THE BUSINESS SCHOOL
Final Year dissertation代写
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To contact the Inclusive Services Team:
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1. Module Overview
Introduction
The Final Year Dissertation module is unlike any of the other modules on your degree. It isn’t based
on lectures, tutorials and an examination, it gives you the opportunity to pursue work on a subject
you are particularly interested in, it gives you a chance to show initiative, use and build on the skills
and knowledge that you’ve developed so far. A Dissertation is not expected to be a wholly original
piece of work, but you will be expected to show that you have exercised initiative and worked
independently. A Dissertation does not have to be a professionally finished product, but it must
show a good understanding of the subject area and associated tools and techniques for research.
The Dissertation gives you the chance to exercise skills that will be important to you in your future
career and which are difficult to measure in other ways: to do well you will need to show initiative,
motivation and the ability to work in an organised fashion over an extended period. Most students
find doing the Dissertation a very useful and rewarding experience. In addition, future employers
are often very interested in a student’s Dissertation.
The Dissertation is a very significant part of the degree. It is equivalent to a quarter of your final
year, furthermore an Honours degree cannot be awarded unless the Dissertation module has been
passed.
Aims of the Dissertation
The overall aims of the Dissertation are that you will be expected to:
• Be required to combine previously acquired knowledge and techniques with newly
investigated ideas, the results to be communicated in a report;
• Work independently under the guidance of a Supervisor on a Dissertation of your choice
and be expected to develop it systematically;
• Produce an extended piece of work covering a variety of activities related to a single theme.
Advice
Choosing a Dissertation
The first and often most difficult task is to find a suitable subject for a Dissertation. The topic you
choose for your Dissertation must obviously be one which you find interesting and on which you
want to work on over the whole year. A Dissertation topic must be of a suitable standard for a
Dissertation and subject to the approval of the Module leader.
There are several ways of choosing a Dissertation topic:
• Develop an idea of your own. If you have an idea that you think would be suitable for a
Dissertation, go and discuss it with the module leader. Even if your initial idea is slightly
vague, it is essential that you talk to an member of staff - this often has the effect of
crystallising your ideas and generating a suitable Dissertation topic.
• Do a Dissertation suggested by a member of staff. Most members of staff have a list of
Dissertation topics which they are interested in supervising. You can obtain this list from
the VLE.
• Develop a previous Dissertation. If a student wishes to do this then it is essential that the
student consults the Supervisor of the Dissertation and it is recommended that the same
Supervisor should be chosen.
• Do a Dissertation suggested by some outside organisation. Just because you have chosen to
do a ‘real Dissertation’ this does not necessarily mean that it is suitable as an
undergraduate Dissertation, you will have to discuss it with a Supervisor.
The Role of the Supervisor
Your Dissertation Supervisor can have a crucial role in the development of your Dissertation. You
must maintain regular contact with your Dissertation Supervisor. Exactly how often such contact
takes place is up to you and your Dissertation Supervisor. Most people find a regular fortnightly
meeting appropriate. Make sure you know how to contact your Dissertation Supervisor, either by
mail, telephone or email. It is unwise to rely on just being able to turn up and knock on your
Dissertation Supervisor’s office door.
The duties of the Dissertation Supervisor include:
• Helping you decide on the scope of your Dissertation;
• Helping you to produce a plan of work for the year;
• Checking up on the progress you are making throughout the year;
• Being available to provide informed discussion and guidance about the Dissertation;
• Advising on the contents and style of the Final Dissertation Report.
They do not include guiding every detail of your work on your Dissertation or proof reading all your
Final Dissertation Report the week before it is due.
Organising your Time
As a rough guide the Dissertation should take up to 300 hours of your time, in total; this time
should be distributed evenly throughout the year. If you spend much longer than this on your
Dissertation you will be in danger of interfering with work for other modules. Hence any possible
benefit gained from producing a slightly better Dissertation will be outweighed by the harm done
to your marks on other modules. If you find that your Dissertation is taking up too much of your
time, consult your Dissertation Supervisor who will be able to advise you.
You are strongly recommended to keep a Dissertation diary, in which you record all the work,
activities and decisions made during the Dissertation. This will help you to keep to your work plan,
and also be a useful source of material when you come to write the Final Report.
Background Research
It will be necessary for you to do background research on your chosen Dissertation topic. Ideally,
you should do this background research during the summer vacation before your final year. Like
every other aspect of the Dissertation the best way to achieve this is to produce a plan of what to
do. In this case the best method is to produce a list of topics that you (and your Dissertation
Supervisor) think are relevant to your Dissertation. Once you have done this it will be necessary to
produce a list of references that cover each of the topics on your list.
