A guide to writing the best dissertation covering all major areas including: the difficulties faced by students in writing a dissertation selecting a topic formulating objectives writing individual chapters

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Guide to writing the Best dissertation
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Choosing a Dissertation Topic: Common Difficulties
INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The topic should be relevant to your programme of study
It should be related to one or more of the areas of study within your programme
It should be restricted in scope to allow you to treat the topic in-depth – a broad approach
rarely succeeds
You must consider the availability of adequate sources of materials – literature and
access to any primary sources you may need
You must realistically assess the time any topic or question may demand
It does not have to be an original topic or question
It should be of interest to you

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Choosing a topic is one of the most difficult phases of your research and one that needs
considerable care and attention.
Misconceptions and difficulties encountered may besummarised as:
×Believing that the topic has to be ‘big’ enough to fill 15,000 words or required
words
Although 15,000 words may seem a lot – you may never have written such an amount in
one document – much of the wordage is taken up with explaining the background and
setting to the work; justifying why it is a useful area for study; reviewing what has
already been written on your topic; explaining and justifying your methodology; offering
summaries at appropriate points – all this may take up several thousand words before you
even get to the discussing and analysing what you have found.
×Believing that you should choose an ‘original’ topic
You should not. Indeed, it will be extremely difficult to find an area that is original. Even
PhD theses are rarely original; the angle they take or the design they formulate may be,
but the topic is usually one that has been studied many times before.
×Believing that you know the answer and wanting to ‘prove’ it
Quite simply, this goes against the whole purpose of research – refer to Einstein‟s quote.
This often leads to biased and unbalanced research with students ignoring – possibly
subconsciously – evidence that may contradict what they want to hear or to read. If you
are „certain‟ that gender affects career progression, and want to use the dissertation as a
vehicle to „prove‟ that, then you will end up with a dissertation that displays poor
academic rigour and instead demonstrates your own prejudices. Quite simply, you need to
keep an „open mind‟ and always be prepared to actively seek alternative answers and
possibilities. The assessors will award marks for a dissertation that reasons based upon a
range of evidence, and will deduct marks for a study that has failed to notice competing
views of what a „correct‟ answer may be.
However, if you are willing to maintain an open and inquiring approach, then setting out
to test a theory or belief may be very useful. For example, if you believe that gender may
affect career progression in the service industries, then set out to test whether or not your
ideas hold. If, based upon a fair and balanced study, the result is that you alter your
original belief – even prove yourself wrong – then you will have shown that you were
unbiased and willing to consider all possibilities and evidence. This is always a positive
feature of good research.
Of course, if your study shows that your theory holds, then all well and good. The point is
you do not get extra marks because your theory is confirmed. The marks will come from

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how you went about examining the theory. Designing a study to test your own beliefs and
ideas is a good way to frame a dissertation topic.
×Believing it necessary to formulate a complex and ‘academic’ question
The dissertation is the only time during your course of study that you will be able to
formulate your own questions, aims and objectives. If a teaching team sets an assignment
asking you to: „identify, evaluate and discuss the role of criterion validity inherent in the
psychometric interview technique in light of relevant psychological theory‟, you may
well have cause to complain about the difficulty and complexity of the task. Yet, year
after year we find students determined to set themselves equally complex and difficult
studies. Some seem to believe that such a title/question will impress: it will not. Others
seem to think that since this is to be their biggest academic challenge, then the
title/question has to be „very academic‟: it does not. Academic, as a term, has little if
anything to do with extravagant words and highbrow questions and far more to do with
formulating realistic and achievable areas for study.
We are not saying avoid a challenging topic – but we are saying „look before you leap‟.
If you set an ambitious, difficult and demanding question, and fail to answer it
sufficiently, then you must accept that the assessor will deduct marks – however
impressive the question sounded. We are assessing your research ability – not your desire
to frame complicated and complex questions.
Finally, the biggest problem regarding choosing a topic: without doubt, it is leaving
careful consideration, attention and thought on your choice of topic until you are due to
submit your proposal. Be prepared to spend six to eight weeks focusing upon a
dissertation topic/question to achieve one that is feasible and practical. As will be seen on
page six a feasible and useful topic is rarely located until you have undertaken a fair
amount of reading and reflection. We often hear: „I work better under pressure ‟.
However, the dissertation is a pressure that you have not yet experienced. Students do not
perform well in the dissertation when they are under pressure - quite the opposite.
SELECTING YOUR TOPIC: GETTING STARTED
The research process starts with topic selection. Before you can formulate an exact aim
and supporting objectives, the following must be considered:
Examine your own strengths, weaknesses interests, opportunities and threats
If marketing is your weakest and least liked subject, there would appear little point in
selecting a dissertation topic that will focus upon marketing theories and concepts.
Proposing to examine economic impacts is unwise if your knowledge of economics stops
at the demand curve. Similarly, if you have always done well in and found operations

