Ian

Assignment three should be returned to you next Friday, i.e. May 7th.

This is a few days later than expected, but staff have done this marking during research time and some were stuck in the USA for a week as dust clouds entered the atmosphere during the Association of American Geographers conference.

As usual, general feedback on each option will be posted on this website.

Cheers

Ian

This wednesday: a surgery/drop-in for the dissertation proposal* & assignment 3 visual/material culture option.

(*please note that we cannot supply any more dissertation proposals)

This thursday: a surgery/drop-in for assignment 3 participant observation & questionnaire options.

Usual times / usual places. Please use these sessions to ask questions about the work you have started and/or are thinking of doing.

Ian

Introduction:

Like assignment 2, assignment 3 encourages you to gain some experience of research practice for yourselves. The format is exactly the same as before. This assignment encourages you to gain experience that may be relevant to your dissertation proposal. This experience may help you to think through in more detail not only what you might study but also how best to study it.

Instructions:

First, have a look at the three tasks/sources below. Each one relates to one of the blocks of the module this term.

a)    ‘Being there’: doing participant observation research (click here for instructions and advice).
b)    ‘Working with numbers’: improving a questionnaire (click here for instructions and advice).
c)    ‘Working with images and things’: interpreting a photograph (click here for instructions and advice).

Second, with respect to the dissertation idea(s) you are working up into a proposal to hand in next term, choose one task/source which is most like something that you will be generating and/or working with in that research.

Third, read at least (i.e. more than) 6 relevant research practice readings from the lists provided during the relevant block of the module (these will have been provided as separate documents and/or at the end of powerpoint presentations, and should be available on webCT). Make notes on the ways in which these sources argue that this kind of research should be done.

Fourth, with these practice notes in mind, undertake your task and/or work with your source to try to understand what you can learn from i) this task/source in particular, ii) this kind of task/source in general, and iii) how these lessons could help you to better design your dissertation research.

Fifth, and finally, write this process up as a 1,500 word essay with the following sections.

Essay structure:

Title:
Your essay should be called:

a)    Being there: reflections on my participant observation; or
b)    Working with numbers: improving a rail passenger questionnaire; or
c)    Working with images and things: interpreting ‘Young Greenland Woman’.

It should have five sections, each with the following subtitle:

Section i) Introduction:
You should start the essay by explaining how you are hoping that your choice might help you to develop the practice element of your dissertation idea.

Section ii) Literature review:
Here you should, first, briefly describe the source that you have chosen to create and/or work with and, second, describe in more detail the ways in which the research practice literature (6+ readings) advises you to create and/or work with a source like this to come to valid and convincing conclusions.

Section iii) Interpretation:
Here you should put these arguments into practice in order to make a convincing case about what can be learned from your chosen task/source. Please write as if your reader has not read or seen the original source that you are working with (the PO notes your write for option 1, the questionnaire for option 2, or the photo for option 3). This section should show how you have come to your own conclusions about your task/source using the research practice literature introduced to you in the module.

Section iv) Conclusions:
Here you should offer some reflections on how this assignment has helped you to think through ways in which you could approach the dissertation idea that you began with and/or dissertation research in general.

Section v) Appendix:
As before, you should submit copies of those extracts from your dissertation journal which show the thought and work that went into this assignment. For option 1, this includes your full PO notes. NB this section is not counted in the word limit and does not have a word limit.

Please note the following:

• you should submit both a paper and an electronic copy of this essay before noon on *Wednesday* 24^th March (see p.12 of the 2009-10 undergraduate handbook -  here – for more detailed submission instructions). Please note that both copies need to be submitted by the deadline – preferably hours before the deadline so that technical difficulties can be coped with – to avoid a late work penalty;
• to enable you to concentrate on this assignment, there will be no lectures for this module in Weeks 10 and 11;
• there will be an assignment drop-in session in Harrison 004 from 3-4 on Thursday 18^th March where staff who set these tasks should be available to answer questions about them. Please don’t email staff for advice unless explicitly told to do so. Save up your questions for this session;
• NB Turn-it-in tips: a) handwritten journal extracts, annotated readings, etc. should be scanned and submitted as pdf files; and b) all quotations from the readings and chosen source included in your essay should be indicated by double (“…”), not single (‘…’), inverted commas. Turnitin only recognises “…” as a quotation; ‘…’ is read as possible plagiarism!

Please download and read the two dissertations on webCT in advance of the session.

To prepare for the discussion, think about the following questions when you’re reading each one:

• Are the aims and objectives of the proposed research clear?
• Are the methods clear, are they likely to deliver on those objectives and, ultimately, will the research meet its aims?
• How did you find the literature review?  Was it convincing?  Did it manage to critically evaluate existing work or simply provide a list?
• Did the dissertation cover ethical issues and practicalities convincingly?
• Were the arguments convincing? Where you convinced by the conclusions? How well did the authors engage with their research questions?
• How could these dissertations be improved?

Try to address the following questions in your discussion groups:

• What did your group think overall – were these good dissertations?
• Would you have done some things differently?
• Which do you think was the most convincing?

Kathryn

{copied from a 9 March email}

One of the ‘readings’ that she will be discussing in class is an ‘in press’ film/article. She will show you a section, and you can watch the whole thing in your own time. Please click here to see it.

This film is being published in an online journal, and is a unique film/article hybrid. It sets and interesting precedent. You could perhaps do a film/dissertation. See Steve Hinchliffe to discuss this if you’re keen.

If you want to reference it in your coursework, please do so as follows:

Bradley Garrett (2010 in press) Urban explorers: quests for myth, mystery and meaning. Geography compass (draft copy available at http://vimeo.com/5366045, last accessed <add your date here>)

Ian

Steve has asked me to post the following instructions in preparation for their discussion on the 28th.

Thursday’s discussion will be framed by the following questions:
- What did your group think overall – were these good research proposals?
- Would you have done some things differently?
- Which do you think was the most convincing?

So, please download and read all 3 proposals in advance of the session. To prepare for the discussion, think about the following questions when you’re reading them:
- Are the aims and objectives of the proposed research clear?
- Are the methods clear, and are they likely to deliver on those objectives and ultimately will the research meet its aims?
- How did you find the literature review.  Was it convincing?  Did it manage to critically evaluate existing work or simply provide a list?
- Did the proposal cover ethical issues and practicalities convincingly?

Ian
21/01/10

The Dissertation Handbook and a revised Term 2 timetable have been added to the module webCT  ‘Module information’ folder.

Ian

Apologies for the mix-ups this week. This is entirely my fault. Your timetables are correct, the handbook is not.

This term the module runs on Wednesdays from 11-12 in Amory 501 and on Thursdays from 2-3 in Harrison 004.

Ian

NB this term the module runs on Wednesdays from 12-1 in Amory 501 and on Thursdays from 3-4 in Harrison 004 (this room was ‘tbc’ in the handbook).

Please note that your meeting with your personal tutor in week 1 should involve some discussion of dissertation ideas, however few or many you have they should be able to help. Please make sure you take your dissertation journal/notebook with you and update it afterwards.

Happy new year

Ian