Dissertation Writing

[JammyJim]

I am currently sitting at about 4500 words comprising my Abstract/Summary, Contents page, Introduction and Literature review. [8000-10000 words is limit]

The thing is that ive just begun writing the actual 'essay' itself (findings i guess) but im finding that alot of what im saying is basically very simliar to the stuff i was discussing in the literature review.

Is this normal?

my question is about how developments in military technology drove policy decisions in the cold war. ive split it up into 'case studies' or specific areas of research such as the atomic bomb / icbm delivery systems /intelligence gathering techniques etc etc and am having specific sections for each (i did this in the literature review also)...

its just im not sure this is 'correct'

so any advice help guidance etc?

[NEWSBOT3]

have you seen any examples of how it should be done ? (we got given some, but your uni library should have some also)

[JammyJim]

we were shown one example that isnt available to view online. (it was on powerpoint for us)

the guy looked like he had plugged himself into a big long fancy words dictionary with one ear and hooked himself upto the giant book of political knowledge into the other.

it wasnt very helpful. we couldnt read it. just see the basic outline...which i already know about.

[NEWSBOT3]

how toss.

it might be worth doing a google/library search for ones with a similar theme - quite a few get published or stuck online, and i found it really rather useful when i was doing it.

also, wtf is a literature review ?

[Bashar]

JJ, you have my sympathy, I have a political dissertation to finish in about 4.5 weeks time, and I am finding it a real bitch too. Although, mine looks easier than yours, as there is more information available for mine, especially contemporary information, although it seems that most the books I really want are "on order". Bastard libraries.

As to what's normal, I have no idea, we haven't been shown any examples. I will just go with my usual approach - bullshit my way through it.

[Seth Mace]

Erm i think the lit review is exactly that, you are commenting on other peoples research from texts. Of course what you choose in your lit review, you choose for a reason and this reason is these texts cover your area of review. The quotes you pick or the statements, you just need to re-interpret and ofc makesure each "sample" relates to the one before.

The lit review should be the biggest part of your dissertation and is Chapter 1, Chapter 2 being your methodology and chapter 3 being your research findings. Then you have your conclusion.

Although for what you are doing, i doubt you can do much primary research so this may mean you need a larger Lit review.

However i got a 2.1 for my dissy so there is defo others out there with better advise

[Zar]

Don't you guys have previous years dissertations?

Every dissertation written in the past few years (in our department) is stored in an office. We can simply go and pick them up and can see the final grade. Therefore you choose something similar to your topic and see how to write it.

[Yahwe]

why is intelligence (ie spying) technology?

[JammyJim]

it was in reference to the development of the U2 spyplane and later Sr71 blackbird used frequently during the cold war to watch what the soviets were upto. the U2 accidently found the secret soviet ICBM testing ground too which proved invaluable. It did so when the pilot drifted off course to investigate something he thought looked vaguely interesting. Turned out that the same day the reds were doing some tests and he got it on film.

Plus it was used to monitor the cuban missile crisis. And it also led to the PR bonanza that Kruschev had when they managed to shoot one down in soviet airspace and then capture its pilot (even tho everyone had been assured by the airforce that the pilot would infact die at such altitude)


It also includes advances in signal intelligence and the development of military satellites. etc etc


My lit review is approximate 3500 words and i got a high 2:1 for it last semester. its good to know that it will make up the bulk of it tho.

[demiGOD]

I've written numerous theses in my high school and uni days. I have found that the hardest part of creating a proper, informative thesis is of course your proposal, and mostly your defense. The writing and research is easy once you figured out a good proposal because the whole thing is generally objective (supposed to be anyway)

Hope this link helps.
http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/

[JammyJim]

my current contents look like this :

Introduction 3
Review of Literature 5
 Section 1 - Atomic Weapon Development 6
 - Proxy Wars 8
 - Intelligence Development
 - ICBM 9
 - Nuclear Weapon Delivery Systems 10
 - Star Wars (SDI) 11
 Section 2 - History of Cold War 13
 - Mutually Assured Destruction 14
 - Conclusion 15
Methodology 16

Discussions
 The Advent of the Atomic Age
 The Intelligence War
 The Missile Gap and ICBM development

[demiGOD]

Do you need sources (bibliographies and/or footnotes) on your sections? Or templates/guides on putting together a dissertation? Or both?

[Tactitus]

You really should do something on submarine/antisubmarine technology; there were boatloads (heh) of technological developments stemming from the USSR's decision to concentrate more on submarines rather than surface ships.

Also, the ABM, SALT, and nuclear test ban treaties and their effects on weapons development and evolution.

[demiGOD]

Originally Posted by Tactitus

You really should do something on submarine/antisubmarine technology; there were boatloads (heh) of technological developments stemming from the USSR's decision to concentrate more on submarines rather than surface ships.

It was the flawed hypothesis that nuclear propulsion is the future hence the mass production of these submarines. Refueling of reactors every 5-6 years maintained constant combat readiness with the constant availability of deployable ships, and was believed to be more cost-effective vice the refueling of conventional diesel engines every other day on deployed surface ships.

Overlooking the fact that preventive and corrective maintenance of these reactors cost way more than the assembly of these things. Also, with the time-pressured mass production of the ships, the quality of assembly became the main issue, thus decommissioning slowly, every one of these Russian subs, and, mixed with the turbulent politics, started the downfall of their armed forces.

[demiGOD]

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue

Dissertations are a complete bitch though. I did my 15000 word masters dissertations on Prisons and got accused of being too journalistic in the empirical part and two abstract in the theoretical part, obviously I still passed though.

I can imagine a +2-hour defense that probably put you and your instructors to sleep (?)