Dissertation introduction

Dissertation introduction

• What do you expect to get out of doing a dissertation?

• How do you think it relates to life after a degree?

Research is the World’s biggest industry

Dissertation introduction

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Dissertation introduction

Aim of the workshops

• to guide you through the complexities of organising and writing a dissertation that poses a significant question and offers a convincing argument

Dissertation introduction

What is research?

• Addresses a significant question

• Real research loops back and forth: moving forward a step or two, going back and moving ahead again

• Consists of many tasks which will compete for your time

Dissertation introduction

Dissertation introduction

Objectives

• How to turn a vague interest into a problem worth posing and solving

• How to build an argument that motivates readers to accept your claim

• How to anticipate the reservations of thoughtful but critical readers and then respond appropriately

• How to create an introduction and conclusion that answer the toughest of questions- so what?

• How to read your own writing as others may, and thereby learn when and how to revise it

Dissertation introduction

Critically looking at dissertations

• Presentation- pictures, way the introductory pages are set out, i.e. chapters and page numbers etc

• Bibliography- extensive- text books or primary literature/articles etc?

• Structure- clearly defined chapters?

Dissertation introduction

Planning

• You have 1 year from now!....

This term you need to develop your research design or plan

Dissertation introduction

The question- an essential step

• How to turn a vague interest into a problem worth posing and solving

• You all have topics • Ask a question within that topic • But it needs to be original • It needs to be significant• And it needs to be answerable: what kind of

data/evidence will be required and can you access it

Dissertation introduction

Wider significance

• Why should this question also grab my readers? • What makes it worth asking?

– I am studying x because I want to find out what, when, how– In order to help my reader understand…

Dissertation introduction

Hypothesis

A specific statement or proposition, stated in a testable (researchable) form

• Amino acid racemisation is the best method for ageing skeletons

• Hunter gatherers lived healthier lives than farmers

BUT: It needn’t always be framed in an explicitly scientific way; it may be about testing the applicability of a particular theory to a dataset, for example.

Dissertation introduction

Aim

E.g. The Beaker period in the British Isles(not very self explanatory)

To re-evaluate Beaker Chronology in the British Isles

To examine the evidence for disarticulation in the Mesolithic burial record

To investigate the increase in fish consumption in Britain around 1000 AD

Dissertation introduction

Objectives

Your objectives are the places you have to visit in order to reach your destination, in other words the specific pieces of work you have to do to address your research question

• produce an inventory of sites with Beaker pottery• evaluate the attributes of Beaker typology• examine the associations with other artefacts• produce a calibrated radiocarbon chronology of Beaker

sites• compare with the chronologies of continental Europe

Dissertation introduction

Ideally, your objectives should then map onto your chapter headings

Dissertation introduction

A re-evaluation of Beaker Chronology in the British Isles

Aim:• To provide a re-evaluation of Beaker chronology in the British Isles

Objectives:• To produce an inventory of sites with Beaker pottery• To evaluate the attributes of Beaker typology• To examine the associations with other artefacts• To produce a calibrated radiocarbon chronology of Beaker sites• To compare with the chronologies of continental Europe

Chapters:Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: Sites in the British Isles with Beaker potteryChapter 3: The attributes of Beakers and their associations with other

artefactsChapter 4: Radiocarbon chronology of Beaker sitesChapter 5: Discussion and conclusion

Dissertation introduction

Methods and materials

Aims and objectives

Methods = HOW am I going to do this?

Dissertation introduction

Data gathering and organisation

• Data from primary literature• Using ADS or other databases• Collating your results Database: ACCESS, EXCEL,

familiarise yourself• Where to start- be methodical, perhaps work

geographically or temporally

Dissertation introduction

How would you go about planning fieldwork?

• Planning- strategy of where to start, how to carry it out, what is needed

• Risk assessment• Equipment• Travel• Permissions• Help (team of fieldwalkers, surveying)

Dissertation introduction

Dissertation introduction

Timetable

• http://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/ugrad/courses.yrk/diss/menu.html

Dissertation introduction

• Turn up to workshops

• Attend meetings with supervisors

• Work consistently through the year

• Ask if you need help!

My expectations

Dissertation introduction

Agreement document……

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ARRANGE MEETINGS WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR