Books:
Doing your research project - 5th Edition - Judith Bell
Palgrave study skills - critical thinking skills - Stella Cottrell
Section 371.3 in library
COP = 40 credit module, 1/3 of 3rd year
6-9000 dissertation
Related practical work
5 x 30 minute 1:2:1 tutorials
DEADLINE: 12 January 2017 - 2-4pm
Substantial draft submitted on Turn it in just before Christmas (around 27 November)
"cohesive research project with practical and textual outcomes."
Planning the Project:
- Write down all questions you want to investigate
- Consider each on merits and focus on two (primary and secondary)
- Write an A4 'first thoughts' for each
- What is the purpose of the study? Is your question researchable? (in 15 weeks)
- Get a working title out of this
Title:
- An answerable question
- Title and subtitle
- Note key questions your research raises as you go along
- No more than 15-20 words
- Appropriate tone, key terms (no jargon/slang)
- Discuss with your tutor at first tutorial
- Can be revised but not significantly different
Project Outline:
- Consider timings
- Deadline - 15 calendar weeks (not taught)
- Consider holidays/work/life
- Think about working title and different component parts that need researching
- Allocate timings to each
- Draw up project outline based on above
- Allow generous time for initial reading, researching and writing up
- Factor in tutorials
- Include targets/milestones for written and practical elements
Literature Elements:
- Reading takes more time than you think
- How much can you read in 100 hours?
- Start finding out all key texts on topic
- Focus reading based on initial assessment
- Find key texts and plan time to read them
- Find secondary sources/criticisms of key texts
- Use journals (www.jstor.org)
Referencing:
- Start compiling a bibliography at start
- Reference as you go along
- Include all details (name, forename, date, place, publisher, page)
- Use Harvard
Structure Dissertation into Chapters:
- Dissertation separated into chapters
- Each chapter evidence a different theoretical/methodological approach
- Chapters different in focus - intro explains why chosen certain structure - conclusion draws chapters together
- How do chapters relate to practical research?
- Move from general to specific
- Discuss structure with tutors in first tutorial
On e-Studio - guide about what goes into dissertation and in what order. What goes into each.
Introduction - 10% - around 6-900 words
Don't have to write about your practical work in your dissertation.
HAVE to write somewhere how practical and dissertation link. May make dissertation better if write about practical in the dissertation. SYNTHESIS.
Conclusion MUST answer title question. Answers based on evidence and points from main body of dissertation.
Ethics:
If a students COP3 research involves human objects and/or data not in the public domain then ethical approval must be granted by their supervisor/programme leader.
Approaches to Research:
Quantitative (numbers)
- Surveys (done properly)
- Data collection/market research
Qualitative (psychological)
- Interview
- Participant observation
- Reflective journal
- Action research
Reflection:
This COP lecture proved to be really really useful, giving me a huge amount of information I need to start properly researching and fine tuning the structure of my dissertation.
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