(Mark 72)
(Mark 75)
(Mark 91)
(Mark 85)
(Mark 85)
(Mark 85)
(Mark 91)
(Mark 85)
(Mark 75)
This dissertation achieved a mark of 84:
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LUBS5530 Enterprise
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MSc Sustainability
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The following outstanding dissertation example PDFs have their marks denoted in brackets. (Mark 70) (Mark 78) |
Accessibility
Essex theses, theses and dissertations: library e-resources, theses and dissertations: free websites and portals.
Theses and dissertations are a key source for finding the latest scholarship, additional material such as data sets, and detailed research. They can also help you find out what has been written on a topic, uncover other sources through citations, and get inspiration for your own research project. Use the resources below to search for PhD theses from universities in the UK and abroad. If you're a PhD student yourself, you can use the resources to make sure that your topic hasn't already been written about by other doctoral students.
The Library received all Ph.D. and M.Phil. theses and M.Sc. (Regulation 3.5.) theses up to 30 September 2016. Theses submitted after this date are kept in the University of Essex Research Repository . We do not normally hold dissertations and theses connected with other degrees - the exception being LL.Ms. All of our physical (print) theses are kept in Store and can only be consulted in the library - you'll need to use the online store request form or fill in a form at the library helpdesk to request them.
If you are looking for a specific thesis you can use Library Search to search for the author or title. If you want to find an Essex thesis on a particular topic/subject area, you can either add the word "thesis" to your keyword search, or limit your results to the "Essex theses" or "University of Essex Research Repository" collections.
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Dissertations.
Dissertations are a part of many degree programmes, completed in the final year of undergraduate studies or the final months of a taught masters-level degree.
What is a dissertation.
A dissertation is usually a long-term project to produce a long-form piece of writing; think of it a little like an extended, structured assignment. In some subjects (typically the sciences), it might be called a project instead.
Work on an undergraduate dissertation is often spread out over the final year. For a masters dissertation, you'll start thinking about it early in your course and work on it throughout the year.
You might carry out your own original research, or base your dissertation on existing research literature or data sources - there are many possibilities.
The main thing that sets a dissertation apart from your previous work is that it's an almost entirely independent project. You'll have some support from a supervisor, but you will spend a lot more time working on your own.
You'll also be working on your own topic that's different to your coursemate; you'll all produce a dissertation, but on different topics and, potentially, in very different ways.
Dissertations are also longer than a regular assignment, both in word count and the time that they take to complete. You'll usually have most of an academic year to work on one, and be required to produce thousands of words; that might seem like a lot, but both time and word count will disappear very quickly once you get started!
Find out more:
Digital tools.
There are lots of tools, software and apps that can help you get through the dissertation process. Before you start, make sure you collect the key tools ready to:
Here's an overview of some useful tools:
Digital tools for your dissertation [Google Slides]
Formatting and how you set up your document is also very important for a long piece of work like a dissertation, research project or thesis. Find tips and advice on our text processing guide:
If you are a University of York student, you can access a selection of digitised undergraduate dissertations for certain subjects:
The Library also has digitised Masters dissertations for the following subjects:
Many dissertations are structured into four key sections:
There are many different types of dissertation, which don't all use this structure, so make sure you check your dissertation guidance. However, elements of these sections are common in all dissertation types.
Dissertations that are an extended literature review do not involve data collection, thus do not have a methods or result section. Instead they have chapters that explore concepts/theories and result in a conclusion section. Check your dissertation module handbook and all information given to see what your dissertation involves.
The Introduction and Literature Review give the context for your dissertation:
Sometimes these are two separate sections, and sometimes the Literature Review is integrated into the Introduction. Check your guidelines to find out what you need to do.
Literature Review Top Tips [YouTube] | Literature Review Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]
The Method section tells the reader what you did and why.
Methodology Top Tips [YouTube] | Methodology Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]
More resources to help you plan and write the methodology:
The Results tells us what you found out .
It's an objective presentation of your research findings. Don’t explain the results in detail here - you’ll do that in the discussion section.
Results Top Tips [YouTube] | Results Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]
The Discussion is where you explain and interpret your results - what do your findings mean?
This section involves a lot of critical analysis. You're not just presenting your findings, but putting them together with findings from other research to build your argument about what the findings mean.
