Research Methods

What is a dissertation?

Structure of the dissertation see AP Handbook Section 5

Ch 4 Results Ch 5 Discussion

Ch 4 Findings Ch 5 Conclusion

Reference List Appendices

Opening section
Title (page)
Have a working draft title Review it constantly try it out on your friends! Only firm it up when your work is completed

Table of contents

Include chapter and sub headings Lists of figures and tables

Abstract

summary of the purpose of your research, the research design, your findings and your recommendations

Chapter 1: Introduction
introduction to your topic research problem(s) to be addressed background to the problems context why is your problem important

who will benefit? policy/ practice/ research (also why they will use it)

who will use your conclusions

structure of dissertation

Chapter 2: Literature Review

who, why, where, when, findings, shortcomings who, why, where, when, findings, shortcomings

Existing work on your topic

General conclusions about work done to date

Literature review - The funnel

Research questions/objectives

Chapter 3: Methodology
The rationale of process and the actual process of the investigation that you are undertook Theoretical
research philosophy / approach research purpose research design

Methods

what is your data what is your sample what is your collection method what is your collection instrument what is your analysis

Quantitative Style

Chapter 4: Results

What were the findings of the study? Sufficient evidence must be presented to enable the reader to comprehend and critically assess the approach adopted. The findings should not simply be listed, but some indication of the nature and relative importance should be given.

Are any limitations of the findings acknowledged? Do they consistently address the topic of the dissertation?

Chapter 4: Results
Describe your participants Provide results of descriptive data Answer each of your research questions in turn ALWAYS report numerical results in text Use charts and figures only if needed

Chapter 4: Results
Example Text:

A correlation analysis was undertaken to determine whether there was a significant relationship between in the level of communication satisfaction and the level of role conflict. The results of the analysis suggested that there was a moderate negative relationship ( r = -0.596; p = 0.000) between communication satisfaction and role conflict. This means that if the satisfaction with communication was high we would expect to find low levels of role conflict.

Chapter 5: Discussion

Summarise your results and conclusions in a more readable fashion. Give the interpretation and evaluation of your results/findings Relate your results to the literature you discovered for the literature review Suggest recommendations and implications that relate to the problem you are studying

Discuss limitations of your research

Chapter 5: Discussion
Introduction to the chapter Discussion of the results Limitations of the results Implications

theory practice policy

Suggestions for Future research Conclusions

Qualitative Style

Chapter 4: Findings
Describe your respondents Report the major themes via:
a narrative incorporating etic: interpretations -researchers summarised codes emic: actual words, examples from interviews discuss relationships between themes discuss differences between sub groups

Relate findings to the literature as you go

use charts or diagrams to represent relationships

Chapter 4: Findings
'Needs' referred to the benefits that members received from their involvement, such as a sense of belonging, enjoyment, and fulfilment. This was typified by one volunteer who commented that, What we should do should benefit the members [and] not for the benefit of the organisation (Vol-1). The third code 'members = organisation' implied that for many people the organisation did not exist without its members. They were the spirit and drive of the organisation. This was clearly demonstrated by the following statements from volunteers.

One of the things that I've wrestled with is Why is this gym a [name of organisation] program? What is the difference? Why go to our gym? We need to ask, How do the values show in the day to day operation? We could close down every program we run tomorrow and open a whole new set of programs the following day and still be a [name of organisation]. But if you removed the members of the organisation, the volunteers, the people that drive the spirit you wouldn't have a [name of organisation] (Vol-2).

Chapter 5: Conclusions
brief summary of what was found (use your RQs to structure this) give recommendations where appropriate suggest recommendations and implications that relate to the problem you are studying tie it all together in a short, to the point conclusion

Dissertation Studies
Writing a Proposal

Structure
1. Background information (500 words) 2. Methods (1000 words) 3. Appendices 4. Ethics/Governance Documents

A proposal is ALWAYS written in future tense

1. Background
Background to the research problem Justification of the Research

relevance and significance of the study, who will benefit;

Who will use your conclusions

policy makers/ practitioners/ researchers why they will use it

Statement of the research problem followed by the aim or objectives / purpose statement and research questions

2. Methods
Description of the Design

Experimental, Survey, Phenomenology, Case study, Ethnographic, Grounded theory, Secondary data analysis, Historical/Documentary

Description of participants and their method(s) of selection

Who are your participants and what age are they? Where and how will they be approached and how will they be recruited. How many will take part and what are the inclusion and exclusion criteria?

How will consent be obtained? Who needs to give consent? (refer to documents in your appendix)

2. Methods
Description of data collection methods

Face-to-face, telephone, mailed, email, online

Detailed description of the collection instrumentation(s)

Testing process, Questionnaire, observation checklist, interview guide or schedule (refer to documents in your appendix)

Outline of the proposed data analysis methods

Statistical methods Thematic analysis, coding, grounded theory or approach

2. Methods
Ethics and risk management procedures
Identify any ethical or risk issues there are always some issues to consider even if these are minor. It is important to state how these will be managed/minimised. (refer to documents in your appendix)

Researchers should be aware of, and compliant with, the Data Protection policy of the School. You must be able to demonstrate this in respect of handling, storage and retention of data.

3. Appendices
Participant Information Sheet

(follow the suggested template)

Consent Forms

(for individuals and for organizations) (follow the suggested template)

Draft copies of all research collection instruments

(the more detail you provide, the more likely your application is not questioned)

4. Ethics/Governance Documents
Ethics application Risk Management Form RGO application