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Psychology: Library Dissertation Research: Introducing Dissertation Research

Online tutorial introducing you to the skills and techniques needed for dissertation research.

What is different about Dissertation Research?

 

The research process for your dissertation requires a different approach from that you will have used during your taught modules.

Rather than being guided to relevant sources by your lecturer, you are responsible for finding, selecting, evaluating and managing all your research sources.

You will be using many more sources than you will have consulted for smaller pieces of assessed work, and perhaps different types of information from that you have used previously, so you need to think about your approach to your information gathering and management activities.

 

 

 

Plan Ahead

 

Don't just jump in and start searching!

Allow yourself some planning time .

Spend some time at the start of the process, thinking  about your research topic and scoping out the best way to manage your library research.

This time investment will pay off in the long run, as a well managed approach to your library research activities will contribute to the success of your final dissertation/project.

You will understand what you need, where to find it, and how to evaluate, manage and reference the material.

 

 

Where to start

 

It can seem a little overwhelming at first and you may not be sure how to start scoping out your research activity.

It can help to break things down into steps to guide you

It is useful to think of these under four headings

Identify

Find 

Evaluate

Reference 

You'll find out more about these steps as you work through the tutorial. 

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