Writing a Dissertation

What is a Dissertation?What a Dissertation is NOTSteps in Doing ResearchStructure of a Research Report/DissertationThe Literature ReviewResearch MethodsBooks on Research Methods

What is a Dissertation?

The terms ‘dissertation’ and ‘thesis’ are used interchangeably: Master’s Dissertation, Ph.D. ThesisIt is essentially a research study that makes an original contribution to knowledgeIt presents an argumentIt is an in-depth historical/cultural political/economic analysis of a topicIt is a creative exercise in critical thinking and systematic presentation

What a Dissertation is NOT

A journalistic reportA copy and paste exerciseAn autobiographyAn advertising exerciseA PR exerciseA mere reflection of different points of view.

Steps in Doing Research

Selecting a topicRelevance and Significance of TopicReviewing the literatureResearch Design -Methods, Sample, ToolsCollection of data -primary & secondaryAnalyzing and interpreting the dataWriting up the results

Structure of a Research Report

Introduction/BackgroundLiterature ReviewAims and Objectives - Research Question / HypothesesResearch MethodsAnalysis and InterpretationFindings and Conclusions - LimitationsReferences - BibliographyAppendixes

Literature Review

Encyclopaedia of CommunicationJournals of CommunicationResearch Dissertations and ThesesNewspapers and MagazinesBooks, Documents, ArchivesThe Internet – WebsitesGoogle/Yahoo/MSN/Cuil - Wikipedia/Knol search –Archiveswww.proquest.com/login

Research Methods

Quantitative MethodsQualitative MethodsCombination of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

Books on Research Methods

R.D. Wimmer & J. R. Dominic: Mass Media Research: An Introduction, Belmont:Wadsworth Pub.Co,1991Anders Hansen et al: Mass CommunicationResearch Methods, London: Macmillan, 1998.Raymond Kent (Ed.): Measuring MediaAudiences, London/New York: Routledge, 1994.