The dreaded dissertation doesn’t have to be so dreaded, mine certainly wasn’t. I loved writing it! It’s easy for me to say that now but I said it at the time as well - it shocks most people. Writing thousands of words on one subject isn’t easy and for lots of students, me included, it’s the first time they’ve attempted anything of the kind. With this in mind and having come out of the other side in one piece, I decided to draw up a list of my top tips on how to survive your dissertation.
1. Subject
This is MAJORLY important and you can’t do anything until you’ve decided upon this. Forget about a title for now, that can come later.
I knew at the end of second year I wanted my dissertation to focus on the music industry as I’d previously written an essay on the topic for an assignment. I managed to get a first and I’d enjoyed writing it. The word count had limited me and I knew I could have written so much more had I the opportunity to do so. Third year presented me with that opportunity.
I made a spider diagram of what interested me within the music industry and what areas I could potentially research in to. The page was full by the time I’d finished and I used this as my starting point come third year.
I think this is where many students go wrong, they think too much about what sounds like a good research topic for a dissertation rather than thinking about what really interests them. You’ve got to pick a topic you know you will be interested in researching and writing about otherwise it will be hard going and you’ll find it even harder to motivate yourself. Your topic needs to be something you have an opinion on so you can argue and really get your teeth into it. It’s even better if you’re passionate about your subject.
2. Notebook
Have a notebook close at hand in which you can write down ideas, sentences or even small paragraphs. This is something I found really useful. I never truly switched off when it came to actually writing up my dissertation and this meant I would think of something to write at random times and needed to jot things down for later on. The first few lines of my introduction came in the early hours of the morning whilst lying awake in bed!
3. Colour Coded Quotes
I had reams of paper once I’d printed off my research so I put coloured crosses next to my highlighted quotes. Each chapter had its own colour so whilst I was doing my reading I could mark which chapter each quote was suitable for, if it could be used in a number of chapters then I put as many different coloured crosses as necessary. This made it so much easier to find quotes as I was able to flick through my research without having to read every quote, I just had to look for a specific colour.
4. Favourite Tweets
The Favourite button on Twitter is a great tool for saving articles. See it, favourite it and you can go back and read it later.
In order to find relevant news articles I followed a lot of music companies and magazines. It’s a good platform for finding the most up to date content and means you can get it all in one place. Even now I’ll see an article on Twitter and think “that would have been good for my dissertation”.
5. 10% Rule
It’s worth checking with your supervisor if you are allowed to use the 10% rule in your dissertation, especially if you think you may go over the allocated word count. You don’t want to run the risk of getting penalised.
Def.: The 10% rule is when you are allowed to go under or over the word count by 10% either way. For example, if you have a 2,000 word essay, you have to write at least 1,800 words and can write up to 2,200 words.
I had to write an 8,000 word dissertation but knew I would go over the word count as I had so much I wanted to write. My chapters were split up into sections on my plan so I allocated an amount of words to each, allowing me to keep an eye on how many words I had left, section by section. Unfortunately I had to cut out some of the smaller sections or amalgamate them with others but I was able to this as I went along because I was monitoring my word count. This saved me from having to cut out whole paragraphs at the end.
6. Don’t ‘Go It Alone’
Writing a dissertation is quite a solitary process but it doesn’t mean you have to do it completely on your own. Get flatmates or fellow members of your course involved, you’re all in the same boat after all.
I was often talking dissertations with my flatmates. We’d be comparing notes about things our supervisors had told us or discussing ideas. It was useful to have someone else there who you could ask “does this sound ok?” if you weren’t sure about anything. Once I’d finished my dissertation, I asked both my Mum and my flatmate to proofread it for me. It’s important to ask someone to look over it as well as yourself as they can pick up on things you will have missed. I was able to repay the favour for my flatmate and it was interesting to read someone else’s dissertation.
My deadline came before my flatmates’ so once I’d finished I was able to help them out with reading chapters and providing moral support. It became quite a ‘team effort’ for us in the run up to their deadline. We kept each other going.
Everyone has a different experience so it’s nice to be able to talk about it with friends. It will feel like it has taken over your life so make the most of those around you.
7. ENJOY IT!
I think this is the most important thing when writing your dissertation. It will help a great deal. This is one of the biggest things you will undertake whilst at uni, if not the biggest, so it’s really worth trying to enjoy it. It is a daunting prospect when you first have that blank page in front of you but once you get stuck in, it will become easier, especially if you’ve picked the right subject for you.
If I could, I would go back and do it all over again. The only regret I have is that I only had a word count of 8,000 instead of the 10,000 my flatmates had, I’d have swapped with them any day! I was so relieved once I’d submitted my dissertation but at the same time I was at a loss for what to do, that was it, it was all over.
I’m still so proud of my dissertation and indeed of myself. My ultimate goal was to get a first and I achieved that. The bonus was the fact I enjoyed the experience as much as I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment