Dissertation
G003
lecture1.pptxIP3017 Final Year Dissertation
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Outline
What is the Dissertation?
Sessions
Submission details
The research process
How to come up with a topic
What makes a good proposal
What you need to do…
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What is the Dissertation?
A dissertation is a piece of independent research that answers a research question
Opportunity to delve into a topic that interests you
Culmination of all your studies at City
Draws directly from IP2021 training.
Independent research, under the guide of an allocated ‘dissertation advisor’.
You should treat this as a year-long module.
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Sessions
TERM 1
Tuesday 15th October (wk 4), 4pm-6pm, Room: ELG15 Literature Review & Library Workshop
Tuesday 12th November (wk 8), 4pm - 6pm, Room ELG15 Using Theory
TERM 2
Wednesday 29th January (wk 2), 9am-11am, Room: Geary Conducting Research/Writing your thesis
Wednesday 18th March (wk 9), 9am -11am, Room: Geary Final Q&A session
Submission details
| Stage | Task | Deadline |
| 1 | Submission of the tentative dissertation title and brief summary of proposed content. On the basis of this you will be assigned a dissertation advisor in Week 3 of Term 1. | Monday 7th October 2019, by 4pm, via Moodle only |
| 2 | Preparation of a 3000 word research proposal, which focuses on conceptual and methodological dimensions and the literature review. The proposal is the plan of your research project. A good, well thought through proposal is essential in completing the final dissertation. If you do it well, you will already be half way through the work of the dissertation (see below) | Monday 6th January 2020, by 4pm, via Moodle only |
| 3 | Writing of the actual 10,000 word dissertation | Friday 1st May 2020, by 4pm, via Moodle only |
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Seeking Advice
Dissertation Advisor
The advisor is your main port of call for help with the dissertation
Allocated in Week 3 based on the dissertation title form
Whether in person or by email staff are not allowed to read or comment on drafts
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTACT THEM
Seeking advice from other members of staff
You can also ask for specific advice from other members of staff as long as you do not expect the other person to replace the supervisor
Academic Tutor
For additional academic support, contact [email protected]
Administrative questions,
please contact [email protected] (T1); [email protected] (T2)
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Questions?
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Feedback
What was one piece of positive feedback you received on IP2021
What was one thing you were told to improve on IP2021?
The Research Process
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Find a Research Topic or field of inquiry
Formulate a Research Question
Understand Existing Answers to the Question (Literature Review)
Develop your own explanation (Theory) and derive observable propositions (Hypotheses)
Chose Research Design
Collect & Analyze data
Discuss Findings
Step 1:
The Topic Form
Coming up with a topic
Step1: come up with a topic you would like to research
Think about what you have enjoyed in your studies & what you have a background in
Look online at the expertise of members of staff
TOPIC FORM
By Mon Week 3, you will need to fill in a topic form
Outlines general area you want to research in order to assign you an advisor
The more specific the outline, the easier to find someone suitable
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How to come up with a topic
What do you want to know more about?
What have you enjoyed in your degree so far?
What have you done well in so far?
What would make an interesting, viable project?
What would make a viable project?
What do staff members specialise in – see profiles?
What are you thinking of researching?
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Step 2:
The Research Proposal
Key elements of the dissertation proposal
Research Question
Problem Statement
Conceptual/theoretical part. Can comprise a brief introduction, defining the terms and setting the context
Outlines the research problem (s) – the main issues and theoretical concepts associated with your topic and guiding your questions
Literature Review – scans academic work to see who else has addressed the same or similar issues and research questions, and how
Theoretical Framework – is there a particular lens you will look at your question through?
Research strategy/methodology – the steps through which you will answer your questions
Ontology/epistemology
Data collection: What evidence will you use and how will you get it
Data Analysis: How will you analyse the data you have collected
Bibliography
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Formulating a research question
Once you have identified a topic, you need to formulate a research question
A research question must be able to be resolved – you must be able to provide an answer.
Therefore, it must be narrow and precise
It must not contain any judgemental terms
It must specify what it is looking at
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A good research question
Keohane, King, Verba: Two principles
Real World Relevance: A research project should pose a question that is “important in the real world” (real consequences for social, political, or economic life) and
Academic Relevance: “make a specific contribution to an identifiable scholarly literature” (KKV, p. 15)
How not to formulate a research question
Avoid a PhD topic
Don’t pick a question that is so ambitious that requires 4 years
Stick to the kind of question that would be asked in a journal article
Do not ask a question about the future
“Will the Security Council be reformed?”
Do not study something too close or too far
Find something that happened in the past, i.e. that is concluded. No moving targets
But not too distant in the past so that you can’t find materials
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A bad research question
Have simple and easy answers
Can be answered in one word or one sentence
Cannot be answered
Are too broad and vague
Are purely opinion
Uses loaded terms
Good vs Bad Research Questions
How are Muslim women represented in studies on Islam and Women?
What impact did social media have on Brexit?
Is Western Capitalism compatible with democracy?
What explains the emergence of Black Lives Matter Movement?
Why are far right parties being tolerated in democratic societies?
Why does tax avoidance occur?
What influence did external forces have on the 2011 division of Sudan?
What is a literature review for?
To achieve a general overview of a body of research with which you are not familiar
To discover what has already been done well and not waste time “reinventing the wheel”
To determine where there are flaws in existing research are
To place your research in identifiable scholarly literature
Identify your ‘original contribution’
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How to write a literature review
Content
1) review of what is already known/argued on your topic
2) review of theoretical approaches and methodology used by others to research your topic or similar issues
How
Show relationship between sources – not just an analysis of each source in turn
Show how sources relate to your research – what is useful and why, how will you extend or refine the existing literature?
Organise by theme, not by publication date or author
Not just a description or summary or other people’s work
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A theoretical framework provides a particular perspective, or lens, through which to study your topic.
Helps you to direct your analysis and not just provide a descriptive answer.
Theory can be used in different ways:
Use theory to explain a case study
Use theory to understand a topic
Test theories
Build theory
Your supervisor can advise you on what direction to go.
Session in Week 8
What is a theoretical framework?
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Research Design
The methods section describes actions to be taken to investigate a research problem and the rationale for the application of specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyse information applied to understanding the problem.
The methodology section of a research paper answers three main questions:
What data was used?
How was the data collected or generated?
How was it analysed?
In your research proposal, you say what you WILL do.
Most of you will have a straightforward methods section
Some will use primary research but not necessary
Use scholarly writing to guide you on appropriate data specification, data collection and methods of analysis.
Use research methods literature to justify your choice of methodology.
Eg. comparative case study, discourse analysis of primary UN documents, media analysis of news reports, interviews
Research Design
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Research Ethics
Any project that intends to use human participants eg. interviews, surveys, focus groups must get ethical approval BEFORE starting
Speak to your supervisor
See Ethics section on Moodle
It takes time to get approval so fill in form in advance
What does a good proposal look like?
No ideal structure (but something close to the earlier slide is frequent)
Set a clear question at the beginning and explain how you will answer the question.
Why is this topic worth studying – what are the main issues you are looking into.
Have a good survey of the literature in relation to the question you are asking.
Identify how you are going to conduct your project
Clearly written, realistic research project. Outlined so someone else can read it and know what you are doing and why you are doing it.
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Re-cap: What you need to do…
Think of a topic and fill in the dissertation topic form on Moodle – deadline 7th October
Once allocated an advisor contact them to arrange a first meeting and plan for the term
Recap lectures from IP2021
Attend next session in wk4 on the Literature Review
READ to help develop research questions and to build literature review
Work on your research proposal consistently throughout the term – DO NO LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE
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