Dissertation structure

Question 1

PARTS OF A DISSERTATION

Answer 1

• Cover Sheet
• Abstract
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Findings/Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices

Question 2

Parts of Introduction

Answer 2

• Background
• Research Focus
• Overall and individual aims
• Value of your work
• Outline the structure of your Dissertation

Question 3

Introduction/ Introduction background

Answer 3

Gently introduce the reader to your research area in general

Question 4

Introduction/ Research Focus

Answer 4

What is the gap/problem/issue in the literature that you spotted and then will try to deal with?

Question 5

Introduction/ Overall and individual aims

Answer 5

Define APPROPRIATE, FOCUSED AND CLEAR objectives

Question 6

Introduction/ Value of your work

Answer 6

Explain how your work will add value to your field of study

Question 7

Introduction/ Outline the structure of your Dissertation:

Answer 7

Outline the structure of your Dissertation:

Question 8

General structure of an Abstract

Answer 8

1. Establish context of research
2. Establish topic of research/research problem
3. Indicate the methodology
4. Present the main findings
5. Indicate the main conclusion
6. Keywords (optional)

Question 9

Literature Review

Answer 9

Haywood and Wragg (1982: 2) put it:

“a review of literature should demonstrate that ‘the writer has studied existing work in the field with insight’”.

Question 10

What exactly should a Literature Review do?

Answer 10

Evaluate the literature, and lead logically to your research questions.

Question 11

Functions of a Literature Review:

Answer 11

— Justify your research – what’s the issue? Why should the reader care?
— Explain and justify your research methods
— Give the background info/context your reader needs to know
— Get the vocabulary needed
— Show you are familiar with the research field/issues/techniques used

Question 12

In a Literature Review note things such as:

Answer 12

• Findings that are common/contested
• Two or three important trends in the research
• The most influential theories

Question 13

Literature Review: Conclusion

Answer 13

• Concluding paragraph reiterates overall assessment of the literature.
• It shows how the literature which has just been reviewed will be important for the following part of the dissertation (e.g. methodology).
• It prepares the reader to what comes next (e.g. methodology).
• Concise: one or two paragraphs ONLY!

Question 14

Research Methods/ Introduction

Answer 14

Restate the research objectives, explain the chapter objective with the research method you chose and why such method was chosen, and finish it the outline of the structure of the chapter.

• What specific research objective does your empirical research relate to?
• Why are you collecting your own data?
• Is there any indication on how are you going to structure your chapter?

Question 15

Research Methods/ Research strategy

Answer 15

Present the research method you chose and explain WHY it was chosen, using Literature on Research Methods to back you up. Compare and Contrast with some other strategies and explain why these other strategies don’t fit your research focus and the strategy you chose was/is the BEST

• What is your overall research strategy? (case study, survey, experimental, historical, action research, grounded theory etc.)
• Why have you chosen that research strategy?
• How do you intend sampling your target population?
• Why have you chosenthat sampling approach?

Question 16

Research Methods/ Data collection

Answer 16

Describe what, where, who and how your data refers to. Support your choice on data collection techniques through Literature on Data Collection. Provide as many details as possible so that another researcher could replicate your study. Include all the extra things as Appendices.

• How do you propose to collect your data? (questionnaires, interviews, observation, organizational reports, etc.)
• Why have you chosen to collect data that way?

Question 17

Research Methods/ Framework for data analysis

Answer 17

Present the analysis method you chose and explain WHY it was chosen, using Literature on Research Methods to back you up. Give details about the procedures used to analyse the data.

-Once you have collected your data, what are you going to do with it?
[or How are you going to analyse your findings?]

Question 18

Research Methods/ Limitations and potential problems

Answer 18

Address validity and reliability to show that your research was/is trustworthy, not a bunch of invented/created/planted data!

• Do you see any limitations or problems with your practical research?
• Have you faced the twin issues of validity and reliability?

Question 19

Methodology/ advice

Answer 19

• Don’t overdescribe the literature on research methods, use it to explain WHY your methodology choices are a good basis to the objectives of your reasearch
• Describe your methodology as clearly as possible: If another researcher were to conduct YOUR work, would they be able to based on your explanations?
• Read other methodology chapters from other dissertations to get examples of how to write it properly

Final Paragraph: Summary of this Methodology chapter. Introduce the reader to the next chapter, Results/Findings!

