Planning Your Dissertation
The research approach you choose will vary according to your topic and the sources available. Start by considering your topic and then your question – what do you want to find out? What will be the best way to explore this topic and answer your question? Once you know what you would like to find out then you can start considering what methods you will use. It will be useful at this stage to explore some of the wider literature on research methods so that you can familiarise yourself with the range of research methods.
If you decide to engage in a desk-based research project, this will usually mean researching your dissertation using secondary sources to present a new interpretation of your topic.
If you decide to engage in your own research, then you will need to consider selecting research methods appropriate to your area of interest. Think about what data you would like to gather and how you can gather that data. Bear in mind, that it is important to justify your choice of research method so when you write up your study, be prepared to let your reader know why your chosen approach is more appropriate rather than others.
Primary Sources
The term primary sources refers to an 'original' source. This could be one of several things:
- An original creative work such as a novel, or poem, or film, or painting, or music score or recording.
- A piece of legislation such as an Act of Parliament or a treaty.
- Case law, referring to an actual lawsuit
- An original historical document such as an Anglo-Saxon Chronicle or the Magna Carta
- Raw Statistical Data e.g. a census
- Audio or video recordings of events or speeches
Secondary Sources
The term secondary sources refers to information that was constructed after an event or discussing a primary source. This could be:
- A book or journal article about the work of a writer, poet, film director, composer or recording artist.
- An article about a piece of legislation or case law
- An article or text discussing a historical event drawing on evidence from multiple sources
- An article or text drawing on evidence from statistical data
- A documentary in which recordings of live events are embedded within a discussion and are interpreted by a presenter