Planning a Dissertation

Researching and Writing a Dissertation or Thesis

For completing an M- or D-, please see: Dissertation Requirements

Getting Started

The most difficult part of writing a dissertation or thesis is often 'where to begin'. Here are a few tips to help you ...

• Think of a topic in your course that you have found particularly interesting. This may be a chapter or an issue in a book associated with your course. Or it could be the wole or part of an assignment that you wished to explore in more detail. On the other hand, in the social sciences and business, there may be an issue in the news (read a good newspaper regularly!) that excites your attention.
• Make sure that the issue is researchable. This means that there must be a literature base either in textbooks or periodicals. The literature base needs to be academic and not journalistic to add to the credibility of your FYP
• Be prepared to spend several hours in an academic library to help you search out good sources on your intended topic. Remember the Internet is good for some things but there is no 'quality control' so some of the articles you get might be too emphemeral or journalistic for an academic piece of work.
• It is probably better to think of the whole of your dissertation as essentially answering a question rather than researching a field.
  • Make a plan of the chapters. Your plan is likely to look like this:
  • Introduction
  • Literature review
  • Updating/applying new research
  • Recent developments
  • Case study/small survey
  • Conclusion
• Think of reading around the subject and writing your initial plan as a process in which each activity reinforces the other in a circular process. Do some initial research, then make a tentative plan, then do more reading to 'flesh out' the plan, then revise the plan and so on. Your plan only needs to be tentative at this stage – in all probability it will actually get revised as you make progress through your project. You should provide your tutor with a copy of your plan on your first substantive meeting.
• Do not think you have to do all of the reading around the topic before you start to write. Read or research sufficiently to write the first chapter (literature review) and then start writing a first draft
• When you start writing, set yourself a target – say 500-1000 words per day and then you will feel that you are making progress

You might also like to consult the document Planning.doc which details three stages in the formulation of a dissertation or thesis. [The large document may take a minute to load]

Literature Review

A literature review is basically a summary of 'what the academic literature reveals' about the subject of your investigation. You can always try the 'little green man from Mars test' as follows:

• Little Green Man from Mars: What do we know about motivation at work?
• Student: Well, one approach to motivation would start off with a psychological approach as exemplified in the work of Maslow who argues that ... and we could then explore the work of Herzberg, McGregor ... Meanwhile the more sociological approaches would explore concepts such as 'orientation to work' ...

Points to bear in mind are:

• As a starting point, a literature review should summarise the major authors/contributions in a field.
• However, it needs to contextualise each contribution (eg. 'the work of Maslow has been enormously influential and has directed attention to a series of innate needs to be expressed in work. However, Maslow is frequently misinterpreted because of.....We could also argue that Maslow failed to take sufficiently into account the essentially social nature of behaviour in work ..')
• It also needs to critically evaluate each contribution(eg. 'purely psychological explanations to motivation tend to be individualistic and need to take account of supervisory styles, management cultures and organisational variables')
• Your literature review is only the starting point. Later chapters will make reference to more up-to-date or specialist literature as you proceed
• Your literature review needs to have some academic respectability. It is important that your literature review is not based purely upon anonymous material gleaned from the Internet, press cuttings which are self-opinionated and the like.
• Using a search engine such as Google will generate useful sources of advice for you ...

You may find the link to the University of Toronto particularly useful

Similarly, consult the very useful Conducting a Literature Review from the University of Melbourne

The Master of Education, Capstone site at the The Ohio State University contains some interesting links (and samples) of literature reviews (navigate down the page)

What next ?

Once the literature review chapter has been written, you are ready to tackle the main body of the dissertation or thesis and you may wish to consider the following issues.

Methodology
You explain why and how you intend to conduct your investigation. For many a dissertation or thesiss, this will consist of 'desk research' perhaps complemented by some empirical work such as a small scale survey involving questionnaires and/or interview, a case study, observations etc.

If you do undertook an empirical investigation, you will need at a later point in the survey to discuss more technical methodological issues such as your methods of sampling, choice of sampling frame, piloting, rationale for the collection of data and so on. Some projects e.g. in science, psychology may consist largely of the examination of your own survey or experimental data.