Once you have compiled your list of references you have got to read them. It is essential that you
make notes on each reference as you read it. These notes will assist you when writing your Final
Report.
How to Succeed
The key to success in the Dissertation module is to write a work schedule, and then to adhere to it.
You should prepare your work schedule in consultation with your Dissertation Supervisor, who will
help you to make realistic estimates of how long various tasks will take. The Dissertation
Supervisor’s first job may be to cut down what you propose to a reasonable size. Do not be
disheartened by this; when you are preparing a plan of work for the first time it is very easy to
under-estimate how long things will take. It is better to produce a complete, well-rounded but
medium-sized Dissertation than to make a botched job of something very ambitious. Remember it
always takes longer than you think, therefore you should allow extra time in your schedule so that
things like illness or unexpected machine failure do not totally ruin your schedule.
It is sometimes difficult to adhere to a plan of work because, as you acquire greater knowledge and
expertise in the subject, you will probably think of other approaches to the problem, or extra
features that you (or your client) would like to add in to your Dissertation. This is normal. If you
really have to change some aspect of your Dissertation, discuss the matter with your Dissertation
Supervisor first; keep records of your original approach and reasons for the change - these should
be documented in the Final Report.
Throughout the course of the Dissertation you are expected to adopt a professional attitude, taking
responsibility for the management of the work according to the work schedule.
How not to Fail
In this section are listed some of the reasons why students have failed the Dissertation module or
not done as well as they expected:
• Not reading this guide, or having read it ignoring the advice and the requirements laid out
in it. Solution: read this guide and do what is says.
• Choosing a Dissertation topic that requires the access to Specialists. This will cause
problems if the required resources are difficult or impossible to acquire, in this situation a
student will have great difficulty in completing the Dissertation by the deadline. Solution:
make sure that ALL of the resources you require for your Dissertation are available from the
start.
• Failure to maintain regular contact with your Dissertation Supervisor. This is very important
because without the regular guidance given by the Supervisor the student can end up
producing a piece of work which is not suitable as a Dissertation. In extreme cases where
the student has very little contact with the Supervisor, this almost always results in the
student failing the Dissertation. Solution: this is the most common reason for failing, so see
your Dissertation Supervisor regularly.
• Including material taken from books, articles, etc., which you do not understand. Solution:
do not include any material in your Final Report which you do not understand.
• Using material taken from books, articles, etc., which has not been acknowledged: this will
give the false impression that you are claiming that it is your own work. Again this is easy to
discover, and is regarded as academic malpractice; which could ultimately lead to you
failing your degree! Note: it is, of course, legitimate to make use of literature providing that
you acknowledge it and that it is not the only material in your Dissertation. Solution: do not
use any unacknowledged material.
• Not including a critical evaluation of the work performed during the Dissertation in the
conclusion. Solution: perform a critical evaluation of your work and include it in your
conclusion.
• Thinking that a Dissertation is just a large course work. The Dissertation must include work
of greater depth, be more substantial than a large course work, show the development of
existing skills and the acquisition of new skills. Solution: you must do sufficient and
appropriate work.
• Rushing the write up of the Final Report, resulting in poor illogical structure, English, layout,
contents, etc. This results in a sloppy and poorly-written Report which does not create a
good impression. Solution: you should try to write the Final Report as you do the work,
rather than leave it until just before it must be submitted.
Note: this is not an exhaustive list and there are still plenty of novel ways to fail the Dissertation.
Cheating and Plagiarism
While you are studying here your academic performance will be assessed on the basis of your own
work. Students who cheat are trying to gain an unfair advantage over other students. These are
serious offences within the University, and anyone caught cheating in the Dissertation is likely to
have their registration suspended or be excluded from the whole course.
Plagiarism is a particular form of cheating. Plagiarism must be avoided. It is your responsibility to
ensure that you understand correct referencing practices. Consult your Dissertation Supervisor if
you need any further advice. As a university student, you are expected to use appropriate
references and keep carefully detailed notes of all your sources of material, including any down
loaded from the Internet. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are not vulnerable to any
alleged breaches of the assessment regulations.
2. Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Identify and critically analyse a system, issue, or problem of current interest within the context
of computing and Web (CW1).
2. Construct a thorough, well-focused and detailed plan and negotiate appropriate final and
intermediate deliverables and associated learning (CW1).
3. Evaluate appropriate academic research literature and theoretical perspectives relevant to the
chosen topic (CW1,CW3).
4. Manage the dissertation effectively demonstrating systematic and effective planning, progress
monitoring, reflection and use of time and resources. (CW2 ,CW3).
