EFFECTIVE LEARNING PROGRAMME

WRITING A
DISSERTATION
Robert Blake
Student Learning Development Centre, CELT
Lancaster University
February 2006
1
 DISSERTATION WRITING: OUTLINE

• What is a dissertation?
• Planning your study: generating a research
question; background reading & methods
• Planning a research schedule
• Structuring your dissertation
• Working with your supervisor

2
 WHAT IS A DISSERTATION :

Depends on your department

• Extended lab/field report with conclusions
• Extended essay/study
• Analysis of case study
• Project work from company placement
• Library driven examination of problem
• Model testing [e.g. Acc & Fin]

Metaphor of a journey

3
RESEARCH PROPOSALS- plan for the dissertation

Required by many depts. Example from Linguistics:

• Area of research
• Questions you aim to answer
• Rationale i.e. reasons for researching this area-
contribution to understanding & practical use
• Your background in this area: previous knowledge
& gaps
• Data you will collect
• How you will collect data & how you will analyse it
• Initial bibliography i.e. review of key studies
* [progress report science]

4
 GENERATING A RESEARCH QUESTION

• Start with expected outcome or hunches

• Develop researchable questions
(Laws:2003:97)or a hypothesis
• Research question= well specified critical
question rather than description of what
aspect you want to find an answer to.
• 2 stages: 1) What am I interested in?
2) What questions can I make about this topic
that could lead to an investigation?

5
 GENERATING A RESEARCH QUESTION
• Hypothesis = a tentative proposition which is
subject to verification through subsequent
verification…. Guide to the researcher depicting
& describing the method to be followed in
studying the problem. In many cases hypotheses
are the hunches that the researcher has about
the existence between the variables.
[Verma and Bear 1981:184 in Bell 2005:32]
• Forms framework of study: i.e. which literature
to investigate, how to select/devise methods;
how you discuss results and write conclusions
• NB need to modify question as study develops
6
DECIDING ON RESEARCH METHODS

What data will you collect?

How will you collect this data?
• interviews, questionnaires, case study

• lab or field work

• analysis of library & web sources-(MetaLib) but
are they peer reviewed?
primary sources such as original documents (e.g.
historical, legal) sources vs. secondary sources
• designing a model or hardware.
• writing code and trialling software.
• simulating/testing
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ANALYSING DATA

How will you analyse this data?

• theory or framework?
• quantitative or qualitative analysis?
• quantitative e.g larger scale, numbers i.e.
statistically based.
• qualitative e.g. small scale, detailed description
Tools using software for analysis e.g. SPSS, Excel
Time consuming! So how much data can you deal
with in time allotted?
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 READING: BACKGROUND THEORY OR LITERATURE REVIEW

• Read efficiently using SQ3R

SQ3R= Survey, Question, Read, Recall, Review
http://www2.ntu.ac.uk/sss/studysupport/Information/Reading/SQ3R/SQ3R.htm

• Read critically- see Toronto Uni’s

http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/critrdg.html

• Conduct database searches: see subject

librarian; use Metalib (read journals online)
• Keep a careful record of reading & where it’s
used in your dissertation: own form as in slide
10 or Endnote.
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READING RECORD  Date of notes/pages

author    
THIS PART-
title  

publ/place/year/ed
BIBLIOGRAPHIC
 
DETAILS.
topic  

keywords   TOPIC &

 
KEYWORDS
chap/section/rq

RESEARCH QUESTION.
 

notes  

 
 
 
  YOUR NOTES FROM READING
 
 
 
 
 
 
comments
   
 
 
 
 
 
YOUR COMMENTS ON READING…..
10
 
 
 SCHEDULING YOUR DISSERTATION WORK

• Make a timetable or wall chart e.g. Gantt Chart

• Identify best work times & keep to a daily
writing slot
• Split your dissertation into bite size-chunks
• Be realistic about daily targets
• Include time for input (supervisor & critical
friends) & for drafts & redrafts
• Familiarise yourself with deadlines* & plan
accordingly

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 SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED

3 key questions
1. Do I have the skills & knowledge to carry
out this research?
2. How long do I have?
3. What do I have time to learn within my
schedule? e.g.:
learning/improving knowledge of statistics
learning software: Excel SPSS,
learning new skills & techniques