Re-state the question
Remember that the whole of your project should be an extended answer to a question rather than the discussion of an area). For example, a question such as 'does e-marketing offer competitive advantage' is more focused than 'current trends in e-marketing' A good dissertation or thesiss is likely to be one that shows a good 'dialogue' with the material rather than just a summary of available data. Also be very wary of attempting to prove a hypothesis whatever advice some texts may give you! The eminent industrialist and author, Geoffrey Vickers, in trying to make sense of 40 years of experience in the world of human affairs was always cogently critical of those who blithely try to apply the methods of natural science to social phenomena. (However, the use of statistical hypothesis testing is another matter and is indeed a way in which a dissertation or thesis can distinguish itself. This should be left to the appropriate chapter in which you are analysing the data you have collected yourself).

Detailed presentation and evaluation of evidence
The evidence ('facts and figures') that you have collected as a result of your searches should be presented and evaluated at this point. Remember that 'facts and figures' do not necessarily 'speak for themselves' and have to be interpreted. Nonetheless, the more powerful dissertations or theses are those in which a case is built by a rigorous examination of the data. It may well be that some of the evidence does not directly support either a case 'for' or 'against' the question that you are asking. This is not unusual but your academic skill will lie in the way in which you use and evaluate and evaluate the evidence to answer your central research question.

Use of secondary and documentary sources
Historians have well developed skills in establishing the 'provenance' of a document and it is worth taking a leaf out of their book at this stage. For example, it is worth considering the authorship and the context in which any particular document is written. For example, a government report is likely to carry more weight than that of a pressure group advocating a change in the law! (This does not make the government report 'right' and the pressure group data 'suspect' – just use your judgment as a lawyer would to evaluate the quality of evidence you have collected). One of the problems with material gathered over the internet, for example, is that it could be written by anybody and has not necessarily been subject to the quality control procedures (such as refereeing) of a typical academic journal article.

Logical skills
It is possible to exercise your logical skills in thinking about evidence, even in cases when you cannot find or collect any such evidence! For example, you could argue that a final answer to the question whether 'e-marketing offers competitive advantage' would lie in presenting data that shows the decreasing profitability and/or viability of companies that do not engage in e-marketing and such data might be impossible to find or collect in the context of a student dissertation or thesis. Nonetheless, you will gain academic credit for observing that this is the data that you would need in order to present a definitive answer to the question.

Dividing material into chapters
This substantive point of your project is likely to form Chapters 3 and 4 (assuming that Chapter 1 is an Introduction and Chapter 2 is a Literature Review)

Be prepared to organise your material into reasonably coherent chapters rather than a multitude of sections. The second or last of these chapters may well be an examination of the most recently published data or theories that bear upon your question.

Make your chapters 'flow' well from one to the next
Your project should appear logically well-connected so that you are taking the reader 'by the hand' and taking them from one stage of the argument to the next. For example, you might have been examining the literature base at quite a general level and then wish to turn to more specific material or to recent developments in a subsequent chapter. Be particularly careful to ensure that any survey work you do appears 'well connected' with the rest of your work and is derived from, and contributes to, the issues you have raised in the preceding chapters. A common failing of survey work is for it appear as an 'add-on' which is not well integrated into the rest of the project.

Golden threads
By 'golden threads' we mean the issues or questions that you have set for yourself at the start of your project and keep occurring throughout the project to 'tie it all together' Keeping a list of your 'golden threads' or recurring issues by your side as you write is a good way of ensuring that your chapters flow logically,e.g. by addressing a question at one level (e.g. in the literature) and then at another (recent developments, local case study, your own survey)

References

Referencing an academic paper is particularly important because

• It acknowledges the sources of information utilised
• It enables a reader to access the material you have referenced
• It is regarded as a badge of professionalism and scholarship

The most widely used system is the Harvard system of referencing although others are used. Its principal advantages are that it is widely used and that it eliminates the need for footnotes. Essentially, two modes are citation are used, one for mid-sentence and the other for the end of a sentence.

example 1: Smith (2002) argues...
example 2: The references are abundant (Smith, 2002)

References to a source that are contained in another source (such as a textbook) should be cited as:

example 3: A study by Smith (1960, cited by Jones,1994, p.24) showed that..

You then need to list the work you have used, i.e. Jones, in the main List of References. Each citation in the text should then be inserted alphabetically into the List of References at the end of the Project. There should be a 1:1 correspondence between the works cited in the text and the List of References i.e.

• If it is cited in the text then it should appear in the List of References
• The List of References should contain only those works that have been cited in the text

For a fuller explanation of the use of the system consult the Bournemouth University Harvard System

Sources of Advice

Other particularly useful books are:

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2002), Research Methods for Business Students,3rd edition Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd.
Highly recommended!

