1. Dissertation workshop 2 march 2015 Lynne Pettinger

2. Outline for workshop 2 1.What is a dissertation? 2.Intellectual challenges 1.Literature 2.Methodology 3.Going round in circles 3.Organisational challenges 4.Emotional challenges

3. 1. What is a dissertation? 1.A report of a research project. 2.May involve primary empirical material, secondary empirical material or theoretical/exegetical work on a body of social thought 3.Governed by an identifiable and clear research question; 4.There must be critical reflection on the methods used (including their limits and the reasons why they warrant the kinds of claims made) 5.There must be substantive analysis of empirical or analytical material. (Even where the topic is substantively a literature or policy-review exercise, you are expected to offer original reasoned argument and interpretation and to show evidence of a competence in research.) 6.Should contain an argument that is the author’s own.

4. How far have you got? A thought? A title? A paragraph? An idea about what… but not how? An idea about how, but not where your argument is located? No clue?

5. What next?

6. Intellectual challenges 1.From research topic to feasible research question. 2.Literature and the academic conversation 3.Methodology 4.(Analysis and argument) 5.(Writing) 6.Your skills and knowledges 7.Ethical implications of your work

7. Research questions See workshop 1 slides for process. Remember circularity matters: read, write, talk and think. Write your question in plain language Does it interest you? Is it open? Is it full of assumptions? Is it answerable (given a set methodology and the availability of data) What previous scholarship does it build on?

8. Research questions: what to avoid

9. Literature

10. Kinds of literature Often overlap between these ‘kinds’ 1.Theoretical work 2.Existing empirical research into your topic 3.‘grey’ literatures (policy material, media, guidance documents etc.; fiction?) For many of you, ALL of these have a place and provide a source of information and inspiration for critical work. e.g. theoretical work from a distinctive tradition can provide you with an insight when you read existing empirical studies.

11. Developing a literature strategy My research question is… Other researchers who have looked at this subject are… They argue that… Debate centres around…. There is still intellectual work to be done on…. My contribution will be…. What I am most interested in (perhaps beyond this question) is…. A topic I think I should read more about is….

12. What to read? Build a bibliography (or 2 or 3) Good starting points: previous reading, the actual library, google scholar, journal databases. Find a few starting points and look for who is cited and who cites this piece – map the field. Keep records Skim titles and abstracts

13. How to read! I’m serious… What depth of reading is right for different pieces? What to do with reading? How to read now and use later. Tacit skills in doing research: organizing, filtering, interrogating written ideas

15. From note to use.

16. methodology

17. Normal Messiness The final product is linear (a series of chapters) Getting there means going round in circles Read…write…research…write…read…and so on. At some point you decide how to slice the cake. That means you make decisions about what themes should be prioritised and what will you have to let go of. That can feel like loss and compromise.

18. On themes and levels ENDLESS QUESTION: Youth Becomings and the Anti-Crisis of Kids in Global Japan Dwayne Dixon http://scalar.usc.edu/students/endlessquestion/index A great example of a dissertation that tries to reject linearity. Unpack the ‘mess’ here – how do themes and levels overlap. Note how much organisational work has gone on here… you will also organise, but it will be more hidden.

19. Organisational challenges

20. Emotional challenges Ordinary, miserable feelings: I’m overwhelmed I’m lost I’m exhausted I’m behind I can’t concentrate I’m lonely I’m……..

21. Web resources http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writin g-resources/writing-dissertation Straightforward and simple http://patthomson.net Aimed at PhD students, but with lots of very good ideas about specific sections of the thesis, and some hints about the overall look and feel of a thesis. https://vimeo.com/24434482 A different kind of dissertation!

22. Workshop 3 Analysis and writing What does a dissertation look like? 15000 words is NOT ENOUGH

23. Sneak preview Traditional structure Abstract Acknowledgements Introduction Literature review Methodology Results/ analysis (Discussion) Conclusion Topic based structure Abstract Acknowledgements Introduction Topic A Topic B Topic C (and so on) Conclusion