How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation Resources

REVIEWING THE LITERATURE

In these examples we provide a small section from a larger literature review in order to demonstrate the style of writing and structure required in a literature review chapter. Each example is a segment of a literature review from a project which explored masculinity in sporting sites. The main research aim was to understand men’s perceptions of masculinity and the role of banter (joking) in this process. There is a bad example of a literature review, a better example, and a best example, with notes to explain why.

GETTING STARTED

In this set of resources, you will find three templates for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method dissertations. In each case, an example is provided to build understanding. These examples include some thoughts and plans on what should be included.

COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

Observations take place over different time spans depending on your project. However, in every case field notes are an important part of this process, as they are often utilized as a focus for your analysis later on. It is therefore important to get it right! Here we provide some guidance on capturing information in your field site; showing you some examples of best practice alongside some field notes which require some additional work or development.

WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Presented here are some specific examples of proposals that incorporate varied methodologies and implement different methods. These encompass many of the characteristics outlined in Chapter 9, providing guidance on how proposals can look.

COLLECTING QUANTITATIVE DATA

We have deliberately designed an example of a bad questionnaire, to demonstrate to you clearly where improvements can be made to improve the quality of a questionnaire. We provide analysis to show you exactly what can be improved on, as well as an improved version of the questionnaire. The subject is exploring the relationship between alcohol consumption and academic performance, investigating current trends within a sample of students drawn from a large city-based University.

GETTING STARTED

To help you even more with planning and managing your workload, as well as organizing your ideas for various stages of your dissertation, we have provided five templates to make the process more manageable, and equip you to deal with different milestones.

Some dissertation courses will have a presentation as part of the assessment, so we thought we’d give you some practical advice that should help you to prepare. For many people, the thought of formally speaking in front of others is quite intimidating, but with a little bit of preparation it might not be quite as scary as it sounds.

In Chapter 3: Getting Started, we note that effective dissertation supervision will enhance the prospects of successfully completing your dissertation. You will be allocated a supervisor and expected to meet with them throughout the dissertation process. This is an important ‘resource’ for your project and therefore it is important to get the most out of these meetings.

INTRODUCTION

DEVELOPING A RESEARCH IDEA

Many students worry about getting started. In order to help with this, here are some questions to help you formulate ideas, develop your thinking, consolidate your research questions, as well as help you later on in the process to consolidate your argument and consider the contribution of your work.

GETTING STARTED

WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

GETTING STARTED

THE SOCIAL RESEARCH PROCESS

DEVELOPING A RESEARCH IDEA

GETTING STARTED

WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

GETTING STARTED

WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

GETTING STARTED

DEVELOPING A RESEARCH IDEA

WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

GETTING STARTED

CONDUCTING A LITERATURE SEARCH

GETTING STARTED

REVIEWING THE LITERATURE

BUILDING YOUR PROJECT

ETHICS

WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

SAMPLING

COLLECTING QUANTITATIVE DATA

COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

ANALYSING QUANTITATIVE DATA

ANALYSING QUALITATIVE DATA

WORKING WITH DOCUMENTS

EVALUATING YOUR PROJECT

WRITING UP

REVIEWING THE LITERATURE

COLLECTING QUANTITATIVE DATA

Additional resources to help you design and undertake your projects. This includes both academic and non-academic resources. These resources will prove useful in developing your knowledge and understanding of research methods and undertaking a dissertation.

COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

COLLECTING QUANTITATIVE DATA

COLLECTING QUALITATIVE DATA

As noted in Chapter 12, creating an effective interview schedule is imperative to optimizing data collection. Outlined in this resource is an imaginary research project on the topic of veganism amongst students at university. Aims and objectives are noted, as these are helpful in generating your questions. Following on from these research aims are some examples of good and bad interview questions for this research specific project, including some tips on what makes them either ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation Resources

Description

Explore Resources:

Bad, Better, Best Examples of Literature Review

Dissertation Templates

Doing Observations: Bad, Better, Best

Example of Proposals

Questionnaire Design

Research Plan Templates

Researcher's Toolkit: Preparing for Presentations

Researcher's Toolkit: Preparing for supervision

Chapter 1 Author Video

Chapter 1 Video Transcript

Developing Research Questions and Considering Design

Dissertation Template 1: Qualitative research project

Example of a Proposal 1

Planning Template One: Getting started (the ultimate to do list!)

Chapter 2 Author Video

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Chapter 2 Video Transcript

Developing Research Questions and Design Checklist

Dissertation Template 2: Quantitative research project

Example of a Proposal 2

Planning Template Two: Identifying topic area and planning the literature review

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Chapter 3 Video Transcript

Dissertation Template 3: Mixed methods research project

Example of a Proposal 3

Planning Template Three: Selecting your methods/methodology

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Chapter 4 Video Transcript

Example of a Proposal 4

Planning Template Four: Planning the Methods/Methodology chapter

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Planning Template Five: Analysis process, identification of key themes

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Chapter 9 Author Video

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