Wednesday 29 June 2011

Writing the Qualitative Dissertation: Understanding by Doing

MELOY, Judith M.
2002
Writing the Qualitative Dissertation: Understanding by Doing
Mahway, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Guide

GLATTHORN, Allan A. & JOYNER, Randy L.
2005
Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Guide
Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press
0-7619-3961-X



Suggested reading
Chapter 2: Finding a research problem p17-30
Chapter 14: Mastering the academic style p 135-154

How to Write your Undergraduate Dissertation

GREETHAM, Bryan
2009
How to Write your Undergraduate Dissertation
Houndmills,Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
978-0-230-21875-8



Suggested reading
Chapter 5: Doing your research p177-229
Chapter 6: Planning your dissertation p 231-257

Doing Your Social Science Dissertation

BURNETT, Judith
2009
Doing Your Social Science Dissertation
Sage Study Skills Series
London: Sage
978-1-4129-3112-0



Suggested reading
Chapter 1: Ready to do research? p13-35
Chapter 4: What kind of researcher are you? p61-77
Notes: many references to other works to support readers are given in each section

The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty

HERR, Kathryn G.
2005
The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty
Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Ltd
0-7619-2991-6

Guide to Successful Dissertation Study for Students of the Built Environment

HOLT, Gary David
1998
Guide to Successful Dissertation Study for Students of the Built Environment
2nd ed.
Wolverhampton: Built Environment Research Unit, University of Wolverhampton
1-902010-01-9



Chapter 1: The fundamentals p10-34 Chapter 5: Concluding tasks and thoughts p139-158 Tips for sucessful writing clearly highlighted throughout text

Writing a Built Environment Dissertation: Practical Guidance and Examples

FARRELL, Peter
2011
Writing a Built Environment Dissertation: Practical Guidance and Examples
Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell
978-1-4051-9851-6

Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process

RUDESTAM, Kjell Erik and NEWTON, Rae R.
2007
Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process
Los Angeles: Sage
978-1-4129-1679-0




Suggested reading:
Chapter 4: Literature review and statement of the problem p 61-85
Chapter 5: The methos chapter p 87-115

Research Methods for Science

MARDER, Michael P.
2011
Research Methods for Science
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-14584-8



Suggested reading
Chapter 2: Overview of experimental analysis and design
Chapter 3: Statistics

Doing Your Undergraduate Social Science Dissertation

SMITH, Karen
2009
Doing Your Undergraduate Social Science Dissertation
London: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group)
978-0415467490



Suggested Chapters
Chapter 1: What is a dissertation? page 1-8
Chapter 2: Getting support page 9-23

Essential Quantitative Methods: For Business, Management and Finance

OAKSHOTT, Les
2009
Essential Quantitative Methods: For Business, Management and Finance
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
978-0230218185

Two chapters to look at
Chapter 4: page 58-76 Collecting data: surveys and samples
Chapter 5: page 77-115 Finding patterns in data: charts and tables

Several others chapters of relevance in this book (see chapters 6-11)


Educational Research. Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Fourth Edition.

CRESWELL, J. W.
2012
Educational Research. Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Fourth Edition.
Boston MA: Pearson
978-0-13-261394-1



Use for :
Chapter 2 p59- 79 Identifying a Research Problem
Chapter 7 p204-235 Collecting Qualitative Data
Chapter 8 p236-264 Analyzing and Interpreting Qualitative Data

Doing Your Dissertation in Business and Management: The Reality of Researching and Writing

BROWN, Reva Berman
2006
Doing Your Dissertation in Business and Management: The Reality of Researching and Writing
London: Sage Publications Ltd
ISBN 1-4129-0351-3



Chapter 3 p20- 36 On the edge of the beginning [chapter is about developing research perspectives]
Chapter 4 p37-50 The problem with the research problem

The Qualitative Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty

PIANTANIDA, Maria and GARMAN, Noreen B.
1999
The Qualitative Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty
Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press
ISBN: 978-0803966895



Heavy going reading for an undergraduate, but there are some very good points for those looking in depth at gaining, interpreting and validating qualitative data
Start here:
Chapter 7 p 129-155 Living with the Study: Generating Knowledge through portrayals
Chapter 8 p 156-185 Living with the Study: Getting to portrayals

Research Methods: The Basics

WALLIMAN, N
2011
Research Methods: The Basics
Abingdon: Routledge
ISBN 978-0-415-48994-2



Start here:
Chapter 3 p 29- 41 structuring the research project
Chapter 4 p 42-51 research ethics

Further Reading: Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction Students

NAOUM, S.G.
2007
Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction Students. Second Edition.
Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann
0-7506-8264-7


__________
Recommended sections or chapters:
Chapter 2, p11 - 17 Selecting a topic and writing the dissertation proposal
Appendix 1, p 171-186 Examples of dissertation proposals

Monday 27 June 2011

Purpose of this blog

This blog will support the Kindle e-book currently being written by providing suggested reading to support students doing undergraduate (and possibly MSc) dissertations.  It might also provide some ideas and help for the long-suffering family and friends of the above!

Constructive comments and book reviews are welcome!