Dissertation
G003
lecture3.pptxIP3017 Final Year Dissertation
1
Outline
Some reminders
The research process
What is theory
Role of theory in research
Hypotheses
Research ethics
More reminders
2
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 |
3
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)
4
The Research Process
5
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
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
6
What is Theory?
Oxford English Dictionary: “A scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena”
Van Evera (1997): General statements that describe and explain the causes or effects of classes of phenomena.
Robson (2011: 65): “In very general terms it is an explanation of what is going on in the situation, phenomenon or whatever that we are investigating”
Theory as a “simplifier”: “a theory is an attempt to make sense of the world by indicating that some factors are more important than others and specifying relations among them” (Halperin and Heat)
You cannot just study something; you have to study it through a certain lens
The world will look different depending on which ones you are ‘wearing’ (using)
Why is society so unequal?
Well, it depends who you ask and what their theory is
Is Donald Trump a good President?
Well, it depends who you ask and what their theory is
Theory as lenses
What can help make the international system more peaceful?
A balance of military power (Realist theory)
More nuclear weapons (defensive neo-Realist theory)
International institutions (Liberal theory)
The spread of Democracies (Liberal theory) Why?
Because democratic institutions (Liberal DP theory)
Because democratic norms (Constructivist DP theory)
Re-constructing ‘anarchy’ (Constructivist theory)
More women in positions of power (Liberal feminism)
Undoing structures of hegemonic/heteronormative masculinity (post-structuralist gender theory)
Some different lenses
Grand Theory
Overarching theoretical frameworks seeking to explain an entire body of behaviour
eg. rational choice theory, BOP, DP
Middle-range theories (Merton 1949)
Theories that attempted to understand and explain limited classes of events of behaviours
eg. Country-level, regional
These theories can more easily be verified through empirical research and then perhaps systematized into broader theoretical frameworks
Practice Theory (Bordieau, 1972)
Theories that aim to explain how social beings, with their diverse motives and their diverse intentions, make and transform the world which they live in
Small, everyday interactions and practices, micro focus
TIP: Aim small-medium!
Types of Theory
What makes a theory?
The phenomenon your are trying to explain (Dependent Variable)
Terrorism
Rise of far right
International response/s to Yemen crisis/conflict
Brexit referendum outcome
Factors you think must be taken into consideration in order to answer your question (Explanatory/Independent variable)
Religion, gender, poverty
Immigration, the media,
Diplomatic breakdown, arms trade
Inequality, lack of education, European laws/regulation, immigration
Role of theory in the research process
Theory Generating research:
Begins with a question and a basic proposition, examines a set of cases and comes up with a more specific set of propositions, which can be more widely and rigorously tested
Theory Testing Research:
Begins by stating, on the basis of the theory, what we would expect to find and sees whether that expectation is fulfilled. Objective is to provide or disprove a certain theory
Theory Applying Research:
Apply a theory to a specific empirical case (particular wars, revolutions, election outcomes) with the aim of explaining it. Goal is not to contribute in any way to the theory itself, but just to use its propositions to explain a particular case.
Examples
Was the intervention in Syria justified?
Develop a theoretical framework using existing literature that identifies in general whether an intervention is justified or not
Assess the case of Syria against the theoretical criteria
What explains the emergence of Black Lives Matters?
Using social movement theory identify in general explanations for the emergence of movements
Use these generalisations to explain the case study
Is India a land of opportunities of a land of scarcities?
Outline what dependency theory says about development of the Global South
Use the theory to analyse empirical data and answer the research question
What explains the high savings rate in China?
Build a framework by combining Keynesian money motives; and explanations of domestic factors and international factors
Develop hypotheses from these theoretical approaches
Test the hypotheses and therefore test the theories
Examples
Examples
What best explains China’s economic partnerships: liberal internationalism or neo-colonialism
Outline each of the two theories
Test which one best explains the case study
From theory to hypothesis
Difference between Theory and Hypothesis
A theory provides a general explanation for why patterns exist among concepts.
To test a theory we need to find observable implications
Definition of Hypothesis
Kellstead and Whitten: a theory-based statement about a relationship that we expect to observe
Not all research works with hypotheses
Theory or hypothesis?
Democracies do not go to war with one another because of their particular institutional structures.
The U.S. public is more willing to support the use of the country’s military forces when U.S. interests are affected than when they are not.
People tend to adopt political views similar to those of their parents
Media coverage and lack of political education influenced Brexit referendum outcome
Intervention is justified only if there is a just cause
How to generate an hypothesis
Empirical
Hypotheses should be empirical, rather than normative statements.
E.g. “Democracy is the best form of government”à this cannot be tested.
E.g. “Democracy is more likely to be found in countries with high literacy than in countries with low literacy” à this can be observed empirically.
Generality
A good hypothesis should propose a relationship pertaining to many occurrences of a phenomenon rather than just to one.
E.g. “Jill votes Conservative Party because her mother does too” à “People tend to adopt political views similar to those of their parents”
Plausibility
Any number of hypotheses could be thought of and tested, but many fewer are plausible ones
There should be some logical reason for thinking that the relationship in the hypothesis might be confirmed.
Precision
Specify the nature and direction in the relationship between variables
E.g. “How a person votes for president depends on the information he or she is exposed to”
“The more information favouring candidate X a person is exposed to during a political campaign, the more likely that person is to vote for candidate X”.
Testability
It must be possible and feasible to obtain data that will allow one to evaluate the hypothesis empirically
E.g. “The more a child is supportive of political authorities, the less likely that child will be to engage in political dissent as an
adult”.
Falsifiability
It needs to be possible to define data that would show that the theory is wrong
Avoid “omnipredictions” (hypotheses that are fulfilled by all observed events)
Activity
Identify one independent and one dependent variable from the table.
Write a theory for why the two variables should be associated with one another.
Write a research hypothesis that you derive from your theory.
Independent Variables Dependent Variables
| Independent Variables | Dependent Variables |
| Political news consumption | Political participation |
| Income | Voter turnout |
| Political party membership | Political knowledge |
| College-level education | Amount donated to parties |
How to proceed
Examine your thesis title and research problem. The research problem anchors your entire study and forms the basis from which you construct your theoretical framework.
Brainstorm about what you consider to be the key variables in your research. Answer the question, "What factors contribute to the presumed effect?"
Review related literature to find how scholars have addressed your research problem. Identify the assumptions from which the author(s) addressed the problem.
Review key social science theories that are introduced to you in your course readings and choose the theory that can best explain the relationships between the key variables in your study [note the Writing Tip on this page].
Discuss the assumptions or propositions of this theory and point out their relevance to your research.
Research methods
What data/information do you need to answer your research question?
How/where can you find it?
Eg. Archives; NGO publications; newspaper articles; data sets
How will you analysis it?
Why have you chosen the case study(ies)
Why that time period?
USING ACADEMIC ARTICLES AND BOOKS IS NOT A RESEARCH METHOD. THIS IS THE LITERATURE REVIEW
YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING MORE THAN A LITERATURE REVIEW
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.
26
Sessions
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