Discussion Top Tips [YouTube] | Discussion Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]
Conclusions are a part of many dissertations and/or research projects. Check your module information to see if you are required to write one. Some dissertations/projects have concluding remarks in their discussion section. See the slides below for more information on writing conclusions in dissertations.
Conclusions in dissertations [Google Slides]
The abstract is a short summary of the whole dissertation that goes at the start of the document. It gives an overview of your research and helps readers decide if it’s relevant to their needs.
Even though it appears at the start of the document, write the abstract last. It summarises the whole dissertation, so you need to finish the main body before you can summarise it in the abstract.
Usually the abstract follows a very similar structure to the dissertation, with one or two sentences each to show the aims, methods, key results and conclusions drawn. Some subjects use headings within the abstract. Even if you don’t use these in your final abstract, headings can help you to plan a clear structure.
Abstract Top Tips [YouTube] | Abstract Top Tips transcript [Google Doc]
Watch all of our Dissertation Top Tips videos in one handy playlist:
Research reports, that are often found in science subjects, follow the same structure, so the tips in this tutorial also apply to dissertations:
Online resources.
The general writing pages of this site offer guidance that can be applied to all types of writing, including dissertations. Also check your department guidance and VLE sites for tailored resources.
Other useful resources for dissertation writing:
There is a lot of support available in departments for dissertation production, which includes your dissertation supervisor, academic supervisor and, when appropriate, staff teaching in the research methods modules.
You can also access central writing and skills support:
You can get in touch through our live chat service or by email, and search our FAQs for answers to your questions.
Durham e-Theses contains the full-text of Durham University Higher Degree theses .
All theses passed after 1 October 2009 (with a small number of exceptins) are available, or will be available following an embargo determined by the author. Durham University Library has also digitised its extensive collection of PhD, MPhil and Research Masters dissertations from 1899 onwards.
EThOS - The UK’s national thesis service which aims to maximise the visibility and availability of the UK’s doctoral research theses. EThOS aims to provide a national aggregated record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK Higher Education institutions, and free access to the full text of as many theses as possible for use by all researchers to further their own research.
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses - ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) Global is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, offering millions of works from thousands of universities. Each year hundreds of thousands of works are added. Full-text coverage spans from 1743 to the present, with citation coverage dating back to 1637. If needed you can limit your results to institutions from countries in the UK.
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses - ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) Global is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, offering millions of works from thousands of universities. Each year hundreds of thousands of works are added. Full-text coverage spans from 1743 to the present, with citation coverage dating back to 1637.
Open Access Theses and Dissertations - OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions.
DART-Europe E-Theses Portal - A partnership of research libraries and library consortia who are working together to improve global access to European research theses.
South African Theses and Dissertations - via the National ETD Portal.
Australian Theses via TROVE - a collaboration between the National Library of Australia and hundreds of Partner organisations around Australia.
OAIster - A union catalog of millions of records that represent open access resources. It includes more than 50 million records that represent digital resources from more than 2,000 contributors. Results can be limited to just theses and dissertations.
Theses Canada - Launched in 1965 at the request of the deans of Canadian graduate schools, is a collaborative program between Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and Canadian universities. It strives to acquire and preserve theses and dissertations from participating universities, provide free access to Canadian digital theses and dissertations in the collection, and to facilitate access to non-digital theses and dissertations in the collection
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When applying to study for a PhD or MPhil in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, you will typically need to send us an initial 500-word research proposal.
The content and structure of your research proposal will be influenced by the nature of the project you wish to pursue. The guidance and suggested headings provided here should help you to structure and present your ideas clearly.
When writing your initial research proposal, you can either address it to the School generally, or to a specific supervisor if you have one in mind.
Potential supervisors in the School will review your initial research proposal, and get in touch with you to discuss it. Your proposal may change following this conversation. Depending on the supervisor and the outcome of this discussion, you may be asked to produce a longer research proposal of between 2,000 and 4,000 words.
Before you write your research proposal, we strongly recommend that you check our research page and individual supervisor profiles to view our areas of expertise.
Although you should write your proposal yourself, it is best if you discuss its contents with your proposed supervisor before you submit it. If this is not possible, then try to get someone else (such as an academic at your current or previous institution) to read and comment on it to ensure that it is sufficiently clear.
Your proposal needs a clear working title that gives an indication of what you want to study. You are not committed to continuing with the same title once you begin your studies.
