Writing Successful Undergraduate Dissertations in Social Sciences : : A Student's Handbook.
A practical guide for students undertaking their dissertation, Writing Successful Undergraduates Dissertations in Social Sciences uses a mixture of exercises, strategies, case study material and further reading to give hints and tips on beginning and managing a research project and working with supe...
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| Place / Publishing House: | Milton : : Taylor & Francis Group,, 2020. Ã2020. |
| Year of Publication: | 2020 |
| Edition: | 2nd ed. |
| Language: | English |
| Online Access: | |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (241 pages) |
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Table of Contents:
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- Figures, tables and case studies
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- 1. What is a dissertation?
- Introduction
- Definitions of the dissertation
- Purpose of a dissertation
- What distinguishes the dissertation from other work?
- Dissertation organisation and structure
- Preparing for the dissertation
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 2. Getting support
- Introduction
- What is the role of your supervisor?
- How can your supervisor help you to identify and define your research question?
- What else can you expect from your supervisor?
- Reaching agreement with your supervisor
- Group supervision
- Email and virtual meetings
- Feedback on draft chapters
- Why is supervision so important? Can't you just get on with your dissertation on your own?
- Managing difficulties with supervisors
- Dissertation support and information technologies
- Who else may be able to help you?
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 3. Research questions and getting started on your dissertation
- Introduction
- Deciding on study objectives and preparing for a dissertation
- Finding a topic for the dissertation
- Clarifying ideas and narrowing focus
- What is a good research question?
- Taking notes
- Time-management and work planning
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Note
- Further reading
- 4. Searching and reviewing literature
- Introduction
- What is a literature review?
- Why search the literature?
- What makes a good literature review?
- How do I structure or organise my literature review?
- Where do I find information for my literature review?
- Using search engines to find information
- Essential steps in literature review
- Starting your literature review
- Published books.
- Journal articles
- Using databases to find and gather informationfor your literature review
- Theses and conference papers
- Using communication technologies and social networking platforms to stay abreast of new literature
- The bliss of browsing
- Sourcing references
- Working with sources
- Reading the references
- Moving to the literature review
- Drawing on support from others
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Note
- Further reading
- 5. Choosing an appropriate research methodology for your dissertation
- Introduction
- Research paradigms and philosophical positions
- Research paradigms and taking a philosophical position
- Overview of methodological approaches
- Pragmatics: justifying your approach
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Note
- Further reading
- 6. Types and sources of data
- Introduction
- The importance of data in dissertation writing
- Research approaches and types of data
- What categories of data will you use?
- Where do I find existing research dataor material?
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 7. Data collection
- Introduction
- Data collection techniques for primary data collection
- Combining approaches to data collection
- Flexibility and consistency in designing your data collection strategy
- Design of research instruments
- Sampling
- Sample selection methods
- Doing your data collection
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 8. Ethics and legal issues regarding social research and personal data
- Introduction
- What do we mean by research ethics?
- Why is ethical research important?
- What are the basic principles for ethical research?
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (DPA) (2018)
- Personal data and notion of protection
- Lawful basis for collecting and processing personal data.
- What does this mean for the design of my research project?
- Anonymised and pseudonymised data
- Working with 'vulnerable' research participants
- Practicalities of addressing ethical issues
- Compliance with GDPR and other legal requirements
- Guidelines for relatively standard research proposals
- Being aresponsible researcher
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 9. Analysing quantitative data
- Introduction
- Variables
- Data exploration and descriptive statistics
- Averages and measures of central tendency
- How do I know which measure of central tendency to use?
- Measures of variability (spread or dispersion)
- Using software to analyse your data
- Preparing data for computer analysis
- Introducing IBM-SPSS, defining variables and inputting data
- Graphs and graphical display of data
- Beyond descriptive analysis to inferential statistics
- Analysing relationships - inferential statistics and hypothesis testing
- Data interpretation
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 10. Analysing qualitative data
- Introduction
- Preparing data for analysis
- Phases in qualitative data analysis
- Using software for qualitative data analysis
- Other approaches to qualitative data analysis
- Checks on quality
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 11. Writing the dissertation
- Introduction
- Drawing up a plan for writing your dissertation
- Structuring your dissertation
- Acknowledging the work of others
- Appendices
- Final draft
- Proofreading
- Submitting the completed dissertation
- Academic writing
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- 12. Making the most of your dissertation
- Introduction
- What have I got from doing my dissertation?
- Graduate attributes and employability
- CV and competence-based interviews.
- Publishing your dissertation and disseminating your research
- Developing your academic writing
- Key messages
- Key questions
- Further reading
- Appendix 1 List of common statistical tests
- Appendix 2 Socio-economic deprivation in English towns and cities - 2015
- References
- Index.