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management of interest, then you may wish to follow such a theme through.
Do your strengths lie in a particular subject? Jankowicz (1995) suggests a useful way of
getting started is to look at those assignments for which you have received good grades. If
you have always found yourself comfortable and interested in information technology
related subjects, then explore how this interest may act as a vehicle for a dissertation topic.
Furthermore, as long as it is related to your programme of study, please also consider
topics that relate to your extra-curricular interests.
Opportunities may often lie in your having access: access to a leisure centre, school, tour
operator, hotel, bar or retail chain. You may be working part-time in some such
organisation, or you may have useful contacts there. Can your topic be related or indeed
based upon this operation? Will you be undertaking summer work in an organisation that
may allow you to research what they do, how, when and why? Please consider the
opportunities that you may have.
Threats can take several forms. One may be the lack of time due to your having to take
paid work during your final year. You may have other family responsibilities that could
well affect the time available to you in the final year. We cannot solve such problems for
you. However, you can minimise their impact by considering them, taking a proactive
approach and planning accordingly – we have all heard that old adage: „if you fail to plan,
then you plan to fail‟. Quite simply, consider all perceived threats to your success and
plan accordingly.
Look at past dissertations
The Research Centre keeps some past dissertations on all College programmes of study.
A useful way of starting is to scan past titles for anything that captures your interest and
to note these – along with how they may relate to your own ideas. The aim is to find
titles/topics that interest you and consider how you can expand, update, add fresh insight
and improve the work.
What you can bring to a past topic is important. Please do not simply repeat a past
dissertation before deciding and explaining what your approach will do or bring to the
topic. For example:
A 2007 dissertation that examined the effects of the Minimum Wage on service
employees may be in need of updating in the light of new legislation, or it may need applying
to a new context – part-time staff for example.
You may find a dissertation that had a very interesting topic and approach, but you may
disagree with the methods used. The work may have used questionnaires when you believe
that interviews would have been more suitable. It may have only interviewed five people
when you believe a sample of ten would have made for a better piece of research.
The work may have focused upon the motivation of new staff when you consider the
motivation of experienced staff to be of more interest.
A past dissertation may have applied theories of communication to training, where you
may wish to apply them to service quality.

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Additions and alterations that you can bring to a past dissertation are numerous. The
essential point is that you have gained an interest and may have found a topic to suit you.
If you do take this route in your topic selection, please ensure that you make clear in your
own work how your study will build on a previous dissertation(s).
A version of Raimond‟s (1993 - cited in Saunders et al., 2003, p. 17) suggestion when
using past dissertations to help you select a topic is:
Select five dissertations - for each of these note down your thoughts in response to the
following questions:
a) What appeals to you about the dissertation?
b) What is good about the work?
c) What are the weaker areas?
d) What may you be able to improve upon and how?
By completing this exercise, and examining the resultant list, you will begin to find
possible areas for your own study and understand those dissertation characteristics that
are important to you.
Building upon and incorporating past studies is an essential component of any research. If
you cannot show how your own work relates to previous research, you will forfeit marks.
Obviously, you do not have to use past dissertations for this purpose; any piece of
research in the extensive range of journals held in the library can serve this purpose. But,
since the past dissertations will also give you ideas for structure, layout, and presentation,
we recommend these to you as your starting point. Importantly, please do not start a
dissertation without knowing what one looks like.
Search the literature
Following on, the available literature should be searched for articles that relate to an area
in which you may be interested. By ensuring you make effective use of the varied search
mechanisms the College makes available to you, any topic you may consider of interest
will have many articles written on it. Please read and reflect on these for ideas.
Mind-mapping
This involves you putting down the very first ideas, links and possibilities onto paper. As
the term suggests there is no particular format here, rather it is a case of your sketching
your ideas onto paper so that you have something to work with. Be prepared to undertake
several of these mind-mapping sessions – which can often be done effectively with the
input of others – before a framework begins to emerge.
Formulating your Aim and Objectives - Measurement,

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Theory and Access
Formulating the aim
As you will see by reading the marking scheme on page 67, essentially your dissertation
is assessed by how well you achieve your aim and objectives. Consequently, it makes
much sense to ensure your aim and your objectives are Specific; Measurable;
Achievement; Realistic; Timed.
As a tutor, or a member of staff attempting to help a student with their aim and objectives,
the key problem we face is trying to answer the question: „are the aim and objectives OK?
‟ The simple answer is, „we do not know!‟ An aim and the accompanying objectives are
only fine if there are achievable. Consider the following:
1) Aim: to evaluate the economic impacts of the Euro currency on Thomas Cook’s
travel operations.
This may well be a „good‟ aim to anyone who is more than comfortable with economics
and with the financial and political issues that surround the Euro. To anyone else, the aim
is simply poor. Often, we, as tutors, do not know if you can achieve the aim – you must
explain to us exactly how you will achieve it. With this in mind, consider the following:
a) Can I clearly explain the terms and concepts used in the aim?
You should underline the key terms in the aim and explain to yourself exactly what they
mean. For example: [the aim of this dissertation is] ‘to evaluate the impacts school
councils are having on children’. For this, you should consider what „evaluation ‟
actually means; what an „impact‟ is and how it may manifest itself; what a „school
council‟ is; and what is meant by the term „children‟. Next, you should consider the
three key areas of theory, measurement and access.
Dr. A. Roberts 20
b) Theory and its application
As noted in the next section on theoretical frameworks, any dissertation that does not
apply theory is not likely to pass. So, once you have your draft aim, ask yourself: „which
theories relate to my aim?‟ In this example, which theories apply to school councils? See
the next section for what „theory‟ actually is (page 23).
c) Measurement and its application
If something cannot be measured, it is very difficult to accurately describe and discuss it.
How – in the above example – will you measure the impact of school councils? Further, if
this seems difficult, how can you measure the impact of such councils on children? If you
cannot get past this stage, the aim is not a good one by any means.
It is very important to be aware that measurement is not just about quantification. You

