A dissertation can be a source of both excitement and anxiety. Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to begin, or how to go about doing the research. In this blog I hope to share some of my key takeaways, as someone who’s in the midst of a research project at the moment, to offer some advice on how to get started and how to keep on top of everything in the process.
Picking a research topic
Personally, I started brainstorming all the way back in term one – although you definitely don’t need to start quite this early. I got myself a notebook, and in it I designated a section specifically for planning my dissertation.
The things I considered when choosing a topic were:
- (a) Would I find this topic interesting for several months?
- (b) Would I realistically be able to access the research subjects?
- (c) How would I go about researching it? What are my strengths? What would be best for the subject area?
- (d) Would this topic and methodology be likely to get ethical approval?
- (e) Is there a demand or benefit for new research in this area, or has it all been done before?
This is not an exclusive list of things to think about, but it helped me narrow it down. For example, I would have loved to do a research project on homeless communities, but the practicalities of access and ethics were things I felt were likely to be more difficult than for other interesting topics.
Designing the research
Okay, so you’ve chosen a research topic. Now it’s time to design the methodology in detail. The first piece of advice I’d suggest is to follow your strengths. Your dissertation would be a risky thing to take a risk on, so it may be best to draw on what you know you’re good at. If the topic you’ve chosen lends itself more to quantitative statistical data, but you know you prefer a qualitative approach, you might want to go back to square one.
Make sure you design research that:
- (a) is practical within the given timeframe,
- (b) will result in meaningful data, and
- (c) is something you as an individual are actually able to carry out.
There’s no point deciding on lengthy, unstructured interviews if you’re not so good with talking to new people, and on the other hand, there’s no point deciding on a quantitative survey if you hate data analysis and numbers. If you’re not sure where your strengths lie, I’d recommend trying to practice on a small-scale. Perhaps you could ask a family member if you could hold a trial interview with them, or maybe you could play around with some statistical software to get to grips with it.
One thing I can’t stress enough is once you have been allocated a dissertation supervisor, use them! This is something I didn’t do enough in my undergraduate dissertation, and that wasted advice haunts me. Get to know your supervisor, and don’t stress about “annoying” them or asking too many questions. They’re there to help, they want you to succeed, and it’s their job to be your port of call for any uncertainty.
Keeping on track
Okay, so you’ve picked a topic, designed the research – now you’ve got to actually do it. This is definitely daunting, but don’t worry.
Firstly, create yourself a timeline. This might change as new issues arise, but it’s a good way to visualise how much time you have left. I’d strongly recommend creating yourself a “faux deadline” — this is a fake date that you tell yourself is the deadline, so that you have a buffer zone for any setbacks. And, if all goes smoothly, you’re done early! Who could complain about that?
I’d recommend blocking some time for your dissertation into your calendar, even at periods when your other assignment deadlines loom closer. The August hand-in date can make it easy to procrastinate, but trust me, it will come around faster than you know. Also, working on your dissertation means working on a project that is truly yours, where you’ve chosen the topic and method – so, you can almost see it as a study break to read or write for it, as, hopefully, you enjoy the subject matter more than anything else.
However, if you do procrastinate into those summer months, don’t let yourself look backwards at the time that’s passed, but just look ahead at the time you have left to use. You can’t change the past, but what you can change is your approach from where you are at present. Make sure you structure your remaining days well, and perhaps come to campus or to a local café to get you in the studying mood. If you’ve moved home for the summer, you could use the SCONUL library scheme to access a local university library. Try to reduce all the distractions you can – limit or delete your social media apps, be realistic about what you can and can’t say yes to, and perhaps even get your family or friends to keep you in check, by having them temporarily take your phone, or by studying together. However, make sure you take enough time for yourself to chill out every now and then, and remember that the project shouldn’t take up every waking moment of your day.
Final advice
Pretty much everyone feels overwhelmed at some point when doing independent research. You’re probably going to come up against hurdles, face delays, run into technical issues, and have to learn new things at some point – just try not to panic. Don’t be afraid to use your supervisor, as trust me, not doing so will haunt you. Try to use whatever time you have left – be it over a year or only a week – as effectively as you can, with a clear plan and structure in mind for what you’ll get done when. And, finally, remember to take a moment to breathe; you’ve got this.
Best of luck!