How to Write your Undergraduate Dissertation

Preface
Introduction
PART I: EXAMINERS AND SUPERVISORS
Examiners What Are They Looking For?
Working With Your Supervisor
PART II: GENERATING AND DEVELOPING ORIGINAL IDEAS
What Activities Suit You Best?
Types of Research
What Interests You Most?
Generating Your Own Ideas
Developing Your Ideas 1: Causal Relations
Developing Your Ideas 2: Conceptual Relations
Original Questions and Hypotheses 1: Using Analogies
Original Questions and Hypotheses 2: Working With Your Structures
PART III: DECIDING ON YOUR PROJECT
Searching the Literature
Choosing the Topic
PART IV: ORGANISING YOUR WORK
Planning Your Research
Managing Your Time
Your Retrieval System
Reading
Note-taking
PART V: DOING YOUR RESEARCH
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Secondary Sources
Primary Sources 1: Quantitative Research
Primary Sources 2: Designing and Distributing Your Questionnaire
Primary Sources 3: Qualitative Research Interviews and Focus Groups
Primary Sources 4: Qualitative Research Case Studies and Observations
PART VI: PLANNING YOUR DISSERTATION
The Main Components and Introduction
The Literature Review
Research Methods, Findings, Conclusions and Appendices
PART VII: ORGANISING YOUR THINKING
Developing Consistent Arguments 1: The Components
Developing Consistent Arguments 2: The Connections
Using Evidence 1: Describing It
Using Evidence 2: Drawing Inferences
Using Evidence 3: Creating Causal Connections
Using Language 1: Clarity
Using Language 2: Consistency
PART VIII: WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION
The First Draft
Finding Your Own Voice
Simplicity and Economy
PART IX: PLAGIARISM, REFERENCING AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Plagiarism
Referencing and Bibliographies
PART X: EDITING
Revision 1: The Structure
Revision 2: The Content
References
Index
Conclusion
Index

BRYAN GREETHAM is a Research Fellow at the University of Durham, UK, where he is currently engaged in research into moral thinking. He was educated at the universities of Kent and Sussex and holds a PhD in moral philosophy from the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is the author of <EM>How to Write Better Essays</EM>

'It is written fluently and engagingly. Explanations, broader discussions and directions never out-stay their welcome. The book keeps moving on. There is also a very good sense of how much information the reader can absorb in a sentence, a paragraph and a section.' - John Peck, former Reader at Cardiff University, UK 'I admire the general, well-written, refreshingly presented, focus on 'thinking'. The market is huge and ever-expanding. There are a number of volumes on 'how to write a dissertation', but not with a focus on clarity of language and building arguments.' - Jonathan Grix, Senior Lecturer in German Studies and Research Methodology, University of Birmingham