Designing and Writing a Dissertation
Added on 2019-09-30
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DISSERTATIONThe Aims of the DissertationThe aim of the dissertation is to provide you with an opportunity to further your intellectual and personaldevelopment in your chosen field by undertaking a significant practical unit of activity, having an educational valueat a level commensurate with the award of your degreeThe dissertation can be defined as a scholarly inquiry into a problem or issues, involving a systematic approach togathering and analysis of information / data, leading to production of a structured report. The Dissertation TopicIt is usual to give you some discretion in the choice of topic for the dissertation and the approach to be adopted. Youwill need to ensure that your dissertation is related to your field of specialisation.Deciding this is often the most difficult part of the dissertation process, and perhaps, you have been thinking of atopic for some time.It is important to distinguish here between ‘dissertation topic’ and ‘dissertation title’. The topic is the specific areathat you wish to investigate. The title may not be decided until the dissertation has been written so as to reflect itscontent properly.Few restrictions are placed on the choice of the topic. Normally we would expect it to be:relevant to business, defined broadly;related to one or more of the subjects or areas of study within the core program and specialisation stream;clearly focused so as to facilitate an in-depth approach, subject to the availability of adequate sources of informationand to your own knowledge;of value and interest to you and your personal and professional development.Planning your dissertationThis will entail following:Selecting a topic for investigation.Establishing the precise focus of your study by deciding on the aims and objectives of the dissertation, orformulating questions to be investigated. Consider very carefully what is worth investigating and its feasibility.Drawing up initial dissertation outlines considering the aims and objectives of the dissertation. Workout variousstages of dissertationDevising a timetable to ensure that all stages of dissertation are completed in time. The timetable should includewriting of the dissertation and regular meetings with your dissertation guide.The dissertation plan or outlineIt is recommended that you should have a dissertation plan to guide you right from the outset. Essentially, thedissertation plan is an outline of what you intend to do, chapter wise and therefore should reflect the aims andobjectives of your dissertation.There are several reasons for having a dissertation planIt provides a focus to your thoughts.It provides your faculty-guide with an opportunity, at an early stage of your work, to make constructivecomments and help guide the direction of your research.The writing of a plan is the first formal stage of the writing process, and therefore helps build up yourconfidence. In many ways, the plan encourages you to come to terms with the reading, thinking and writing in a systematicand integrated way, with plenty of time left for changes. Finally, the dissertation plan generally provides a revision point in the development of your dissertation report inorder to allow appropriate changes in the scope and even direction of your work as it progresses.
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