Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
6CN010 Dissertation
Start-up Seminar
D.E. Searle
Introduction
What is research
What is a dissertation
Overview of format
Selection of a topic
The need for originality
Dissertation assessment
Undertaking the dissertation in stages
What next?
2
Research (1/3)
What is it?
Systematic (i.e. methodical, well organized)
investigation towards increasing the sum of
knowledge (From Chambers English Dictionary as
cited by Fellows and Lui (2008)
Systematic investigationin order to establish facts
and reach new conclusions (Concise Oxford
Dictionary, 1995)
A voyage of discovery (Fellows and Lui, 2008)
3
Research (2/3)
What it isnt?
Just gathering of information
Just looking for information
Copying facts from sources
Consultancy/consulting i.e. providing
specialist advice in a field
4
Research (3/3)
Why conduct research?
Generally to acquire knowledge
Produce dissertation
What is a Dissertation?
A level six project module studied over three
semesters
An in-depth research investigation of a topic
aligned to your degree
Required to be completed before a student can
qualify for an honours degree
Represents a substantial piece of work requiring
initiative and commitment on the part of the
student
Unlike any other module emphasis is on
independent learning and research / enquiry.
NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED!!
7
Selection of a topic
Not an easy task!
Consider for example:
Study area, subject domain, relevance to
your award
area of interest
availability of information
amount / volume of research required
(time)
data collection method(s)
quantitative or qualitative
employers / collaborators
9
Dissertation Assessment
An undergraduate dissertation is a substantial piece of
work assessed against the following criteria:
Students initiative and planning (quality of the
Dissertation Proposal);
Information search and critical review (number /
quality of references);
Design and implementation of the work undertaken
(research methodology including compliance with
ethical procedures);
Critical discussion of work undertaken (results,
conclusions and recommendations);
Standard of presentation
11
Dissertation Proposal
Contributes towards your overall mark for the
dissertation
Represents a detailed indication of the proposed
research
See Naoums text book for further examples
12
13
Selection of a topic
The questions involved are:
What?
Selection of topic
Why?
Where?
When?
How?
Methodology
Whom?
How much?
Selection of a topic
21
Support available
There will be a supervision team (led by myself) which
will consist of UoW tutors who already teach on the
Qatar programme.
After the proposal has been submitted you will be
allocated a dedicated supervisor who will take you
through from proposal to final submission will be
someone who teaches on the Qatar degree.
Distance support (with UK tutors via e-mail & Skype)
It is the students responsibility to lead on this, we are
there but in a passive role only!
Thank You
ANY
QUESTIONS?