Student's Guide to Writing Dissertations and Theses in Tourism Studies and Related Disciplines

Tim Coles, David Timothy Duval, Gareth Shaw

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136156830
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Around the world every year very many students have to complete dissertations or theses as part of their undergraduate or masters studies in tourism and related subjects. Often this substantial piece of self-directed work is the culmination of their programmes. More than just a means to consolidate their final grades, it is also an exciting chance to research a topic of their choosing and a potential gateway to more advanced study as well as job offers and future career paths.

Yet for all these reasons, many students view the dissertation as a tricky challenge. This comprehensive book intends to take the stress and anxiety out of doing a dissertation in tourism studies and related disciplines. The process is examined from the germination of an idea to the submission and assessment of the final document. Written primarily for students conducting independent research for the first time, this book offers simple advice and a clear framework which students can adopt even in more advanced studies at masters and doctoral level. This book debunks popular myths, and aims to overcome common pitfalls. It focuses on the aims and objectives as the DNA of every dissertation. Rather than view it as a single, overwhelming project, the dissertation is presented as a series of more modest, manageable yet crucially inter-linked tasks that all students can successfully complete through careful preparation and effective time management.

Dissertations are not to be underestimated and they demand great care and attention, but they can also be immensely rewarding and enriching experiences academically and personally. This 'jargon free' book is also written with overseas students specifically in mind, drawing directly on our overseas students' experiences. This valuable resource contains start of chapter learning objectives and end of chapter checklists, as well as numerous boxed case studies, to further help assist students through their dissertation.

Starting Out

DOI: 10.4324/9780203078785-1

Learning outcomes

By the end of this chapter you will know:

• What a dissertation is.
• Why doing a dissertation can benefit you.
• Why dissertations are important components in academic programmes.
• How this book works.

Introduction

You are some way through your studies. You may be dreaming about pulling out your best clothes ready for graduation, but there's one thing standing in your way. You have to produce a dissertation. Thousands of words. Independent research. A topic of your choice. Many weeks of work, perhaps spread out over an entire year. You may have done project work before, but this is unlike anything else you've ever faced. It is on an altogether different scale, many credits are at stake and, quite frankly, it appears a little scary.

These are pretty common and understandable emotions that many students encounter when they are first presented with an independent research, thesis or dissertation module. By the end of the process, these often – but sadly not always – give way to feelings of immense satisfaction and achievement, even outright relief, as the many hours you have invested in your research result in a great piece of work, a strong contribution to your degree result, and a boost to your self-esteem. More than a means to an obvious end, the dissertation can be an empowering and uplifting experience. You can demonstrate that you are able to conduct research on your own.

Aim of the book

Over time and with the help of this book, we hope you will find doing a dissertation enjoyable, perhaps even the highlight of your studies. Your dissertation needn't be a massive hurdle to overcome in the quest to graduate. The principal aim of this book is to provide you and other students with a suite of practical advice, guidance and suggestions for the preparation, execution, writing and completion of dissertations in tourism studies (and related disciplines).

What is a dissertation?

So far, we have taken the term ‘dissertation’ for granted. You may have heard other terms such as ‘thesis’, research ‘project’ or ‘report’ used. Your institution may even use some of these terms in your programme. In this book, we use ‘dissertation’ to denote a substantial piece of independent research led and directed by you which contributes significantly to your final degree result. This piece of work is likely to be undertaken in your final year of studies, but it may be started in your penultimate year. More than an extended essay, the dissertation ranges in length from 8,000 to 15,000 words depending on the institution and the number of credits it bears, perhaps being most typically in the region of 10,000–12,000 words at undergraduate level. In many programmes the dissertation is viewed as a pinnacle of a student's learning experience and the portfolio of taught modules is designed to enable or prepare students to conduct their own independent research. This is an important point to which we will return later.