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may successfully measure the impact of school councils on children by interviewing them
or by asking their parents. The point is that you must have a strategy for measuring the
terms or concepts you place into your aim. This brings us the issue of access.
d) Access – practicalities and ethics
With your draft aim, consider exactly what you need access to. Please never assume you
will be granted access to children (see section on ethics on page 53), to parents, to
governments, to financial data – to anything at all for that matter. Unless you are at least
very confident you will be granted access to the information or people you need, your aim
will always be less than suitable, let alone achievable.
With theory, measurement and access in mind, reconsider the following aim: to evaluate
the economic impacts of the Euro currency on Thomas Cook’s travel operations. Once
you have explained what the key terms mean, you need to ask yourself the following
questions:
a) What theory or theories will I be able to apply? Please be precise: do not simply say
„economic theories‟ as this is simply too broad to be of any use to you or your tutor. You
need to be able to name specific theories or models that may be useful and applicable.
b) What measurement will I use? With this aim, how can you measure the impact of the
Euro on Thomas Cook‟s operations?
c) What access will I need to negotiate? If you decide you want to interview managers
at Thomas Cook, how will you get their agreement? How will you access their financial
data for example?
Finally, please only have one aim – and no more than one! A good aim rarely takes more
than two or three lines to write. One sentence should be sufficient. Further, do not use
terms like „and‟ or „also‟ in the aim as using these will almost always mean you have
two or more aims. For example:
2) ‘to investigate the impacts of the Euro on Thomas Cook’s travel operations and to
suggest suitable coping strategies’
Here, you have assigned two aims. Why make the aim – and therefore the dissertation -
any more difficult than it should be? Remember, we will assess you on how well you
achieve the aim, so keep it straightforward.
Formulating Objectives
Objectives are simply the steps or stages you need to follow or to achieve in order to
complete the aim. As with the aim, these objectives should be simply written and concise.
They should be achievable and you should ensure that you have taken the same careful
approach to wording the objectives as you have the aim. You should write each objective

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down and then be able explain the terms or concepts you are using in that objective and
be able to explain exactly how you will achieve each one. Consider the following generic
objectives:
a) To clarify key terms and concepts and explain the key theories to be applied
b) To critically review the literature
c) To design an appropriate methodology discussing the measurement(s) to be used
d) To critically evaluate the findings
e) To draw conclusions and recommendations where appropriate
Please DO NOT use the above examples as objectives in your dissertation! Your
objectives will need to be much more exact and tailored to your aim. To construct
objectives consider practicing the following:
a) Write down the things you feel you must do in order to achieve the aim
b) Try to reduce these items to four or five draft objectives: balance these items so as they
may each take a similar amount of time, effort and words. You want to avoid having one
objective that takes two pages to achieve and one that takes a dozen pages to achieve
c) Think about how you will achieve them (taking into consideration theory,
measurement and access) and how it relates to the aim
d) Take these to your first meeting with your tutor
As a guide, consider the following example
Aim:
To critically analyse the development of sport tourism in Hamburg with a particular focus
on Hamburg‟s City of Sport status.
Objectives:
a. To provide an insight into the development of sports tourism as an economic strategy
for cities;
b. To compare and contrast the key sport marketing strategies employed by established
European sport city destinations;
c. To critically evaluate Hamburg‟s sport resources in light of the city‟s overall
marketing objective;
d. To provide strategic recommendations for Hamburg‟s City of Sport status.

