Resources
for MSc Dissertations
Welcome to a
resource page for information that may be helpful when you are
considering and working on your dissertation. This site has
been thrown together to try to stop the mail server collapsing
under the weight of documents I would otherwise be sending out
by e-mail
Some of them are real, others I have made up as examples.
- Being able to record and
replay details of a motorcycle rider's performance on a
racing circuit can improve their race performance
- Companies of different sizes make different use of
different aspects of computer technology
- Data collected whilst shopping on line can be used to
improve the management of customer relations
- Some security technologies are better than others when
ensuring security of on-line purchase transactions
- Quality of life is enhanced by adopting a positive,
blamefree attitude with Kaizen at its core
- Cultural differences between Stoke and Andhra Pradesh are
to be celebrated
- Telugu is by far the best language in the world
- Dave's jokes are amongst the funniest in the English
language
- Being able to state the subject of your dissertation as a
research assertion clarifies the way forward immensely
so that you can produce a good quality dissertation
- Expressing every thought and action in only three words is
really irritating (yes, it is!)
Once you have sorted yourself
out with a suitable assertion, in an area that you like,
then try to think how you would test it.
This should lead you into the area of measuring things - eg.
how do you measure whether a joke in the english language is
funny? To address this, you would need to research the
backgrounds to humour, to lanmguage, psychology and all
sorts of things. Suddenly your literature review becomes
clear, your anlysis bevcomes clear and so does your
dissertation proper. If you are a computing student, you
will need to build an artefact (usually software) that
illustrates some asp[ect of your reserach arae\assertion. In
this way ot all hangs together very nicely.
Please click on the relevant
links to access more, helpful information.
| Content |
Link |
| A document to help you formulate your thoughts when considering your dissertation | here |
| A definition of what
counts as an artefact you will produce |
here |
| Some information about
Mind Maps and how to create and use them |
here |
| Some freeware to help you
draw mindmaps (thanks Joachim) There's also loads more if you Google 'Mind Map' |
here |
| An example of a good, academic writing style |
here |
| Another, longer example of a good, academic writing style | here |
| A guide on the Harvard
referencing system |
here |
| The faculty standard
dissertation proposal form you need to complete |
here |
| The MSc dissertation
marking scheme |
here |
| An explanation of ethical
issues according to the BPS |
here |
| The guidelines I send out to the project students whom I am second assessing at their Mid Point viva | here |
| Input that might help when you are planning your final presentation\demonstration | |
| A copy of the dissertation that received one of
the highest marks ever given |
here |
| A copy of another very, very good dissertation |
here |