Writing your dissertation – beginning well

Dr Karen Smith, Educational Development Unit

Aims of the session

To understand the purpose of a literature review. To be aware of different ways of citing material

(thus avoiding accusations of plagiarism). To identify ways of reporting the work of others. To understand the different parts of an introduction. To give you the opportunity to apply what you have

learnt to your own writing

You’ll need …

Something to write on A journal article (in English) that you have read for

your literature review A copy of the most recent draft of your literature

review A copy of the most recent draft of your introduction

Expect to spend 2-3 hours completing these exercises

Beginning well

In the last session, we looked at the ‘concrete inner’ of your dissertation.

In this session, we look at the beginning: the introductory sections, which include: Introduction Background information / context Literature review

Literature review The literature review is a critical review of the literature

written on your subject. It charts the development and current status of that subject.

It will contain material which is relevant to your subject, and demonstrates that you have chosen your materials well.

You will make comparisons between the references you look at – discrepancies and limitations should be highlighted.

Your literature review should not be a list of references. Look for themes, and concepts to group the references together.

You should show how your own project will build on the work that you have reviewed.

Using the work of others In the literature review, you will be referring to the work of

other people. Whenever you do this (in the literature review, or in other

chapters), you need to acknowledge the work of those people.

If you don’t acknowledge this work correctly, you could be accused of plagiarism. This is a very serious academic offence, that could lead to you being forced to leave the University without a qualification. Read the Heriot-Watt guidelines on plagiarism here.

Acknowledging the work of others Correct referencing or citing other sources is not just about

avoiding allegations of plagiarism: Referencing gives authority to your work, supporting the point you’re

making or adding weight to your argument. It demonstrates your understanding of a particular issue; recognising

the significance of other people's views increases that of your own. Properly referencing material in assignments can improve the overall

quality of presentation as well as enhancing the content (The Undergraduate Dissertation Companion, http://www.socscidiss.bham.ac.uk/s1.html)

There are three main ways to acknowledge the work of others: Summary Paraphrasing Quoting

Summary

You list the main points of the work, in your own words, including a reference. Here is an example of a summary:

Smith (2007) highlights the following points as being important when writing a dissertation:

1. Listen to the feedback from your supervisor, and ask when you don’t understand

2. Have a realistic schedule for completing the dissertation

3. Leave enough time to proof read your dissertation more than once

Paraphrasing

Like a summary, this is where you outline, in your own words, what the author said. In a précis, you’re more likely to write continuous text than a list:

Smith (2007) suggests that time-management is particularly difficult for dissertation students.

Quoting

This is where you use the exact words that the author used. It’s very important here that you signal that the words are not your own.

For short quotes, you use speech marks: Smith (2007, p.45) notes “the students never leave

enough time for their analysis”.

Quoting continued

For longer quotes, you need to start a new paragraph, indent and make the font smaller.

Todd et al (2007, p.45) describe what cheating means: Cheating comes in various forms but essentially it means trying to

gain an unfair advantage over fellow students or attempting to deceive your tutor in coursework or examinations. It also includes falsifying data: this is when a student presents data which he or she claims was the result of a piece of research but was actually invented or taken from somewhere else.

Safe practices exercise

Have a go at this exercise from the OWL (online writing lab) site. The activity asks you to read passages and assess whether they are accurately cited, and to consider how you could improve them:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/04/

Reporting words

There is a range of words that you can use to report the work of others. Ken Hyland (cited in Swales & Feak, 2004, p.162) found that there were 400 different verbs in use (in 80 research articles), but that 50% were used only once. There was a much smaller number of verbs that dominate. Verbs such as: Describe, develop, propose, find, show, suggest, argue, report, use,

study, demonstrate, note, discuss, observe

The next slide shows these verbs, and others, and also highlights the strength of the claim.

Function and Strength VerbNEUTRAL: verbs used to say what the writer describes in factual terms, demonstrates, refers to, and discusses, and verbs used to explain his/her methodology.

describe, show, reveal, study, demonstrate, note, point out, indicate, report, observe, assume, take into consideration, examine, go on to say that, state, believe (unless this is a strong belief), mention

TENTATIVE: verbs used to say what the writer suggests or speculates on

(without being absolutely certain).

suggest, speculate, intimate, hypothesise, moot,  imply, propose, recommend, posit the view that,  question the view that,

postulate STRONG: verbs used to say what the writer makes strong arguments and

claims for.

argue, claim, emphasise, contend, maintain, assert, theorize, support the view that, deny, negate, refute, reject, challenge, strongly believe that, counter

the view/argument that

From: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/celte/languagesupport/aez/resources/reporting_verbs/#Q1

Reporting words in your article

Re-read an article that you have read for your literature review. Underline all of the reporting words. Rank the words according to frequency. Use the table on the previous slide to see whether the claims are ‘neutral’, ‘strong’ or ‘weak’.

If possible, compare your findings with someone else. Are the same words being used?

Introductions

What do you think needs to go in the introduction? Spend 5mins thinking about this.

What goes in the introduction?

Your introduction should describe: What are trying to achieve from your project What is interesting about it Why you have chosen this problem How you go about solving it

The introduction is also the place to provide the background and context of your study.

How do these points compare to the notes you made?

‘Moves’ in the introduction

Swales & Feak (2004, p.244) talk about ‘moves’ in introductory sections.

Texts are usually based on a series of moves that make sense to the reader.

Introductions to research papers comprise three moves. They are described on the next two slides

Moves in research paper introductions (from Swale & Feak, 2004, p.244)

Move 1 – Establishing a research territorya) By showing that the general research area is important,

central, interesting, problematic, or relevant in some way (optional)

b) By introducing and reviewing items of previous research in the area (obligatory)

• Move 2 – Establishing a nichea) By indicating a gap in the previous research, or by

extending previous knowledge in some way (obligatory)

Moves in research paper introductions cont. (from Swale & Feak, 2004, p.244)

Move 3 – Occupying the nichea) By outlining purposes or stating the nature of the

present research (obligatory)

b) By listing research questions or hypotheses (PISF)*

c) By announcing the principle findings (PISF)*

d) By stating the value of the present research (PISF)*

e) By indicating the structure of the Research Paper (PISF)*

* = probable in some fields, but rare in others

Introduction moves task (30mins)

Read through the extract from a dissertation here and:1. Divide the text into the three basic moves

2. What kinds of move does the author use?

3. Can you see any areas where this introduction could have been improved?

• When you’ve done that, take a look at our commentary – do you agree with us?

Dissertation task 1 (30mins)

Look at your draft literature review. Highlight all the reporting words. How do these compare to the ones you found in the

article? Are you using a range of different words? Can you replace some of your reporting words with words

you’ve met in this session? Are the claims as strong or as weak as you want them to

be?

Dissertation task 2 (30mins)

Look at your draft introduction and the ‘moves’ table. Does your introduction have all of the obligatory moves? Can you improve any of the moves to make a more

convincing case for your research?

If you haven’t written your introduction yet, use the moves as plan and have a go at getting something on paper.