Reference no: EM133221061
Basic Format & Expectations
The Challenge
- Make an independent contribution to the evidence base.
- Communicate it - demonstrate that you have the knowledge, research skills, and motivation to do so
- Plan, conduct, and complete the biggest project of your academic career so far.
Your supervisor
Your "go to person" during your research dissertation.
Contact is highly advisable ("essential"), but not compulsory.
It has been shown that level of success (or failure) is directly related to the degree of supervisor contact.
What to expect from your supervisor
Intellectual support
• Quality assurance
• What standard your thesis should reach
• Indication of when to stop Emotional support
• Encouragement
• Constructive atmosphere
• Help when things go wrong Administrative guidance
• Timetable for submission of work- check with your timetable
• Awareness of the research handbook content
• Regular meetings for progress review
It is essential to carefully plan your dissertation before you start work on it because:
• It predicts the start and end points of the project
• It enables us all to effectively review progress
• It highlights problems and issues early
• It helps manage risk
• No last minute rush (hopefully)
The skeleton structure.
Typical scientific article structure:
1) Executive summary
2) Introduction.
3) Literature Review / Background.
4) Methodology.
5) Results.
6) Discussion.
7) Conclusion.
8) References.
The Literature Review.
• Limited to the relevance to your dissertation.
• Presents a logical structure and not just a list by author or by publication, e.g. History, Development, Current position.
• Describes what others have done and hence sets a benchmark for the current project.
• Justifies the use of specific techniques or problem solving procedures.
• Make a point to keep on top of your field of study by making regular visits to the library and to the electronic journals websites.
The Methodology.
Variable length depending upon topic and approaches chosen.
Start with the aims and objectives of the study and the hypothesis if appropriate. Generic structure:
1) Aims & objectives.
2) Hypothesis (if relevant).
3) Study design - type of study.
4) Study development - method choice & development.
5) Subjects - sources, selection (inclusion/exclusion), randomisation, etc.
6) Process - what is happening, to who, when & who by.
7) Data management - Collection, storage, analysis.
8) Ethics - Institutional Review Boards (IRB) approval, external permissions, confidentiality, anonymity, consent.