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As previously stated, please DO NOT use the above example in your dissertation. This is
designed as a generic guide ONLY.
Theory is not the kind of thing one might expect to hear on top of a bus. It differs from
common sense and opinion because it involves the willingness to reject what seems natural
and refusing to be fobbed off with shifty answers from well-meaning elders.
Terry Eagleton
THEORY AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
Before you start it is wise to ensure you are comfortable with the term theory. Without at
least referring to the theories offered by others, it will not be possible to complete a
successful dissertation. A theory is simply a reasoned and supported idea; we are all
entitled to them and capable of formulating them.
There are many definitions of theory to be found, but perhaps the most useful is: ‘a
collection of thoughts that coherently, logically and cohesively attempt to explain’.
Theory can be much the same as personal opinion as long as that opinion is coherent,
logical, and cohesive. This is what separates much opinion from theory. Thus, in the
context of your research, as long as you demonstrate the logic and coherence of your
opinion, then you are well on the way to constructing a theory. However, a theory you
may have can rarely, if ever, stand alone; other theories will be involved.
For example, a theory of motivation may be linked to theories of communication, gender,
organisational culture, job satisfaction, the work ethic and training. A theory of how
Manchester United has become so financially successful may involve theories of
marketing, operations management, economics, media management and resource
management. A theory of the effects of hotel inspections and grading on employees may
include theories of motivation, communication, management culture and benchmarking.
A theory of Investors in People being unnecessary and bureaucratic may require theories
of communication, management-staff relations, public relations, benchmarking and
organisational structure.
The use of interlinking theories is known as a theoretical framework, and it is difficult to
envisage a successful dissertation not having one. Of course, you will only be able to
construct such a framework by locating, discussing and evaluating the relevant theories.
In turn, this can only be achieved by employing an effective search and review of the
literature.
Constructing your own theory involves the following:
Reading and evaluating what has been written on your topic
Offering a coherent and logical explanation of your own – possibly based upon your

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dissatisfaction with what you have read and possibly upon your own experience and
reasoning
Evaluating what other theories may link into your own and how – theoretical framework
Stating your own theory in terms that are simple, logical and coherent
Once you have a theory of how something may work, operate or why things are the way
they are - or even how they may be improved - you can design your study to explore and
test this theory. The evidence you gather may show your theory holds, or you may have to
reject it. Whether it holds or whether you reject it matters not, as both are equally
acceptable to an assessor and to a reader.
Sometimes, constructing your own theory may not be necessary. Since you will find
many theories that relate to your subject, it is often very useful to take someone else‟s
and test it; test it to see how useful and accurate it may be. A theory of the minimum
wage increasing job satisfaction may not be at all accurate in the case of part-time bar
staff – whose (lack of) job satisfaction relates more to having a boss who can never
remember their name rather than their pay packet. An American author‟s theory of
successful marketing may not hold in the West Midlands leisure sector. A theory of
learning mentors being of benefit in local primary schools may simply be inaccurate –
your research might find that they simply confuse matters. But, there again, you may
reveal these theories to be useful and relevant.
Not all dissertations have to start with a theory. Indeed, some research designs start
without stating their own theory and only offer one after the research is complete.
Obviously, the literature still needs to be reviewed and a thorough discussion of any
existing theories still needs to be offered.
Creating a theoretical framework for your study
You may hear and read about conceptual, analytical and theoretical frameworks. These
may seem clear and simple to you or they can often appear very complex. For the
purposes of your dissertation, we strongly suggest that you begin by creating a basic
framework of interlinking theories that you will be using in your work – and specifically
using this to create a framework for your literature review.
Start by showing the basic concepts or subject areas that you will use in your study. We
suggest four as a useful number.

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This is a useful starting point. However, it is rather too broad – writing about
management theories alone could take many dissertations. So, under each area, state the
key theories and models that you will be using. By doing this, you will ensure that your
dissertation is not too broad and too general. Once you have done this, your literature
review can then have four headings that will each address the sections above. Of course,
as you read and review the literature, you may return and modify this framework. A good
dissertation will be able to show how this framework has underpinned and guided the
literature review as well as the analysis and the conclusions too.
This document cannot go into all details relating to theory and theory evaluation. The aim
here is to assist you in thinking of useful approaches to the designing and execution of
your dissertation. Please refer to the indicative reading list (page 60) at the end of the
document for further reading.

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What is reliable literature?
This is what we want you to tell us, as it really depends upon how easily you accept what
others say. Generally, journal articles can be used with confidence, but this does not mean
that you have to agree with what they say. As a guide, consider the following:
Does the article give brief details of who has written it?
Does it explain what it aimed to achieve and the methods it employed?
Does it use a range of evidence and discussion to support the claims made?
Does the article appear biased or are competing views and arguments discussed?
Is there a good range of others‟ writings referred to and referenced?
The questions you may wish to ask when ascertaining whether an article is trustworthy
and reliable are varied. Nevertheless, please do formulate an inquiring approach and do
not simply accept what you read – from any source - without question. The assessor will
wish to read how you determined which articles you selected, and how you examined
them for their reliability.
How many articles do I need – when do I stop?
It is your work – you decide. There is no formula and no set figure that can be offered to
you. The number of referenced sources you use depends upon the complexity of the
question(s) you set yourself, and upon how many related areas you have identified – refer
back to the earlier discussion on theoretical frameworks. If you want to discuss and
evaluate a good range of views, theories, arguments and perspectives on your topic, then
you will need more referenced sources than someone who is happy to give a very basic
and possible „sketchy‟ discussion. How „deep‟ you go with regard to a theoretical
framework, and how many views and ideas you wish to offer, is something you should
have considered at the topic formulation stage.
So, avoid simply collecting endless articles in the belief that more is better and more will
lead to a greater understanding. Instead, collect articles on a systematic basis and clarify
what these are saying before going off to collect more. You will ultimately have to use
your own judgement as to when you have collected and read a sufficient number – your
supervisor will assist in clarifying what „sufficient‟ may be.
At this stage though, ask yourself if your literature review has enabled you to answer the
following:

