The book Doing Social Research: A Source Book for Preparing Dissertation meets the long felt need of a comprehensive and up-to-date book on preparing dissertation. The book provides for the basics of social research and highlights the intricacies of various stages of preparation of dissertation for a post-graduate and doctoral degree. The focus of the book is on operational aspects of dissertation. The book answers well to the related questions to meet the quality of a dissertation at length the following questions about Doing Social Research : " How to select a research Problem? " How to identify objectives of the study? " How to formulate hypothesis? " How to select a sample? " How to construct a research instrument? " How to process data? " How to analyse data? " How to write a research report?

Writing a doctoral thesis can be an arduous and confusing process. This book provides a clear framework for developing a sound structure for your thesis, using a simple approach to make it watertight, defensible and clear. Bottery and Wright draw on their extensive experience of supervising and examining numerous doctorates from an internationally diverse and multicultural student body both in the UK and overseas, and include examples of how successful theses have been made watertight along with exercises to enable readers to do the same thing to their own thesis. The authors demonstrate how the key to making a thesis watertight lies in selecting the central research question and the sub-research questions that together collectively answer this main one. If these questions are well formulated the thesis can be defended successfully against criticism on structural grounds – a major part of the battle. Including chapters on the viva process, strength-testing your thesis and essential preparation for writing up your research, this is the resource for anyone looking to produce a well-structured, watertight piece of research.

How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation provides a straight-talking, easy-to-navigate, and reassuring guide to support final-year social science undergraduates. Uniquely shaped by real social science undergraduates from a range of institutions, the book includes their advice to help you through with what can be a daunting, but rewarding stage of your degree. From the look and feel of the book, to the development of the chapter content and the advice it provides, students have been involved at every stage of the book's development to ensure it is focused on what's important to you. Expert advice from real supervisors across the subject disciplines in the 'Working with your supervisor' feature also helps you to make the most of research supervision, and learn from the experience of real researchers in your chosen field. By providing anecdotes, words of wisdom, scenarios, or simply reminders, hints, and tips on how best to prepare for meetings, and communicate effectively, How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation is the most complete guide to facilitate the student-supervisor working relationship. Dedicated chapters cover all the typical stages of a research project or dissertation in the social sciences, while their carefully constructed structure allows you to quickly and efficiently navigate the content. Throughout the book, you'll focus on three key questions: 'What do I need to know?', 'What do I need to think about?' and 'What do I need to do?'. In so doing, each chapter gives you a clear and direct checklist of actions as you progress through your dissertation or research project, keeping you organized, motivated, and confident. The book's online resources include a wealth of free-to-access materials, including: DT Author-led videos for each chapter of the book focussing on key areas of social research including supervision, thinking up research questions and ethical challenges in social research among others. DT Student videos focussing on key issues in undertaking a research project or dissertation and how these have been overcome. DT 'Finding your Way' research pitfalls and how to avoid them. DT General dissertation template. DT Good and bad examples of various research tools: questionnaires, interview questions, observation plans. DT Good and bad examples of extracts from literature reviews. DT Downloadable research checklist. DT Further reading/research suggestions, broken down by chapter. DT A list of links to online time-management tools. DT Research plan templates. DT Links to freely available datasets. DT Tips on increasing your sample size. DT SPSS/NVIVO links/resources. DT Interactive activity to help narrow down research topics. DT Mind-mapping tool. DT Interactive editing exercise to practise writing-up, and making efficient use of word count.

This step-by-step guide begins by identifying and defining the basics of a dissertation proposal. With careful consideration, they explore proposal functions and parts, show how to build your study's chain of reasoning, and carefully review alternate study designs. Chapters are devoted to qualitative studies (sectioned into case studies, philosophical, and historical investigations); quantitative studies (sectioned into experimental, causal modeling, and meta-analysis studies), and mixed-method studies (sectioned into: sample survey, evaluation, development, and demonstration and action projects). Three extensively annotated proposals of former students provide examples of the guidance offered and illustrate common types of studies.

A doctoral dissertation is arguably the most important journey that students will embark upon in their professional careers, so smart travelers will want E. Alana James and Tracesea H. Slater’s Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation or Thesis Faster: A Proven Map to Success at their fingertips. James and Slater identify the key places and challenges that create extra stress during the dissertation process, and offer effective strategies and tools to address those challenges and ensure academic success. Their map walks readers through each step of the process, including: • determining the research topic, • choosing appropriate methods, • turning a hypothesis into a study, • completing a literature review, • writing and defending a proposal, • collecting and analyzing data, • writing up the study, and • ultimately defending the dissertation. Building on years of experience with doctoral students, the authors provide a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use tool that encourages student reflection; includes student stories, hints, and writing tips; and provides end-of-chapter checklists and ideas for incorporating social media. With the proven techniques and guidance of this indispensable book, doctoral students will finish their thesis or dissertation—faster!

Judith Burnett helps students to rise to the dissertation challenge, making the most of the opportunities which a dissertation offers and overcoming the obstacles to successful completion. This book takes students through the process of doing a dissertation from turning the raw ideas into a research question, designing the research project, choosing appropriate methods, developing a research proposal, planning and executing the project, working with data, writing up, and preparing the work for presentation.

The Image of Africa in Ghana’s Press is of high conceptual, theoretical and methodological quality. It gives a good overview of the literature and the state of the art in the fields tackled by the author. The originality of the book lies especially in its methodological approach. Prof Guido Keel, Director of the Institute of Applied Media Studies, Zurich University of Applied Sciences The Image of Africa in Ghana’s Press is a comprehensive and highly analytical study of the impact of foreign news organisations on the creation of an image of Africa in its own press. Identifying a problematic focus on the Western media in previous studies of the African media image, Serwornoo uses the Ghanaian press as a case study to explore the effects of centuries of Afro-pessimistic discourse in the foreign press on the continent’s self-description. This study brings together a number of theoretical approaches, including newsworthiness, intermedia agenda setting, postcolonial theory and the hierarchy of influences, to question the processes underpinning the creation of media content. It is particularly innovative in its application of the methodological frameworks of ethnographic content analysis and ethnographic interview techniques to unveil the perspectives of journalists and editors. The Image of Africa in Ghana’s Press presents a vital contribution of the highest academic standard to the growing literature surrounding Afro-pessimism and postcolonial studies. It will be of great value to scientists in the field of journalism studies, as well as researchers interested in the merging of journalism research, postcolonial studies, and ethnography.