Succeeding with your Master’s Dissertation
A step-by-step handbook


1 Introduction 1
A Master’s dissertation: what is it? 1
So, what skills do you need to succeed? 4
Watch your words! 10
How to use this book 12
Summary of key points 13
2 Preparing for your dissertation 15
Putting together your research proposal 15
Research focus and overall research aim 15
Research objectives and keywords 20
Research methods 22
Setting a timescale 23
Producing a dissertation template 25
Supervisor meetings 27
Summary of key points 29
3 The dissertation Introduction 31
The general structure of the Introduction 31
Background 32
Research focus (revisited) 37
Overall research aim and individual research objectives 39
Value of your research 44
A further suggestion 46
Summary of key points 48
4 The Literature Review 50
Focus on your research objectives 50
Referencing 54
Description vs critical evaluation 64
Learning theory and your dissertation 70

Structuring your Literature Review 73
Summary of key points 78
5 Research methods 79
What’s it all about? 79
Research strategy 82
Introduction 82
Quantitative vs qualitative research 86
Sampling techniques 88
Positivism and phenomenology 92
Justifying your research strategy 95
The question of reliability (and validity) 99
Data collection 101
Preparation, preparation, preparation 101
What and why? 104
Framework for data analysis 113
Limitations and potential problems 121
Summary of key points 127
6 Writing up your findings 129
The general approach 129
The process of description, analysis and synthesis: an example 132
Summary of key points 137
7 Concluding your dissertation 138
What’s in a Conclusion? 138
Research objectives: summary of findings and conclusions 140
Recommendations 147
Contribution to knowledge 151
Self-reflection 156
Summary of key points 160
8 Finally: Writing the abstract 162
What is an abstract? 162
How to write an abstract 163
Abstract template 167
Summary of key points 169
9 Practical issues 171
Presenting your work and preparing for a viva 171
Presenting your work: common mistakes 171
Preparing for a viva 176
The marking scheme 179
Good grammar 183
A word of warning: plagiarism 190
What counts as plagiarism? 191
What if you are accused of plagiarism? 197
10 Summary of good practice to adopt and bad practice to avoid 199
Forewarned is forearmed 199
Dissertation writing: summary of good practice to adopt
and bad practice to avoid 200
Practical issues: summary of good practice to adopt and bad
practice to avoid 202
Appendix A Sample Introduction 205
Appendix B Sample chapter outline 213
Appendix C Sample Literature Review Introduction 215
Appendix D Sample Literature Review Conclusion 217
Appendix E Sample Research Methods 219
Appendix F Sample Questionnaire 241
Appendix G Sample marking sheet 247
Appendix H Sample completed marking sheet 249
Appendix I Comprehensive set of useful verbs 251
Appendix J List of research objective keywords 255
References 256
Index 263