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What do we already know (or not) on the topic?
How does the research proposed relate to what we already know (or don‟t know)?
Therefore, what may your study achieve? What may it contribute to existing knowledge?
How does a literature review relate to secondary research?
A literature review is one of the outcomes of your secondary research. Some students find
it difficult to determine where the two should go in the dissertation, but the two can rarely
be separated. The question: „where does my secondary research go?‟ is nonsensical, as it
underpins all you do. The literature review is a section that shows the key results from
your reading – your secondary research – and may be usefully placed in an early section
or chapter. If, however, you are not deploying any primary research then the literature
review may not be a discrete section but will underpin the whole dissertation. The
literature review shows the various issues, definitions and theories pertaining to your
work, and may highlight any gaps that have appeared in previous studies. The literature
review may be used to support and illustrate your own ideas.
What will it look like?
Should you wish to know what a literature review looks like, how it may be written, and
how it relates to the rest of the study, then ensure you read varied examples that may be
found in the academic journals and previous dissertations. In the review, please never
provide a list of authors and describe what they said and why; instead synthesise the ideas
prevalent in the literature and present the review in a well written and flowing style.
One suggestion is to imagine yourself chairing a debate or discussion. Bring in and
introduce each author and their work at the appropriate time: you might categorise those
authors by their views and theories. What has each to say on the topic, and who agrees
with them? Who has done thorough and well-presented research and who seems to be
offering their views on less than convincing grounds?
It is unfortunately rare to find a student who has the confidence to disagree with or
criticise published work. If these criticisms are required, then please offer them. A
possible method for reviewing the articles you collect may be to „murder‟ them:
Mood: Set a positive mood for yourself to study in. Select the appropriate time,
environment, and attitude
Understand: Mark any information you do not understand in a particular article
Recall: After reading the article, stop and put what you have learned into your own
words
Digest: Go back to what you did not understand and reconsider the information;
Expand: In this step, ask three kinds of questions concerning the studied material:

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1. If I could speak to the author, what questions would I ask or what criticism would I offer?
2. How could I apply this material to what I am interested in?
3. How could I make this information interesting and understandable to others?
Review: Go over the material – ideas, theories etc. - you have covered; how may these
apply to your dissertation?
Methodology – its form and function
Your methodology section will tell the reader your plans and your methods for collecting
the data and the information you need to achieve your aim. It is an important section and
before you write it, please read the marking scheme for the methodology section on page
65.
The following headings are the ones you should include in your methodology. There are
two versions of these headings: one relates to a primary research design and one to a
secondary research design.
First, a secondary research design:
1) Choice of research design
You should defend and justify your choice of secondary research. Why is this the most
suitable choice for the achievement of your aim? Ensure to include examples of your
reading from research methods books here.
2) Construction of the method
Please never assume that secondary research is simply a case of reading some literature.
This subsection is very important if you are choosing a secondary research design. Here,
you should construct and explain your assessment schematic. That is, you should explain
what items you are going to examine each piece of literature for. For example:
What claim(s) is the author making?
What is the position of the author? Is there any element of bias in their work?
If they used primary research, did they explain all their procedures as we are asking
you to above?
How many references did they use and was the range these references acceptable to
you?

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Please make your assessment schematic as detailed as you wish: the aim is to show you
have a structured and consistent approach to the assessment of all the literature you use.
3) Sample
Although not always easy to do, you should discuss the sample of literature you are using.
Did you have some exclusion or inclusion criteria for selecting the literature you have
selected? You need to discuss your sampling methods here as you would if you were
using primary research.
If you decide to use a primary research design, please follow and use these headings
below:
1) Choice of research design
Under this heading, you should discuss the reasons for your choice of primary research.
Why was it necessary? You should then explain the actual method you have chosen –
questionnaires, interviews, observations etc., are simply methods and you will need to
justify and defend your choice of method or methods.
2) Construction of the chosen method
Under this heading, you should defend and justify the way in which you have constructed
your questionnaire or interview etc. This will involve you outlining the questions you
need to ask and why they need to be asked. If you are using questionnaires, you should
also defend your choice of response category – Likert scale, dichotomous, ranking, open
ended etc. If you are to conduct interviews, as well as explaining the questions to be
asked, you need to detail whether it will be a semi-structured interview, focus group
interview etc. Explain here exactly what the observation schedule will look like and
contain.
3) Sample
After the above discussions, you should explain and justify who will be targeted in your
sample and why.
4) Procedure
This is a concise but important sub-section. Exactly how will you go about conducting
observations? Where and when will you conduct the interviews? How will you deliver
and collect the questionnaires?
5) Data Analysis
By this section you will have explained, defended and justified the choice of method, its
design and the sample mix, as well as the procedures you will adopt to carry out the data
collection. You now need to explain – in about one page – how you will analyse the data

