Before you start work on your dissertation writing, you may want to study examples written by other students. It’s hard to begin to write your dissertation without knowing what the university department is looking for. How do you find reliable example dissertations?

Dissertation sources: the university library

Searching for dissertation examples?Old dissertation examples may be kept in your university or college library. The advantage of this source is that librarians can sometimes inform you about the reliability of the work and they may have a range of titles available.

In some colleges, perhaps due to concerns over plagiarism, dissertation material is kept in the department. You may have to make an appointment to view the dissertations and you will not be allowed to photocopy them.

Dissertation examples: the internet

Type ‘dissertation examples’ into a search engine and you will be faced with literally millions of results. How can you be sure which dissertation examples are useful or accurate? Internet examples need to be approached with care. If the dissertation appears on a university or university library website then it is likely to be a trusted source (although be aware that some material may have been uploaded as an example of a poor dissertation).

Dissertation reading: assessing the material

Ultimately, you will be using the research training you’ve been given during your degree so far to assess the usefulness of the dissertation help you have found. In a way, this is exactly the sort of situation that your degree has been training you for. Consider the following:

• Is the material well-presented? Sloppy presentation, poor spelling and bad grammar may indicate to you that the student author hasn’t put much effort into their research.
• Is the author biased towards a particular way of thinking? Does this make them ignore important evidence?
• Is the material footnoted effectively and is there a detailed bilbiography?

Throughout your studies, your tutor may give you some examples of badly formulated arguments. Part of your training (particularly as a postgraduate student) is to be able to spot these erroneous sources. Finding suitable dissertation examples may be the first true test of how well you have absorbed the skills of academic training.

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