traditionally, the discussion links findings to the literature presented in the literature review. Likewise, is your conclusion suitably conclusive? The discussion should be precisely that: an opportunity to raise the different voices of interest in the research question and to explore the findings in the light of the literature and different perspectives within it. Indented quotations must be single-spaced. There is a lot in common between different dissertations regarding the structure and although you do not need to stick slavishly to a standard plan, such a plan is very helpful as a template to impose some order on what may seem an unmanageable task. Do your sentences and paragraphs make sense? There is more about this in the section on Plagiarism. You should consider the benefits of your chosen method as well as identifying any disadvantages and how you overcame them. The seemingly insurmountable may be attained through a series of small goals and deadlines. Once you have discussed the range of literature that is only of general interest to your study, you can then go into more detail on the literature that more sharply focuses on the questions that are of interest to you. Your dissertation must normally be typed or word-processed on A4 paper. Gather information to support your thesis. It is better to read something that is not central to your dissertation than miss something that might be an important and relevant contribution to the field. You need to emphasise the exploratory nature of your work. Journal writing is a great way for students to stretch their thinking and look at things from different perspectives. This should include previous work done on the field of study and anything that you consider to be relevant to the hypothesis or research question and to its investigation. Make consistent progress each day, use … You may also wish to include an evaluation of any difficulties you encountered in collecting and analysing data, together with an assessment of how this affected your plan of research. Writing in classroom journals is one powerful strategy to get students to respond to literature, gain writing fluency, or increase dialogue in writing with another student or the teacher. Thesis Writing & Dissertation | Academic Writing Help for Those Feeling Stuck. To make sure that your sentences are well constructed and that you are expressing yourself clearly, precisely and fluently. Our thesis help and thesis writing service enable customers to learn how to research and write their ownterm papers, dissertations, thesis papers, and research proposals, and they are responsible for citing us as a reference source. http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html, 1. Revise chapters as soon as you get them back. Here you have the opportunity: You need to check that your quotations from and references to both primary and secondary texts are clearly and consistently identified according to the conventions of the HARVARD referencing systems (or whatever system your department requires). It helps to attempt such an abstract even if your supervisor has not suggested that you write one. You should also avoid anticipating the discoveries and conclusions that you have made in the course of your investigations. Abstracts of sections and of the dissertation as a whole will help to focus your writing and direct your thoughts. Tackle the project stage by stage, and you'll soon complete the most important paper in your whole educational journey. It will include a large number of references to the literature in your chosen area. When you have received your supervisor's comments on the draft of any chapter, you should revise that particular chapter immediately. endobj You will check that your bibliography is properly presented and contains all sources cited throughout your work. If you don’t know how to write a perspective paper, it’ll be tough to finish that assignment. Here you can provide an assessment of whether and how well you were able to answer your research question and/or confirm/reject your hypotheses. This video clip contains comments from the following academics: Case Study 12 Making sure your dissertation doesn't get on top of you. TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO WRITE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Education Department Carson-Newman University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education By Vicki Roberts March 2017 When you hand in this draft, you should arrange a tutorial to receive your supervisor's verbal or written comments and suggestions on how it may be improved. It is useful, therefore, to write the proposal and to retain it for reference and revision. This can be done by highlighting specific gaps in the literature – questions that have not been answered (or even asked), and areas of research that have not been conducted within your chosen field. This will also avoid building up a backlog of work that needs to be revised, which can be discouraging. Once you have a workable plan it is much easier to plan the work in sequence and to set yourself targets for the completion of the separate parts (see the section on Getting started with the Dissertation). When you have written your literature review, this is not the end of the process. Dissertations; Qualitative Research; Quantitative Research; ... Perspective is a crucial component of personal growth. your stance on what should pass as acceptable knowledge) basis of the study and demonstrate a good working knowledge of the methods to be employed. What follows is a step by step guide on how to go about conducting and presenting your literature review. However, you can create a logical structure by drawing on your hypothesis/research question and defining important terms. Type or word-process your dissertation - do not write it out. As well as covering the ethical issues it should also contain an element of reflection on the research process. Be sure to back up all your work on a floppy disk, CD, or memory stick. Engage in independent research in addressing this question. Poor dissertations often fail to relate to broader debates within the academic community. Thus, the most difficult aspect of writing a dissertation consists of organizing the evidence and associated discussions into a coherent form. For instance, write a paragraph containing key terms, hypothesis, or research questions and explain the relevant models and theories.

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