For many projects, you'll usually address one main question, which can sometimes be broken down into several sub-questions. However, it's OK to have two or three research questions where appropriate.
In your research proposal, you'll need to state your main research question(s), explain its significance, and locate it within the relevant literature, in order to set out the context into which your research will fit. You should only refer to research that is directly relevant to your proposal.
You will need to address questions such as:
You will need to explain how you will go about answering your question (or achieving your aim), and why you will use your intended approach to address the question/aim.
Questions you might need to address include:
You will need to provide a rough timeline for the completion of your research to show that the project is achievable (given the facilities and resources required) in no more than three years of full-time study (or part-time equivalent) for a PhD, and two years for an MPhil.
You need to say something about what the expected outcomes of your project would be.
How, for example, does it make a contribution to knowledge? How does it advance theoretical understanding? How might it contribute to policy or practice?
If you are aiming to study for a PhD, then you need to say how your proposed research will make an original contribution to knowledge. This is not essential if you are aiming to study for an MPhil, although you will still need to show originality in the application of knowledge.
You will need to provide a list of any key articles or texts that you have referred to in your proposal.
References should be listed in the appropriate style for your subject area (e.g. Harvard). You should only reference texts that you think are central to your proposed work, rather than a bibliography listing everything written on the subject.
Make sure that your proposal is well structured and clearly written. It is important that you carefully check your proposal for typographical and spelling errors, consistency of style, and accuracy of references, before submitting it.
The proposal should be aesthetically well presented, and look professional (e.g. no font inconsistencies, headings clearly identifiable). If you include figures, then they should be accompanied by captions underneath).
Module code: PSY3065
The process of preparing and writing a dissertation provides the student with the opportunity to pursue in depth a topic. It should allow them to apply and develop research skills acquired during the BSc Psychology Honours or BSc Applied Psychology and Sociology Honours programme and to demonstrate a reflective understanding of the research endeavour through their own work. The majority of the work in this module is independent learning, with guidance and support from a dissertation supervisor. In addition to this, Dissertation Workshops are offered to support the dissertation. These workshops cover key parts of the dissertation process and have been designed to ‘scaffold’ and support the student throughout the research process such as: 1) conducting a literature search, 2) ethical considerations, 3) analytical approaches (qualitative and quantitative data analysis), and 4) and writing up.
Module leader.
MARSELLE Melissa (Psychology)
Ects credits: 22.5, framework: fheq level 6, module cap (maximum number of students): n/a, overall student workload.
Independent Learning Hours: 425
Lecture Hours: 13
Guided Learning: 12
Prerequisites / co-requisites, module content.
Supervision in support of the dissertation. Students are required to actively engage with their dissertation supervisor in a collaborative relationship to gain guidance and feedback on their review of the existing literature, research question/s, study design, chosen method/s, data analysis and write-up. Students are expected to lead this research project which includes planning and managing contact with your supervisor and key project milestones e.g. obtaining ethical approval for your study. Students are expected to demonstrate some level of independence from their supervisor by demonstrating the ability to respond to addressing challenges or set-backs through agile thinking and decision-making processes for their research project. Supervision enables students to recognise the value of learning from feedback to their learning journey, as students expected to respond to supervisory input and feedback. Dissertation Workshops in support of the dissertation. The workshops seek to give you confidence to undertake an independent piece of research – your dissertation. These workshops cover key parts of the dissertation process and have been designed to ‘scaffold’ and support you throughout the year on various issues such as: 1) formulating, designing and implementing a suitable dissertation study, 2) ethical considerations, 3) analytical approaches (qualitative and quantitative data analysis), 4) drawing interpretations and conclusions, and 5) and writing up.
Assessment type | Unit of assessment | Weighting |
---|---|---|
Project (Group/Individual/Dissertation) | EITHER A QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH REPORT OF 18 PAGES OR A QUALITATIVE/MIXED METHODS RESEARCH REPORT OF 22 PAGES | 100 |
Assessment strategy.
Attributes Developed | ||
001 | Ability to formulate and define a problem or topic in an appropriately circumscribed way | KCPT |
003 | Identify, justify and use an appropriate methodology in tackling the research questions identified | KCPT |
004 | Draw on their resourcefulness to critically discuss alternative strategies that could have been used to address the research question | KCT |
005 | Demonstrate an adequate understanding of quantitative or qualitative analytical procedures, and apply such analytical procedures appropriately | KCPT |
002 | Locate their dissertation project in its theoretical and empirical context through critical evaluation of theory and research | KCPT |
006 | Use digital technology skills to critically examine their own empirical findings and draw sensible conclusions from their findings | KPT |
007 | Identify how their dissertation might move psychological research forward by suggesting new lines of investigation for research, practice and/or policy | KCPT |
008 | Give clear expression to their ideas and to structure their argument in a logical fashion | KCPT |
009 | Present their findings in the conventional scholarly form of a written dissertation | KCPT |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.
https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: PSY3065
Resourcefulness and resilience:
The dissertation as the capstone assessment allows students to demonstrate a combination of all of the skills and learning outcomes developed during the preceding years. As such, students are required to take their learning on the undergraduate degree programme and apply it to a live research project (which is subsequently analyzed for the only coursework assessment). The process of preparing and writing a dissertation provides the student with the opportunity to develop attributes such as confidence, adaptability, self-regulation, self-efficacy, problem-solving and decision-making abilities. Supervision enables students to recognize the value of feedback to their learning journey, as well as the importance of actively engaging in dissertation workshop discussions and supervisor meetings.
Digital Capabilities:
Students are provided with multiple opportunities to develop their digital literacy. Students will demonstrate their digital capabilities when conducting literature searches to find supporting evidence. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with digital technology for participant recruitment (e.g. SONA), data collection (e.g. Qualtrics) and data analysis (e.g. Jamovi, Nvivo).
Employability:
The dissertation progress is designed to develop students’ employability skills. The dissertation builds written communication skills, research skills, and critical thinking skills as well and project management and self-management. The dissertation may include the task of conducting research with human participants, to help develop professionalism, interpersonal skills and expressing confidence. Finally, the dissertation as a live project is an application of the student’s psychological understanding.
Programme | Semester | Classification | Qualifying conditions |
---|---|---|---|
Year-long | Core | Each unit of assessment must be passed at 40% to pass the module |
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.
When you start university, one of the final pieces of work – your dissertation – seems like a long way off. Three years passes more quickly than you think, and before you know it, you’re being told it is time to start work on your dissertation. It can feel incredibly daunting, especially if you aren’t accustomed to writing extended pieces of work. Although it probably won’t feel like an easy task (it is supposed to challenge you!) with the right preparation, you can minimise the amount of stress you encounter, and manage your project with enough time.
We’re not going to focus on how to carry out your research in this post, because there are too many variables between subjects, but rather, looking at how to tackle the writing-up process.
What is a dissertation.
A dissertation is an independent piece of academic work that reports on research that you have carried out, and is much longer and more in-depth than a regular essay or research project. Word counts for UK dissertations are typically between 8,000 words to 20,000 words, but the length, along with the criteria for the sections that are required depend on the subject of your degree and the university you’re studying with.
In the UK, dissertations are different from theses. Although they are similar in that they are independent works, theses are significantly longer, and tend to refer to research projects for doctoral degrees. Theses are normally made accessible in the university library when the candidate has been awarded their doctorate. Undergraduate dissertations and theses for master’s degrees aren’t routinely available in libraries, but are sometimes made available by faculties.
How long your dissertation takes to write will be influenced by the word count, and how long your research takes. However, many professional writers who know their subject (and perhaps don’t require such accuracy) don’t write more than 5,000 words in a day – so don’t assume you can write your dissertation during the week before the deadline! You’ll have a good idea how many words you can write comfortably in a day, so take that figure, divide it and work backwards. If you can do 1000 words (many people work with a much lower number!) and your dissertation is 10,000 words – then you need an absolute minimum of 12 days, since you’ll need time for reading, editing, spotting mistakes, and getting your dissertation bound and handed in.
Although many people thrive under a certain amount of time pressure, don’t leave getting started to the last minute. Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need for writing each section, and when you have completed a section, move straight on – don’t waste time waiting for the next writing window you have scheduled. You might find that other sections need extra time to complete.
Don’t forget to leave plenty of time for editing your work – most students need to do a lot of editing – and leave contingency time in case of IT failure, illness, or any other interruptions.
During dissertation time, university campuses worldwide are full of stressed students. Dissertation projects are massive pieces of work that have to be tackled by yourself, and your degree classification can be dramatically impacted by the mark you receive for your dissertation – which is why many students feel the pressure!
