The Dissertation Thread

Its funny reading this and im glad that im not the only one with loads of work to do :( a lot of people seem to have a limit on words, we were told it depends on the project or task in hand. Im studing a degree in network management & security and also doing my dissertation. I havent found it quite bad actually because i chose a project away from networking to mix it up a little. Heres what i got to do:

We sometimes wish to maintain and distribute a list of all useful research URLs on a particular topic. This project is to develop a tool to regularly scan the search engines for a particular set of keywords, maintain a database of valid URLs, assist in their classification and present them on a research website. Other researchers could then find out the state of the current research on the particular topic.

So far nearly finished the implementation and about 12,000 words in. Still got to write up implementation, evaluation and a conclusion. Deadline is 27th April plus a got a 3000 word report on microkernels :(

Well good luck all and take it easy :)
 
My course doesn't involve a dissertation as such, but I've already done two projects in my final year, each of 5000 words (first one, Atomic Force Microscopy, second was Fresnel Zone Plates). One other module I did was all coursework based, but for the 6 others I have exams.

Fun times. :o
 
Raymond Lin said:
What's the topic ?
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It is all on Intellectual Property. Full title is "A Critical Analysis of the law relating to Copyright and Media Shifting". It seemed the most interesting thing I could think of at the time but oddly gets less interesting as you go along. :D

Nix, I think most people do leave the dissertation until a few weeks before deadline day, that is certainly the case with my class and most other people that I've spoken to had plans to start early but never really did. I find most people do about enough work to meet every deadline but that still leaves a whole chunk of work to do before the final hand in date. If it is any consolation one of my mates who finished a couple of years ago did most of his dissertation in about 3 days. :)
 
I've gotta hand in an idea for my dissertation after Easter, not got a clue what im going to do in all honesty. Need some area of Psychological research that is interesting!
 
CDj-Rossi said:
Need some area of Psychological research that is interesting!
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Title suggestion 'ElRazur...why?'

@IceBus - I use the Harvard system, but still have footnotes - they're not mutually exclusive.

fini
 
I wouldn't be surprised if a certain amount of girls got their dissertations or projects done earlier than most guys, something to do with the way the brain is wired. Guys tend to thrive under pressure, requiring deadlines etc getting the best out of them.
 
IceBus said:
Out of interest, what referencing system are you guys using - Harvard or footnotes?
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Harvard theoretically although I tend to make it up as I go along when I'm unsure, particularly for web addresses which have no set format. We also use footnotes which are then referenced in the bibliography where appropriate.
 
semi-pro waster said:
It is all on Intellectual Property. Full title is "A Critical Analysis of the law relating to Copyright and Media Shifting". It seemed the most interesting thing I could think of at the time but oddly gets less interesting as you go along. :D

Nix, I think most people do leave the dissertation until a few weeks before deadline day, that is certainly the case with my class and most other people that I've spoken to had plans to start early but never really did. I find most people do about enough work to meet every deadline but that still leaves a whole chunk of work to do before the final hand in date. If it is any consolation one of my mates who finished a couple of years ago did most of his dissertation in about 3 days. :)
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whoa, that's a erm BIG topic, you going to focus it on more with media shifting ? Because Copyright covers a lot of areas.
 
I'm making an interactive learning environment for children (i.e. A Play and Learn CD) All been developed in flash of course :) I'm almost done with the practical part as its due in on Wednesday of next week (albeit it doesnt get marked (ours is weighted 90% Report and 10% Presentation)) Then its on to revision and completing the report!

Kiz
 
semi-pro waster said:
Harvard theoretically although I tend to make it up as I go along when I'm unsure, particularly for web addresses which have no set format. We also use footnotes which are then referenced in the bibliography where appropriate.
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I've been using Harvard for everything so far as we're still on very tight word limits and Harvard takes up a bit less space, but for a dissertation I'm thinking the references would be more readable as footnotes rather than having to constantly flip back to the bibliography. Not sure when to make the switch though!
 
I've been using harvard referencing for everything too, takes up less words :D Though, I'm sure the referencing is not part of the word count? At least it isn't here...
 
Harvard is what we use here too and AFAIK the references/bibliography doesn't count towards the word limit.

I'm fairly sure that web addresses are done like this:

Smith, J. (2007) Title, http://www.webaddress.co.uk, Accessed on: 5th April 2007.
 
Raymond Lin said:
whoa, that's a erm BIG topic, you going to focus it on more with media shifting ? Because Copyright covers a lot of areas.
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I'm doing it on media shifting mainly and the legalities and derogations in that, I've obviously got to cover some of the basics of copyright law although it isn't the main focus but that was the title suggested by my project supervisor. :)

Referencing doesn't count towards final word count at my uni so they will allow quite a bit to be put as footnotes etc but they are then stricter on word limits of the main body of text.
 
I'm 80% of the way through mine with no motivation to finish it. :(.

Can't wait to finish university, I've had enough now and want to start work again.
 
semi-pro waster said:
I'm doing it on media shifting mainly and the legalities and derogations in that, I've obviously got to cover some of the basics of copyright law although it isn't the main focus but that was the title suggested by my project supervisor. :)

Referencing doesn't count towards final word count at my uni so they will allow quite a bit to be put as footnotes etc but they are then stricter on word limits of the main body of text.
Click to expand...

Referencing and footnotes doesn't count when i did it either, and it shouldn't do really.
 
Decided not to do a dissertation next year as it's an econometrics project (economics degree) and it would mean two of the four modules in my third year would be rubbish as I'd have to take the econometrics module alongside the dissertation. Weakens my degree somewhat but I'd rather get a 2:1 with no dissertation than a 2:2 and a poor dissertation.
 
Lol! Wish I had that option! Weakens your degree yes, but at the end of the day who's gonna say what did u get for this module (employers wise?) ;)
 
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