1. MC53001B Dissertation: Workshop Five
Module convenor: Richard Smith
Workshop leaders: Veronica Barassi, Richard Smith
Virtual Learning Environment:
Online reading list:

2. Workshop Five Developing your proposal The literature review
Some archival sources
Questions?

3. Refining your proposal
Aim to convince yourself and the reader the project is do-able in both theoretical and practical terms.
Strike a balance between your aspirations and what is possible with the time and other resources available.
Write for a reader who is hearing about your topic for the first time. Convince the reader you:
have a clear sense of what you hope to achieve
know how you want to do it
why you want to do it.
Be prepared for responses, criticisms, and new ideas when you receive feedback. This should provide further direction and encouragement.

4. Elements of the proposal
Working title
Description of the topic
Research question and sub-questions
Initial literature review or annotated bibliography
Proposed methodology
Work plan
Bibliography (unless you have chosen an annotated bibliography)

5. Submitting your proposal
Please use the proposal template and notes on the VLE at: and
Proposal deadline: 2.00 p.m. on Monday 7 November 2016 to be submitted via the link at:
The proposal comprises 20% of the overall grade for the undergraduate dissertation

6. The literature review (with thanks to Marianne Franklin)
a process or ‘review of the literature’
and
a product – the first chapter of the dissertation where you frame an argument and identify a set of concerns/themes
demonstrates your knowledge of the field
sets your agenda and original contribution

7. Think strategically when developing your reading list
Is the literature review:
A set of book reviews; laced with copious quotations?
A shopping‐basket of Big Books, Big Names, Big Ideas important to you?
A strategic compilation of books, thinkers, or theories to make others happy?
A compilation of all possible work that may apply to this study?
Proof that you’ve read the right amount of books?
One chosen thinker or select group of thinkers?
All the literature from one discipline?
An inter-disciplinary smorgasbord?
A rundown of everything you have read during your studies?

8. What a literature review should achieve
Justify the need for this research
Support your case for the significance of the research
Acknowledge precursors and contemporaneous work – which debates have framed the field so far?
Provide a theoretical framework
Highlight gaps in the literature
May touch on the methodology and how you plan to conduct your research
Achieves balance between breadth – range of debates, key texts – and depth – awareness of nuances, specifics, a selection of thinkers or ideas or even a focus on one.

9. [A] literature review helps to determine whether the topic is worth studying, and it provides and insight into ways in which the researcher can limit the scope to a needed area of inquiry (Creswell 2014: 23).
Use the proposal as a starting point
Refine your literature review as your dissertation develops
Refer back to the literature in the course of your case-study discussion

10. Resources to help you compile a reading list
The library has a subject guide for Media and Communications at from where you can access journal abstracts, indexes and databases relevant to your research.
To list the media and communications journals in the College library do the following. In the online catalogue select the ‘All Fields’ search and type: media perej. Press ENTER.
Article search+ allows you to search and access journal articles online:
You can join the main University of London Library, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU by visiting with a current Goldsmiths id card. Joining Senate House will vastly increase your access to electronic journals as well as books.