Terms like ‘dissertation’, ‘thesis’ and ‘report’ are often used interchangeably. It may not surprise you to learn that there are contrasting and contested definitions. For instance, in one framework (Clewes 1996) ‘project’ is used to refer to independent research work at the undergraduate level (i.e. towards a BSc or BA), ‘dissertation’ is used for such work at master's level (i.e. MSc, MA), and ‘thesis’ for research-only, higher degrees (i.e. MPhil and PhD).

There are also important cultural issues and differences connected to terminology. This book is intended to be of use to students in countries whose higher education systems adopt Anglo-American models. There are, though, differences in usage between UK and North American programmes. In the case of the latter, the word ‘dissertation’ routinely connotes a text produced at the end of the PhD process. This is because many undergraduate and master's courses do not include independent research as a learning process. Students who do face this challenge at undergraduate level in North America – whatever the name of the exercise – will find the book of use.

So, too will those in European universities that have transformed their degree structures as a result of the ‘Bologna Process’. The free exchange of people between member states is one of the central missions of the European Union (Coles and Hall 2005). The ‘Bologna Process’, which has been in operation since 1999, has set out to harmonize higher-education qualifications across Europe in order to enhance labour mobility (Munar 2007). Differences among qualifications in terms of their expectations of graduates were perceived as barriers to further closer integration. In Germany, for example, the term ‘dissertation’ was originally used to refer routinely to a doctoral thesis (i.e. for a PhD) and undergraduates would undertake a ‘Diplomarbeit’ (literally a piece of work for a degree). However, new qualifications and pathways have emerged from the so-called ‘Bachelor's and Master's’ system which seeks to replicate Anglo-American models of four-year study, with three years of a bachelor's degree followed by a fourth year to complete a master's degree. Independent research features strongly within the new system.

To be clear at the outset, this book is designed primarily to support undergraduate students in their first attempts to complete substantial pieces of independent research. The book is also specifically intended to make the dissertation more accessible to those studying travel and tourism in English as a foreign language (EFL). Higher education is a globalized sector, with ever greater numbers of students choosing to study abroad and/or in a second language.

This book attempts to describe many of the routine features of dissertation-based study which it is not always possible to discuss in depth in (shorter) institutional handbooks and briefings. It is important to note that this book is not intended to be a substitute for the specific guidance or detailed conventions you receive within your programme. You should diligently consult the handbooks and codes of practice that your institution publishes to govern your studies. You should be aware of – and more importantly, apply – your institution's policies and directives on such issues as plagiarism, referencing, ethics, health and safety. Of course, your advisor/s will be able to help in this regard, but it is your responsibility to be informed of such matters.

Those studying at doctoral and master's level will find a great deal of important and helpful information. After all, as we have noted previously, some readers’ first encounter with independent research may be at master's level at the end of taught programmes. For those who have been through the process at least once, the book should serve as an important ‘refresher’ and it may even offer hints, tips and guidance that add to your stocks of knowledge and experience.

In fact, many of the central ideas and approaches introduced in this book are also directly applicable to more advanced studies. The central differences between an undergraduate dissertation and a master's or doctoral thesis are not routinely to be found in the tasks to be undertaken; rather, they are in the level of execution and in the degree of scrutiny. All the components that make a successful master's or doctoral thesis should be evident in their undergraduate equivalent (and vice versa). Expectations of master's and doctoral work are clearly much higher, the assessment criteria are usually different, and they are more stringently applied. For instance, independent research has to be located in the relevant academic literature (see Chapter 4), whether it is at undergraduate level or for a PhD. While undergraduates may be expected to critique the literature, they are offered a degree of latitude not available to doctoral students who are expected to demonstrate a fuller, deeper and altogether more critical appreciation, as befits a prospective expert in the field (which is an expected outcome of the doctoral process).

Why do a dissertation?

When we ask undergraduate students this question, the most frequent answer is – perhaps not surprisingly – ‘because we have to!’.