Collis,J. and Hussey, R. (2003), Business Research, Basingstoke, Macmillan

Swetnam,D.(2000),Writing your Dissertation (3rd edition),How To Books, Oxford

Denscombe, M. (1998), The good research guide for small-scale research projects, Buckingham, Open University Press

Some of the websites that are worthwhile visiting are:

• www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/thesis.html is directed towards PhD students which also contains useful advice for students at undergraduate and Master's level.
• Dissertation Writing Links is a useful page of links provided by David G. Schwartz, University of Nevada.
• Liverpool John Moore University's Dissertation webpage is a useful series of links on referencing, critical review of the literature etc. provided for their BA(Hons) Business Studies students.

Time Management

Poor Time Management skills are one of the major reasons for poorly graded or failed projects

The following points may help you to 'Time Manage' your project:

• Do not wait until you have done all of the reading before you start writing. Start drafting out your first chapter(s) once you have done some initial research into the area
• Make yourself a timescale with realistic plans in it e.g. one chapter of 1500 words per week
• Writing a chapter and reading more around an area may well be a cyclical process i.e. having written some material in a chapter, you feel to need to expand your material with the aid of more research/reading
• Survey work e.g. questionnaires always takes longer than expected. Remember that data collection can be quick but good data analysis takes a lot longer and will typically involve computer analysis
• If your survey work, case study etc. is only one chapter within the whole, then keep it within reasonable proportions. The time spent in chasing 10 extra questionnaires might be better deployed refining your theoretical sections or adding to your literature review
• Do not wait to find out that a busy organisation does not have time to respond to your requests for information, interviews and so on. Get on with the rest of the project with a contingency plan in case you cannot do what was originally intended
• Make a realistic timetable for yourself of work to be done week by week. Reward yourself for each section completed. Allow yourself some 'slippage' points
• Do not panic if things start to go wrong e.g. you cannot get vital data. Your tutor can (sometimes!) help you rescue and turn around seemingly desperate situations
• Remember that drafts have to be written and then re-drafted, after advice from tutors, friends, your own second thoughts ...
• Allow plenty of time for a final proof-reading e.g. a week! Many a dissertation or thesis can be jeopardised by being rushed towards the end.
• Collect all of your references together as you go. Disciplined use of good Harvard Referencing techniques in your own little database/spreadsheet/card indexes will pay dividends. Better still, keep your lost of references 'current' by stitching in references as you go
• Good presentation may not gain you marks but poor presentation may certainly lose some. Do not spend a lot of time on fancy presentation if you have glaring errors of spelling, typography or grammatical constructions within the project.
• Keep frequent checks on the total word count to make sure you are within allowable limits – you may well be penalised if you exceed a word limit as it is part of your academic skill to write to a brief (e.g. 10,000 words plus or minus 1,000)
• Ensure you are fully conversant with requirements for layout and presentation before you start to produce the finished article. This is often likely to be over the Easter vacation when tutors may well not be available
• Time spent on constructing a good contents page (detailing page numbers for each chapter and section) pays great dividends in adding to the professional feel of the whole. This often has to be a 'last minute' job i.e. you need to know what the page numbers actually are before you can write the page numbers into your List of Contents section (you do not have to number these!)
• Remember that printing/reprographic facilities are likely to be under pressure from several students at the same time

