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Writing Your
Dissertation
 If you want to know how . . .
Writing an Assignment
Proven techniques from a chief examiner that really gets results

Critical Thinking for Students

Learn the skills of critical assessment and effective argument

How to Pass Exams Every Time

Proven techniques for any exam that will boost your confidence
and guarantee success

Writing an Essay
Simple techniques to transform your coursework and examination

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Writing Your
Dissertation
How to plan, prepare and
present successful work

3rd edition

DEREK SWETNAM

howtobooks
Published by How To Content,
A division of How To Books Ltd,
Spring Hill House, Spring Hill Road,
Begbroke, Oxford 0X5 1RX. United Kingdom.
Tel: (01865) 375794. Fax: (01865) 379162.
email: [email protected]
http://www.howtobooks.co.uk

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or stored in an

information retrieval system (other than for purposes of review) without the express
permission of the publisher in writing.

The right of Derek Swetnam to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

© Copyright 2004 Derek Swetnam

First published in third edition paperback 2000

Reprinted 2001 (twice)
Reprinted 2002 (twice)
Reprinted 2003 (twice)
Revised and reprinted 2004
Reprinted 2005 (twice)
Reprinted 2006 (three times)
Reprinted 2007
First published in electronic form 2007

ISBN: 978 1 84803 126 5

Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford, UK

Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock, Devon, UK
Typeset by Kestrel Data, Exeter, Devon, UK

NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good faith for general
guidance and no liability can be accepted for loss or expense incurred as a result of
relying in particular circumstances on statements made in the book. The laws and
regulations are complex and liable to change, and readers should check the current
position with the relevant authorities before making personal arrangements.
 Contents

List of illustrations ix
Preface to the third edition xi

1 Before You Start 1

Checking the requirements 1
Choosing a subject 5
Checking feasibility 6
Watching ethical practice 7
Planning realistic time scales 8
Producing your master plan 11
Checklist 13
Case studies 14

2 What is Involved? 15
Judging how much work 15
Planning your tasks 16
Writing, revising and editing 18
Devising a schedule 19
Keeping a sense of proportion 21
Assessing your own proposals 22
Assessing reliability, validity, generalisability 23
Using tutors and support 26
Adopting house styles 27
vi WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION

Checklist 28
Case studies 29

3 Getting Started 31
Selecting your research methodology 31
The researcher's status 41
Sampling 42
Following general patterns 46
Structuring your dissertation 46
Reading for a degree 48
Checklist 54
Case studies 54

4 Techniques 56
The tool box 56
Making observations 57
Preparing questionnaires 58
Conducting interviews 64
Negotiating with people 69
Checklist 71
Case studies 72

5 Down to Details 74
The introduction: setting our your stall 74
Writing your literature review 76
Writing about research methods 81
Presenting and analysing data 83
Presenting conclusions and recommendations 9
Compiling the bibliography 93
Appendices 96
Checklist 97
Case studies 97
 CONTENTS vii

6 Writing Up 99
Choosing the style 99
Checking spelling, grammar and punctuation 102
Keeping a coherent thread 108
Presentation, printing and binding 108
Checklist 113
Case studies 113

7 The Final Stage 115

Mark your own dissertation 115
Preparing for a viva 118
What happens now? 120
Repairing a disaster 121
Checklist 121
Case studies 122

Further reading 125

Glossary 127
Index 131
This page intentionally left blank
 List of illustrations

1 A typical task plan 17

2 A sample dissertation proposal 20
3 A sample tally sheet 59
4 Sample covering letter 70
This page intentionally left blank
 Preface
to the Third edition

Almost every higher education course in the country

requires a thesis, dissertation or research project of some
considerable length in full or partial fulfilment of its
qualification. Such an undertaking often strikes terror into
the average student, who is typically assumed to be able to
work alone, to understand all the principles of research and
to have high-level reading and writing skills. Where these
have been acquired is not always apparent.

Some institutions offer excellent research methods courses

and impeccable support; others, sadly, leave students to sink
in a sea of panic which leads to high rates of non-completion
or drop-out.

There are many top grade books on research methods but

most assume that the researcher is a professional with un-
limited time and resources. This book is based on the real
experiences of students who do not match such a description
but who need ideas for planning and producing a good piece
of work without stress and total disruption of their personal
life.
xii WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION

The basics are: asking a question, finding the answer and

reporting the answer. It sounds easy: it can be easy and
enjoyable but only for the organised and committed student.

Only minor changes have been necessary to this edition.

Student feedback suggests that the book fulfils its purpose of
providing signposts to the most direct route through what,
for many, remains a daunting task.

Mature students especially will appreciate the pragmatic

approach which still makes no concessions to the quality and
integrity of the final product.

The temptation to expand this book into a 'great tome' of

research methods has been resisted! There are quantities
of advanced texts in every library and new styles of inter-
active study, internet usage and co-operative publishing have
emerged.

Despite this, hardly a week goes by without a report of some

ludicrous, contradictory research into an aspect of diet or
medicine carried out at enormous expense.

This book remains committed to the practical fundamentals

of useful inquiry undertaken with honesty and integrity by
ordinary students.
Derek Swetnam
 1

Before You Start

CHECKING THE REQUIREMENTS

Congratulations! You have been accepted for a higher-level
course or have reached the stage where a taught course
moves into the dissertation, project or extended study phase.
There are over 5,000 postgraduate courses alone offered by
universities and colleges in Great Britain and countless other
courses demanding at some stage a potentially daunting
individual research study.

Research is inquiry into some aspect of the physical, natural

or social world. It must be systematic, critical, empirical and
have academic integrity. All students should assume that
their work will be subject to public scrutiny and whatever
approach is used readers must be convinced that all the
recommendations and conclusions are firmly grounded in
meticulous work.

You would certainly not have been admitted to your course

if the staff did not think that you could pass. The greatest
danger is not failure but non-submission and some courses
which appear to have high failure rates in fact reflect the
latter.

1
2 WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION

This book is about planning, strategy and keeping your

sanity while producing good work.

Although every educational organisation has its own idio-

syncratic requirements they have many features in common
and general principles apply to all. Apart from the very best
PhD work all student research is a compromise between
what is desirable and what is possible. Mature, part-time
students will need to keep a fine balance between the
demands of job, family and course.

Mature students have special problems which they are often

very reluctant to share. They have a high ego stake in the
qualification, especially if they are already in a senior post.
There may be other more junior members of staff who have
already achieved the qualification. They often feel that their
academic writing skills have atrophied and that they will be
overwhelmed by the phenomenal brain power of the other
students. Almost by definition the older student is more
prone to marital, family and health problems.

Few of these fears are ever realised and are usually more
than compensated for by the wisdom and motivation that
comes with age. Whatever problems you may have it is
certain that someone else has experienced and overcome
them. Beware of rationalising difficulties: that is blaming
home, job, health and family unfairly for your lack of
progress. Confide in your supervisor and most will move
heaven and earth to assist.
 BEFORE YOU START 3

Assessing your abilities

If your course is optional and especially part-time you will
almost certainly have terrible butterflies in the stomach
about your ability to see it through. This is absolutely
normal. Try the following self-assessment:

1. Do you have the motivation and commitment?

2. Can you cope with the demands of your job and family as
well?
3. Do you have the reading and writing skills?
4. Can you face the travelling and possible evening work?
5. Can you afford the course fees or obtain funding?
6. Can you work on your own?
7. Do you respond to pressure and deadlines?

If that all seems a bit gloomy try this:

1. Are you looking for an exciting and rewarding

experience?
2. Do you want to expand your thinking powers?
3. Do you want to meet stimulating people?
4. Are you ready to enhance your career opportunities?
5. Do you want to feel proud of your achievement?

Convinced? Here is a tip from one of my students who had

every possible personal problem during her research. Do not
associate your dissertation too closely with your work or
professional life. Regard it as an escape from stress, not as an
addition to it; it really helps.
4 WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION

Building your confidence

A great preventer of progress is lack of confidence and
the insecurity that results. To start your confidence-building
programme check all the details of the requirements and
regulations as follows:

What is the exact date of submission?

What wordage is required?

Are there any intermediate specified dates, eg literature

review completed by?

How must the work be presented?

What are the rules about format?

What tutorial support is available?

It is quite helpful to see actual examples of previous student

work, available from the department or library, if only to
convince you that you can do better than many of those that
were accepted!

It is strongly advised that the house style and format is

adopted from the outset (see Chapter 6). Even if the student
is a computer expert, re-formatting many pages of text,
especially if desperate for time, can be a frustrating task.

The wordage in research projects varies from about 10,000

up to 60,000 or more for a high-level pure research degree,
the average at master's level being 25,000. There has been
a distinct tendency in recent years for these figures to
be reduced. If the numbers produce a sick feeling in the
 B E F O R E YOU START 5

stomach be reassured that exceeding the limit is a far more

common problem than the reverse.

The crucial issue of using tutors will be returned to later.

CHOOSING A SUBJECT
This apparently simple process can be agony. Usually only
general parameters are given, yet great precision is expected.
You will be seriously handicapped unless the topic is one in
which you are interested enough to spend up to a year or
more and to sustain that interest during hours of work. The
dissertation should be 'about something': the days when
rambling, discursive essays were accepted have long gone
and you must never start without a detailed plan, preferably
also a title, even though this may be subsequently modified.

The selection process

The process is rather like sharpening a pencil, for example:

General area of study - sociology

Particular interest - groups of old people

More specifically - community care

Especially - in residential homes

Precisely - in warden-controlled homes

Draft title - 'The management of community care in

warden-controlled residential homes'.

The eventual fine point is the working title which may be

further refined or limited to one exact location. From this
6 WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION

stage another useful technique is to develop an ideas list

which covers about 30 possibilities for the research, to be
edited down as the research questions are developed. Some
students do a personal brainstorm or draw multilegged
spiders with an idea on each leg. If you have access to others
on the course that is a useful stage at which to exchange
views with them and/or arrange an initial tutorial meeting.

CHECKING FEASIBILITY
The title and the ideas may sound wonderful but are they
possible? However worthy it may be to survey 50 local
authorities, can you support the postage, cost and travel
that such a project implies? One undergraduate proposed
researching the roles of Thomas Hardy and Arnold Bennett
as regional novelists in six months: at least 15 novels to be
read!

It is more important for you to achieve the qualification and

stay sane than to impress the academic world with an amaz-
ing work of erudition. If appropriate, high-level scholarship
may be developed later from the work in hand.

Many of the ideas on the first list will have to be crossed out
on the grounds of impracticability. Check the following:

Is the project physically possible in time, distance and

volume of work?

Can it be afforded?
 BEFORE YOU START 7

Do you have, or can you develop rapidly, the skills

needed for the research?

Will you be permitted to gain access to the suggested

sites?

Can you find the necessary literature?

Are there any ethical or moral problems?

Will the topic remain 'live' over the period of the

research?

Would you have the support of the college and/or your

employer?

Do not assume anything. If in doubt about access get written

confirmation. A burning issue in schools or the health
service can be extinguished by legislation. Many education
students have had their research made virtually worthless
by government legislation on such matters as school ex-
aminations and governorship.

Be particularly careful if you plan to research with children

or ethnic minorities. While most employers are helpful and
cooperative some can be jealous or obstructive, especially if
the work may reveal defects in an existing system.

WATCHING ETHICAL PRACTICE

Students may be surprised when they are given a written
policy on the ethics of research and even asked to sign that
they have read it. Some of these can be quite complex,
especially where physical research on people or animals is
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