To get a rough idea of the layout, structure and content of a dissertation, I spent a few hours in the library having a look at some of the third years' that have just graduated. I planned to read through more than one, but only managed to read Rebecca Hollingsworth's on Food Waste, which was really interesting.
Having chosen to base her research project on an issue that isn't being passed around the news like a hot potato was a wise choice. This meant that she wasn't just regurgitating peoples reactions and opinions about a matter that is almost inescapable to the publics attention. Food waste is an important issue, but it is not on the same level as the Syrian crisis for example. Due to this it is clear that Rebecca was able to gain strong primary and secondary research and successfully raise awareness about how to prevent food wastage both in her essay and practical response.
I found out that dissertations are sectioned into chapters which threw me off a bit thinking about the volume that I would actually have to write, but its more like short essays on a specific part of the topic which makes more sense. Rebecca's essay seemed to flow really well putting more emphasis on what she actually wanted to find out from a research perspective than focusing on getting all of the academic writing techniques in there; I only found one or two in hers. I presumed that to get the marks you needed to cram as much triangulation into each side of writing as possible, but maybe I was wrong! Besides, if you use it too much the direction of the essay seems to go around in circles.
This afternoon was really helpful and has provided me with more knowledge on what the end result of my research project will look like. In the upcoming weeks it will be a good idea if I read through a few more dissertations just to get a broader perspective and sense of variety of how different topics are executed in writing.
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