Index | Search | About | Help
I am interested in supervising projects relating to information communication, domain studies (especially science and healthcare), service evaluation, use and effects of social media, and professional development. If you would like to undertake a dissertation in any of these areas, please feel free to contact me for an informal chat about what you might do.
Many students find choosing a topic one of the hardest parts of the dissertation. I am not sure there is an easy answer to this, nor is there a definitive formula that can be used to generate dissertation titles. In the end, it comes down to finding something that you have an interest in. It is always easier to carry out research if it has some meaning to you. Sometimes students find an area of interest from something mentioned in a lecture, from something they have read about, or something related to their work environment. Once you have an idea of a subject, you will need to find background material relating to your idea. You will need to understand what research has been done so far, what sort of research questions could be formulated for your dissertation, and how they could be answered. In some cases, it may be possible to update a piece of research, using a different timeframe, or case base. Ideally, your methodology will relate in some way to the body of work existing in your chosen subject area. All of this will help you write a sound project proposal, without which it will be extremely hard to successfully complete your dissertation. Make a plan, and then carry it out. Not always entirely straightforward, but if you have anticipated where problems might arise, it is easier to deal with them.
Our RECS module provides some excellent preparatory material for your dissertation. I can also recommend that you set aside some time to read something about doing a masters dissertation. I am familiar with Chris Hart's "Doing your masters dissertation" 2005, Sage Publications: London. It is quite academic, especially chapters 7 and 8, but if you can persevere, it does leave you feeling more confident about what the dissertation is, and how you could go about it. Chapter 3 considers choosing a topic, and I would also pick out chapter 5, on choosing which type of dissertation to do. Some other relevant resources are listed below, alhough please note I am no longer updating the listing on this page; please go to my LibraryThing account (link on homepage) and look for books with 'DISSERTATION' in the comments field.
Do have a look at previous student dissertations to give you some idea of what works and what does not. There may even be something you could follow-up on. Some recent, successful examples of dissertations from the School of Informatics are available in our virtual library. All past dissertations should also be available as hard copy from the library. These can be found be searching the library catalogue. Your Course Officer can offer you a list of dissertations done by past students on your course.
The dissertation will take around 14 weeks full-time effort (600 hours). It is a major undertaking, and you should be prepared to lose evenings, weekends and holidays. But, it does end, and nobody can take it away from you once you have succeeded.
A list of dissertations which I have supervised is shown here.
The Course Handbook in the Information Studies Scheme area on CitySpace will also contain some information about the Individual Project for those students not yet registered on the module.