Doing your Dissertation

Doing your Dissertation

A practical guide to conceiving, planning and executing your dissertation:Role of the SupervisorThe initiative for requesting supervisions lies entirely with you, the student. Thesupervisor's role is to give advice and help about the nature and standard of the work,and direct you to useful literature and appropriate methodology. But remember, theultimate responsibility remains yours. Do NOT expect your supervisor to read draft andre-draft of every little piece of your work, and above all, do NOT embarrass yoursupervisor in the latter stages by asking whether you will be successful. Whensubmitted, the thesis is referred to internal and external examiners who will make anindependent judgment of your work in its entirety.Working with your SupervisorIt is a good idea to find out how your supervisor likes to work. Try at all costs to avoidrambling supervisions with vague discussions; both of you need to use timeeconomically. Having thought of an idea and roughly defined it, your next step willprobably be to prepare a draft outline for your potential supervisor to read before thenext meeting, remember that every time you give your supervisor something to read,s/he will need a few days to read it. After the first consultation, supervisions shouldalmost always be based on something written by you, so that the supervisor can giveyou feedback on your ideas and proposed methods. The initiative should be taken byyou rather than your supervisor.Do bear in mind that the staff have many diverse claims to their time, and that thisstate of affairs continues throughout the summer. Contrary to popular belief, universitystaff are fully occupied with clinics, research, lecture preparation, administrative workand writing commitments all the year round, and therefore if you wish to see yoursupervisor, you should make an appointment. Agree methods of getting in contact withyour own supervisor: email is usually the best way. Your supervisor will almostcertainly be supervising a variety of other projects; therefore, you should not assumethat s/he can immediately recall the last discussion you had together about yours.Appended to this document is a supervision record sheet, which you can copy and fill inas a record of each supervision session. We suggest that students be entitled to 6 to 8supervisions each (totaling about 4 to 6 hours), including 3 sessions for statisticaladvice. This is fewer than you think, so be sparing with your supervisor's time andmake each one as profitable as you can. At the very least, you should consult yoursupervisor before data collection and before submission of your dissertation,giving sufficient time for feedback comment.Supervisions always need to be prearranged. In particular, if your thesis stretches intothe next academic year, your supervisor will be extremely busy. You should, in anycase, never expect on-the-spot supervisions.Page 2Writing for your SupervisorSupervisors cannot judge how your work is going if you just hand over a sub-sectionthat you have written up. You need to have a draft of your contents so that it is quiteclear what follows on from what. You may also need to add a note to show if and howthe section in question is incomplete.Your supervisor will probably not wish, nor have the time, to read all your thesis as youprepare it.#p#分页标题#e#

 It would be a good idea, therefore, to discuss this and establish whichsections s/he wishes to see. Examiners, however, read all of it! Also, supervisors arenot to be expected to proof read or to correct spelling/grammar. Students are advisedto buy-in or otherwise arrange such services if needed.Even if your supervisor reads your entire thesis and you make the suggested changes,this is no guarantee that it is of a pass standard; after all, the work is yours and itsquality is dependent on your output.Planning AheadWhen you are planning your schedule, please do remember that your own time andapplication is only one of the determining factors. You need to take into account yoursupervisor's time as well as your own when you are estimating overall time needed.Data collection always takes longer than you expect, as does e.g., the writing of aliterature review, and even the completion of your reference list, so preferably be onthe safe side and double your first estimate.There will be periods when your supervisor is not available, either because s/he isheavily committed with other duties such as examining, or on leave for work or holidayreasons. Do make sure that you and your supervisor are aware of each other's periodsof absence.Part-time students need to be sure that they have time off for supervisor meetings andfor data analysis.

Part-time students may also find email attachments an efficient wayof sending information to their supervisors.Again, considering your own holiday plans, you are advised not to have more than twoweek's holiday. If you are collecting data, and you intend to take a break before youfinish, this must be discussed with your supervisor.Up to three of your meetings with your supervisor and/or research methods lecturermay need to be for statistical advice and planning: at the design stage, at the resultsstage, and perhaps to discuss any computer output and its interpretation.With regard to use of statistics packages, students may wish to seek help from theFaculty of Education Computer Unit. Technical support is there to help with this, butplease note the support from computational assistants will be subject to availability.Students will need to make an appointment when they first need to use the equipment,or if they think they need more than brief or intermittent assistance.Some students have, in the past, expected very considerable amounts of time forstatistical help. This is not possible, and the arrangements above should be adequatefor M.Sc. theses.Page 3Data CollectionYou will, no doubt, be eager to start collecting your data soon after the summer examsare completed.

This may involve setting up any equipment you need and booking upsubjects. Given that you have consulted your supervisor, and have the requisite ethicalapproval, data collection should then proceed in accordance with your project outline.Some projects need controls. If yours involves testing normal subjects for this purposeor any other, do not assume these can easily be found from the pool of people aroundyou. Staff are too busy, so please do not ask them. Your fellow students will also bebusy completing their own work, so if you do ask them, make sure it is clear how muchtime you require and ensure that they are willing to co-operate. A notice on the boardasking for volunteers (or in 'This Week, Next Week') is probably a good method.Beware, too, of assuming that people are normal hearing, even if they think they are.Test them to make sure.You may need an assistant for testing; again it is your job to find one, #p#分页标题#e#http://www.ukthesis.org/don't devisea project which would make heavy demands on another person's time, unless you areabsolutely sure you can find such a person who is willing.