So you've reached the point of your degree where you need to start thinking about your dissertation. While it seems like a huge, daunting task, once you start to collate your ideas together and form your action plan, everything seems to just fall into place. That being said, it can be an extremely stressful piece of work to complete, and it always helps to have some guidance.
If you have stumbled across this post before beginning your dissertation, you have stumbled in the right direction. This post is the magical complete guide to your Geography dissertation - everything you may need to know and some useful tips and information that should help to kickstart your dissertation!
The Right Headspace
Your dissertation is one of the biggest pieces of work that you will focus on throughout your undergraduate degree, and it is easy to look at it like a massive barrier to your success, or even a huge inconvenience.
However, your dissertation is one of the first times throughout your undergraduate degree that you can explore whatever you want! This is an excellent opportunity for you to zone in on one topic that you were interested in and create a piece of work that you can be proud of!
Use your dissertation as an opportunity to show off your skills, experience and knowledge. Reframing this task in this way will help you to get this done, but also to enjoy the process!
Crafting an Idea
The most integral part of your dissertation, and perhaps the biggest barrier to getting started, is creating your idea. You really can write your dissertation about anything - and choosing just one topic is an incredible commitment, especially for multi-passionate people. But there are some methods to help you direct your passions into a solid idea.
Choosing a Module
If there was a module that you particularly enjoyed during your degree so far, or if you have read an article that was particularly interesting to you, this is an excellent basis to begin forming your idea.
Feel free to roam your lectures looking for ideas to string together, and make a mind map or brainstorm of your ideas. Maybe even look through some reading material surrounding this topic and discover some research gaps that you can look to fill!
Top tip: Often, authors will write about some research gaps in the discussion sections of their articles. Looking to fill a known research gap will make a great rationale for your project.
You may also wish to speak to your module tutor, who can give some guidance on choosing a topic, or even invite you on some trips to collect and gather data!
Focusing on Career
A dissertation can be a valuable asset to an applicants portfolio, especially if they are looking to show exceptional subject knowledge in a certain field, or to showcase their skills! If you are someone who is looking to follow a particular career path, your could use your dissertation to gain a head start!
Top Tip: If you are using your dissertation in your employment portfolio, you may decide to also create a product alongside it, or use your dissertation towards a bigger project! Perhaps you could share your research with the wider community, local government, or you could create a research poster, podcast or social media page.
Practicality
Once you have brainstormed a few ideas and topics for your dissertation, keep these three points in mind:
Making sure it is doable - you only have a certain timeframe to complete this work in, so you need to keep this in mind. Perhaps avoid going too niche, or too big, but be sure to make your topic precise.
Make sure it's interesting or useful. Your dissertation is a large chunk of work that you will be focusing on for months. If it is interesting to you, or if it helps you develop skills will keep your motivation up, and inspire you to keep pushing!
Making sure there is enough research surrounding your topic. This is a good time to read around topics you are interested in, and assess if there is a wealth of research around it. While you don't necessarily want your topic to be fully researched, as you may aim to fill a research gap, you don't want to select a topic with absolutely no research, as this makes your literature review difficult.
Example Dissertation Topics:
If you are still unsure on what topic to focus on, here is a list of example topics that may inspire some curiosity! You may find that starting off with a research question may help with specifying your ideas.
Are Music Festivals a Source of Concern When it Comes to Levels of Pollution?
Do deprived areas have a strong sense of community despite their circumstances?
Should town planners and architects consider desire paths in their design?
Did the Loch Lomond glacier reach as far as or further than South Wales?
What indicators are there of climate change occurring, and which offers the most significance?
What are the key features of the environment in palaeolithic Britain?
An Investigation of Health Politics During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Britain.
Does the international criminal court adequately deal with crimes against humanity, and where are it's shortfalls?
Analysing the Role of the National Trust in Preserving Sites Across Southern England.
Top Tip: your title is a working title until submission, meaning it is subject to evolve as your research evolves!
Formulating the Aims, Rationale and Objectives of Your Dissertation
Now you have come up with the outline of your idea, you need to think about how you're going to go about exploring this, why your research is important and what your hoping to find.
Your aims, objectives, and rationale may evolve slightly throughout your project, and that is okay!
Aims/Research Questions
Your aims can be a set of research questions you set out to answer throughout your research. An example of an aim would be:
What are the main drivers of racial inequalities in healthcare?
Or maybe an aim could be:
Do pollutants increasingly influence soil samples over time?
Objectives
Your objectives are a breakdown of your specific research tasks, from sample selection, all the way to evaluation. These can be a set of research questions, or statements. You may wish to use the following structure to create your list of objectives:
Sample/site selection
Data collection
Data analysis
Statistical analysis
Discuss and evaluate
An example of an objective would be:
To conduct 5 semi-structured interviews with residents of St. David's to explore their sense of place.
Another example of an objective could be:
To locate 4 sample points along the River Wey nearby to sewage treatment sites.