Question 20

Methodology structure

Answer 20

• RESEARCH STRATEGY
• DATA COLLECTION techniques,
• approach to DATA ANALYSIS,
• acknowledged LIMITATIONS of the work

Question 21

Results/Findings

what is?

Answer 21

The results should directly answer your research questions and clearly indicate the answers to your research questions or, if you are using hypotheses, whether they were fully supported, partially supported or not supported.

In most cases, it is best to report your results succinctly and clearly, particularly if you have a discussion section in your study, as that is where you can go into detail about your interpretations of the results.

Be sure to emphasise both those results that turned out as you had hoped and those that ran counter to your hypotheses.

Question 22

Results/Findings

introduction

Answer 22

•Introduction: The introduction provides a brief summary of and rationale for how
data were analyzed. It describes the organization of the chapter according to research
questions, conceptual framework, or thematic categories.

Question 23

Results/Findings

body

Answer 23

• Findings build logically from the problem, research questions, and design.
• Findings are presented in clear narrative form using plentiful verbatim quotes, and “thick description.” Narrative data are connected and synthesized through substantive explanatory text and visual displays, if applicable, not simply compiled. Some tables and figures may be deferred to the appendices.
• Headings are used to guide the reader through the findings according to research questions, themes, or other appropriate organizational schemes.
• Inconsistent, discrepant, or unexpected data are noted with discussion of possible alternative explanations.

Question 24

Results/Findings

conclusion

Answer 24

• Summary: This section explains in summary form what the chapter has identified,
and also prepares the reader for the chapters to follow, by offering some foreshadowing as to the intent and content of the final two chapters.

Question 25

Results/Findings

advice

Answer 25

Do not repeat in tedious prose what it is obvious for a knowledgeable peer to see at a glance. The dissertation advisor usually has an opinion about the level of detail needed in this chapter.

Table titles and figure captions should be understandable without reading the chapter text. Note all relevant results, even those that were contrary to the alternative hypotheses, or those that tend to distract from clear determinations.

Make statements of the results without any implication, speculation, assessment, evaluation, or interpretation. Sometimes the results and discussion are combined into one chapter, but in general, keep the results, and the conclusions and discussion separate.

In a qualitative study, the results often include many quotes from participants who were interviewed.

Question 26

Discussion

purpose

Answer 26

The discussion section of your dissertation is one of the most important parts of it, and it’s USUALLY worth the most marks.

Its purposes are:

• To interpret and explain your results;
• To answer your research question;
• To justify your approach;
• To critically evaluate your study.

Question 27

Discussion

/verb tenses

Answer 27

-Present/Past simple
-Present Perfect
-Modal verbs: could, may, might, should, etc.
-Connecting the results with the Research Questions (RQs)/ hypotheses
-Making claims regarding implications of findings/results
==don’t just describe, explain==

Question 28

Discussion

Language

Answer 28

• It is interesting to note…
• It could be possible that….
• Two examples within the data that strengthen the assumption that…..
• The results show considerable differences between…
• Regarding X, it is possible to draw some conclusions but it has to be stressed that they are mainly assumptions.

Question 29

Discussion

Recommendations

Answer 29

• Interpret the results and relate these back to what other studies have found, in Lit Review
• Use language that indicates the things that are interesting, surprising, relevant, unsurprising, etc.

Question 30

Conclusion

whats the point of…

Answer 30

“If there is one thing I want the reader to understand from reading this work, what is it?”

Question 31

Conclusion

Must/may..

Answer 31

• Must answer the questions;
• Must link back to your introduction;
• Should leave the reader with a positive impression;
• May refer to the practical application of your work;
• May acknowledge limitations or make recommendations for future study.

Question 32

Conclusion

main parts

Answer 32

• Introduction: restate the focus of the research
• Summary of the findings/results and discussion
• Recommendations according to the main findings
• Limitations of the research as a whole
• Suggestions for future/further research
• Final comment(s) / Self-reflection

Question 33

Conclusion

tenses

Answer 33

In a conclusion, you will usually want to use the present perfect (e.g. The aim of this dissertation has been to….) followed by the simple past (Chapter 1 provided an overview of…).

Question 34

Conclusion

common problems

Answer 34

• Repeating exactly what was said before
• Not “selling” your research well
• Too detailed
• Written with inappropriate language
• Not linking clearly with other parts of the paper