Before
undergoing any piece of written work (regardless of magnitude) one should
always consider writing a proposal.
Firstly, and most importantly this enables ideas to be developed and cemented,
which of course will give focus to the subject reading, which in turn will make
the reading more productive. Secondly, a proposal is a good way to identify potential
resources whilst also helping to formulate research methods. Thirdly, if a proposal has been constructed
in good time, then the dissertation supervisor has the opportunity to have an
input and if necessary give advice and direction. Finally a proposal will help
with time management, in that once potential resources and research methods
have been identified, one can then being to ascertain the probability of being
able to access such resources, whilst also bearing in mind the availability or
distance that may be needed to be travelled in order to access resources (McMillan
& Weyers, 2007) .
The
foundation for planning this dissertation was taken from a book called ‘How
to write Dissertations & Project Reports’ by Kathleen McMillan and
Jonathan Weyers. In their book they
outline the importance of planning, when is considering writing a dissertation.
Below is a list of some of the fundamental aspects that McMillan and Weyers
consider to be an important feature of the planning process:
·
Do you have a
correct and current interpretation of the research topic?
o
This is very
important as is eradicates the chance of wasting copious amounts of time and
effort writing/reading on matters that may be of no concern.
·
Have you
sufficiently developed a hypothesis or relevant focus area, such as an
historical era or event?
o
Again this
will help to save time, as your research will be focused and specific.
·
Is your research proposal realistic, in that
can the objectives being achieved in the time frame provided?
o
A crucial
point as if there is not the time to produce a worthy piece of
research/writing, then this is going to be evident when it comes to grading.
·
Will the
research allow you to develop a skill set that is transferable to real life?
o
If not, this
begs the question as to why you have chosen topic! Surely it makes much more sense to choose a
topic that may help with future aspirations.
·
Is the
proposal a realistic match to your abilities?
o
Very
important, as interesting a subject may be, if you are trying to strike above
your ability, then very quickly you may find that the topic is a struggle and
that it loses its appeal. Also if the
end objective is grades, why not tackle a subject you can shine in, this will
fist make it enjoyable and secondly this should further your chance at getting
better grades.
·
Are you likely
to gain access to the research material needed?
o
This kind of
speaks for itself, in that there is no point even attempting to tackle a
subject if you are not able to access relevant research material.
·
Are the
proposed ideas and structure of the dissertation apparent?
o
This point speaks volumes, as regardless to
the amount of effort and resources that have been allocated to a project, is it
does not flow in a coherent and structured manner, then the reader (who is
likely to be the invigilator) is going to ether become very board or very
frustrated, which again is likely to translate in to a lower grade.
·
Does your
project meet the criteria set out by your institute?
o
Absolutely paramount!
How many times have you heard ‘great essay, but you failed to meet the learning
objectives!’
Proposed dissertation topic
Losing Ground: How a nation lost their land in the 20th
century! Palestine and Israel, through a sociological lens.
What in particular about this
topic do you want to explore from a sociological perspective?
I would like to explore classical and contemporary
theories that would explain how a country the size of Israel has managed to
violate so many international laws under the UN convention, whilst maintaining
their innocence and avoiding being taken to account by the international
community. Also I am interested in how
Israel justifies the aggression and persecution that they inflict on the
Palestinians on a daily basis, whilst also condemning the Palestinians and
labelling them terrorists because they fight for self-determination. What is of real interest to me is not so much
how the Israelis view the Palestinians (and vice versa), although this will be
a dominate factor of my dissertation, but how both countries are viewed
internationally, and why certainly here in the West we seem more concerned with
the plight of Israel than that of Palestine.
What reading have you done around
this topic already/which modules you have undertaken in sociology have referred
to this topic area?
The social movements’ module has probably been the
most influential module for me; I did like classical sociological thinkers
although it was a little dry at time.
The social movements’ was good as it was current and exciting, it
brought classical and contemporary theories together, and better still it
actualised the theories ‘real time’, in that within the module we were able to
apply theories to real every day current affairs.
Reading
that I have under taken so far, Key sociological theories and their theorists:
Identity theory, (symbolic Interactionism) George
Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman, Sheldon Stryker
‘Other’, modern day orientalism and imperialism,
Karl Marx, Edward Said
Sociological imagination, C Write Mills and the
Chicago School of Sociology
Media control and propaganda, Noam Chomsky, Peter
Joseph
Other topic fear, religion, human rights, ethics,
space, dominant majority, sanctions (or lack of)
Bibliography
McMillan, K. &
Weyers, J., 2007. How to write dissertaions and project reports. 1st ed.
Esseax: Pearson Education Limited.