Dissertations present all kinds of problems, here are a few of the best tips we can to prevent you getting too stressed.
Start by attending all the sessions provided by the course team, and read all the information and guidance that are provided by the faculty, since this is where you’ll find out any specific requirements. Before you start writing, make sure you know:
Once you know these important points, you can start to get into the details and decide on your research topic.
You can read much more about the different types of roles in these areas here .
How should i choose my research topic.
Choosing your research topic is possibly the most important part of your dissertation. By choosing an area that you find interesting and meaningful, you’re more likely to put more effort in, and your enthusiasm will be evident, which is likely to result in a higher mark. If you choose an area that is related to your career aims, you’ll be able to mention your work at future job interviews.
If you don’t feel inspired, check course materials for modules that particularly interested you and head for the library. Academic journals and other publications in the field will contain ideas, and help you to know what is currently of interest in the field.
You can also work with your dissertation supervisor or personal tutor to narrow the focus of your research topic, discuss the best methods and to ensure your proposal is a realistic study in the time you have to work with.
Dissertation proposals aren’t mandatory at every university, but where they are, they tend to have a 500 or 1000 word limit. Even if it isn’t a requirement for you, taking the time to put together a dissertation proposal can help you understand how to plan the project. It will help you to define:
In this next section, we’ll cover the sections that are usually required in a dissertation. Different universities and subjects have different requirements, so check the guidance from your faculty to ensure you have all the sections you need.
There are usually strict guidelines for formatting your dissertation’s title page, but normally you’ll need to include:
If your university requires your dissertation to be printed and bound, your title page is usually your front cover.
This section may not be mandatory, but gives you space to thank people who have supported you through your dissertation. You might mention specific members of the course team, research participants, or simply friends and family.
This is a short summary section that gives readers a brief overview of what is contained in your dissertation. Abstracts are usually less than 300 words, and should include:
Since it needs to detail what is contained in your dissertation, abstracts should always be written when you have finished the rest of your dissertation.
Most institutions require dissertations to have page numbers and a list of chapters and subheadings, including any appendices. You can generate this automatically in Word when you have finished writing your dissertation.
If you have included lots of tables, graphs, or images in your dissertation, you may need to include an itemised list. You can generate this automatically using the Insert Caption function in Word.
This optional section may be appropriate if you have included a lot of specialist terms or abbreviations. If you have used both, you may need to include both sections separately.
This is where you detail the topic, and explain what the reader can expect. The introduction provides more detail than your abstract, and will help readers to understand:
Keep your introduction succinct, and only include information that is relevant, so the reader can understand what your study is about, why you have chosen the topic, and how you plan to carry out the research.
Your literature review should show a deep understanding of existing academic work. It should be a substantial section, and you’ll need to gather sources, critically evaluate, and analyse the works, and make connections between them. Your literature review may help you to identify:
You’ll be able to use your literature review to justify why you have chosen to carry out the research in your dissertation, so be sure to complete it in detail.
This section will detail what research you carried out, and the methods you used, which is essential to show the validity of your work. This section is an account of what you did, and why you did it. You will need to include:
The results section should clearly illustrate what you found. This could mean you include tables, graphs, and charts to present the findings. Think carefully about the best method to show your results, and only use graphs, tables and charts where they provide extra information – don’t use them to repeat what is in the text.
Don’t include raw data here – you can add that in your appendices. Depending on the type of research you have carried out (and faculty guidance) results may be combined with the discussion.
This section reflects on the meaning of the work you have done. You’ll demonstrate understanding of what the results show, and whether they match what you expected. You’ll also examine other ways of interpreting the data, and if your findings are at odds with what you expected, you’ll suggest reasons for why this could have happened.
Whether your results support your hypotheses or not, you’ll contextualise your study with existing research to explain how it contributes to wider discussions about the topic.
Here you’ll go back to your research question, and demonstrate understanding of your research, and the validity of the study. You may make recommendations for future research in this section.
As you already know, there are different referencing formatting conventions that are used by different subject fields. But since you’ll lose marks if you don’t do them correctly, it is essential to have your references stored accurately, and to format them correctly before you submit your dissertation.
You’ve probably already found the method of keeping references that suits you, such as using reference management software, or using Word referencing, but keep notes as you go, so you can compile your references section easily.
