MSc/PGDip/PGCert Humanitarian Practice

The overall aims of postgraduate dissertations are to:

• Provide students with an opportunity to plan, manage and conduct a programme of research on a topic related to their programme of studies;
• Further students’ knowledge of a relevant body of literature, and develop powers of critical reasoning;
• Allow students to seek new research findings which add to the existing body of knowledge on a particular subject area (noting the majority of dissertations do not involve primary data collection but review or reinterpretation of materials already available);
• Develop fully students’ knowledge of, and competence in, an appropriate range of research methods, including the development of a focal question or hypothesis, an appreciation of the research methodology and analytical techniques to be utilised, the undertaking of a specific research study, the synthesis and evaluation of findings, and a clear statement of conclusions and recommendations;
• Develop students’ writing, presentation and bibliographic skills;
• Develop students’ experience of developing and managing a specific programme of work through to final submission.

In addition and complementary to those above, the aims of the dissertation are to:

• Enable students to demonstrate their understanding of different theoretical perspectives and to assess critically the relevance of their application to a relevant problem;
• Develop students’ ability to apply critically different analytical techniques and methods that are relevant to their dissertation topic; and
• Provide the opportunity to demonstrate the capacity for independent, self- managed learning.

On completing the dissertation, students should be better equipped to:

• Conduct literature reviews and secondary research using a range of bibliographic techniques and sources, including those available through the world-wide web
• Analyse and synthesize relevant concepts and methods, and apply these to a relevant problem
• Where appropriate and feasible, conduct small-scale primary research activities
• Manage their own work and learning processes in relation to a research project that can be completed in three months
• Produce a dissertation conforming to the conventions of academic writing