General Advice

• Go for the total package - learn how to write, speak, teach and get grants.
• Spend time in the library every week to check out the latest journals.
• Be a scholar, stay up to date on your research.
• Get some teaching experience.
• Go to meetings and conferences and present your work in talks and posters. It is important to get to know the players in your field and to interact with them.
• Be active in your professional societies, many have roles that students and postdocs can play.
• Go to all your departmental seminars.
• Get as much public speaking experience as you can through giving informal talks, formal seminars and teaching.
• Publish your research results - if you don't write it, you didn't do it! Besides, publications are very important for your long-term career.
• Publish your research results early and often. Space your writing over the entire course of your graduate work, don't try and do everything at the end.
• Learn how to convey your research results to a lay audience, write a popular article about your research and give talks to amature societies.
• Follow through on your good ideas, remember that only completed projects count.
• Be a critical and independent thinker, don't believe everything you hear or read.
• Be active in your department to gain experience, but not too active. Remember that the main reason you are there is to do research.
• Apply for grants. The skills you acquire will be invaluable later on.
• Get to know your fellow graduate students well and take all the opportunities you can to talk about science - they are your current and future scientific peers.
• Be dedicated to your project and don't waste time.
• Get experience in giving constructive criticism and participating in your field - ask your supervisor to give you manuscripts to review or once you have published a few papers yourself, tell the editors of professional journals that you are interested in reviewing manuscripts for them.
• Go to "how to" workshops on writing, teaching, grantsmanship, computer skills and so on. These new skills can save you tremendous amounts of time in the long run.
• Be a bibliophile, build a reprint and photocopy library of research papers in your field and keep it up to date and well organised. Learn now to use a bibliography program and enter all your papers into it. Nothing makes writing research papers easier than having a well organised library at your fingertips.
• Be active in journal clubs or scientific discussion groups, many people learn more from these than from their supervisors or any other aspect of their more formal teaching experiences.
• Be highly organised and have a simple and efficient filing system. As you progress you will forget what's in the various paper piles as the piles grow and multiply.
• Be a good correspondent, we all hate not hearing back from people in a timely manner.
• Save all your correspondence (including emails) both received and sent and keep it well organised. You will be surprised how often you need to refer to old letters and emails.
• Be a good collaborator because we all hate dealing with bad collaborators. This means doing what you say you are going to do and if you can't, be honest about it sooner rather than later.
• Talk about your ideas with others.
• Be thankful of constructive criticism, don't let it hurt your feelings. You will have to deal with criticism your entire professional life, so learn how to deal with it in a positive way. Remember, constructive criticism is meant to be constructive - they are trying to make it better!
• Don't be afraid to seek out help and advice when you need it and from whatever source you think might best be able to give it. We all need help and the outcome will always be better for having received it.

Surveys

A small scale survey is often a useful addition to a dissertation or thesis. If your dissertation or thesis as a whole is an empirically based investigation such as in a science-based discipline, then your survey is likely to more major but these comments will still apply. In the Social Sciences and Business Studies, a survey can usefully be conducted which will:

• Shows some initiative on your part
• Gives you the chance to display the survey and statistical analysis skills you have learnt in your course
• Helps to illustrate the major themes of your dissertation or thesis with some 'real' data

However, there are some dangers with surveys – a badly conducted survey may be worse then no survey at all!

Here are some basic questions (and answers to them!) to ask yourself before you contemplate your survey..

Q. Do you want to collect a reasonably small amount of data in numerical form from a large (N=30 or more) number of respondents ?

A. A traditional questionnaire is probably indicated here. Keep the questionnaire reasonably short (12-15 questions maximum) and then analyse each question within it.

Q. Do you want to collect much more detailed data from a smaller number of respondents?

A. A series of interviews may be suggested here. Choose your respondents with care (and not just those who will grant you an interview, or you happen to know socially!) For example, interviews with six personnel officers could be chosen from large and medium size companies in three different industries.

Q. Do you want to investigate one company, or department in a company, in real depth ?

A. This calls for a case study approach. Your case study may well suggest further lines of enquiry in the future – do not argue that your case study ‘proves’ a hypothesis, however!

Questionnaire Analysis

Q. Is your data continuous e.g. such as heights and weights?

A. Use descriptive statistics and XY plots

Test using ‘t-tests’ or ANOVA

Q. Is your data nominal or ordinal (e.g. circling one of a series of responses to a question?)

A. Use medians and barcharts/ piecharts

Test using non-parametric measures such as chi-square

In your questionnaire analysis, make sure that you:

• Justify the methodology you have used, indicating sampling frame, sampling technique,sample size, non-response rates.
• Show that you have performed a pilot survey.
• Used an appropriate statistical package for your results. For example SPSS, MINITAB and TurboStats are designed to undertake statistical analysis, whereas EXCEL is not. Use combinations of packages if necessary.
• Use the correct statistical tests and show you know how to interpret the results correctly e.g. a chi-square applied to a cross-tabulation.
• Be aware of the fact that your results can indicate:
  • Results that are statistically significant but not socially significant. (e.g.difference in height of male v. female students.)
  • Results that are socially significant because they are not statistically significant. (e.g. no significant difference in proportion of spend on advertising in high v. low profitability companies).

Analysis of Interviews

Stage 1

You need to turn your interview into text form as soon as possible. If you take extensive notes rather than tape-record, this will make this task easier. Be on the look-out for particularly good quotes that illustrate your theme.

Stage 2

Count and tabulate (simple bar-charts) the number of times that particular themes occur.

Stage 3

Illustrate your points with well-chosen quotations e.g.

• “I found doing the production was immensely hard work but
  very well worthwhile”
• (2nd year Drama student)

Case study Analysis

Case Study Analysis

You will have chosen your case study because it illustrates particular themes in the literature particularly well – for example, it may be a case study of a sportswear company that has dramatically increased its turnover by applying e-marketing.

