1. WRITINGWRITING
DISSERTATIONSDISSERTATIONS
Kuhu Pathak
MBA-Marketing
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EFFECTIVE LEARNING PROGRAMMEEFFECTIVE LEARNING PROGRAMME

2. DISSERTATION WRITING: OUTLINEDISSERTATION WRITING: OUTLINE
 Introduction
 What is a dissertation?
 Planning your study: generating a research
question; background reading & method
 Planning a research schedule
 Structuring your dissertation
 Working with your supervisor
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3. WHAT IS A DISSERTATION :WHAT IS A DISSERTATION :
Depends on department
 Extended lab/field report & conclusions
 Extended study
 Analysis of case study
 Project work from company placement
 Library driven examination of problem
 Model testing [e.g. Acc & Fin]
Metaphor of a journey
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4. RESEARCH PROPOSALSRESEARCH PROPOSALS i.e. plan for the dissertationi.e. plan for the dissertation
Required by many depts. Example from Linguistics:
 Area of research
 Questions you aim to answer
 Rationale i.e. reasons for researching this area-
contribution to understanding & practical use
 Your background in this area: previous knowledge &
gaps
 Data you will collect
 How you will collect data and how you will analyse it
 Initial bibliography i.e. review of key studies
* [progress report/ grant proposal-science]
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5. GENERATING A RESEARCH QUESTIONGENERATING A RESEARCH QUESTION
 Start with expected outcome or hunches
 Develop research question[s] or hypothesis
 Research question= well specified critical
question rather than description of what
aspect you want to find an answer to.
 2 stages: What am I interested in? What
questions can I make about this topic that
could lead to an investigation?
 Examples of RQs in psychology from Oxford
http://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/babylab/research.html
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6. GENERATING A RESEARCH QUESTIONGENERATING A RESEARCH QUESTION
 Hypothesis = A tentative proposition which is
subject to verification through subsequent
verification…. Guide to the researcher depicting
& describing the method to be followed in
studying the problem. In many cases hypotheses
are the hunches that the researcher has about
the existence between the variables [Verma and
Bear 1981 in Bell 1993]
 Forms framework of study: i.e. which literature
to investigate, how to select/devise methods;
how you discuss results and write conclusions
 NB need to modify question as study develops
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7. DECIDING ON RESEARCH METHODSDECIDING ON RESEARCH METHODS
 What data will you collect?
 How will you collect this data?
-interviews, questionnaires, case study
-lab or field work
-writing code and trialling software
designing a model or
hardware
-simulating/testing
-analysis of primary sources e.g. documents
[original historical, legal sources etc];
-secondary sources-
library & web sources- peer reviewed?
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8. ANALYSING DATAANALYSING DATA
How will you analyse this data?
 theory or framework,
 quantitative or qualitative
quantitative e.g larger scale, number/statistically based.
qualitative e.g. small scale, detailed description
 using software for analysis e.g. SPSS, Excel etc
How much data can you deal with in time allotted?
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9. READING: BACKGROUND THEORY OR LITERATURE REVIEWREADING: BACKGROUND THEORY OR LITERATURE REVIEW
 Read efficiently using SQ3RSQ3R
 SQ3R= Survey, Question, Read, Recall, Review
http://www2.ntu.ac.uk/sss/studysupport/Information
/Reading/SQ3R/SQ3R.htm
 Read critically- see Toronto Uni
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/critrdg.html
 Library –database searches –see subject
librarian
 Keep a careful record of reading & where used
in your dissertation 
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10. 10
PHD READING RECORD Date of notes/pages
author
title
publ/place/year/ed
topic
keywords
chap/section/rq
notes
comments
YOUR COMMENTS ON READING…..
YOUR NOTES FROM READING
BIBLIOGRAPHIC
THIS PART-
DETAILS.
TOPIC &
KEYWORDS
RESEARCH QUESTION.

