Successful Dissertations The Complete Guide for Education, Childhood and Early Childhood Studies Students

by O'Hara, Mark; Carter, Caron; Dewis, Pam; Kay, Janet; Wainwright, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9781441112750
• ISBN10: 1441112758
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-21
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Whether looking for guidance on the whole process, needing help with conducting a literature review or interpreting your quantitative and qualitative data, this accessible and empowering guide will take you through the dissertation process and provide all the information you need to make the most of this opportunity. Summaries and key points ensure you can find the information you're looking for quickly and reflective questions encourage you to engage with the process. The essential guide for all undergraduate researchers starting a dissertation project in an Education department.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xi
How to Use This Book	p. xiii
An Introduction to the Process of Enquiry and Research	p. 1
What's so different about a dissertation?	p. 2
An overview of the process	p. 3
Get into good habits, work hard but work smart too	p. 15
Summary of key points	p. 21
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 21
Choosing Your Research Question and Getting Organized	p. 23
Planning, preparing and getting started	p. 24
Choosing a research topic or broad area of interest	p. 27
Narrowing down the focus and sharpening up your 'question'	p. 30
Managing the tasks and you time: get organized	p. 38
Summary of key points	p. 47
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 47
doing Your Literature Review	p. 49
What is a literature review?	p. 50
The purpose of a literature review	p. 51
Starting your literature review	p. 55
Organizing and structuring you literature review	p. 71
Summary of key points	p. 76
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 77
Research Methodologies	p. 79
Methodology or methods?	p. 80
Common methodological approaches	p. 88
Methodology and literature-based research projects	p. 101
Summary of key points	p. 105
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 105
Adopting an Ethical Approach to Your Research	p. 107
The what, why and when of ethics	p. 108
Key underlying ethical principles	p. 114
Ethics and the internet	p. 133
Applying your understanding of ethical research	p. 134
Summary of key points	p. 136
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 136
Data collection Using Quantitative Methods	p. 137
The what, why and when of quantitative methods	p. 138
Variables	p. 139
Sampling in quantitative research	p. 142
Reliability and validity	p. 149
Common methods of quantitative data collection	p. 150
Structured (or standardized) interviews	p. 155
Structured (of systematic) observation	p. 158
Content analysis	p. 160
Should you make use of pre-existing data collection tools or design your own?	p. 162
Summary of key points	p. 164
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 164
Data Collection Using Qualitative Methods	p. 165
Interviews	p. 166
Focus groups	p. 175
Observations	p. 178
Questionnaires	p. 188
Summary of key points	p. 192
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 193
Data Analysis	p. 195
Planning ahead	p. 196
What is involved in quantitative analysis?	p. 197
What is involved in qualitative analysis?	p. 212
Vikash's project	p. 218
Summary of key points	p. 223
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 223
Writing Your Dissertation	p. 225
Getting going and developing a structure	p. 226
Pay attention to your assessment criteria	p. 228
Writing the different sections of your dissertation	p. 242
Summary of key points	p. 254
Recommended reading and further sources of information	p. 254
References	p. 255
Index	p. 263
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