Dissertation

Assessed Task 2
Dissertation Plan

Assignment: To produce a dissertation plan (length 500 to 1000 words), following the model
laid out below. This counts for 5% of the final mark for the dissertation course unit.

Overview:

Your dissertation plan must consist of the following elements:

 An outline chapter-plan (about 500 words) including topic headings for chapters, chapter
sections, and sub sections. This serves to focus your attention on the overall structure of
the dissertation; its component elements; and the anticipated evolution of your
argument/analysis. It also serves as a point of departure for discussions with your
supervisor about the scale of what you are proposing relative to the time and word count
available. Aspects of your plan may need to be re-shaped during the course of your work,
but an overarching sense of the final dissertation must be kept in view.

 A discussion of the plan (about 500 words), setting out your research question and thesis,
the research context, and your critical approach and/or methodology.

This exercise helps guide you towards the formal structuring of your dissertation in terms of the
scale, distribution, and organisation of its component elements. The aim is to focus your attention
on, and provide a basis for discussion about, the progress you have made to date concerning the
positioning of the project within the field of study/subject area; the critical
approach/methodology being adopted; and the refinement and narrowing down of focus upon
the main thesis that is animating your critical enquiry. The plan facilitates reflection on all these
processes.