Modern Foreign Languages

Writing a Dissertation

Dissertation

• What is a dissertation?• Selecting a topic• Formulating your title & writing the research

proposal• The supervisor• Literature reviews• Referencing• Time management

So, what is a dissertation?

• independent academic work• detailed knowledge and

understanding• original work & research set

within existing knowledge• shows critical, analytical

thinking• organisation and planning• high standard of

communication & presentation

Why do we ask students to do a dissertation ?

• Want to see evidence of the skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation, with underpinnings of knowledge– Research skills– Communication skills– Academic English

• “Graduateness”• The ability to formulate an argument based on

evidence

To demonstrate mastery of:

Bloom’s TaxonomyBloom’s Taxonomy

ComprehensionKnowledge

Evaluation Synthesis

Analysis Application

knowledge

comprehension

application

analysis

synthesis

evaluation

What do you need to do?

• Select a topic to investigate• Carry out a literature search - READ!• Synthesise & critically evaluate current

knowledge • Identify research methods• Collect & analyse data• Draw appropriate conclusions

Select a topic which is…

• Original & useful• Interesting (especially to you)• Well-defined & narrow• Based on:

– a question – a hypothesis– a problem

What do you do with an idea for a topic?

• Write it down immediately• Think about it and talk about it• Read about the topic & make notes • Narrow the topic down (it will grow as you

work on it)• Get advice from tutors

Write a research proposal

• Formulate a working title which explains exactly what you want to find out through your research

• Complete your proposal and discuss with your supervisor

• Enables you to get approval to proceed

• Formulate your final title later in the process

The Supervisor

• What is the supervisor's role?

• What is your responsibility?

• How can you best make use of the supervisor?

A typical dissertation structure

• Abstract• Chapter 1: Introduction• Chapter 2: Literature Review• Chapter 3: Research Methods • Chapter 4: Results (Data)• Chapter 5: Discussion of Results• Conclusion• Recommendations (optional)• Bibliography• Appendices

Or headings related to your research topic

Literature Reviews

• What is a literature review?

• Where do I start?

• Reading & Synthesis

• Planning & Structure

• Reflections on a literature review

• Referencing

What is a Literature Review?

According to Bell (1999, p90):

“Any investigation, whatever the scale, will involve reading what other people have written about your area of interest, gathering information to support or refute your arguments”.

The literature review chapter

• It is a compulsory part of a dissertation• Why is it important?

It will teach you more about the subjectIt is the foundation for your own research It will help you refine your ideasIt will help you develop your subject-related

vocabulary

What should I be writing about?

• What has already been written on the topic

• What has not been written on that topic…

• … to show how your research addresses the 'gap', or ‘weakness’ in the existing knowledge base

• Reviewing the literature is not simply reproducing/summarising, but showing how the literature relates to the research project.

Useful questions to guide you

• What is already known in the area?

• Where are the inconsistencies orshortcomings in present knowledge?

• Why study (further) the research problem?

• What contribution can the present study be expected to make?

Planning the Literature Review

When you have mapped out the contents, you need to decide the order in which you are going to write about them:

– general to specific?– chronologically?– according to different schools of thought?– argument and counterargument?

Tips on StructureGroup authors who worked on similar

themes & link ideas

Make clear links between ideas inside the literature review and your own research

Don’t put any of your data in the literature review or discuss your findings

Don’t keep making the same points

Referencing

• The usual rules apply!• Know what system you are using• Be consistent• Find out the rules for referencing non-English

sources

Quotes• If you quote in text, then you must list the

source in your reference list

• Use ‘……’ around direct quotes

• Give the page number of direct quotes• Indent long quotes, & put the reference at

the end of the quote• Don’t use too many quotes!

Web references & Online Journals

• Try to find an author & use their name rather than the web address

• No author? Put (www.blah.co.uk, 2014)

• Don’t put the URL in the text – put it in the references section

• State when you accessed the page

IDEA

Library / WWW

Assemble material

Read / analyse

Write up

HAND IN

THE OPTIMIST

Time Management

IDEALibrary

Another Idea

Analyse

Check FactsCheck Library Sources

Lots of tweaking

HAND IN (phew!)

LIBRARYREAD

WRITE THINK

First of many drafts

Add missing info

Write some more

Almost final version

Finally ….

• Dissertations are a big challenge• Start NOW and work steadily• Start writing as soon as you can; writing is a

thinking process• Ask if you have any questions• Don’t put off the work until later – later may

be too late!

Set appropriate and realistic goals

ANDAvoid procrastination

Action Plan

• What should I be doing now?• Plan for key milestone dates (finish initial

reading, write 1st draft, hand–in etc) & then • Plan for that 1st meeting with my supervisor?• Clarify what help they can give• Find out about their availability

• WISER• Harris 113 for personalised support up to 3

times during the academic year • Workshops Monday & Wednesday 1pm – 3

pm Harris 113• Opening times and all details on website:

www.uclan.ac.uk/wiser• wiseraccess@uclan.ac.uk