Writing a dissertation

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Writing a dissertation
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Overview

• Recommendations
• Outline of the dissertation
• Planning your dissertation

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Recommendations

• Know your departmental guidelines / logistics
• Know what your marker is looking for you to
  demonstrate
• When choosing your question, think about what
  interests you, but also about how youll answer.
  (For instance, look at the resources in your
  life, what organisation could make a good case
  study / where / with whom could you conduct
  research?)
• Know the support available to you.

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Recommendations

• Break the 13,000 words into sections, plan each
  separately
• Do the research / case study first, literature
  review second, knowing the answer already
• To begin the literature review, find a research
  article

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The classic outline

• Question the more specific, the more marks /
  less work!
• Answer - based on a discussion of the literature
  / research / case law (literature review)
• Test you test in the real world / a controlled
  setting the answer you got from the library (case
  study / research project)
• Discussion compare your theoretical answer with
  the test results how do they match up?

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The sections of a dissertation

• Introduction (500 words)
• Literature review (3 5,000 words)
• Case study / research project (3 5,000)
• Discussion (1 2,500 words)
• Conclusion/Recommendations (1,000 words)

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Introduction (500 words)

• Paragraph 1
• Establish the context (why is the topic
  important?)
• State your question
• Paragraph 2
• Outline your argument in answer to the question
• Paragraph 3
• Explain your case study / research and how this
  tests the argument

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Literature Review (3 to 5,000 words)

• Gives a theoretical answer to your question
• Give the background, including the development of
  research etc.
• Discuss competing theories / schools ending
  with a winner
• Link to the case study by explaining which theory
  you will be looking for / testing / your
  expectations

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Case study, Questionnaire(3 to 5,000 words)

• Tests your theoretical answer in the real world
• Intro explain the test, say what youre looking
  for
• Background what does the reader need to know?
• Relate the events / issues / performance youll
  be analysing

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Research Project (3 to 5,000 words)

• Tests your theoretical answer in the real world /
  in a controlled setting
• Intro summarise study, state hypotheses
• Background what does the reader need to know?
• Methodology incl. discussion of quantitative /
  qualitative methods etc. , justify your choice of
  methods
• Results

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Discussion (1 to 2,500 words)

• Match the results to the theoretical explanations
  you were looking for
• Intro restate the test say what you were
  looking for
• Divide into sections based on the theory /
  elements of the results

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Conclusion/Recommendation (500 words)

• Draw it all together
• Paragraph 1
• Restate the question
• Summarise your argument in answer to the question
• Paragraph 2
• Summarise the case study / research findings
• Outline the discussion conclusions
• Paragraph 3
• So what? - significance, next etc

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Task 1

• Think about your topic and likely question, e.g.
  How can social movements influence political
  processes?
• Briefly what is the answer to the question?

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Planning the literature review

• Tips
• Dont reinvent the wheel, find a journal research
  article
• Sketch out the main positions, be clear on their
  competing claims and the evidence justifying
  these (big paper!)
• Think about the flow of ideas in the paragraphs
  list these and check it makes sense

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Section outline Literature review

• Question Why was Norway involved in promoting
  peace in the Middle East in the mid 1990s?
• Introduction to the argument
• Definitions of realism  
• Definitions of realism
• Norway and Internationalism
• History of Norwegian foreign policy
• Motives of Norwegian foreign policy
• Importance of oil transportation to Norway
• Norway and the Middle East
• Norwegian conflicts of interest
• Norways voting record at the UN re. The Middle
  East
• Limits of Norwegian commercial Interests In the
  Middle East
• Norwegian Israeli relations
• Problems between Norway and Israel

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Task 2

• Your literature review is the theoretical answer
  to your question.
• Who are the main theorists?
• What do they argue?
• Who do you agree with, why?
• What then is the answer to the question?

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Example

• How can social movements influence political
  processes?
• Resource mobilisation theory (Olson etc.)
• Framing reality, repertoire of action, resonant
  message, organisation and structure
• Political process theory (MacAdam etc.)
• Political cleavage and opportunity, elite
  stability alliances, media utilisation
• Answer is the combination of both movements
  need both a political opportunity to exploit and
  the capacity to do so

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Task 3 - Case study / Research project

• Given your answer, what test will you apply?
• What is the topic of your study?
• How will you do the study?
• What is interesting / commendable about this?
• What theoretical explanation will you be looking
  to support / dispute?
• When will you do this?

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Example

• Compare the experiences of two social movements,
  one successful the other not. Analyse their
  progress from the perspective of resource
  mobilisation and political process theories to
  establish if these are key elements in
  successfully influencing policy making.
• (e.g. the cases of the student and indigenous
  movements during the constitutional crisis and
  constituent assembly in Colombia in 1991)

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Conclusions

• See the dissertation as an essay (3 5k) in
  answer to a question, a detailed case study (3
  5k) informed by the essay you wrote and a third
  essay (1 2.5k) comparing the one with the
  other.
• Plan each section at the level of paragraphs,
  consider the flow of ideas and overall
  consistency of what youre doing.
• Dont describe, be making an argument throughout
  (even the background sections should introduce
  only whats relevant to the flow of your argument)

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Conclusions

• Think about your timing
• You need to use this term Easter is for
  revision, summer term doesnt really exist
• This term you can ask questions during office
  hours (and double up your dissertation reading
  with your exam preparation!?)
• End this term with a clear plan
• Take a break after the exams, then do the study,
  then write up your plan (April)
• Spend August in the Greek Islands