Your case study should illustrate particular factors or combinations of factors that make the case you have chosen worthy of study. The case study should give pointers to factors that might prove significant were they to be studied more extensively e.g. in a larger scale survey.

If you study two or more organisations, attempt to account for the differences observed between them e.g. are differences attributable to management style, market position, type of industry? Remember that case studies effectively illustrate the dynamics of processes at work but they do not necessarily ‘prove’ a case to be true (nor can they when the sample size is 1!)

Important issues to remember when you undertake survey work

The following comments apply to whatever survey method you have chosen. It is possible, of course, to combine methods e.g. questionnaires with an interview or a case study. This makes for powerful social research because you are combining the representativeness of the survey with the ecological validity (or richness of data) of the interview or case study.

• Always gave a methodological justification for the methods you have chosen (in a few paragraphs).
• Ensure that your survey illustrates the themes of the survey and does not appear to be just an 'add-on' for the sake of it.
• Be careful to keep the survey within justifiable bounds and that it does not 'take over' the project, squeezing out time that would be better devoted to analysis.
• Do not attempt to say that your survey proves a hypothesis| Rather, to be more correct we would say that our findings are consistent with or not consistent with similar surveys found on the subject. If your own survey indicates a result which differs from similar surveys, attempt an explanation for the differences.
• Read and show that you have read a good textbook which discusses methodological and survey design issues.
• Pay particular heed to the advice given by a tutor on survey analysis issues.
• Make sure that you have necessary permissions and authorisations well in advance. You may require ethical approval in certain instances.

Creative Research Systems offers a free aid for survey researchers with useful resources including explanation and guidance to statistical procedures.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I get started?

1. Choose a topic that interests you
2. Do some initial reading
3. Draw up a tentative plan
4. Make first appointment with your tutor

2. What actually IS a Literature Review ?

A literature review is a summary of 'what is known' about a subject in the academic literature. If nothing has been written (or what has been written is not at all academic) then this makes your dissertation or thesis less viable if not impossible.

3. Within the literature review, do we need to discuss the differing opinions of the books we read to the subject we have chosen or just list the books and text we have read and why?

The literature review should attempt to: (a) summarise in a sentence or so the approach taken by a particular author (b) evaluate the approach and put it into a context You can find a practical example in the article 'The Quantification of Patient Satisfaction' in the section entitled 'Dissatisfaction with the conduct of the patient satisfaction survey' which is approximately the third paragraph of the article. This is a 'literature review in brief' but should give you an idea of the style and so on. I hope you find this useful.

4. Can the Literature Review cover two chapters of subject introduction and theory if referring to two separate areas?

It is only a convention that the Literature Review is the first substantive chapter. In practice, you can spread the Literature Review over two or more chapters particularly in the earlier stages of a project.

Also, remember that may well be several other references that you make in later chapters that are not in the Literature Review. Sometimes students get the impression that the Literature Review should contain every reference in the entire project but this is not the case. The Literature Review essentially sets the scene for the later stages of the project by summarising, reviewing and evaluating the principal contributions to the subject under discussion.

5. Is the Internet a good place to start ?

Yes – but only in conjunction with other academic sources (textbooks, journals, official reports) that you find or access through a library

6. Do I need to include all of the questionnaires I have conducted in an Appendix?

No – you only need to include one blank copy of the questionnaire. It is often a good idea to include your data file if you have used a program such as MINITAB.

7. I am an industrial engineering Masters degree student. When getting started with my dissertation work, the most difficult thing I felt is where to start my dissertation.

I think that you start with a QUESTION to which you really want to know the answer! The question might be, in your case, something like: – what are the engineering implications of a new product that is being brought to market? In the case of a civil engineering project, it could be something like 'An examination of the engineering implications in the design of the box-girder bridge'.

Think of a problem that you found it interesting to write about in any of your undergraduate assignments. A tutor in your university may be a helpful source of advice to select suitable projects.

Then do some reading around the area, write a suitable plan and then you have all of the elements in place to make a good start.

