How to write a dissertation? What do we need?

1. Writing your Dissertationin the Discipline of Politics and International Studiesby Renske Doorenspleetworkshop MA dissertation May 2009

2. How to write a dissertation? What do we need? Elements of the research process (and your dissertation)  structure! • (A) research design • (B) topics • (C) research questions • (D) research strategies • (E) theories and hypotheses • (F) concepts, variables and measurements • (G) case selection • (H) data collection • (I) data analyses • (J) conclusion • (K) writing of dissertation (including notes and bibliography) • (L) submission of dissertation (see also Blaikie 2005: p. 33)

3. (A) What is a research design? • Definition:first step in research process, the logical structure and plan of research project • Function:to ensure that the evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial question as clearly as possible. • tells you about what, why and how a topic will be studied! (see also De Vaus 2001: Chapter 1)

4. (A) What is a research design? • Definition:first step in research process, the logical structure and plan of research project • Function:to ensure that the evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial question as clearly as possible. • tells you about what, why and how a topic will be studied! (see also De Vaus 2001: Chapter 1)

5. (B) Topics • ethnic identity, British politics, terrorism, democracy, social policy, war and conflict, AIDS, Sri Lanka, education, development aid, global warming, justice, United Nations, gender, Chile, international trade, Africa, ideology, welfare state etc...... (see ‘dissertation topic’ workshop!) Academic research has infinite number of topics ↔ applied research is limited

6. (C) Research questions Types of research questions: • What?  descriptions • Why?  explanations • How?  change / mechanisms

7. (C) Research questions Role of research questions • organization, direction and coherence • boundaries • focus • framework • link with needed methods and data (see also Punch 2005: Chapter 3)

8. (C) Research questions Criteria of good research questions • clear • answerability • interconnectedness • substantially relevant (seealso Punch 2005: Chapter 3)

9. (C) Research questions Why focus on a specific question? • personal (curiosity & career, taste & training) • academic (literature, theory, models) • social (people, politics and policy)

10. Design of data collection instrument Data specification Pilot study Problem formulation Sample design Design of final data collection instrument Data collection Coding and checking Data analysis Design of final sample (D) Research strategies The linear model (see also Burnham et al. 2004: p. 43)

11. (D) Research strategies but… research is a seamless web without a clear order and without a defined beginning or end

12. (D) Research strategies The research wheel Theory Research Questions Concepts New theory Case Selection Data analysis Data collection (see also Burnham et al. 2004: p. 46; de Vaus 2001: p.8)

13. (E) What is a theory? A theory is like a kaleidoscope: A tube, a number of lenses and fragments of coloured glass. When you turn the tube, the shapes and colours change. Different lenses come into play and the combinations of colour and shape shift from one pattern to another. (from O’Brien 1993)

14. (E) What is a theory? • A theory is a systematic explanation for observations that relate to a particular aspect of life (Babbie 2006: Ch. 2) • A theory is a set of concepts used to define and/or explain some phenomenon (Silverman 2005: Ch. 7) • Examples: theories of revolutions, poverty, war , terrorism, social class, political leadership, voting behaviour

15. (E) What is a theory? Functions of theories: • Framework • Guide • Explanation of empirical observations • Systematize • New ideas • Debate, exchange of knowledge

16. (E) What is a theory?

17. (E) What is a theory? A concrete example: Lipset’s explanation for democracy Theoretical idea: Only in a wealthy society can a situation exist in which ‘the mass of the population could intelligently participate in politics and could develop the self-restraint necessary to avoid succumbing to the appeals of irresponsible demagogues. A society divided between a large impoverished mass and a small favored elite would result either in oligarchy (...) or in tyranny’ (Lipset 1959: 75). Lipset’s research question: Why are some countries democratic and other countries not?

