Today we’re changing up ‘Dissertation Diaries’ as rather than looking at a student’s work, we’re going to be bringing you some top tips straight from the mouths of those that mark them! In this installment we spoke to the Geography Department’s lecturers on the Part II Legal Geographies Course (no Stephen Toope, sorry!) and asked them to share their top tip for those embarking on writing their dissertation!
We hope that you enjoy this new style of this series! Please let us know in the comments below – And to let us know who you would like to hear from next!
Alex Jeffrey:
“My top tip is actually two tips: answer your research question and bring the topic to life. Answering the question may seem blindingly obvious but it really is important in demonstrating that you have remained focused on the core task at hand. By ‘bring it to life’ I think I mean: try and convey to the reader why you are excited in this topic, what is at stake and how your work is bringing a set of insights to bear on the discussion”.
Francessca Moore:
“In our research, we all need to be able to locate the nugget of new information that our research contributes. In a dissertation you might have two or three key findings or contentions that all add up to one overall key message. Be able to summarise your key message in a couple of sentences (test it out on your friends/family)”.
Sarah Radcliffe:
“My top dissertation tip is to keep a notebook just for jottings about the topic, reading, things that occur to you while walking down the street, and references you come across while you’re doing other reading….. This can become a real resource for you as ideas emerge, adapt, and change in relation to discussions and further thinking. The same notebook can be used to record your daily experiences and reflections during data collection (of whatever kind). Looking back over your notes during analysis reminds you of how far you’ve come in knowing about your topic, and can also remind you of an important encounter or a new piece of data, which suddenly fits in with your subsequent thinking and analysis. So when lockdown 2.0 ends, get yourself a notebook, write your name in it, and start your project”.
Phil Howell:
“There’s no point doing a dissertation where you know what you will find before you have even started the research. Don’t try to get the theory and the methods right beforehand only in order to reassure yourself that you will reach the desired conclusions. Put yourself in a situation where you have a chance at being surprised by what you find”.
DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF COMPASS MAGAZINE AS A WHOLE OR THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY.