Writing your dissertation – finishing it all off

Dr Karen Smith, Educational Development Unit

Aims of the session

To understand what is expected from a discussion section

To see what writing a conclusion involves, and to write one

To formulate strategies for proofreading To experiment with error recognition To give you the opportunity to apply what you have

learnt to your own writing

You’ll need …

Something to write on An article in your area that you have wanted to read

for a while, but have not had time to yet A copy of a turnitin report for your draft dissertation

(if possible) – or a copy of your draft dissertation. A copy of your bibliography

Expect to spend 2-3 hours on these exercises

Discussion section

In the last session, we looked at how to start off your dissertation. Here we discuss how to end it.

The discussion section includes: Discussion of results Conclusions Recommendations

What goes in the discussion section?

The discussion section is the place where you show the significance of your findings and highlight what has been achieved when compared to the original aims. You can relate your findings to the previous research you cited in the literature review. You can also anticipate any potential criticisms and acknowledge the limitations.

Beginning the discussion section

In a piece of small-scale research, Swales and Feak (2004, pp.270-272) highlighted the following different ways to open the discussion section: Citing the main results Discussing the literature Offering general conclusions Reminding the reader about the original purpose Highlighting the special importance of the research site Focusing on the methodology Discussing the limitations of the research

Beginning the discussion section - task

Read the discussion openings here, and classify them according to the 7 openings given on the previous slide.

Then take a look at what we thought here.

Then look at six published journal articles in your area – what is common practice there?

Conclusion

In the conclusion we tell the reader what we have told them.

Conclusion writing is a distillation exercise, where the most important parts of our work are discussed.

A conclusion should not introduce new information. We often do not produce a conclusion which does

justice to our work. It is the last section we write, usually when we are tired.

Based on Beard, C. (2005) Mastering University, Abingdon, Gower

Conclusion writing technique Since writing the conclusion is not easy, here is a technique

which might help you:

Read through your dissertation slowly

Highlight the main points with a highlighter

Summarise these points on sticky labels

Sequence the labels and use them to write your conclusion.

Based on Beard, C. (2005) Mastering University, Abingdon, Gower

Conclusion writing task

Find that article that you’ve wanted to read, but hadn’t found the time. You’re going to read it now – but first, cover the conclusion with a piece of paper, so you can’t see it!

Follow the technique given on the previous slide. Highlight the main points; summarise them; then use the summaries as a plan and write the conclusion.

How does your conclusion compare to the author’s? Did you highlight the same things?

Recommendations

You can finish your dissertation by offering recommendations for future work, or further research.

Your recommendations should be realistic and appropriate to the research you have carried out.

Reference list

In session 2, we highlighted how important it was to acknowledge the work of others. To complete your citation, you need to make sure that all of the sources you cite are listed at the end of the dissertation in the reference list (bibliography).

It is important to keep a note of your sources as you read them – this will save lots of time at the end!

Consistent reference lists There are referencing systems to ensure that you provide all

the information required, and that you present it consistently.

The most frequently use system is Harvard. This is described on the next slides.

Different subject disciplines use different systems. There are

also differences between systems. And there are different versions of Harvard! Check your course documentation to see that you are following the correct one. Your subject librarian will have discipline-specific guides.

Harvard - referencing a book Bryman, A. (2001) Social Research Methods. 3rd ed. Oxford:

Oxford University Press Silverman, D. (2005) Doing Qualitative Research – a

practical handbook. London: Sage Name(s) of authors – surname first, then initials. If editors, add Ed. or

Eds. Year of publication – in brackets Title of book in italics Edition, if not the first Place of publication Name of publisher Number of volumes, if more than one

Harvard - referencing a chapter in a book Maxwell, J. A. (1998) Designing a Qualitative Study. In: L.

Bickman, D. J. Rog, (eds.) Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods, London: Sage

Silverman, D. (2003) Analyzing Talk and Text. In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln, (eds.) Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Material, London: Sage Name(s) of authors of the chapter – surname first, then initials. Year of publication – in brackets Title of chapter Editor(s) of the book. Prefaced by In: and followed be Ed. or Eds. Title of book in italics Place of publication Name of publisher

Harvard – referencing journal articles

Labianca, G.; Brass, D. J. and Gray, B. (1998) Social Networks and Perceptions of Intergroup Conflict: The Role of Negative Relationships and Third Parties. Academy of Management Journal, 41(1), 55-67 Name(s) of authors of the chapter – surname first, then initials. Year of publication – in brackets Title of article Full title of periodical Volume number in bold Issue number in brackets Page numbers

Harvard - referencing web materials

Cousin, G. and Jenkins, D. What is a Case Study? [online] Last Accessed on 8 March 2007 at : http://www.coventry.ac.uk/iped/resources/casestudy.htm

Increasingly there is material on the Internet that you may want to use. Remember that not everything on the Internet has been refereed. The example above gives you a guideline to follow.

Other references

The previous slides are not comprehensive. There might be other kinds of source that you want for reference (e.g. theses, conference papers, government reports).

Use this guide, produced by Sheffield Hallam University, to check how to reference more specialised sources:

The LITS Guide to Referencing and Citations

Bibliography task

Make changes to the bibliography here, so that it is consistent and follows the system shown on the previous slides.

Then check here to see whether you noticed everything.

Proofreading

Make a note of the strategies that you employ when you are proof reading

Then look at this website (OWL Proofreading Strategies) to see whether they match ours – are there things here that you had not thought about?

Don’t forget that friends can often spot errors that you miss. Find a dissertation reading friend – read each other’s dissertations and offer feedback.

Proofreading task

Have a go at this task and see whether you can spot the errors. Try and explain what the problem is with each error you highlight.

Then check you answers with ours.

Dissertation tasks

If you have access to turnitin, submit your dissertation and produce a report.

Look at this presentation which gives instructions as to how to submit your work to turnitin and produce an originality report.

If you do not have access to turnitin, have the most recent copy of your dissertation to hand.

Dissertation task cont.

Working with your originality report or your draft dissertation, answer these questions: Have you acknowledged every use of the work of others? In your quotations, have you used the exact words used

by the author? Have you remembered the quotation marks for short

quotes? Have you indented longer quotes? In your paraphrasing, have you used your own words and

sentence structure?

Dissertation task 2

Now take a look at your bibliography: Are all your references in there? Is all the necessary information there? Have you presented your bibliography consistently? Have you followed the correct referencing system for your

course?

Highlight all the references that you are having problems with, find solutions now (rather than the night before you submit!)

Concluding comments

In these three sessions, we’ve worked through the component parts of the dissertation.

Hopefully, the exercises have encouraged you to think about what goes in each part and how you can approach writing them.

Don’t forget to read the course documentation, which will give specific detail on how to layout and format your dissertation

Good luck with the finishing touches!

Useful references

Beard, C. (2005) Mastering University, Abingdon: Gower

Hart, C. (2004) Doing your master’s dissertation, London: Sage

Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. B. (2004) Academic Writing for Graduate Students, Michigan: The Michigan University Press