Rationale
Your rationale is the reason why you are conducting this research. Are you filling a research gap? Are you shining a light on a new angle of research that has already been done?
Your Dissertation Proposal
Once you have found your working title and have outlined your aims, objectives and rationale, you are in a very strong position to create your dissertation proposal!
For my degree, I produced and presented a poster with some information regarding my dissertation, including my plan of attack, and some background research. You also get to add some creative flare to your proposal by adding some graphics and diagrams (this will also get you extra marks).
Top Tip: Use a flow diagram for your methods/plan of attack! It is an easy way to add those engaging graphics, and will help you explain your process!
Top Tip: Your dissertation does not need to entirely match up to your dissertation proposal. Your tutors will know that your idea is evolving, and are likely hoping to see improvements.
Before you Begin...
If you have allocated enough time before needing to start your dissertation, please read on your subject thoroughly! But don't just passively read - record your reading!
Some people like to use Notion to make a record of their academic reading and to organise their thoughts, points and evidence. I, however, prefer to just use a references grid! During my time at university, I ensured everyone knew about my references grids, because they kept my brain super organised!
My favourite way to use a references grid is by collecting a huge variety of research before I start writing. This way the writing flows much better than if I were to stop and read every five minutes. Once I had finished my writing, I would be able to have a clear idea of what I wanted to write next, and therefore, what kind of research I need to do!
To be honest, any kind of record of your academic reading is ideal - but it works best when it is all in one place, whether it be on Notion, or on a Google Doc!
Top Tip: Use AI to suggest academic articles that support or argue your point. AI allows you to gain more access to content you may not have been able to find! Do not use AI to write your dissertation - academic writing is a crucially important skill!
Structuring your Dissertation
Your university should provide you with a dissertation handbook, which is something you should reference back to frequently when structuring your work. Your structure may look something like this:
Abstract
An abstract is a short section right at the beginning of your dissertation which summarises your work, including your findings. Your abstract is usually written when you finish your project.
Introduction
This is where your project starts, and this must be engaging for the reader. You are setting the scene for your research, and describing why your research is important, as well as the methods you will be using to carry out this research. You may also wish to outline the structure of your report.
Your introduction will also introduce your research questions/aims, as well as your objectives. You will link back to these throughout your project, so you may choose to edit these as your research develops.
Literature Review
Your literature review creates a background picture for your project, and explains all the research that has been done surrounding your topic previously. It will be a bulky section of your dissertation, and this is something that is good to start on sooner rather than later. The reading that I asked you to do earlier is really important here, as all the reading you have done will be placed within this section.
The key research in your literature review will need to be linked to your result, and I would aim for between 40 to 50 references. This just ensures that your research is thorough and gives you a solid basis to build from.
Methodology
Your methodology section will outline, explain and evaluate your methodological choices, as well as your site selection and sampling selection process. You may even discuss the theory that led you to select your method(s).
One of the most important part of your methods is to carefully link these to your aims - how are these methods helping you to achieve your aims? This question will also help you to evaluate your methods. You may choose to compare your chosen method with another method to highlight why yours is optimal.
To select your methods wisely, please see the Onion Model below, which will help you choose which methods will work for your study:
Top Tip: you can save on word count in your methods by including methods grids and diagrams, which explain your method selection.
Results and Analysis
Here, you will present your new data in the form of tables, graphs and/or maps, and you will need to describe, explain and analyse your findings.
You may choose to embed your discussion alongside your result. I advise keeping these sections separate, however, just to ensure that your dissertation is a seamless read and follows a coherent structure.
Discussion
A strong discussion section will pick up many marks and one of the best ways to go about your discussion section is to go through your aims/research questions one-by-one! This also ensures you have fully linked your aims to the rest of your project.
Your discussion section essentially adds your findings to the discussion alongside the previous research you mentioned in your literature review, and how they all come together to answer your research questions/fulfill your aims.
Top Tip: Your discussion section should not introduce any new research or sources, and should only focus on the findings you have given in your results section, and the research found in the literature review.
Conclusion
Finally, you need to summarise your entire report, perhaps focusing on some of the strongest links/points you had made throughout your project. This is also where you will evaluate your findings, and even make suggestions for researchers in the future, pointing out areas to fill the data gap even further, or suggesting further methods to enrich your findings.
Completion
Upon completion of your dissertation project - make sure to submit it (and then double check again that you have submitted it). Once it has been submitted - do not revisit it until it has been marked! Revisiting a submitted project than you are now unable to edit is a breeding ground for self doubt. Instead celebrate!
Top Tip: Upon completion, use a text to speech feature to ensure there are no errors, gaps or spelling mistakes in your project!
I wish you all the best of luck in completing your degree, and now you know everything you need to know in order to successfully smash out your dissertation. Oh - one final Top Tip: regularly meet with your dissertation supervisor, and make a detailed note on the date your spoke to them, and what was discussed, as well as the advise they gave. This keeps track of your progess.
You got this!
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