Briefing on Information and Requirements for Dissertations

1
Briefing on Information and Requirements for
Dissertations

• Department of English Language
• and Literature

Dr. Szerencsi Katalin Dr. Granville Pillar
6 September 2005
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Topics for Discussion

• General Information
• Roles and Obligations of the Student
• Roles and Obligations of the Supervisor
• Dissertation Format and Regulations
• The Components of a Dissertation
• Research Methodology
• Dissertation Disciplines
• Assessment Criteria
• Grading
• Question Time

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General Information

• The submission of a dissertation is a requirement
  for every final-year student.
• Students should have finalised their dissertation
  topics with their supervisors after having
  successfully completed half of their studies.
• Faculty information on dissertations is now
  available on the college web site. The current
  departmental guidelines can be obtained from the
  home page of the English Department.

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General Information

• Previously written dissertations are available
  for viewing in the English Departments library.

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Roles and Obligations of the Student

• Each student is entitled to 6-8 hours supervision
  spread throughout the dissertation writing
  process.
• Failure to attend a consultation without
  explanation will result in loss of that hour.
• Students are required to come with written work
  or prepared questions - mere presence at the
  consultation is not sufficient.

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Roles and Obligations of the Student

• Each student should,
• produce basic ideas
• write a detailed study plan and follow it
• make changes as are necessary
• access materials for the research
• accept constructive criticism from the
  supervisor
• hand in the dissertation on time.

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Deadline for the Submission of Dissertations

• 14 April 2006

Dissertations received after this date will not
be accepted, and will thus result in failure of
the dissertation.
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Roles and Obligations of the Supervisor

• The supervisor,
• helps students to clarify a chosen topic
• shares his or her knowledge on the topic
• advises students on the choice of research
  instruments
• agrees on deadlines at the stages of the writing
  process
• reads the students drafts and suggests any
  changes

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Roles and Obligations of the Supervisor

• The supervisor,
• provides the evaluation of the dissertation
• compiles the necessary information for the
  defence of the dissertation
• is present at the defence.

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• Length
• Type A dissertations approx. 30 pages
• Type AC dissertations approx. 30 pages
• double spaced, A4, Times New Roman (12)
• Margins
• left - 3 cms
• right - 3 cms
• bottom - 2 cms
• top - 2 cms

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• The 30-page limit does not include
• title page
• abstract
• table of contents
• references or bibliography
• appendices
• diagrams, graphs, illustrations
• statistical tables

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• Page Numbering
• consecutively in Arabic numerals
• e.g. 1, 2, 3, not i, ii, iii,
• Chapters
• new page for every new chapter
• chapter heading is to be in distinctive typeface
  separated from main text
• the first line of new paragraphs should be
  indented 5 spaces.
• no indentation after main titles or subtitles

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• Binding
• one copy to be submitted to the English
  Department
• one copy for the student to keep
• dissertation must be bound in accordance with the
  faculty requirements
• spiral binding or plastic sleeve covers are not
  acceptable.

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• Plagiarism
• is the deliberate copying of the work of another
  author, word for word, without due
  acknowledgement
• is the borrowing of ideas and arguments of
  another author without due acknowledgement, even
  if the wording differs from the original source
• copying the work of a fellow student or from
  someone who is unknown to you.

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• Culpable Plagiarism
• is stealing and is cheating
• in any part or of any length, will result in
  automatic failure of the dissertation.
• Suspected Plagiarism
• prior to the final submission of the
  dissertation, this will be indicated to the
  student who will be invited to re-submit his or
  her dissertation with revised referencing and
  acknowledgements.

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• Avoid Plagiarism by
• noting bibliographical details (title, author,
  year of publication, publisher etc.) and page
  number of the text.
• enclosing direct quotations taken from a source
  with quotation marks (i.e. ..) and noting page
  number.
• noting bibliographical details after a
  paraphrased or summarised text taken from an
  original source.

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• Avoid Plagiarism by
• reading faculty handbooks (available from the
  faculty library) which include instructions for
  correct quotation citation and referencing.
• If Culpable and/or Suspected Plagiarism is
  identified prior to the submission deadline and
  in unbound form, the supervisior will advise the
  student to amend the dissertation in accordance
  with the regulations. No such amendment is
  possible after the dissertation has been
  submitted in bound form.

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Dissertation Format and Regulations

• We as a department would rather receive
  original work from students which contains some
  language errors, than perfect work which is not
  their own, but simply copied from secondary
  sources. A plagiarised dissertation tells us
  nothing about a students knowledge or
  intellectual competence. As such, it is not
  assessable.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Title Page
• Abstract (Summary or Synopsis)
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Literature Review (Survey)
• Chapters Containing Body of Research
• Conclusion
• References/Bibliography
• Appendices

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Title Page
• Gives title, author, college and year of
  submission.
• Title should summarise the main idea of the
  dissertation, and be no more that 20 words.
• Abstract
• Gives a summary of the dissertation and should be
  between 100-150 words.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Abstract may include
• background
• aim of the research
• methods used
• main findings
• recommendations
• conclusion