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you will collect. Please strive to be exact – do not simply say you will use pie charts and
bar graphs.
Please do not tell us all about the advantages to primary and secondary
research in your methodology! It is not required and will gain no marks. Please
do not tell us about how you went to the library and the internet – this is
pretty much obvious and will also get no marks. Please use the headings above
and make sure the methodology is a food discussion showing your defence and
justification for doing what you are doing.
Of course, all dissertations have to use secondary research in their compilation.
Conclusions and recommendations
This section is always the lowest scoring section. This is because, first, students rarely
have their conclusions and recommendations ready to show their supervisor before they
submit the work, and second, students often think this section is easy and so spend little
time in creating it. In fact, this section is one of the more important ones and is the last
section the marker reads. So, having strong and well structured conclusions and
recommendations is very important.
The conclusions section is very important, and should be much more than a summary of
your work. Don’t forget, it is worth a total of 20% of the overall mark and is often
the last thing the markers read before they start to write their comments and
calculate their grade.
Please do not write just an account of what you did in your dissertation work, but
carefully consider what your research revealed and the importance and relevance of these
findings. It is wrong to find a 15‟000 word research project only offering one or two
conclusions, so please consider how many conclusions you need to draw.
Set out below is a suggested framework to work within. Make sure you also take care to
read the points about the two types of „Recommendations‟ there are to consider, one
which you must do, and the other which largely depends on the aim and objectives you
set for the research, and how your findings unfolded.
So….
1. Close all books, files and articles. List 4-5 statements that sum up the key findings in
your work. Often, you will have one conclusion from your literature review and perhaps
3-4 from your findings. If you have done a secondary research study, then perhaps you
will have a conclusion that relates to each chapter.
2. Write each of these statements out in a simple and brief sentence. Highlight this in bold.

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3. Underneath each sentence write 1-2 paragraphs to explain the importance/significance
of the statement and remind the reader where it was raised/discussed/highlighted in the
dissertation.
4. These statements and the accompanying explanations are your ‘conclusions’ – present
in order of importance or in order of when each appeared in your work. Number each one.
5. ‘Recommendations’: these are actions you recommend should happen as a result of
your conclusions. Not all dissertations need recommendations, but if do have them
present each recommendation in the same way as your conclusions – concise sentence
and 1-2 paragraphs underneath to expand.
6. Then, link each recommendation to a conclusion. Start each one with „based upon the
first (or second or third etc.) conclusion, recommendation one is…
7. ‘Recommendations for further research’ refer to who/where the „relay baton‟
should now be passed onto. How and where do you think other people can extend and
expand your study? Write each one in the same way as the conclusions. Start each one
with „based upon the first (or second or third etc.) conclusion…
8. You do not need to have ‘recommendations’, but you do need to have
‘recommendations for further research’. If you do not have these you are implying that
a.) there is no need for further research because you have answered everything or b.) that
you have no idea what should be done next…
Examples are available on UCB Online and in the Research Centre
STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION
Should you use chapters to structure the work, it is up to you what to best put into each
chapter – this may be discussed with your supervisor. The following is designed to make
you aware of the key components of a dissertation – THE PRECISE STRUCTURE AND
SECTIONING YOUR WORK TAKES MAY VARY ACCORDINGLY AND YOU SHOULD
DISCUSS YOUR STRUCTURE WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR – BELOW IS ONLY A GUIDE
PRELIMINARIES
Author's Declaration Form – not numbered
You must complete the Author's Declaration Form. Please do not bind this into your
dissertation.
Title page – not numbered
The title should accurately reflect the nature of the study and be brief and concise. A
subtitle may be included if it clarifies the purpose of the study. A template of the title

