The Dissertation Thread 2015-2016

Original post by icecreamwave

Hey everyone I've just joined this, I have to pick a dissertation title but I'm really not sure on what to pick. There are a couple of areas that interest me, but I can't put my finger on one atm!

What are you studying? :h:

What are your options?

Have you spoken to your tutor about this to see what they think would be the best one to go for? :smile:

If all of them interest you I'd go for one which is most realistic in terms of getting sources/data/literature etc. to work from.

Original post by tinkerbell_xxx

How is everyone keeping motivation to finish their dissertation?
I have none right now :frown:

I've done the first 2 parts (proposal and literature review) I just have no motivation for the rest of it and the 'product' :cry:

Well done on doing the first parts :woo:

How about setting yourself a daily goal in terms of time? Starting is always the hardest thing I reckon. I wouldn't worry about doing it in order, just get out what you can to start with? You can go back and re-write and edit later.
.

Reply 82

tinkerbell_xxx

15

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

Well done on doing the first parts :woo:

How about setting yourself a daily goal in terms of time? Starting is always the hardest thing I reckon. I wouldn't worry about doing it in order, just get out what you can to start with? You can go back and re-write and edit later.
.

I think the first 2 parts were easier because we had deadlines for them to hand in, so I know I was working towards something but I tried setting my own deadline for myself and I'm not sticking to it :frown:

I just need to focus!

I was thinking about doing it in the 'wrong' order :smile:

I was going to write my 'product' which is a security policy document and then work on the actual dissertation document as my security policy would be going in the appendix.
Any time I tell myself I'm going to do ___ I just get distracted and not do it :/ I've just been stressing myself out with exam revision and worrying about finding and getting a job so I neglect my project :mad:

Thank you Puddles! :hugs:

Reply 83

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by tinkerbell_xxx

How is everyone keeping motivation to finish their dissertation?
I have none right now :frown:

I've done the first 2 parts (proposal and literature review) I just have no motivation for the rest of it and the 'product' :cry:

Motivation is really hard, and I know by this stage on my degree I was feeling pretty burnt out. If you've got time, can you take a day for yourself, say this Saturday and just do no uni work? Treat yourself to something nice, destress, go outside and do something fun. Let yourself have a day off. Then build yourself a schedule with everything broken down into manageable chunks- so you know, today I just have to write 500 words, or today I just have to sort out all the figures. Once you've done your task for the day, stop and don't be tempted to work on it anymore!

Keep being kind to yourself and try to make sure you have time for things you enjoy too, otherwise by the time exams come around you'll be a massive ball of stress and that won't help you do your best.

Reply 84

She-Ra

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=22493-eight-steps-to-writing-an-entire-dissertation-in-just-four-weeks

Hi everyone,

Based on previous advice in this thread and others we've put together a new advice articlle on how to nail your dissertation in 4 weeks :h:

Hope it helps! :bl:

Reply 85

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by tinkerbell_xxx

I was thinking about doing it in the 'wrong' order :smile:

I was going to write my 'product' which is a security policy document and then work on the actual dissertation document as my security policy would be going in the appendix.
Any time I tell myself I'm going to do ___ I just get distracted and not do it :/ I've just been stressing myself out with exam revision and worrying about finding and getting a job so I neglect my project :mad:

Yeah, it's much harder to crack on with things without the imminent threat of a deadline. I really like pomodoro technique because all you're committing to is 25 minutes of concentrated work without distractions.

You have a study plan/to do list? When you've got all these things hanging over it's like a bunny in the headlights effect and it makes it impossible to start anything :eek3:

Breaking it down to individual tasks helps with taking the fear away I find :yep:

You can do it :dumbells:

Original post by SlowlorisIncognito

Motivation is really hard, and I know by this stage on my degree I was feeling pretty burnt out. If you've got time, can you take a day for yourself, say this Saturday and just do no uni work? Treat yourself to something nice, destress, go outside and do something fun. Let yourself have a day off. Then build yourself a schedule with everything broken down into manageable chunks- so you know, today I just have to write 500 words, or today I just have to sort out all the figures. Once you've done your task for the day, stop and don't be tempted to work on it anymore!

Keep being kind to yourself and try to make sure you have time for things you enjoy too, otherwise by the time exams come around you'll be a massive ball of stress and that won't help you do your best.

This is such good advice. :woo:

Being kind to yourself is really important :h:

Reply 86

tinkerbell_xxx

15

Original post by SlowlorisIncognito

Motivation is really hard, and I know by this stage on my degree I was feeling pretty burnt out. If you've got time, can you take a day for yourself, say this Saturday and just do no uni work? Treat yourself to something nice, destress, go outside and do something fun. Let yourself have a day off. Then build yourself a schedule with everything broken down into manageable chunks- so you know, today I just have to write 500 words, or today I just have to sort out all the figures. Once you've done your task for the day, stop and don't be tempted to work on it anymore!

Keep being kind to yourself and try to make sure you have time for things you enjoy too, otherwise by the time exams come around you'll be a massive ball of stress and that won't help you do your best.

Thank you, that is amazing advice!
The problem I have with giving myself a day off is that I feel guilty for not working :colondollar:

It was my birthday last week and I went out all day and I felt so bad I took a text book with me to read in the car

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

Yeah, it's much harder to crack on with things without the imminent threat of a deadline. I really like pomodoro technique because all you're committing to is 25 minutes of concentrated work without distractions.

You have a study plan/to do list? When you've got all these things hanging over it's like a bunny in the headlights effect and it makes it impossible to start anything :eek3:

Breaking it down to individual tasks helps with taking the fear away I find :yep:

You can do it :dumbells:

I make plans but just stare at them and don't do work :tongue:

I shall definitely try harder to stick to it though! Thank you :hugs:

Reply 87

OP

Original post by tinkerbell_xxx

Thank you, that is amazing advice!
The problem I have with giving myself a day off is that I feel guilty for not working :colondollar:

It was my birthday last week and I went out all day and I felt so bad I took a text book with me to read in the car

I know you can't switch off your feelings, but you need to try and stop this. Having time off is really important for your stress levels and giving yourself time to recharge. If you know you're working productively for x hours a day (and try to work with no distractions, turn your phone off, don't have facebook or whatever open in another tab), then allow yourself free time too.

I think the thing with uni is that all your (generic you) time can blur into sort of "half-working" time, when you are doing something uni related, but you're also chatting to someone, listening to music, maybe you're alternating between doing work and posting on TSR or scrolling through tumblr or whatever.

This doesn't just mean you're not super-productive when you're working, although that can be a problem. It also means because you don't have clearly defined boundaries between "doing uni work" and "not doing uni work", quite often you never really switch off.

What worked for me is setting myself a task for each day I had free time, and until that was done, I just plowed through- but it was an achievable task that I could complete in the time I had available- so my week might be Sunday- "Find 10 research papers for X essay and make notes" + Write 500 words on dissertation. Monday- "Find 5 more papers for X essay and make notes". Tuesday- "Do graphs and tables for dissertation" Wednesday- "Write 1000 words for X essay" Thursday- "Meeting for group presentation + write 500 words on dissertation" Friday- "Finish first draft of X essay and decide if I need to do more research + Do 5 slides for presentation."

Once I'd done the task, my time was my own and I could do what I liked and I tried to alternate things, especially not just working on my dissertation for, like, ten days in a row.

It doesn't work for everyone, and some people might prefer a more time based system- e.g. work for 2 hours each week day broken up into 30 minute slots. But if you have a system where you work, and really concentrate, and then have guilt free time off, I think that works much better and makes you more motivated and productive than trying to work constantly, while also doing other things.

Reply 88

tinkerbell_xxx

15

Original post by SlowlorisIncognito

I know you can't switch off your feelings, but you need to try and stop this. Having time off is really important for your stress levels and giving yourself time to recharge. If you know you're working productively for x hours a day (and try to work with no distractions, turn your phone off, don't have facebook or whatever open in another tab), then allow yourself free time too.

I think the thing with uni is that all your (generic you) time can blur into sort of "half-working" time, when you are doing something uni related, but you're also chatting to someone, listening to music, maybe you're alternating between doing work and posting on TSR or scrolling through tumblr or whatever.

This doesn't just mean you're not super-productive when you're working, although that can be a problem. It also means because you don't have clearly defined boundaries between "doing uni work" and "not doing uni work", quite often you never really switch off.

What worked for me is setting myself a task for each day I had free time, and until that was done, I just plowed through- but it was an achievable task that I could complete in the time I had available- so my week might be Sunday- "Find 10 research papers for X essay and make notes" + Write 500 words on dissertation. Monday- "Find 5 more papers for X essay and make notes". Tuesday- "Do graphs and tables for dissertation" Wednesday- "Write 1000 words for X essay" Thursday- "Meeting for group presentation + write 500 words on dissertation" Friday- "Finish first draft of X essay and decide if I need to do more research + Do 5 slides for presentation."

Once I'd done the task, my time was my own and I could do what I liked and I tried to alternate things, especially not just working on my dissertation for, like, ten days in a row.

It doesn't work for everyone, and some people might prefer a more time based system- e.g. work for 2 hours each week day broken up into 30 minute slots. But if you have a system where you work, and really concentrate, and then have guilt free time off, I think that works much better and makes you more motivated and productive than trying to work constantly, while also doing other things.

Thank you so much!! I shall definitely try that now. I do work and do other stuff as well which I really need to stop, especially when the TV is on I end up watching that rather than focusing on my work :colondollar:

You are very helpful! :biggrin:

Reply 89

OP

Original post by tinkerbell_xxx

Thank you so much!! I shall definitely try that now. I do work and do other stuff as well which I really need to stop, especially when the TV is on I end up watching that rather than focusing on my work :colondollar:

You are very helpful! :biggrin:

I think the problem with doing stuff like this, as I said, isn't just that you don't focus- it also means you don't fully switch off.

Hopefully it helps a bit anyway!

Reply 90

lilGem

20

So my time in the lab came to an end on Friday sadly but it definitely reassured me I wanted to pursue an Mres and in time a PhD.

I have my methods and materials part of my research project about 95% written out :yep:

when it's done I'm going to send it over to the PhD student and Mres student supervising me to go through and make changes before I add it to my complete first draft.
I have also been told my research project complete draft is due first week back (same week as my assessed project presentation- 15 minutes long; an essay- last summative coursework piece aside from this module on top of revision so I'm going to be in for a busy Easter :colondollar:

)

The research project itself is due 2 weeks after that and finals start 3 weeks after that! :redface:

However I'm glad I've got one section more or less drafted even if it's only about 600/6000 words it's taken the pressure of slightly!

Reply 91

Snc1995

Hi everyone :smile:

I'm doing my dissertation on domestic violence in teenage relationships but due to ethical considerations I have to use secondary research. I'm struggling to write my rationale for my proposal as i'm unsure what the gains from my research would be? Can anyone help?
Also, what kind of methodology do you think would work best for this?

Thanks in advance and sorry for all the questions... this whole thing is overwhelming me!

Reply 92

Snc1995

Hi everyone :smile:

I'm doing my dissertation on domestic abuse in teenage relationships but due to ethical considerations I have to use secondary research. Im struggling to write my rationale for my proposal as I'm unsure what the gains from the study would be. Can anyone help? Also what kind of methodology do you think would work best for this?

Thanks in advance, this whole thing is overwhelming me!

Reply 93

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by Snc1995

Hi everyone :smile:

I'm doing my dissertation on domestic abuse in teenage relationships but due to ethical considerations I have to use secondary research. Im struggling to write my rationale for my proposal as I'm unsure what the gains from the study would be. Can anyone help? Also what kind of methodology do you think would work best for this?

Thanks in advance, this whole thing is overwhelming me!

Heya - what subject are you studying? Have you spoken to your supervisor about your topic? :h:

Would it be better to pick a topic where you'll be able to undertake primary research...? Is primary research emphasised in the guidance for you dissertation?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 94

Roving Fish

22

Just got the all clear from my Independent Study supervisor on what I've done so far... 2,000 words to go and I'll be ready to hand in. :colone:

Reply 95

Snc1995

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

Heya - what subject are you studying? Have you spoken to your supervisor about your topic? :h:

Would it be better to pick a topic where you'll be able to undertake primary research...? Is primary research emphasised in the guidance for you dissertation?

Thanks for your reply :smile:

I'm studying criminology, my tutor said for the topic I want to focus on it has to be secondary research which is fine as we can choose either. I'm just struggling at what the rationale for this would be as the research is already there and i'm just reviewing it!

Reply 96

OP