Referencing Help: FREE Harvard Referencing Generator >>
If there is information that you want to be included but isn’t essential to understanding your research, you may add this as part of an appendices. This could include transcripts, copies of surveys or complete tables of raw data.
Although your dissertation must be an independent piece of work, there are still sources of help if you get stuck. There are thousands of online resources, but here are a few more points of help:
Study skills support is available at most universities, and the team may be able to offer you assistance with your dissertation. Bear in mind there is likely to be a huge demand on this service during dissertation time, so ask early if you need their support.
Your personal tutor or dissertation supervisor can provide general advice, and you’ll probably have several review meetings during the writing period. However, your supervisor is likely to have a large number of students and their availability may be restricted.
Subject librarians will be able to advise you where to find relevant resources.
If your mental health is the issue, support can be found from counselling services that are available both from university and from external agencies, while the multifaith chaplaincy team may be able to support you with spiritual matters during your dissertation.
Your dissertation project is a major part of your final year, and with exams and the pressure to decide your next steps, life can get a bit stressful. You might be planning to apply for a postgraduate degree such as a master’s degree , another type of qualification or moving into employment, but the results of your dissertation will have a huge impact on your prospects, so performing to the best of your abilities is essential.
One top tip we have is to make sure you’re not getting overworked with stress. Try studying outside of your dorm room, in a coffee shop or library. You can discover the best places to study in London on our blog.
While your dissertation is a large piece of work, with great planning and careful management, you can start to enjoy the process.
Going to university and choosing the right educational path are likely going to be some of the most important decisions in your life. This means
Do You Get Paid for a PhD? For many students who don’t have the luxury of never worrying about money, one of the main considerations
Where Can a PhD in Finance Take Me? In the dynamic world of finance, a PhD is not just an academic accolade; it’s a launchpad
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Information on how to plan and manage your dissertation project.
A dissertation project is an opportunity to pursue your own ideas in an environment of relative intellectual freedom.
It also present a number of new challenges relating to the scale, scope and structure of a piece of work that is likely to be more substantial than any you have undertaken before.
These resources will help you to break the process down and explore ways to plan and structure your research and organise your written work.
Sheffield prides itself on being a research-led university . Crucially, this means that teaching is informed by cutting-edge research in the academic field.
It also means that you are learning in an environment where you develop and use research skills as you progress. The most successful students tend to develop research skills early and use them consistently.
Research sometimes just means finding out information about a topic. However, in the HE setting, specific understandings of 'research' carry a lot of weight.
The classic definition is that research leads to an original ' contribution to knowledge ' in a particular field of inquiry by defining an important question or problem and then answering or solving it in a systematic way.
You will build this contribution on the foundation of a robust structure of primary and secondary sources and evidence.
Depending on the discipline you work in, there will be different ways of designing and articulating a research problem and different methods for answering these problems.
Not everything about research is 'original'. Sometimes the majority (or even all) of a research project will involve documenting or summarising information or ideas that are already available.
Not all research leads to answers. Sometimes research produces unusable results, or the inquiry leads to only more questions. Sometimes the originality of a research project is that it straddles more than one field of inquiry.
Some examples of approaches to research and what that contribution to knowledge might look like include:
This all adds up to the fact that research is a complicated topic that seems to mean a lot to academic experts but is very difficult to understand intimately when you are a novice.
As someone new to research, you will need to do some work to find out how research is conceived of and done in your discipline.
Our Dissertation Planning Essentials workshop will look at the initial stages and challenges of preparing for a large-scale dissertation project.
Our Dissertation Writing workshop will break down the process of writing a dissertation and explore approaches to voice and style to help develop a way of writing academically.
Our Creativity and Research interactive workshop looks at how to identify, develop and apply your creativity and innovation skills to the research process, whatever stage you're at. In our Creativity and Problem Solving interactive workshop you'll learn how to identify and develop your creativity and innovation skills, address problems and challenges, explore creative models and strategies, and look at how you can apply this to your academic work.
Our Part 1 workshop on Setting Research Priorities will help to break down the research process by identifying the key information that you need to have in place to develop your project. It will help you to prioritise key tasks and create a project workflow to set targets, track progress and reach key milestones. Part 2 will revisit that workflow to assess progress. It will encourage you to reflect on your project so far, identify opportunities for feedback and review your intermediate targets to ensure that you stay on track towards your deadline.
