Those of you doing DISSERTATIONS...

[Lazylou]

I could do with your expert help!

I have just had my proposal back and now want to crack on with the lit review. Have been doing some reading but I'm not sure how to organise it. Anyone got any good tips? Would be really grateful.

TIA

Come on, I know my posts are waaaay boring, but please humour me! Then I promise to go away

Bumping, just in case

Helloo!!!

Just had my dissertation hardback bound today and am submitting it 'Fri

Intro
Lit review
Methodology
Ethics

Research findings
Analysis
Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography

What subject are you working on?

... I think anyway!
Ask your tutor too.

What's your subject?

It was easyish for me, as I did a chronological analysis of the development of my subject area first, with lots of cross referencing.

Then I pulled out key areas of my subject - I took my literature and literally divided it into piles which dealt with each subject - looking at the conclusion of each paper was very useful. I highlighted key quotes and put post it notes on the edges to help me remember where they were, with a note about what it was (my list of papers/books consulted was 5 pages long!). I then wrote about each subject, cross referencing papers and contrasting viewpoints/ noted similarities or development of work.

It did take me a few months though, I have to admit!

I'm working on: the role of the outdoor area in promoting and supporting the imaginative play of children aged three and four years old.

Thanks for those replies. I didn't think it would be this difficult .

Bramblebooks, that sounds like a long, boring process (isn't most research?) but was exactly the kind of thing I needed.

Thanks!

I know! It gets exciting in peaks and troughs though. Sounds like you could do something similar though - looking at legislative and sociological changes viewing play, then look at the different aspects involved - you could link into things like healthy schools (at foundation stage!), sure start etc, but I'm sure you know all that.

We had the most gorgeous little wooded area in the grounds of the surestart nursery I used to work at - we had such a fab time doing all sorts of play in there. happy days! Most of my time now is in a shoebox sized cupboard doing my spld stuff.

a useful thing to do as you go along is to use a different coloured highlighter to highlight key academic phraseology - I then typed it all up on a separate sheet - fancy connectives etc and that really helped me to get the academic style right ( got a high distinction )

Lazy - I recomend a good biolography software like Endnote to organise your references. It can also connect to various search engines to download refs into a library.

I'm also a big highlighter-user. I also make flow-charts of information on big sheets of paper. I find the organisation of the lit review very difficult so spent some time making lists of headings and subheadings which gives you the basic structure then you can flesh the headings out and alter as needed.

Wish I'd known about that one last year acinonyx!

Lots of space on the floor or a heuge table is good too!

Well, I wish I'd already submitted like you!

Gather as much literature as possible, discuss the main findings and critique your key pieces of literature.
Discuss the implications of the lit reviw outcome.

I have done my lit review now and onto change management which I think is worse. I could carry on writing the lit review but its already at 6700 eek

Thanks all! It seems that all the literature I have advocates outdoor play. I am yet to find anything against it, so I'm not quite sure what I would write to critique it.

critique the articles by looking at the sample size, method, geographical area etc

e.g. a questionnaire, sample of 20, in rural australia

is a questionnnaire a good way of gathering info?
is a sample of only 20 representative?
is rural australia representative of the UK pop?

is this helping or am I talking shite. Get a good research book which will tell you how to critique, I only know nursing ones so no help there

Agree - critique the methodology of other studies. Do any of the articles discuss the practical limitations of providing outdoor play or do they gloss over that? (talking out of my rear end also.....)

Right, think I've got it and no, no shite talking going on either! You have all made me consider it in a different way to the blur and mental block I was having a few hours ago, so thank you!

I have managed to write 1 paragraph but its got some really big, grown up words in it and has taken ages. I have made other notes though, as well as printing this thread off so I can stare at it tomorrow (without having to log on to MN ).

Oh, and I dug out some left over wrapping paper from Christmas and wrote lots of notes on it, drew pretty charts and coloured them in and I can now see some kind of plan forming. Funny, all it took was a massive bit of paper lol.

Thank you all again so much. I feel like I can manage it now, although I might be back if it gets a bit much again!

Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2005) Research Methods in Education, 5th Edition London: Routledge Farmer

this is a useful one for looking at the methodology - you get to talk about the paradigm you're working in and as ^^ they all say above is useful in critiquing existing papers and studies.

You need to quote from research methodologists and link to the types of research you're talking about

• clear as mud this time of night!

Thre is software to do bibliography, etc....how does that work?
Sorry for high jacking, btw...

£and - I use Endnote - read about it here to see if it woulod be useful:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EndNote

Oh this si cool, and once I do the OT course, I might get myself one....

I wrote an Essay yesterday, and the amount it took me to do teh reference and bibliography was just stupid amount....it's such a nuisance with the italic here and bold there, etc...

critic grid sounds wonderful- can anyone expand?

No! Carry on with the hijacks! At the end of the day they are going to help us all so thanks for that.

Sally, I would be interested in how you use your critiquing grid if you get a spare 5 minutes to explain. I know you're way busy .

I find the piles and highlighting approach helpful too.

I also download articles and then cut and paste into headed sections on a word doc. Is good when the strucuture is not glaring obvious.

Allow self thinking time - reaqd for an hour, wash up, read for an hour, hang washing etc.

Draw and scribble about stuff infornt of telly or whilst online or in cafe. Concretes things.

It's the reading that is taking so long, and I'm thinking maybe I should have started it before attempting to actually write the thing .

I have decided to start writing about the role of the adult in the outdoor area first, because it comes up in all the books and the curriculum etc. I have also started to write the introduction but it sounds a bit pompous, even though it is supposed to be in grown up language. Might have to tweak it a little bit and see what I can do with it.

I've got folders and files and bits of paper all over the place so really I should start filing it all to keep organised. I have to admit, it is a bit all over the place .