5. Synthesise and confirm information, ideas and practices from both secondary and primary
sources (CW3).
6. Critically evaluate the methodology undertaken to fulfil the aim and the objectives of the
dissertation (CW3).
7. Articulate and demonstrate the outcomes of the dissertation clearly and in a professional
manner (CW3).
3. Outline Content
Since the Dissertation is individually negotiated, most learning will be self-directed under the
guidance of your supervisor. However, we recognise that there are some specific aspects of the
Dissertation with which most students require assistance. Consequently, some support and
workshop sessions are provided during the autumn term. These workshop sessions reinforce and
develop this knowledge, together with specific Dissertation-related issues in order to help you
apply it to your own context.
Workshops are planned to include activities on the following:
• Critical literature review and information searching using books, journals and electronic
sources.
• Footnotes, end notes, referencing and bibliographic form.
• Ethics
• Research design and management, to include problem formulation, case selection,
justification of choice of research methods, data production, methods of analysis,
dissertation management and writing research reports.
• Research methodologies, particularly the distinction between quantitative and qualitative
approaches.
• Critical reading and evaluation of research in terms of how well it focuses on, and answers,
the research questions posed.
• Analysis of different types of quantitative and qualitative data.
• Writing your report.
• Evaluation methods
4. VLE (Blackboard)
The Virtual Learning Environment will be used as follows:
• Provision of resources (materials and links) with online activities for learning including short
lectures on specific relevant topics.
• Submitting coursework
Blackboard can be accessed through the
5. Assessment
CW1 Individual Extended Dissertation Proposal (20%)
Learning Outcomes: LO1, LO2, LO3. (See CW Document on BB)
CW1 will require students to develop a detailed and extended dissertation proposal, which will
identify and elaborate the dissertation title, aims, objectives, and scope and an early Literature
Review. Students will identify possible references/ resources and include a detailed dissertation
plan and identify and describe the dissertation.
CW2 Interim Report and Negotiated Outcome (20%)
Learning Outcomes: LO4. (See CW Document on BB)
The Interim report will vary depending on the type of dissertation. It is expected that all
dissertations will report and analyse progress made against a plan.
CW3 Final Dissertation Report (60%)
Learning Outcomes: LO5, LO6, LO7. (See CW Document on BB)
All students will produce a final report. This is expected to be the only deliverable and be of the
order of 8,000- 10,000 words. All final reports will include an evaluation and reflection on the
dissertation process and outputs.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment in this module consists of written and verbal feedback designed to
encourage and motivate your participation throughout the module. Your supervisor will provide
feedback on sections of your Dissertation report.
Word limits
It is important for you to note that the number of words must always be declared on your
assignment submission. Writing concisely for a purpose is an essential skill for many aspects of life.
Word Limits are advisory, but should be taken seriously: over-length work can be penalised for poor
writing style (waffle).
6. Reading List
Students will be directed to a wide range of reading, but there are certain core texts that will be
referred to during workshops:
Baase, S., (2008) A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal and Ethical Issues for Computing and the internet,
Prentice Hall
Davies, M.B. (2007) Doing a Successful Research Dissertation: using qualitative or quantitative
methods, Palgrave Macmillan.
Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (2003) The Landscape of Qualitative Research – theories and issues, 2nd
edition, Sage.
Flick, U. (2006) An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 3rd edition, Sage.
Holliday, A. (2007) Doing and Writing Qualitative Research, 2nd edition, Sage.
McNiff, J. & Whitehead, J. (2006) All You Need to Know About Action Research, Sage.
Oliver, P. (2003) The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics, Open University Press.
Prior, L. (2003) Using documents in Social Research, Sage.
Punch, K.F. (2005) Introduction to Social Research, 2nd edition, Sage.
Silverman, D. (2005) Doing Qualitative Research, 2nd edition, Sage.
Sinkin, R.M. (2005) Statistics for the Social sciences, 3rd edition, Sage.
Walliman, N. (2005) Your Research Dissertation, 2nd edition, Sage.
Walliman, N. (2004) Your Undergraduate dissertation – the essential guide for success, 2nd edition,
Sage.
White, B. (2003) Dissertation Skills: for Business and Management students, Thomson.
Yin, K.Y. (2003) Case study Research – design and methods, 3rd edition, Sage
Supplementary texts
Students should refer to their chosen topic area/particular methodological approach and seek out
relevant Level 6 texts.
Key journals
Students should utilise both electronic journals and those in hard copy to support their research for
this module.
Other learning resources
On-line electronic databases
Appropriate web sites
Workshop/Blackboard materials
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