Succeeding with Your Master's Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Handbook

✍ Scribed by John Biggam

• Publisher: Open University Press
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 322
• Edition: 5
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Succeeding with your Master’s Dissertation is a thorough and comprehensive guide for postgraduate dissertation students. Now in its fifth edition, it offers clear, straightforward and practical support for each stage of the master’s dissertation.

Brimming with examples of good practice, to help students to reach their full potential, this fully updated and revised edition takes students through the entire writing process, from start to finish, from proposal to submission.

Featuring detailed guidance on how to:
• Clarify your research objectives
• Produce a research proposal
• Complete each chapter of a traditional dissertation: Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methods, Findings, and Conclusion
• Reference sources
• Add a professional touch
• Prepare for a viva

This is essential reading for social science students of all disciplines. Additional, tailored advice is provided on:
• Writing about theory and practice
• Critiquing what you have created
• Completing a systematic review

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
1 THE MASTER’S DISSERTATION
What’s a Master’s dissertation?
What are you being tested on?
What skills and qualities do you need?
How to use this book
The structure of the book
Summary of key points
2 SUBMITTING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Purpose and content
Working title
Background information
Overall research aim
Individual research objectives
Research methods
Setting a timescale
Ethics
Checklist
Further reading
Summary of key points
3 PREPARING FOR YOUR DISSERTATION
Getting comfortable
Creating a dissertation template
Supervision: roles, responsibilities and meetings
Dealing with feedback
The dissertation marking scheme
An emotional journey
Checklist
Reference
Further reading
Summary of key points
4 PLAGIARISM AND REFERENCING
Plagiarism
What is referencing?
In-text referencing
Creating a reference list
Checklist
Reference
Further reading
Summary of key points
5 THE DISSERTATION INTRODUCTION
The general structure of the Introduction
Background
Research focus
Overall research aim and individual research objectives
Outline research methods and timescales
Value of your research
A further suggestion
Checklist
Summary of key points
6 THE LITERATURE REVIEW
What constitutes a good Literature Review?
Structuring your Literature Review
The language of academic discourse
Description vs critical evaluation
Learning theory and your dissertation
Literature search techniques
University library databases
Concluding your Literature Review
Contextual Review
Systematic Review
Checklist
References
Further reading
Summary of key points
7 RESEARCH METHODS
What’s it all about?
Research strategy
Data collection
Data analysis
Limitations and potential hurdles
Artist as researcher
Checklist
Further reading
Summary of key points
8 WRITING UP YOUR FINDINGS
Writing up the findings: traditional dissertations
Writing up the findings: art and performance-baseddissertations
Checklist
Further reading
Summary of key points
9 CONCLUDING YOUR DISSERTATION
What is in a Conclusion?
Introduction
Research objectives: summary offindings and conclusions
Recommendations or implicationsor lessons learned
Contribution to knowledge
Self-reflection
The viva
Checklist
Summary of key points
10 WRITING THE ABSTRACT
What is an abstract?
How to write an abstract
Abstract template
Checklist
Summary of key points
11 ADDING A PROFESSIONAL TOUCH
Creating a list of abbreviations
Creating a glossary of terms
Creating a simple index
Further information
Checklist
Summary of key points
12 SUMMARY OF GOOD AND BAD PRACTICE
Forewarned is forearmed
Summary of good practice to adopt
Summary of bad practice to avoid
APPENDICES

✦ Subjects

Writing; Science Education; Research; Science; Plagiarism; Research Proposals