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page is available from the Resource Centre and also as a word document on the UCB I.T
system.
Abstract – not numbered
An abstract - a succinct summary of the dissertation containing all of the important
concepts and conclusions of the work - should immediately follow the title page. As this
is the first example of the work the assessor will read please ensure it is written correctly
and fluently – first impressions count. Handouts covering this topic are available in the
Research Centre.
Acknowledgements
A list of people that were key and very instrumental to writing your dissertation.
List of Contents - numbered in roman numerals
A list of contents, and if needed, a list of tables, list of figures and a list of appendices,
should always be included and should follow the abstract. Contents listings are extremely
important. Unlike a book, a dissertation has no index. Therefore, the contents listings
must be accurate and informative so that an assessor or reader may use them to find his or
her way round the work. A good contents listing will also display the pattern of ideas
through which the reader will be taken. The table of contents should show chapter and
section titles, thus demonstrating the relationship of the parts to each. Chapters and
sections should be referenced to their page numbers.
Other Preliminary Listings - numbered in roman numerals
It may be advisable to include other listings at this point. For example, if the work
extensively employs certain abbreviations, or includes symbols, these may be placed most
appropriately at this point. By placing them at the front, readers are alerted to their
existence and can return to them when needing to be reminded of their meaning.
MAIN BODY – pagination proper starts here
An introduction
This is the start of the text proper. Dissertations, like other written communications, are
best introduced by carefully devised writing that establishes the overall area of concern,
arouses interest and communicates the information essential to the reader‟s
comprehension of what follows. For most dissertations, the best way of introducing the
study is to offer definitions and show knowledge of any competing definitions and clarify
concepts. Present the basic facts first and leave the more thorough discussion until later.
The rationale for the work and the aim and objectives may be usefully put in your
introduction.
Aim and objectives
Sometimes included in the introduction, although we recommend you separate it out with
a sub-heading. Once you have selected your topic and have read sufficiently on your topic
and related areas, you need to consider what your aim and objectives are to be. You
should have only one aim: having two or more involves extra work and usually indicates
a lack of focus on your part. An aim is a concise, short statement of what you want to

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achieve – quite simply, what you aim to do. The objectives usually number between four
and six, and are again concise statements of what targets you will set yourself in order to
achieve the aim.
Providing a rationale for the work
This too may be included in the introduction as it addresses the question: why have you
chosen this particular topic? Why have you chosen the aim you have? Often the response
given is: ‟because the author has an interest in this area.‟ This may be fine, but it is not as
effective as reasoning that:
The study is being undertaken to clarify issues on a complex area
The study is being done to assess the applicability of a theory
The area chosen is one that appears to have been ignored for some time by other
researchers – a possible gap in the literature; or because it is a essential issue at present
You find existing research on your topic unsatisfactory
You should be able to answer these questions after you have read and reviewed the
literature. There can be many reasons why the research is necessary; inform the reader.
Imagine the reader thinking, „why should I read this and what may it give me?‟
A literature review and theoretical framework (sometimes placed after the
methodology)
All dissertations must contain a separate literature review and should also contain a
literature review matrix. Refer to page 32.
Methodology (sometimes placed before the literature review)
Your methodology should explain, defend and justify why you have adopted the methods
you have. For instance, why are questionnaires most suited to your study? Why did you
not use interviews or observation instead? In your methodology, it is useful to show that
you are aware of the advantages and disadvantages to the method(s) you have chosen and
then defend your choice of method. Then, possibly under another sub-heading, you
should give details of how the method was deployed. For example, how were the
questions constructed? How was the sample size determined? What was the procedure for
executing the method? Did you have any plans for ensuring you achieved the required
response rate/sample?
The methodology should be written in a confident tone and it should explain and justify
what you have done. As methodologies by their nature are rarely perfect, it should offer a
critical evaluation of your approach. However, here you should seek to promote your
strengths and not give the reader a list of weaknesses. By just presenting a list of
weaknesses, the assessor/reader may believe it unwise to trust and believe your results,
analysis and evaluation. If your methodology is suspect, then who can have confidence in
the results you present later? Refer to page 33.
Findings, Analyses and Evaluation

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This is an important section and should be a clear and concise one. Although your reader
needs to know, please do not spend too much time simply describing what you have
found. Sometimes, joining the findings, analysis and evaluation together may be a useful
option: other times it may be more useful to separate them out into different sections.
Whichever option you take it is essential that you are aware of the difference between
analyses and evaluation.
Analysing and evaluating your findings are essential elements of your dissertation and
should be approached with due care and attention. Further, this section should refer back
to the theoretical framework and the results of your reading: this is how you should
analyse and evaluate your findings. As well as reading widely on methods of analysis and
evaluation, you should seek your supervisor‟s advice on the formulation and presentation
of this section.
You may notice that this document only offers a limited account on what is a crucial
element of your dissertation. This is because analysis and evaluation are skills that you
should have practised and honed from the beginning of your first year
End Matter
Final discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations
Here you now offer a discussion on what your study has and has not found. This serves as
a useful prelude into your conclusions. Conclusions should not contain any new
information, as essentially they are concise summaries of the key points to your work.
Recommendations for further research
Here you may wish to offer a concise discussion regarding where you believe future
research on this subject should go. You can evaluate your own contribution and suggest
others follow the same research design or suggest future researchers take a different
approach to yours. This is always an interesting section to read as it shows that the
student is aware of what their research has and has not achieved, and of how their
research study can be built upon by others.
References
Please carefully read the College Referencing Document and adhere to this exactly.
Marks will be deducted for incorrect referencing procedures.
Appendices
For varied reasons, it seems many students see appendices as:
A place to put as much information as possible to circumvent a word limit
A place where a variety of items - maps, models, handouts, brochures etc. can be stapled,
glued or blue-tacked
An assignment‟s wastebasket