11. SCHEDULING YOUR DISSERTATION WORKSCHEDULING YOUR DISSERTATION WORK
 Make a timetable or wall chart e.g. Gantt
Chart
 Identify best work times and keep to a daily
writing slot
 Split your dissertation into bite size-chunks
 Be realistic about daily targets
 Include time for input [supervisor & critical
friends] & for drafts & redrafts
 Familiarise yourself with deadlines* & plan
accordingly
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12. 3 key questions
1. Do I have the skills & knowledge to carry
out this research?
2. What time is needed?
3. Do I have time within my schedule?
 E.g. need to learn/improve knowledge of
statistics
 Learning software: Excel SPSS,
 Learning new techniques & other skills
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SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIREDSKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED

13. MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLEMAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE
How many words?
How much practical work & analysis?
2 ways of timetabling dissertations:
 Whole dissertation timetable: examples 1 & 2
 Weekly timetables: example 3
Important to break down dissertation into realistic
weekly tasks to make it more achievable
Look at the 2 examples of dissertation timetables
What level of detail would work best for you?
[Examples 1 &2 are from Strathclyde University's Centre for Academic practice webs
pages on Dissertation writing. See:
http://www.strath.ac.uk/Departments/CAP/dissertation/frameset4.html
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14. MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLEMAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE
B 14

15. MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLEMAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE
B 15

16. MAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLEMAKING A DISSERTATION TIMETABLE
The next slide shows how the plan for the
whole dissertation can be broken into weekly
tasks.
Allows you see progress at manageable level-
 focus on individual tasks
 tick off these tasks
 not be overwhelmed by totality
 know exactly where you are or should be
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17. MAKING A WEEKLY DISSERTATION TIMETABLEMAKING A WEEKLY DISSERTATION TIMETABLE
B 17

18. WHAT DOES A DISSERTATION LOOK LIKE?WHAT DOES A DISSERTATION LOOK LIKE?
Dissertation structure can vary significantly
from dept to dept & whether it’s based on an
empirical study or analysis of literature.
The former are based on a scientific report
structure:
 Introduction
 Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Conclusions
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19. AN OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTERS: INTRODUCTIONAN OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTERS: INTRODUCTION
This sets the scene, by introducing:
 the research area
 previous studies
 gap in research to be filled
 your research questions/hypotheses
 brief signposting of dissertation structure
NB In some dissertations, the background information
is in a separate chapter called Literature Review
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20. METHODSMETHODS
 Explains what methods you used to collect
data
 Explains how you collected the data
 Not just a description as it should explain
reasons for various choices made
 Goal of your explanation is to allow future
student to repeat your study
 Grammar! Past tense & passive used e.g.
Twenty five interviews were conducted…..
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21. RESULTSRESULTS
 Presents the results collected from the
method[s] you used
 But does not analyse these results
 May use a series of tables and figures to present
the results more effectively
 Talks the reader through the series of results
i.e. refers to figures
Figure 4.2 shows that the incidence of x rises when…
 Highlights key patterns
NB Some writers combine the Results & Discussion
headings and organise by topic
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22. DISCUSSIONDISCUSSION
 Interprets the results i.e. explains what they
mean
 Broadens from discussion of your results to how
they can be compared with the results of others
who’ve done similar research
 Refers to the previous studies you introduced
earlier
 Discusses any problems with results
 Doesn’t include tables & figures, except when
comparing your results with others
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23. CONCLUSIONSCONCLUSIONS
 A short, succinctly written summary
 Must addresses the research
question/hypotheses presented in the
introduction
 May include limitations of your study and
suggestions for further work
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24. OTHER BITSOTHER BITS
FRONT
 Title page
 Acknowledgements
 Contents
 List of figures*
 Glossary*
BACK
 References
 Appendices*
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*if your study requires this

25. WORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISORWORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR
 What can my supervisor?
 What won’t my supervisor do?
 Will they approve the research proposal/research
questions?
 Will they read with drafts of work & if so, to
what extent?
 Will they advise on methodology & help with
difficulties
~~~
NB Make agendas for supervision meetings/ Tape as a
record
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26. SOME DISSERTATION WRITING TIPS [i]SOME DISSERTATION WRITING TIPS [i]
 Keep a research journal with you to record ideas
 Write a dissertation timetable: whole process &
weekly
 Start writing early
 Set a daily writing slot
 Allow time for problems:personal & with your data
collection
 Set plenty of editing and rewriting time
 Get a critical friend to read through drafts and
feed them!
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27. MORE DISSERTATION WRITING TIPS [ii]MORE DISSERTATION WRITING TIPS [ii]
 Read at a couple of past dissertations
 Compare their structure by tracing through the
research questions from the introduction to
conclusion.
 Start writing in the middle- methodology or
background
 Write the introduction and abstract last, when you
know what you’ve found
 Introduce and conclude chapters. Guide the
reader through with signposting & cross
referencing
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Thank You
Thank You