durham university thesis guidelines

Research Skills: Support for your dissertation

• Induction - DULC Essentials
• Next steps: Full text access tools
• eBooks: An overview
• Starting your search
• Constructing your search
• Evaluating your search
• Citation searching
• Support for your dissertation
• Systematic Review Support
• Archives, Special Collections, Museums and Galleries
• Referencing and plagiarism
• Reference management software
• Database alerts
• Citation alerts
• Other tools
• Support for your Subject This link opens in a new window

Dissertation Support: Online Tutorial

We have provided an online learning tutorial to support students in preparing for and completing their dissertation. Each module can also be worked through independently, and are available for all students and staff.

• You can access the whole online tutorial here.
• We have provided access to individual modules via this page.

Dissertation advice 2020/21

This short video outlines some of the things you should consider in relation to library resources when deciding on a dissertation topic

Meet the Team

01 - introduction to dissertation research.

04 - Bibliographic Databases

02 - Using Discover

05 - Accessing Full Text Online

03 - Basic Literature Search

06 - Referencing

• << Previous: Citation searching
• Next: Systematic Review Support >>
• Last Updated: Nov 4, 2024 3:41 PM
• URL: https://libguides.durham.ac.uk/research_skills

• How to Contact Us
• Library & Collections
• Business School
• Things To Do

VISU3032: Dissertation

Please ensure you check the module availability box for each module outline, as not all modules will run in each academic year. Each module description relates to the year indicated in the module availability box, and this may change from year to year, due to, for example: changing staff expertise, disciplinary developments, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback. Current modules are subject to change in light of the ongoing disruption caused by Covid-19.

Prerequisites

Corequisites, excluded combinations of modules.

• Any other dissertation module in any other academic department.
• To provide students with the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of one aspect of their studies by researching and writing an extensive piece of work in English in an area in which the department can offer research supervision.
• To cultivate independent, research-led learning.
• To provide project-management experience of planning, documenting, and writing an extended piece of work in English (12,000 words).
• To increase students facility in expressing themselves in English fluently, accurately, and at a suitable academic level, and in presenting and referencing their work according to the conventions of academic writing.
• To provide invaluable practice for those students wishing to progress to postgraduate study.
• The Dissertation in Visual Arts and Film seeks to enhance the employability of students by allowing them to demonstrate their ability as independent learners and researchers in the context of an extended research project that dovetails with the Universitys principles for the development of the taught curriculum. Skills will be developed specifically through an extended enquiry-led activity that will provide students with the competences to succeed in the world of work and the ability to manage their own intellectual and professional development. By focusing specifically on questions of relevant research interest, students will develop as international citizens so that they can make a positive contribution to an increasingly globalized society.
• The dissertation involves researching and writing an extended piece of work on a topic for which the department can offer research supervision. Students will thus be working closely with an expert in the field.
• In order to be assigned one of their proposed dissertation topics, students will have to register for the relevant corequisite module at Level 3. The precise topic of the Dissertation is to be determined by negotiation with the supervisor, and is subject to the approval of the Dissertation Coordinator and the availability of an appropriate supervisor.
• The process of dissertation allocation begins in the third week of June when students submit two 100-word proposals outlining topics on which they would like to work, having consulted the list of supervisors available for the next academic year. Since module choices are also likely to be affected by the allocated dissertation topic, the student will also be asked to rank optional module choices corresponding to each proposal.
• When students return to Durham in their final year, their subject will be defined and the dissertation title approved by the supervisor and the Dissertation Coordinator. Students will submit their dissertation in the first week of the third term.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module, the student will have greatly enhanced knowledge of a specialised subject. S/he will be familiar with both primary and secondary sources, and with the wider debates surrounding the images, films, or other visual artefacts that form the main subject of the dissertation.

Subject-specific Skills:

• The student will have further developed their ability to express complex ideas in a suitable register.
• The student will also develop a number of skills specific to the topic of their dissertation, which may include, by way of illustration:
• the ability to offer sustained close reading and analysis of particular images, films, or other cultural artefacts, including the ability to recognise and appreciate the significance of particular formal/stylistic devices and structures;
• the ability to situate images and/or other artefacts in relation to the context and circumstances of their production, plus the ability to appreciate their enduring ability to inform cultural studies;
• the ability to draw on critical theoretical discourse to situate their research within the broader debates and methodologies of the critical humanities.

