APS331 Dissertations
The Aims of Dissertation Work.
The aim of a dissertation is to provide a critical review of a specific topic. This will involve you in more than a factual description of a topic. It should allow a reader to obtain an overall view of the current state of knowledge and understanding in the selected field. This will involve a critical analysis of hypotheses in the field and the quality of the evidence used to support them. Where controversies exist you should be prepared to indicate which side has the stronger case. You should also identify gaps in our current knowledge and understanding and make suggestions for the future development of the field.
The preparation of a dissertation will thus involve extensive reading of original research papers, reviews and books, together with information extracted from other media. The key processes in preparing a dissertation are thus: identification, selection, interpretation, imagination, integration and presentation.
The Role of the Dissertation Supervisor is to:
- Discuss and consult with the student on the exact nature of the student’s dissertation.
- Discuss the broad outline of the topic and provide guidance on how to gather the appropriate information.
- Discuss the student’s developing ideas on the chosen topic.
- Discuss content and structure of the dissertation.
- Examine up to 25% of the written work to provide general comments on the quality of the writing. (No feedback will be given on work submitted after Monday of Week 10).
- Meet with the student at least once every fortnight.
The Role of the Dissertation Student is to:
- Attend all scheduled meetings regarding your dissertation and take responsibility for motivating the content of these meetings
- Formulate ideas about dissertation topics prior to meeting with your supervisor
- Discuss and refine these ideas in consultation with your supervisor
- Provide an outline of the topic
- Identify and gather appropriate reading material: your supervisor will not provide a reading list
- Develop the content and structure of your dissertation
- Write and produce the dissertation with only guidance from your supervisor
- Provide written work to the dissertation supervisor for feedback in sufficient time. (No feedback will be given on work submitted after Monday of Week 10).
- Hand in the dissertation on time and submit an electronic copy via the TurnItIn system.
