Writing a Dissertation For Dummies
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Writing a Dissertation For Dummies walks you through all the practical and theoretical aspects of writing a dissertation to help you produce a first-class work. This guide is ideal for any student in the broad range of the social sciences, from anthropology to law, psychology to media studies. From choosing a topic, to researching the literature, utilising your supervisor, managing your time, and structuring and writing your dissertation, you’ll be able to avoid all the common mistakes and stay on top of your workload throughout the process. You’ll also find tips on the best way to reference your work, and expert advice on presentation and binding. This is a must if you want to maximise your marks on your university dissertation.
Writing a Dissertation For Dummies covers:
Part I: What is a Dissertation?
Chapter 1: So You Have to Write a Dissertation
Chapter 2: Thinking About a Research Question
Part II: Getting Set Up for Your Dissertation
Chapter 3: The Structure of Your Dissertation
Chapter 4: Getting Started
Chapter 5: Finalising Your Research Question, Dissertation ‘Type’ And Considering Ethics
Chapter 6: Reading Efficiently and Taking Useful Notes
Part III: Getting On With Your Research
Chapter 7: Researching in Libraries and the Using the Internet
Chapter 8: Creating Your Own Empirical Data
Chapter 9: Analysing Data And Drawing Conclusions
Chapter 10: Staying on Track
Part IV: Writing and Polishing
Chapter 11: Managing Your Argument: ‘Writing Up’ Your Non-Empirical Dissertation
Chapter 12: Writing Up Your Empirical Dissertation
Chapter 13: Writing Effectively
Chapter 14: References, Bibliographies and Appendices
Chapter 15: Sorting Out The Presentation of Your Dissertation
Part V: Managing The Overall Experience
Chapter 16: Your Work Habits
Chapter 17: Looking After Yourself Physically and Emotionally
Chapter 18: Ten Common Dissertation Pitfalls to Avoid
Chapter 19: Ten Essential Tips For Completing Your Dissertation
Chapter 20: Ten Items For Your Very Final Checklist
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Additional information
| Publisher | For Dummies, UK edition (19 Jun. 2009) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 368 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0470742704 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0470742709 |
| Dimensions | 15.49 x 2.29 x 23.37 cm |
by P909
This book was basically my bible this year! It contains everything you need to know about the dissertation process, and I mean EVERYTHING – the formatting, wordspace, reference/bibliography lists and fantastic advice to develop your critical analysis skills further to get an excellent mark. The writer has a great, non-patronising writing style and explains everything in great detail, even splitting the chapters into non-empirical and empirical dissertations for easy reference. It helped me write a dissertation worth 1st class honours, so I definitely recommend it for any 3rd year student about to start the momentous task of planning, preparing and writing up their dissertation.
by Lottie Ashmead
I am just about to start my final year of university and bought this book over the summer to prepare myself ready for my dissertation and it has helped a lot already. I have read up on things that I wanted to know about prior to starting uni and will use it all the way through the year as a reference guide. It is very detailed, in places not relevant to what I am writing but it has to use examples. I am pleased with this purchase. Highly recommend.
by Natalie27
Gotta say I couldn’t have done my dissertation without this book! It was brilliant and guides you through each section step by step with checklists so you know you have everything covered. If I hadn’t had this book I definitely would have panicked a lot more and not got as good a grade for my dissertation! The only thing I can think of that I needed a bit more guidance on was statistical analysis and qualitative data analysis, but that is because it was specific to my course and dissertation and a general book like this would never be able to cover everything for every dissertation. Still, it was worth every penny and is a fantastic resource to base your dissertation structure on.
by Daniel
Helpful book that puts dissertation writing into a simple and easy to follow task. Lots of information regarding research methods, analysis and how to manage the process, such as looking after yourself, managing stress and personal disasters. However, one rather distracting and off-putting element is how the author refers to everyone as a female, saying she her hers, instead of them and theirs, which is kind of off putting to a male reader. Just feels like the author is pushing some sort of feminist agenda, it’s only a minor thing though. Overall, a good book.
by MysteryMan
Ok so this is a comprehensive book and has some great tips BUT….its aimed at sociology students. If you are on a different undergraduate programme that isn’t humanities/social science based it really drifts away from what you need to include and tends to dwell on matters highly specific to sociology and that sort of area.
Yes it contains some valuable insights and is well written and does help to calm the nerves and gain a good focus on what’s important, but I found it of extremely limited use for my specific discipline as unfortunately a large percentage of the book just doesn’t apply. Luckily others in my family are doing degrees in those subjects so it will come in handy for them, but if you are not studying in that area, there are better options out there. Poor show from the dummies range here.
by Ms. F. Gibbs
To be honest I was overwhelmed when starting my dissertation and I did not really understand what it was at first. I did not reference anything from the book but I did read up on definitions of things and how to start things e.g abstract. I would use bits of the book as a checklist for what to include. I have had my results now and I did receive the highest mark I have ever had. I am not implying it is wholly down to this book but it did contribute.
by Claire
currently a third year events management student, I’m finishing my dissertation and i could not have done this year without this book, i am also dyslexic and this book helped me so much, it breaks down each section of the dissertation in to smaller sections with clear and easy to understand tips and guides.
overall would recommend to anyone doing a dissertation as it is easy to understand and i have found quite a few friends who have asked to borrow it when stuck have really benefited from it as well.