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“In general, appendices should be kept to a minimum. If they are so important that your
reader‟s understanding of the points you are making in the text makes their inclusion in the
report necessary, then they should be in the main body of the text. If, on the other hand, the
material is „interesting to know‟, rather than „essential to know‟, then it should be in the
appendices. Many people feel tempted to include appendices to „pad out‟ a piece of work.
Resist this temptation. Your readers will not be reading your work for leisure purposes. They
will be pressed for time…your work will stand or fall on the quality of the main text”.
For example, if a student bases their work around a model, then presumably this model is
an essential component of their work and should therefore be in the main body. An
indication of sloppy work is when items contained in appendices are not referred to in the
text.
In general, large appendices are a sign that the writer is not capable of expressing their
ideas and points concisely, and further, is unable to differentiate what is „essential to
know‟ from what is „nice to know‟. Usually, it is a sign that they simply cannot work
within the given word limits.
As appendices do have their use and purposes, it is obviously up to you to decide on how
appendices should be used – or not used (many 80,000 word PhDs have appendices of
only three to six pages). HOWEVER, LETTERS OF PERMISSION FROM SOURCES
TO CARRY OUT PRIMARY RESEARCH SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN
APPENDICES.
Saunders et al. (1997, pp. 378-379) has a pertinent quote:
Directions for presenting the document
Fonts
Two fonts and two font sizes only: Times New Roman size 12 for general text and Arial
size 14 for main headings and Arial size 12 for sub-headings. Please do not underline
your text as it adversely affects its appearance and ease of reading.
Alignment and Spacing
Apart from main headings, please left align all text.
All work is to be double line spaced, except for leaving one line space between sub-
headings and text.
Paragraphs should be separated from each other and from indented quotations by
twice as much white space as there is between lines. This can be achieved by using two
„hard returns‟.
Wherever possible, no gaps should be left on page unless a chart means you have to.
Only main headings or new tasks should start on a new page – not sub-headings.
Tables, charts and graphs should be centred on the page wherever possible and

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should be of approximately the same size wherever possible.
Bullet points and numbers can use the pre-given Microsoft Word settings.
Headings
Major headings should be in bold and centred; type these in size 14 upper and lower case
letters; sub-headings should be typed in upper and lowercase letters, size 12, aligned to
the left margin and bold.
Margins
Top and bottom margins are to be 2.5 cms; left and right margins to be 3cms.
Page Numbering
Page numbers to be size 12 and centered on the bottom of the page.
Numbering Paragraphs
Please think very carefully before numbering headings and paragraphs in reports as these
often become confusing and adversely affect presentation. If you decide to use a
numbering style, please use the Microsoft Word numbering tools, as these will present the
numbers in the most suitable manner.
Numbering and Titling Tables and Charts
Please number each table – „table 1‟, „table 2‟ etc. – and number each chart or graph as
„figure 1‟, „figure 2‟ etc. Centre these numbers directly above the table or figure. It is
good practice to give each table or chart a title. This title should be in Arial, size 12 and
centred directly below the chart or table. Tables, charts and graphs should be centred on
the page wherever possible and should be of approximately the same size wherever
possible.
Quotations
If the quotation is less than one line, then it should be included in the main text enclosed
in a double speech mark – do not italicise this or place it in bold. If the quotation is more
than one line then:
Separate it from the main text with a double hard return („enter‟) top and bottom and
indented by 1 cm each side.
it should be placed within double speech marks.
placed in size 12 font.
Do not italicise quotes or place them in bold lettering.

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Paper
Use only white A4 paper and type on both sides of the page.
Use double line-spacing throughout, except for quotations, captions, etc., which may
be 1.5, line-spaced. Typing should be reasonably uniform in length of line and the
number of lines per page.
It is extremely important that the thesis or dissertation is clearly set out and is easy to
read. The Times New Roman typeface should be used. A 12-point typeface should be
used for general purposes. Point 14 may be used for main headings.
Italics should not be used as the main font but limited, if used, to specific aspects of
the work such as items you wish to emphasise. If in doubt, you should consult your
supervisor.
The left-hand margin must be 3cm. This is the binding margin. It is desirable to leave
2.5cm at the top and bottom of the page and 3cm at the outer edge.
Please indent quotations, and these may be 1.5 line-spaced (consider placing quotes
in point 12 font)
Preliminary pages should use Roman numerals with pagination beginning with the
first page of the text proper. Page numbers may be placed either at top or at the foot of the
page. Be consistent in whichever style you choose.
New chapters should always commence on a fresh page. Titles should be in capitals and
centred.
If photocopies are to be included, ensure that all copies are clear and of high quality.
Exceed the word guide and you risk the assessor assuming you cannot write in a
concise and structured manner. If you suspect you are on track to exceed the word guide,
please consult your supervisor in good time for action to be taken.
Please do not submit a bibliography – only a list of references used in the text
Binding and submission of your dissertation
Please ensure you submit your dissertation to the Resource Centre with plenty of
time for binding.
Please note: once submitted, nothing can be returned or added to, so please check
your work is complete before you submit.

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