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Acknowledgements
• reference to anyone who has given substantial
  assistance with the research
• your supervisor
• someone who has given comments
• person who typed it
• anyone who has given you personal support

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Table of Contents
• should correspond to your list of chapter
  headings and subheadings
• system of numbering should not go beyond two
  subdivisions.
• i.e. 1.2.6 or 3.4.4., not 1.2.6.1 or 3.4.4.1

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Introduction
• establishes the topic of the research
• establishes the research question
• establishes the rationale - summarises previous
  research on the topic
• establishes the significance and indicates what
  is missing in previous research
• establishes the aim of the research

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review
• in an empirical study it is always between the
  Introduction and Methodology chapters
• in a non-empirical study it is normally
  incorporated into the body of the dissertation.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Harvard System (in-text or author/date)
• Note System (either footnotes or endnotes)
• Full bibliographical details are given in
  alphabetical order in the References/Bibliography
  at the end of the dissertation.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Direct quotations shorter than 30 words should be
  enclosed with quotation marks, followed by the
  number of citation (in superscript) if using the
  note citation system, or by the authors
  name/authors names, date of source and page
  number (in parenthesis, i.e. round brackets), if
  using the in-text system.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Direct quotations longer than 30 words should be
  single-spaced, indented 5 spaces and in a font
  one size smaller than the body text. Quotation
  marks are not needed and the source should be
  given at the end of the quotation in parenthesis.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Direct quotations placed within quotation marks
  must be the exact words found in the source. The
  spelling, punctuation verb tense, verb-subject
  agreement etc, must not be altered to suit your
  text. Rather, your text should be changed to
  conform to the quotation.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Paraphrases or ideas gleaned from a source should
  also be acknowledged, but it is not necessary to
  enclose them in quotation marks or give the page
  number.
• Citations of paraphrases should include the
  authors name/authors names and date of
  publication directly after the paraphrase.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Author is mentioned in the body of the text.
  Example
• Cognition is defined by Jacobs and Schuman
  (199224) as the perception of a stimulus,
  attention to that stimulus, the movement of that
  stimulus into memory, and finally, the expression
  or the use of that information.

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Author is not mentioned in the body of the text.
  Example
• Cognition is defined as the perception of a
  stimulus, attention to that stimulus, the
  movement of that stimulus into memory, and
  finally, the expression or the use of that
  information (Jacobs and Schuman, 199224)

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Quoting from a source taken from the internet,
  cited in the text
• If authors name and date are available
• e.g. (Smith, 2003) then quote full citation
  details in References/Bibliography
• If authors name or date is not available, the
  minimum information should include the date
  retrieved and the full web page reference.
• e.g. (retrieved August 19, 2005 from the World
  Wide Web ww.englishclub.net/teachers/workshop/vid
  eo.htm)

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Literature Review - Citation Conventions
• Quoting from a source taken from the internet
  cited in References/Bibliography
• Details of text, including name of
  author/authors, date of publication (if
  available), title of article, place published and
  publisher (if applicable) full web page reference
  (i.e. http//www .and the date on which you
  downloaded it from the internet (e.g. Smith, K.
  (2003), Metaphysical Poetry. Retrieved August 19,
  2005 from the World Wide Web www.englishclub.net/
  teachers/workshop/video.htm)

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Chapters Containing Body of the Research
• Empirical Research (i.e.gathering of data
  quantitative or qualitative based on experiment
  and/or observation)
• a presentation of the research method
• a presentation of the findings
• a discussion of the findings

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Chapters Containing Body of the Research
• Non-Empirical or Analytical Research (i.e.where
  throughout the study there is a line of argument
  usually based on research questions you have
  developed about concepts or theories in your
  discipline area)
• structure and content are much less predictable

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The Components of a Dissertation

• Conclusion
• Reports the procedure and aims.
• Reports findings and claims based on the
  findings.
• Supports how other research supports present
  findings (or vice versa).
• Suggests limitations of procedure or findings.
• Proposes implications of the findings or claims
  based on findings.
• Makes recommendations.

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Dissertation Disciplines

• British and American Studies
• Literary Topics
• Stylistics
• Literary Theory
• Translation
• Cultural Studies

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Dissertation Disciplines

• Language and Linguistics
• Practical, Descriptive and Contrastive Grammar
• Applied Linguistics
• Language Testing
• Discourse Analysis
• Translation

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Dissertation Disciplines

• Methodology
• Comparative Studies on Teaching Approaches
• Language in the Classroom
• Error Analysis
• Classroom Management
• Course Book Evaluation
• Skills Teaching
• Teacher Training

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Dissertation Topics

• Methodology
• Content
• The dissertation must be classroom related and
  contain evidence of empirical, original research
  conducted through a number of different methods
  e.g. questionnaires, case studies, interviews,
  observation instruments and/or textual analysis.

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Assessment Criteria

• Theoretical integrity and practical applicability
  0-10
• Relevance of and critical approach to the topic
  0-5
• Structure and balance 0-10
• Expression of personal opinion 0-10
• Language, style and accuracy 0-15

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Grading

• 46-50 5
• 39-45 4
• 32-38 3
• 25-31 2
• 0-24 1