18. (E) What is a theory? Dominant theory to explain democracy • Modernization theories (Lerner 1958; Lipset 1959) Several alternative explanations for democracy • Dependency theories(Frank 1967; Amin 1976; Cardoso 1973) • World-system theories (Wallerstein 1979) • Historical structural theories(Moore 1966; Rueschemeyer et al. 1992) • Actor-oriented approaches(Rustow 1970; O'Donnell et al. 1986; Przeworski 1991)

19. (E) What is a hypothesis? • A testable proposition (Silverman 2005: Table 7.2) • A statement that can be tested in research (Babbie 2006: 47) • Hypothesis testing is designed to detect: • significant differencesbetween two or more variables: differences that did not occur by random chance • significant relationshipsbetween two or more variables: relationships that did not occur by random chance

20. (E) What is a hypothesis? Good examples on basis of Lipset’s 1959 article: • ‘The more economic development, the more democracy in a country’ • ‘Economic development is postively related to democracy, with more developed countries being more democratic than less developed countries’

21. (E) What is a hypothesis? Bad examples on basis of Lipset’s 1959 article: • ‘Poor countries are not democratic’ • ‘Rich countries are democratic’ Not hypotheses, but more statements!

22. (E) What is a hypothesis? Good examples from other research: • ‘Gender is related to income, with men having a higher income than women’ • ‘Men are more likely to earn a high income than are women’ (See also Babbie 2006: 47)

23. (E) What is a hypothesis? Bad examples from other research: • ‘Gender is positively related to income’ • ‘Men are positively related to income’ (See also Babbie 2006: 47)

24. (E) Theories are crucial !!! Translation of Dutch cartoon: Fokke and Sukke know what it is all about in science. Fokke: ‘Very impressive, colleague, but does it also work in theory?’

25. (F) Concepts and measurements A concept is an idea deriving from a given model (Silverman 2005: Ch. 7) Concepts on basis of Lipset’s 1959 article: • Democracy • Economic development • Dependency and world-system role • Class structure • Actors • Democratic diffusion • Civil society

26. (F) Concepts and measurements Measurements on basis of Lipset’s 1959 article: • Level of democracy  Polity data • Level of economic development  GNP per capita • Level of dependency  trade as % of GDP • Type of class structure • Level of democratic diffusion • Size of civil society

27. (G) case selection • What are your cases? Countries? Social movements? Ethnic groups? • One case? Justification of case selection needed! • Two or more cases? Justification of cases and comparisons needed

28. (H) data collection and (I) data analyses • Quantitative or qualitative? • Which methods and techniques? • Literature review • Field research • Interviews • Quantitative statistical analyses (see also Burnham et al. 2004 for overview methods and techniques)

29. (J) conclusion • Dissertation needs a clear conclusion with • answers to research question • strengths and weaknesses of own research • implications for existing knowledge • direction for future research

30. (J) conclusion Doing your own research: some additional adviceCriteria original research • Build on existing studies:do not reinvent the wheel ! • Open to change direction • Think critically about own approach • Add something • concept • methods • third variable • new data • combine theories etc • Think about implications for future research (see also Silverman 2005: Chapter 5)

31. (J) conclusion Doing your own research: some additional advice • Try to be original • not copied, not imitated or translated from anything else • novel, independent, critical thinking • But don’t try to be a genius

32. (K) writing of dissertation See slides of this presentation Selection of relevant literature from this presentation: • Babbie, E., (2006). The Practice of Social Research, Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company • Bryman, A., (2004). Social Research Methods, Oxford University Press • Burnham, P., Gilland, K., Grant, W. and Layton-Henry, Z., (2004). Research Methods in Politics, Palgrave • Silverman, (2005). Doing Qualitative Research, London: Sage Additional literature on writing process: • Greetham, B. (2001) How to Write Better Essays, Palgrave • Dunleavy, P. (2003) Authoring a PhD,How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation, Palgrave • See also: www.skills4study.com Notes, references and bibliography: see MA handbook (pp. 45-53)

33. (L) submission of dissertation • Submission process: see MA handbook (p. 7 and pp. 35-43) • Plagiarism = cheating = fraud = penalty! see MA handbook (pp. 39 – 40) • Grading system and criteria of different marks: see MA handbook (pp. 54-58)