Explore this Illustrated Guide to a PhD by Matt Might as a visualisation of research to help you identify how you can develop your research ideas.
Our Video Dissemination workshop will give you an insight into the best practices for using video to disseminate research and communicate your ideas. It will look at styles, common communication techniques and the pedagogy of visual mediums, as well as top production tips for making your content engaging, informative and professional.
A research proposal often needs to encompass many things: it is part description, part analysis, part review, part guesswork, part advert, part CV.
Writing a research proposal that can achieve all these things is an important first step towards realising your project idea. Your research proposal will allow you to receive some early feedback on your ideas and will act as a guide as you plan and develop your project more fully.
But how can you explain what you hope to discover in the project before you’ve done the research?
There are a number of things that you can do to make sure that your research proposal is professional, realistic and relevant:
Make a copy of this Research project design template (google doc) to capture the key information you need to complete your research proposal.
Whenever you undertake research, no matter what level you are working at, it is always important to consider the immediate and continued impact of your project.
All research should be designed to ensure that individuals involved in the project as subjects or participants are treated with respect and consideration. In practice, this means that:
It is perhaps easy to think that working directly with living participants raises the most pressing ethical questions.
However, you equally need to give very important consideration to the ethics of working in text-based subjects, especially when considering unpublished material (see also copyright).
Your department will have its own guidelines on the area of research ethics and you should certainly consult your tutor or supervisor as s/he will be able to give you detailed topic-specific guidance. More more guidance on ethics in research, visit Research Services Ethics and Integrity pages here .
The key to completing a research project successfully is to invest time in planning and organising your project.
A student research project, whether a dissertation or a research placement, will usually involve tight timescales and deadlines. Given the wealth of tasks involved in a typical dissertation project, this can seriously limit the time available for actual data collection or research.
Setting yourself clear and achievable aims and objectives will help to ensure that the project is manageable within the timeframe available.
As an early stage of the planning process, have a go at breaking your project down into its constituent parts: i.e. all of the tasks that you will need to complete between now and the deadline. How long will each of them take? For example:
Task | Timescale |
---|---|
Background reading | 3 weeks |
Literature review | 2 weeks |
Design and write methodology | 1 week |
Ethics review | 3 weeks |
Data collection | 2 weeks |
Data analysis | 2 weeks |
Produce figures | 1 week |
Write discussion | 1 week |
Draft to supervisor | 1 week |
Act on feedback | 3 days |
Formatting and bibliography | 2 days |
Editing and proofreading | 2 days |
Every project will have its own specific tasks, but breaking them down in this way will allow you to start planning ahead, adding milestones to your calendar and chipping away at the project task by task.
Trello is an online planning tool that allows you to create a project workflow. It is a simple and accessible tool that allows you to set yourself deadlines, colour code tasks and share your project plan with collaborators. View our example Dissertation Planning Trello board here and some guidance for students on using Trello (Linked In Learning) .
Your supervisor will be your first point of contact for advice on your project and to help you to resolve issues arising.
Remember, your supervisor will have a busy schedule and may be supervising several students at once. Although they will do their best to support you, they may not be able to get back to you right away and may be limited in their availability to meet you.
There are a number of things that you can do to make the most out of the relationship. Some strategies to consider include:
This interactive resource will help you to develop a positive and productive working relationship with your supervisor.
Scientific writing and lab reports
Proofreading
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The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter). The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes: An introduction to your topic. A literature review that surveys relevant sources.
abstract, appendices, conclusion, discussion, essay title, introduction, literature review, method, references, results, structure. In this post, we look at the structural elements of a typical dissertation. Your department may wish you to include additional sections but the following covers all core elements you will need to work on when ...
a psychology dissertation, so you will need to look at such phenomena from a psychological perspective and apply psychological theory to help you explain it. You can also identify hot topics by keeping up to date with psychological pub-lications and social media accounts. It goes without saying that reading journal
Time to recap…. And there you have it - the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows: Title page. Acknowledgments page. Abstract (or executive summary) Table of contents, list of figures and tables.
Browse By. Search within this Collection: As part of their final year undergraduate degree examination for MA or BSC Psychology, students submit a dissertation based on an original research project supervised by academic staff in the department. During 2006/07 it was agreed that all Psychology Undergraduate students would be required to submit ...