8. Do all projects have to have a stated hypothesis?

It is often said in the manuals giving advice to students that you should' state your hypothesis clearly' and you should follow the advice given by your own tutors. However, the word 'hypothesis' is often used to mean approximately the same as 'your research question' to which you should endeavour to assess a range of materials that help you to provide an answer to the question. Some of this evidence will be supportive, some will point in the opposite direction and some will be inconclusive. It is your task to assess this evidence and come to a conclusion as to whether, on balance, the question that you have asked yourself can be answered in the affirmative or not. If you are undertaking some questionnaire or survey work and you are collecting quantitative data, remember that you could well subject your data to statistical hypothesis testing e.g. are males more likely to buy this product than females. Then you have to demonstrate that you understand how to interpret tests of statistical probability i.e. generally a p=0.05 or less is considered a significant difference. Finally, remember that the presence of statistical significance does not point to any social scientific significance (e.g. men are heavier than women) but the absence of statistical significance can be very revealing (e.g. in this sample, contrary to the national literature, there were no significant differences in smoking behaviour between young women and young men).

9. Do I need to include all of the interviews I have collected I have conducted in an Appendix?

No – this would take up too much space and might cut into your word count! It is best just to include a single page of transcript (single spaced) and let it trail off like this....... Then put at the bottom some details such as 'Interview conducted with 2nd year Drama Student ,1/1/2000, sample page only'

Incidentally, this gives you a clue how to reference such material. You should include a portion of the transcript, indented and single spaced, and then give an attribution such as this:

    'Interview conducted with 2nd year Drama Student, 18/07/2000'

10. How do students select their projects in their own field? Is there any guidance about it on the internet?

You should really chooose a topic that really interests you – it could be an assignment or or a project that you have undertaken. Then research what is known about it through

1. the library
2. the internet

Remember that your project is essentially one long answer to the question that you have set yourself to answer.

Final Presentation

Your dissertation or thesis is probably the largest piece of work that you have written and you should feel justifiably proud of it. It might be that you wish to show it to potential employers to demonstrate your interest and commitment to a particular area. Here are some tips and hints to help to ensure that the document looks its best:

• You will have been given some guidance by your college and department as to typefont, layouts etc. – make sure that you follow it. Generally it is safer to employ a more formal font e.g. Times Roman 12, line spacing 1.5 lines, margins of at least 1" all round with preferably a 1.5 " left hand margin to allow for binding (gutter margin).
• Aim for a professional 'look and feel' for the whole document. How you have presented material can say as much about you as what you have written.
• Good presentation may not earn you extra marks: poor presentation will certainly lose you marks!
• Paradoxically do not spent so time on presentation that might well have been spent in other areas. Good presentation may be immediately nullified by elementary spelling, typographical or grammatical errors (particularly on the title page).
• Your title page should include details of your college and course. Make sure that these are quoted absolutely correctly. Similarly, do not forget to include the year of presentation.
• Your document should be page numbered and a List of Contents page should direct the reader to relevant chapters (and perhaps sections within the chapters). You may want to include your Chapter titles in a footer – make sure you know how these work before your final print run.
• If you put in a dedication, do not make it too flowery. Acknowledge major sources of help such as people you have interviewed, perhaps your tutor and so on.
• Allow plenty of time for a good proof-reading, preferably by a friend. After a period of close association with a document, you lose objectivity and read what you imagine is there and can fail to spot elementary errors. A good proof-reader is invaluable at this point. Psychologically, say to yourself There is at least one error on this page and I am going to try and find it!
• The expense of professional binding is probably not justified at undergraduate level but do use a secure system which is easy to read and in which documents, particularly in appendices, are secure.
• Check the length meets the institutional requirements. Excessive length is typically penalised (as it demonstrates that you cannot write to a specified brief, a required professional skill).
• Make sure that all tables, figures and graphs are correctly labelled and correspond to the citation in your text (e.g. as Table 2 on p. 2 shows ...)
• Ensure that all quotations are acknowledged.
• Bulleted points should be indented from the rest of your text.

(Incorrect!)  xxxx  xxxx -xxxx -xxxx  xxxx  xxxx

(Correct) xxxx xxxx   -xxxx   -xxxx xxxx xxxx

Learn how to use your word-processor's indent function to do this correctly.

• Take particular care over your List of References. These should be adequate for the task (aim for at least 30 references), accurate and comprehensive. Make sure that every work cited in the text is cited in the List of References and that every item in the List of References has been quoted in the main body of the text (i.e. a 1:1 correspondence). Complete accuracy is vital – otherwise it casts doubt on whether you have actually consulted the work cited and hence on your own professionalism.
• Finally leaving yourself enough time to check and re-recheck your work is probably the most important advice of all. Rushed projects often show their imperfections!

Written by: Mike Hart, Ph.D.
King Alfred's College
Final Year Projects
http://final-year-projects.com/

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