This may reflect the compulsory nature of independent research in many tourism programmes. However, in others this may not be the case and the opportunity to undertake a dissertation may be optional. If you are contemplating whether or not to elect to do a dissertation, there are several reasons that make it a potentially wise choice:

• Dissertations are one of the few opportunities in your life to study a topic of your choice in depth, over an extended period of time.
• In many higher education institutions, dissertations are seen as a sign of ‘graduateness’ and a more representative indicator of the true ‘exit trajectory’ of students. As clumsy as these pieces of jargon may sound, they basically mean that the dissertation is the fairest and ultimate reflection of your all-round range of skills, knowledge and abilities right at the end of your programme.
• Successful dissertations may provide a significant boost to your degree result because they often account for a significant weighting of the final credits. Clearly, the dissertation has the potential to be a ‘double-edged sword’ because poor dissertations can have the opposite effect. However, the potentially positive contribution should focus your mind and galvanize your performance.
• Employability – you may be able to enhance your career or job prospects by undertaking detailed research on a topic, problem or field which is of interest and/or direct relevance to a prospective employer. At interviews, your dissertation may be a point for discussion and a platform for you to evidence both a range of pertinent skills and the ability to achieve consistently at a relatively high level of performance.

Approach of the book

In our experience, so many students – at least at the outset of the journey – believe that their dissertation may well be judged in its entirety without regard for how the various parts have been individually executed. This is the academic equivalent of saying that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Many a time we have heard students comment that this or that section is poor in their view so the marker must inevitably judge the whole dissertation as weak. Plainly put, this is why some students get stressed by the prospect of doing a dissertation and start to develop negative preconceptions of how difficult or, worse, seemingly impossible the task is.

We cannot say for certain that such a crude summary approach to assessing dissertation no longer exists. Check your regulations to be sure! What is more, we cannot legislate for those examiners whose ethos is that ‘the glass is half empty rather than half full’. However, in our experience assessment has been increasingly moving away from fixating on and penalizing failures, limitations and shortcomings. Instead, the emphasis has been shifting more towards acknowledging (and hence appropriately rewarding) a student's skills, knowledge and expertise, and this philosophy should underpin how you approach your dissertation and it is a view we adopt in this book.

Articulated marking schemes have become commonplace, and they demand that assessors form a rounded view of the dissertation based on a series of criteria and/or questions (see Chapter 15). In some cases, the final mark is the sum of the marks earned for each task, sometimes with different tasks or sections offered greater or lesser weighting depending on their perceived relative importance. A highly consistent performance across the entire dissertation is most desirable, and the stronger this consistent performance across the piece, the higher the final mark is likely to be. Notwithstanding, it is possible to produce a successful dissertation in which some sections perform much stronger in relative terms than others.

Hence, you should not perceive the dissertation as an overbearing, massive task that is a case of ‘all or nothing’. In this book we take the approach that it is best to deconstruct your dissertation into a series of smaller, more manageable tasks based on the standard components of a dissertation (see Chapters 2 and 13). You should concentrate on the operations necessary to successfully complete each task. Obviously, the components are connected and in some cases the tasks they entail do overlap.

By disassembling the dissertation into its constituent elements, you will find it easier to project manage as well as to make regular and strong progress towards its completion and submission by your deadline. The precise way in which you deconstruct your dissertation and sequence your work will ultimately depend on your working preferences as well as your institution's requirements. However, there are many common denominators that feature in dissertations across the world. Slightly different names or terms may be used but in Chapter 2 these components and their roles are introduced.

Put in reverse, as Chapter 13 indicates, to assemble your dissertation is a case of ensuring that you have each of these components complete and that they are bound together by a clear and robust set of aims and objectives that provide the common strands running through the components (i.e. chapters) and that are central to the tasks required to deliver each component. In one sense, then, the aim/s and objectives are the DNA that runs through the body of the dissertation. To extend the biophysical analogy further, certain parts of the dissertation act as vital organs: without them, or without them functioning properly, the dissertation will suffer dramatic...