Dissertation Workshop 1 Essay Writing/Dissertation Planning

1. Dissertation Workshop 1Essay Writing/Dissertation Planning John Solomos Department of Sociology

2. Today… • Issues about essay writing • Expectations • Style • Presentation • Dissertation • Planning your dissertation • Choosing your topic • Preparing the review of literature and research

3. Deadlines… • Essays • 6th January 2014, Term 1 • 28th April 2014, Term 2 • Dissertation • 1st September 2014, Submit Dissertation

4. Writing for social science • Becker, H. S. (1986). Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press • Becker, H. S. (1998). Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You're Doing It.Chicago: University of Chicago Press

5. Writing essays • Becker’s (1986) account of how to write in the social sciences highlights two interlinked processes • Talking through, discussing your ideas as you are writing; clarifying ideas before writing them down • Producing rough drafts, reworking them and clarifying what you want to say, how to express your key arguments • Ability to learn how to express complex ideas without too much jargon

6. Learning processes • Discussions with supervisors, fellow students, • Attending conferences, going to seminars, reading other papers • ‘Socialisation into the academic culture of their subdiscipline’ • Adopting a specific approach, linked to supervisors or other significant scholars • Adopting specific theoretical languages, turns of phase

7. Talk about your essays • Important to plan, talk about your essays • Write a draft outline and discuss with your lecturers • Read around the topic and don’t rely too much on limited sources • Work on your style of writing, have a structure for essays

8. Any questions? • Do you have any questions about essays? • Expectations we have about essays • How we mark essays • Feedback on your essays

9. Preparing for your dissertation • Don’t rush into it • Read (what grabs your attention/makes you angry/raises more questions) • Think about a topic on one of your modules that interested you • Work-related issue • Be flexible

10. Thinking about your dissertation • Once you find a dissertation topic think about • Methods • Access • Ethics • New phenomenon • What do you want to contribute by researching this topic?

11. Choose something you want to do • Not too big and not too small… • Answerable • Feasible • Go back to why a topic interests you (a good place to find questions) • Read, read, read… • See dissertation as a work in progress • Keep a research diary

12. Some questions • Does the methodology match the question? What kind of data will it produce? • Is it feasible? • Is it practical? • Is it ethical? • Do I have the necessary skills?

13. Choosing your research topic • Term 2 – discuss dissertation ideas with Programme Director • End of Term 2 – submit form with provisional title/topic (used as a basis for assigning appropriate supervisors) • Beginning of Term 3 – students informed of their assigned supervisor • Students are responsible for initiating contact with supervisors

14. Look at examples • Look at past examples • Scope • Structure • Aims and objectives • Questions • Selection of high-graded dissertations available to borrow

15. Work on your writing • Writing and presenting drafts of your research • Important to search for a writing style that suits both you and your research topic • Need to write all the time, day by day as you do your dissertation, in order to improve and redefine your style to suit you

16. Use supervision • Confirm preferred arrangements for communication – e-mail/office hours separately arranged appointments… • Agree a timetable (e.g. meetings, handing in draft chapters etc) • Clarify unavailable periods – time away? Especially busy periods? • Arrange supervision sessions before the end of July

17. Some steps… • Read the handbook – it has a long section specifically on the dissertations. • Identify key dates • Second workshop – Monday 3rd March 2014, 1-3pm, • Submit form stating provisional title/research area – Thursday 13th March 2014 • Submit research ethics form –Thursday 8th May 2014 • Submit dissertation–1st September 2014

18. Structure of dissertation • Abstract (topic, method, key findings – c.200) • Introduction – why the research is important; key findings (c.1000-1500) • Literature review – existing research; conceptual framework. Theoretical and empirical context (c. 3000) • Methodology – what you did (and why you did it); ethical issues; connections to theoretical approach; research questions (c. 1000) • Empirical chapter(s) • Conclusions (c.1000) • Bibliography

19. Length of dissertation • 15,000 words, excluding title, abstract, bibliography, appendices, footnotes and endnotes (within reasonable use). • Penalties: • 1-500 words over = 3 marks deducted • 501-1000 words over = 6 marks deducted • As so on in 500 word increments • Thorough editing makes writing better

20. Think about • Plagiarism • Running out of time: • Starting too late • Poor planning • Map out aims and objects on calendar • Build in time for reviewing / revising • Technology • Submission deadline is the last possible time you can submit, not the only day you can submit!

21. Value your dissertation • Self-directed study – what you want to do • Chance to work closely with experienced researchers • Develop your skills through practice • Conduct a sustained piece of research • Develop expertise in a particular topic • Lay groundwork for further study (PhD…)

22. Next… • Monday 3rd March, Room SO.11, 1.00-3.00 • Developing your topic further • Theory-based dissertations • Consideration of ethical dilemmas • Considering PhD research • Any others areas you would like us to cover….