This tutorial provides guidance on conducting dissertation research and developing a search strategy. It covers choosing a topic, finding inspiration, conducting a literature review, developing search terms and keywords, using databases and books, keeping records, and referencing sources. The key aspects of developing a search strategy discussed are choosing keywords, synonyms, Boolean logic, phrase searches, wildcards/truncation, time span, geographical area, and choosing databases to search. It emphasizes planning the search strategy in advance and keeping detailed records of the research process.

1. Libraries and Learning Innovation
Dissertation Research
Skills
Jennie Wilson
Academic Librarian for the School of the Built Environment

2. This tutorial will show you how to start your dissertation
with help from Library resources, materials and support
It covers:
• Choosing a topic
• Inspiration
• Literature review
• Search strategy
• Using books
• Using databases including Discover
• Using a search strategy
• Keep a record
• Referencing
• Links to resources

3. Choosing a topic
Finding the topic and question for your dissertation can take time. Don’t
worry if you are struggling to choose a topic immediately, give yourself
time to be creative and enjoy exploring your subject.
Some things to think about…
• Something you've always been interested in
• Look through lecture notes and old essays
• Look through current journals and trade publications on Discover
• Look at media and news items
• A hunch that you have…is it true?
• Controversies / new areas in your subject
• Talking with friends

4. Remember you can start with a broad idea; your
research will help you narrow your focus if you
keep in mind what in particular about this do you
want to study?
The research you conduct will begin to shape your
dissertation, so consider breaking down ideas and
think about how you will work through your
research in the structure.

5. Inspiration
• You might have become interested or inspired by a module you have
studied, or a topic that came up at a seminar.
• You might be interested in future developments in a specific area, and want
to explore how current trends might influence this.
• You might want to look at past developments and see how these can still
play a part in modern approaches.
One of the most important things is to choose something you are genuinely
interested in. Your dissertation is a large piece of work and it will help you
maintain attention throughout the year and produce a good piece of work if you
enjoy looking into the topic you choose. Speak to your supervisor or other
tutors to see if they can recommend an interesting topic.

6. Inspiration: Employment
Your dissertation is your opportunity in the degree
programme to choose what you study. When you finish
University your dissertation can be a very useful tool while
seeking employment as this is something you have chosen
to pursue.
It is very worthwhile thinking about what topics would help
you stand out in the job market and impress future
employers. Remember your research should not be
ground-breaking, you are being tested on your subject
knowledge.
Look at company information, trade publications and even
Twitter accounts of experts and businesses you
would like to work for to get inspiration in helping
you choose a relevant topic.

7. Your literature review
The literature review section of your proposal or
dissertation should show that you are familiar with the
literature relevant to your field of research. The review is a
review of what is currently known on the topic and this will
inform the main section of your dissertation as the
underpinning knowledge. The type of material you should
be including here might be reports, statistical surveys,
dissertations/theses, books, journal articles, professional
magazines etc.
This tutorial is concerned with finding and evaluating
information for your dissertation, it does not give
advice on writing your dissertation. There are some
resources you can use on the next slide.

8. Resources to help you write your
dissertation
• Books to help you write your dissertation
Catalogue search
• How to write your Literature Review
See chapter three of:
Naoum, S. G. 2013 Dissertation research & writing for construction
students 3rd ed.
• Skills for learning
See the Dissertation support information on the Skills for Learning
website

9. Your search strategy
Once you have decided on your dissertation topic, you will need to carry
out a literature search in order to see what sort of information is available
around this area and so your ideas can be put into context. Background
reading will also help you find a focus for your research. An initial
literature search should involve you investigating many possible avenues
of information open to you.
Remember, before you start searching for information, think carefully
about the topic you are researching and take some time to define it and
plan what you want to include.
You can use dictionaries or encyclopaedias to help define your subject
and help you think of new terms. For example, try using
Oxford Reference Online, a database containing many
general and subject specific reference resources.

10. Your final list of keywords and phrases - or search terms - will
help you make the best use of the databases. In the following
pages we will break down these elements to ensure you have
a clear plan before you begin. This can save you lots of time
and will help you to plan and manage your dissertation. Before
you conduct research you need to think about the kinds of
information you might need.
Books are useful for general research, journals are useful for
commentary, and news sources are useful for immediate
reactions by the press. There are lots of different sources of
information but all of these sources rely on the words you
choose to search for them.
The following steps will take you through developing
a search strategy.

11. Keywords
You need to think about the most accurate and commonly
used words associated with your research topic.
To help you collect these look at the websites or blogs of
organisations in the area of research and search for your
interest; note what language is used.
Look at different media including magazines, newspapers
and trade publications to see if there are any other popular
terms associated with your research topic.
Consider any specific phrases you might need to look for
and keep a record of these. This could be in a Word
document or spreadsheet for example.

12. Keyword example
"What factors contribute to structural defects in
buildings?"
Break down your title keywords into concepts:
Concept 1: "Factors"
Concept 2: "structural defect"
Concept 3: "buildings"

13. Synonyms
A synonym is a word with a similar meaning to your
topic. If you want to conduct your research in the UK
you should also search for Britain, United Kingdom
and GB to ensure you do not miss any information.
Another example is to look at common and popular
terms which might change over time. for example if
you run a search using Climate Change you will
miss any research which has used the term Global
Warming.
Again don't forget to record these so you
can quickly run different searches.

14. Synonym example
Concept 1: "Factors" - you should also consider
searching for "causes" and "reasons" etc.
Concept 2: "structural defect" - you should also
consider searching for "physical damage"
"structural deficit" etc.
Concept 3: "buildings" - you should also consider
searching for "construction" architecture"
"house" etc.

15. Variations in spelling
Pay attention to different spellings, for example if you
are researching American perspectives on a topic
you need to check the spelling.
Example:
UK: Globalisation
America: Globalization
It is very important to remember this, as if
you misspell the word in a database you
might miss a lot of useful information.

16. Boolean Logic
Boolean Logic is a pure mathematical process of linking
concepts in order to narrow or expand a search.
AND links two or more terms and narrows a search,
retrieving only references containing at least one term from
each concept
OR links two or more terms and expands or broadens a
search retrieving all references containing at least one of
the search concepts entered
NOT narrows a search by removing all references
that contain a particular word or phrase

17. Boolean is available in nearly every database
Advanced Search option so you can quickly
apply them, however some databases, and for
example Google Scholar, require you to type
your search including these tools.
Examples are:
• building OR house OR architecture
• factors AND building AND defects
• defect NOT environment

19. Phrase searches
You can search for a phrase by putting
quotation marks round the words. This
ensures the words are searched for as a
phrase, not separate words anywhere in the
text. E.g. a search for “planning law” would
not retrieve an article with the sentence “we
are planning to change the law”, unless it
also had the phrase “planning law” within it
somewhere. Again this works in most
databases including Google Scholar.

20. Wildcards and truncation
Wildcards and truncation are where symbols are substituted for a letter or
letters.
For example in some databases you can use an asterisk * to replace a
character anywhere in a word, except the first character. Use one
asterisk for each character you want to replace. Wildcards are particularly
useful for finding variations in spelling, for example “Organi*ation” would
find organization or organisation.
In some databases you can use an exclamation mark ! to truncate a word
and find all the words made by adding letters to the end of it. Use one
exclamation mark to replace any number of characters. The exclamation
mark must always come at the end of your search. For example
a search for plan! will search for the words plan, planning,
planner, planned...

21. Time span
When planning your timespan consider the value of including
historical information. You might want to briefly mention how the
topic has developed through time at the start of your dissertation,
or you might want to look in depth at how something has evolved
over time and how this might signal where research will head in
the future. If in doubt speak to your supervisor who will be able to
help you decide.
Remember only to use historical material if it directly imparts a
perspective on your research. Typically a dissertation is written to
an audience of peers, that is people with a similar understanding
to your own knowledge. This means you do not have to start from
the basic premise of your topic but can presume some
prior knowledge from you reader and ensure your
dissertation is of a higher standard.

22. Geographical area
As with choosing synonyms it is important to decide if you need
to focus on a geographical area and what impact this will have
on your dissertation. For example remember to use broad
keywords to make sure you capture all research from an area,
as with the UK you would also search for Britain, United
Kingdom, England and GB.
Think about how feasible the information will be to collect, for
example if you are researching construction planning in
Germany will there be enough research available? Do you
need to broaden your search to, for example, Europe? Or do
you need to narrow your search to ensure you have
a clear focus and can look at aspects in depth?

23. Choosing a search strategy
In most databases you can choose what you are searching,
e.g. author, title, keyword, subject, ISBN...
A keyword search searches for any articles containing your
words anywhere at all in the article. This delivers a lot of
articles but they might not all be very relevant.
Using subject headings can help retrieve a more specific
set of results.
Look for the Advanced search option, or use the
drop down box on most databases to search by
subject/keyword.

24. If you conduct a search for Arbitration AND Construction in the
subject/keyword field, you will only retrieve items that have been
indexed under those subject headings. In other words, the articles
have been assessed to be primarily about these subjects-the words
arbitration and construction are not just mentioned in passing.
Conduct a subject/keyword search for Arbitration AND Construction.
How many results do you obtain?
Other databases may use the terms subject headings, or thesaurus
search, but the idea behind them is the same as they allow you to
search for items about arbitration and construction, for example, even
if those words are not mentioned in the document. It is a good tip to
use these more advanced ways of searching databases,
in order to retrieve the maximum amount of relevant
documents.

25. Using books
You should start your literature search by using the Library catalogue to see
what is available. A wide ranging literature review will include books, journal
articles, conference papers, websites etc. Books are often a good place to
begin with as they can give a broad overview of a topic, and are often not as
specific or up to date as journal articles. Remember to always consider the
following when using books for your research.
• Is the book from an authoritative source? Is the author is an expert in the
field?
• Is the book accurate? For example, check that the arguments are
supported with independent evidence.
• Is the book still current? Look at the publication date and
check that it considers any important recent developments.

26. Using the catalogue
As an example, if your dissertation topic is
about ‘Adjudication’. You might decide first
of all to find books that cover the area of
adjudication. Conduct a “Word or Phrase”
search of the Library catalogue for
Adjudication. You will retrieve about 25
items, half of which might be directly
concerned with Construction Adjudication.

27. Using databases
Databases contain searchable resources like journal articles,
news stories, images and media. They are a quick way of
finding high quality information on a particular subject. You
might be tempted to search Google for articles, but our
subscription databases contain paid for material not freely
available elsewhere, and you can be assured of accessing
information of a high academic quality.
Discover is the Library search tool. It searches across over 90%
of library resources, with the exception of Legal resources. It
searches news, books, video, journals...
See the tutorial Construction Law Legal Research
to see how to use the subscription legal databases.

28. Discover
Discover is a powerful search tool as well as a personal
research assistant. You can create your own account on
Discover and save searches, save journal articles and any
other resources you find there to your own area so you can
return to a search or return to read a document at any time
from anywhere with an internet connection.
You can personalise the area by creating folders, a simple but
easy way to manage your research. You can also set up alerts
so that when any new material is added to the database
which matches your search strategy you will be notified by
email.
Videos on the next slide show you how.

29. Discover Videos
• Discover: Create an account
• Discover: For inspiration
• Discover: your search strategy

30. Why not have a go…
Conduct a free text search for “Construction Contracts” in
Discover. How many results do you obtain?
Edit your search and change your search to “Construction
Contracts” AND Arbitration. How does this change your
results?
Conduct a free text search for “Construction Contracts”. How
many results do you obtain?
Edit your search and change your search to
“Construction Contracts” AND Arbitration. How do
your results change?

31. Keep a record
It is a good idea to keep records of the research process and make notes
as you go along. This will help prevent you conducting searches you have
already done, and remind you of searches conducted in one database,
which you can then use in another.
It is also a good idea to make a record of all notes and quotations taken
from books and journals, that you plan to use in the written piece of work,
along with the details of the different books consulted. This will help you
when you come to referencing the items you have consulted. For example,
if you have found a brilliant quote that sums up an argument you are trying
to make, you can only use it if you can reference it correctly and say where
you got the quote from.
The next slides contain examples of useful tools for
researchers.

32. Referencing
It is important to reference your work accurately to acknowledge all the sources you have
used. The Skills for Learning web pages provide detailed guidance on how to reference your
work.
The standard method of referencing used at Leeds Beckett University is the author-date or
Harvard method, but check any guidance you are given as referencing practice varies across
different subject disciplines.
Quote Unquote Leeds Beckett Harvard Referencing style guide:
http://skillsforlearning.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/publications.shtml
OSCOLA Law referencing guide:
http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/publications/oscola.php
APA referencing style guide:
http://www.apastyle.org/
If in doubt seek advice from your academic librarian as soon as possible.
It is very difficult to reference last-minute so give yourself time and you won't
lose valuable marks.

33. Reference management software
The tools outlined on the following slides allow you to
keep track of the resources you have consulted in your
research, saving details of all the books, journal articles,
websites etc. that you need for your research. You can
format the entries into the bibliographic style you need
and create a consistent bibliography or reference list.
Some of the tools also enable you to add references
directly into MS Word as you write, and enable you to
keep your citations consistent, whatever
bibliographic citation style you choose.

34. EndNote
EndNote Online is the online version of EndNote. There is a freely available
version of EndNote Online on the web, and an upgraded version available
through our subscription to Web of Science. To use this version, log into
Web of Science and click on the EndNote tab on the top toolbar. You will
need to register (registration is free) and create a username and password
for your account. You can synchronise your EndNote libraries between
EndNote Online and EndNote Desktop. For more information about
EndNote Online see the links at the end of this tutorial.
There are several freely available Reference Management tools on the web
and in app format which may suit your purpose. Some examples are:
RefMe
CiteULike
Mendeley
ProQuest Flow
Zotero

35. EndNote tutorial
This is the Library EndNote guide, it will show you how to:
• access EndNote Online
• import references to your library from the Catalogue
• export references to your library from Discover, Google Scholar and
other databases
• manually add references
• organise the library and locate particular references
• use EndNote Online with MS Word to “Cite while you Write”
• create an independent reading list / bibliography
• identify where to get further help and support

36. Need further help?
• For subject support see the
Building and Construction subject guide
• Book an appointment or email your enquiry to
your academic librarian Jennie Wilson
j.l.Wilson@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
• For general library enquiries see the Contact
Us page
http://libguides.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/contact_us