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 MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE
How many words do I have to write?
How long do I need for practical work & analysis?
2 ways of timetabling dissertations:
• Whole dissertation timetable: examples 14 & 15
• Weekly timetable as in slide 20
Break down dissertation into a series of realistic
weekly tasks to make it more achievable.
Look at the 2 examples of dissertation timetables.
What level of detail would work best for you?
Examples 1 & 3 are from Strathclyde University's Centre for
Academic Practice web pages on Dissertation writing, see:
http://www.strath.ac.uk/Departments/CAPLE/dissertation/example.html
13
MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE (i)

B 14
MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE (ii)

B 15
 MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE

For many writers it’s helpful and more

manageable to plan work on a weekly basis
(slide 17). This can help you to
• focus on individual tasks
• tick off completed tasks (morale boosting!)
• see progress on a day by day basis
• not be overwhelmed by totality
• know exactly where you are or should be

16
MAKING A WEEKLY DISSERTATION TIMETABLE

B 17
WHAT DOES A DISSERTATION LOOK LIKE?

Dissertation structure can vary significantly

from one department to another & whether
it’s based on:
• an empirical study based on a research
experiment: extended report structure.
• analysis of literature. Here the structure will
that of an extended essay with a number of
sections or chapters.
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WHAT DOES A DISSERTATION LOOK LIKE?

Empirically based dissertations are usually

based on a scientific report structure used in
the sciences & some social sciences (IMRaD+C):
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions
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 AN OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTERS: INTRODUCTION

This sets the scene, by :

•introducing the issue that you are researching
• reviewing relevant previous studies
• highlighting the gap in research to be filled
• explaining your research questions/hypotheses
• brief signposting of dissertation structure
NB In some dissertations, the background information is in a
separate chapter called the Literature Review

20
 METHODS

• Explains the methods you used to collect data

• Explains how you collected the data
• Not just a description as it should explain
reasons for various choices made
• Goal of your explanation is to allow future
student to repeat your study
•Grammar! Past tense & passive often used
e.g. Twenty five interviews were conducted…..

No methods section in literature based

dissertations
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RESULTS
• Presents the data or findings collected from the
methods you used
• does not include analysis of these results
• May use a series of tables and figures to present
the results more effectively
• Talks the reader through the series of results
when referring to figures
Figure 4.2 shows that the incidence of x rises
when…
• Highlights key patterns in the data
NB Some writers combine the Results & Discussion
headings & organise them by topic
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 DISCUSSION

• This is where you interpreting the results i.e.

explaining to the reader what they mean
• Broadens from discussion of your results to how
they can be compared with the results of others
who’ve done similar research
• Refers to the previous studies you introduced
earlier
• Discusses any problems with results
• Doesn’t include tables & figures, except when
comparing your results with others
23
CONCLUSIONS

• A short, succinctly written summary

• Must addresses the research question or

hypotheses presented in the introduction

• May include limitations of your study and

suggestions for further work

24
 OTHER BITS

FRONT AT THE END

• Title page • References/Bibliography 
• Acknowledgements • Appendices*
• Contents
• List of figures*
• Glossary*

*if your study requires this

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 EXTENDED ESSAY DISSERTATIONS

Have a look at the contents pages of the 2

examples:

Labelling GM foods (Law) & Proteolysis (Biology)

How does each dissertation differ from the

IMRaD+C structure outlined earlier?

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 COMPARING THE STRUCTURE OF LIT REVIEW
AND EXTENDED ESSAY DISSERTATIONS

Now compare the structures of the 2 extended

essay/literature review dissertations you’ve
just looked at with the 2 empirically/report
based dissertations.
How does the structure differ?
Can you find an ImRaD+C structure?

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 WORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR

• What can my supervisor?

• What won’t my supervisor do?
• Will they approve the research proposal/research
questions?
• Will they read with drafts of work & if so, how
much?
• Will they advise on methodology & help with
difficulties
~~~

NB Make agendas for supervision meetings

Tape as a record?
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 SOME DISSERTATION WRITING TIPS [i]

• Keep a research journal with you to record ideas

• Write a dissertation timetable: whole process &
weekly
• Start writing early
• Set a daily writing slot
• Allow time for problems:personal & with your
data collection
• Set plenty of editing & rewriting time
• Get a critical friend to read through drafts &
feed them!
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 MORE DISSERTATION WRITING TIPS [ii]

• Read at a couple of past dissertations

• Compare their structure by tracing through the
research questions from the introduction to
conclusion.
• Start writing in the middle: methodology or
background
• Write the introduction & abstract last, when
you know what you’ve found
• Introduce and conclude chapters. Guide the
reader through with signposting & cross
referencing
• Don’t just write for your supervisor
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