Supervising CITY Dissertations

1
Supervising CITY Dissertations

• From Dissertation Proposal
• to
• Interim Report

2
The Interim Report - structure

• Cover sheet
• Title page
• Contents page
• Chapters
• References (Harvard only)
• The final part of the assessment of the 15 credit
  Research Methods module - must be properly and
  consistently presented

3
The Interim Report-contents

• The dissertation proposal
• The literature review
• The primary research methodology
• (Any data collected so far)
• A review of the work progress compared with the
  action plan
• Any suggested revisions and readjustments
• contents MUST be approved by the supervisor

4
The Interim Report and the Dissertation
Structure

• Introduction ToR (the proposal?)
• Literature review
• Methodology (the interim report?)
• Findings
• Summary, Conclusions, recommendations
• A brief personal reflection (optional, but
  beneficial)
• The structure is independent of the nature
  (academic or problem solving) and provides the
  key to logical, sequential execution and
  progressive supervision.

5
Staging Posts

• Choice of topic and supervisor
• Submission of dissertation proposal
• Finalising the TOR and research objectives
• Execution of literature review
• Design of primary research methodology
• Review of draft interim report
• Submission of Interim report
• Execution of primary research
• Submission of draft
• Submission of dissertation

6
The Supervision ProcessThe Dissertation
Supervision Records. A tool for

• planning
• project management
• audit
• discipline
• the administrative responsibility of dissertation
  supervisors

7
Integrating Dissertation Supervision and
Research Methods

• RM uses participative seminars and lets students
  learn from past submissions and each others
  current progress
• Scope, Structure (Overall/Chapter/Abstract0
• Literature reviews
• Criticise analysis engagement
• Length, Sources referencing
• Primary methodologies
• Appropriateness
• Eg Qualitative vs quantitative
• Execution
• Analyses/conclusions/recommendations
• RM supports supervisors with specialist
  knowledge. RM enable students to share Problems,
  Opportunities, Creative ideas, Disappointments

8
The tasks of dissertation supervisors

• Mpowering
• Motivating
• Mentoring
• Monitoring
• Marking
• The most important personal attribute is Mpathy

9
Fundamental issues for supervisors

• The nature of the dissertation
• Learning exercise, not professional/academic
  project
• The criteria for assessment of work
• Learning exercise, not peer review
• Assess primarily research skills, content
  secondary
• The management process
• Responsibilities relationships
• The one-to-one student relationship
• Control vs empowerment conflict
• Degree of direct involvement and availability
• Inconsistency and poor communications are bigger
  problems than lack of experience or academic
  skills

10
The supervision process - the role of the
Dissertation Progress Committee

• Impose discipline
• Handle deadline failures
• Handle breaches of discipline (eg plagiarism)
• Handle student complaints and appeals
• Ensure fairness
• Warning
• Condone breaches of procedure
• Allow (re)submission without penalty
• Allow (re)submission with penalty
• Fail the student
• The DPC reinforces the research culture and
  protects the co-ordinator and supervisors from
  student pressure

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Advice to Dissertation Supervisors

• Do not gratuitously impose your own interests on
  the student
• Do not allow repeated resubmission of any stage
• After each stage inform the student in writing
• What is good so far
• What is bad so far
• What action you advise the student to take
• Advise the student what action to take about poor
  language
•  
• The work is owned by the student