Contents Introduction 1. What to expect 2 2. Devising and planning a good dissertation 4 Choosing a research topic and supervisor 5 Reviewing previous research 6 Discussing topics with your (potential) supervisor 7 Making your decision and what to do next 9 3. Writing your written proposal 11 Thinking about theory 12 The research question and design 16 Quantitative projects and experimental ...
This collection contains a selection of recent Masters theses from the Psychology department. Please note that only the Title and Abstract will be available for dissertations from the current academic year. All other content from previous years is available on an Open Access basis. This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of ...
Definition Of A Psychology Dissertation. A psychology dissertation presents original research conducted by the author and submitted in partial fulfilment of doctoral degree requirements in psychology. To study a field topic, it usually requires extensive primary or secondary research. Neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, clinical, social ...
Abstract. Your Psychology Dissertation has been specifically created to guide your students through their dissertation helping them to feel confident at every stage of their independent psychology research projects. This book will take them through the entire process of designing, conducting and then writing up their research, providing ...
Provides access to 5 million citations to dissertations and theses from around the world, with nearly 3 million full text dissertations available for download. Please note that, despite global coverage, much of the content is North American. Free access to full text European doctoral theses - over 1 million open access research theses from over ...
Cone advises the following steps to pick a topic: Ask a favorite professor, preferably one active in research, about possible topics. Read departmental information on the research interests of the faculty to find a topic a faculty member is interested in as well. Consider asking the faculty member to be a part of your dissertation committee ...
PPLS Library holds undergraduate Psychology dissertations submitted from 1947 to 2019. These are available on request from the librarian. If you are unable to visit the library, the librarian can make a search on your behalf. Since 2006 dissertations were submitted online to the Edinburgh Research Archive.
7. Use peer support. When you're going through the dissertation process, there will be hundreds of other students going through the same process. It's often beneficial to form or be part of a peer support group related to the dissertation. This could be in the form of an online peer support group or an in-person one at your university.
Dissertation examples. Listed below are some of the best examples of research projects and dissertations from undergraduate and taught postgraduate students at the University of Leeds. We have not been able to gather examples from all schools. The module requirements for research projects may have changed since these examples were written.
The Library received all Ph.D. and M.Phil. theses and M.Sc. (Regulation 3.5.) theses up to 30 September 2016. Theses submitted after this date are kept in the University of Essex Research Repository. We do not normally hold dissertations and theses connected with other degrees - the exception being LL.Ms. All of our physical (print) theses are ...
A dissertation is usually a long-term project to produce a long-form piece of writing; think of it a little like an extended, structured assignment. In some subjects (typically the sciences), it might be called a project instead. Work on an undergraduate dissertation is often spread out over the final year. For a masters dissertation, you'll ...
Other UK Theses and Dissertations. Non-UK Theses and Dissertations. Durham e-Theses contains the full-text of Durham University Higher Degree theses. All theses passed after 1 October 2009 (with a small number of exceptins) are available, or will be available following an embargo determined by the author. Durham University Library has also ...
When applying to study for a PhD or MPhil in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, you will typically need to send us an initial 500-word research proposal. The content and structure of your research proposal will be influenced by the nature of the project you wish to pursue. The guidance and suggested headings provided here ...
The dissertation as the capstone assessment allows students to demonstrate a combination of all of the skills and learning outcomes developed during the preceding years. Either a quantitative research report of 18 pages, or a qualitative/mixed methods research report of 22 pages. Marking of the dissertation is in line with the university grade ...
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The basic structure of a dissertation is often as follows: Abstract. Introduction. Literature review. Methodology. Results. Discussion. Conclusion. Bibliography AppendicesEach of these sections may form different chapters within your dissertation and you may want to break certain chapters down into further subheadings to en.
A dissertation is an independent piece of academic work that reports on research that you have carried out, and is much longer and more in-depth than a regular essay or research project. Word counts for UK dissertations are typically between 8,000 words to 20,000 words, but the length, along with the criteria for the sections that are required depend on the subject of your degree and the ...
301 Recommends: Our Dissertation Planning Essentials workshop will look at the initial stages and challenges of preparing for a large-scale dissertation project. Our Dissertation Writing workshop will break down the process of writing a dissertation and explore approaches to voice and style to help develop a way of writing academically.