Key Skills:

• The student will have acquired skill and practice in researching a subject using primary and secondary sources, planning a coherent argument with the evidence to support it, presenting these arguments clearly and cogently in a sustained piece of writing, conforming to the norms of academic referencing.
• The student will have developed long-term project-management skills, including the ability to oversee the execution of a project from conception to completion.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Preparation for the Dissertation begins level 1, with modules covering research skills and critical methodology. There are four further lectures on Dissertation skills in the final year.
• Students are entitled to a total of 4.5 hours of supervision time. This may include one or more group seminars, but will include a total of at least 3 hours of one-to-one supervision meetings. The length of each meeting may vary between 20 and 40 minutes, according to the needs of each student at different phases of the project. Students will see their supervisor at least twice in each of the first two terms.
• After each supervision, it is the responsibility of the student to use the Dissertation Supervision Monitoring form to write a brief summary of the key points discussed and submit it electronically to the supervisor for possible further comment.
• In the second half of Michaelmas term (week 6 or 7, deadline to be agreed between student and supervisor), students must submit to their supervisor a plan comprising: 1) the proposed title of the dissertation; 2) a draft abstract; 3) an outline of the proposed structure of the dissertation; 4) an annotated preliminary bibliography of primary and secondary sources. The total length should not exceed 3 A4 pages. Students whose projects may require vetting by the MLAC Ethics Committee (for example, if they plan to use surveys, interviews or potentially confidential data) are required to flag this up in the same submission, referring to the guidelines set out in the Dissertation Handbook.
• Students are required to submit to their supervisor up to three extracts from their dissertation, totalling approximately 2500 words. The precise arrangements (number of submissions, length of each, time of submission) are to be agreed between the supervisor and the student, but the last instalment must be submitted in time for feedback to be given before the end of Epiphany term.
• The supervisor will comment in writing on both the plan and the extracts within two weeks of submission. Submissions will also be discussed in supervision meetings.
• Assessment of the dissertation will evaluate students ability to assimilate, understand, and analyse critically the primary and secondary material associated with their dissertation topic, also their ability to present a sustained argument with suitable evidence, and to express themselves fluently and accurately in English, paying due attention to the relevant conventions of academic writing. Students will also be expected to produce a full and proper bibliography.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative assessment, formative assessment, more information.

If you have a question about Durham's modular degree programmes, please visit our  FAQ webpages , Help page or our glossary of terms . If you have a question about modular programmes that is not covered by the FAQ, or a query about the on-line Undergraduate Module Handbook, please contact us.

Prospective Students: If you have a query about a specific module or degree programme, please Ask Us .

Current Students: Please contact your department .

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse this repository, you give consent for essential cookies to be used. You can read more about our Privacy and Cookie Policy .

• Departments
• University Research
• About the University

Browse by Department

• Classics and Ancient History, Department of (72)
• East Asian Studies, Department of (3)
• English Studies, Department of (335)
• History, Department of (145)
• Modern Languages and Cultures, School of (161)
• Music, Department of (120)
• Philosophy, Department of (103)
• Theology and Religion, Department of (405)
• Accounting, Department of (14)
• Economics and Finance, Department of (39)
• Management and Marketing, Department of (58)
• Biological and Biomedical Sciences, School of (400)
• Chemistry, Department of (476)
• Computer Science, Department of (81)
• Earth Sciences, Department of (279)
• Engineering and Computing Science, School of (2008-2017) (210)
• Engineering, Department of (122)
• Mathematical Sciences, Department of (238)
• Physics, Department of (571)
• Psychology, Department of (127)
• Anthropology, Department of (204)
• Applied Social Sciences, School of (120)
• Archaeology, Department of (216)
• Economics, Finance and Business, School of (357)
• Education, School of (314)
• Geography, Department of (364)
• Government and International Affairs, School of (248)
• Law, Department of (199)
• Medicine and Health, School of (70)
• Sociology, Department of (31)
• Sport and Exercise Sciences, Department of (34)

Quick links

• Latest additions
• Browse by year
• Browse by department
• Deposit thesis
• Usage statistics

Prospective students

• International students
• Research degrees
• Durham e-Theses
• Deposit Guide

Last Modified: Summer 2013 | Disclaimer | Trading name | Powered by EPrints 3