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The MSc research dissertation

A supplement to the School of the Built Environment(SBE) Dissertation Guide



This guidance is for students undertaking a research dissertation as part of their postgraduate MSc programme It supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, the SchoolDissertation Guide which is also available on VISION. These documents contain importantinformation to explain the dissertation process and guidance for getting started on the dissertation.Please note that although these documents refer to the School’s previous name (School of the BuiltEnvironment) they relate to the school’s current name (School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructureand Society)

1. IntroductionAs part of all postgraduate MSc programmes delivered by the School of the Built Environmentstudents are required to undertake some research and to prepare and submit an MSc dissertation. Thedissertation gives the opportunity to investigate a topic of interest in depth leading to realunderstanding and insight in a contemporary setting. It represents the student’s own work andinvolves considerable effort in its preparation. Although all dissertations’ are different and vary

according to the topic being studied there are many features such as style and layout that are common.This guidance note (together with the School guide) introduces some of the features and conventions

to be found in good dissertations and provides a starting point for further reading in researchdissertation preparation.

The MSc dissertation is equivalent to 4 taught courses (60 credits) and is the most substantial piece ofindividual work submitted during the programme. As an indication it is normally around 15,000words (excluding appendices) in length. This should demonstrate that the student has the ability toconduct a piece of rigorous research in his or her chosen field, and involves critical thinking andreasoning. It is not sufficient for a dissertation to be about description, summarising and measuring.These activities simply provide a framework for the thinking and reasoning.

The research dissertation is undertaken on successful completion of the eight taught courses andformally starts when the ‘proceed to dissertation stage’ decision is made by the exam board which

considers performance in the eight taught courses. At this point a dissertation supervisor from theacademic staff will be allocated to guide its development. Some preliminary work is required prior tothis though in developing an outline research proposal for discussion with the supervisor in the firstmeeting (see section 2).

2. Dissertation timescale and supervisor allocationAll students, regardless of mode of study, formally start the dissertation when they have successfullycompleted the taught courses in their programme at MSc level. In such cases a ‘proceed to dissertationstage’ notification is given following the exam board which considers performance in the taughtcourses. This will either be in the June or August exam board, depending on when the student

successfully completes all required taught courses.. For most FT campus based students this will be inJune when the semester 1 and 2 courses have been passed with no resits required. The dissertation isthen prepared over summer and submitted in August. Students with resits from semester 1 or semester2 must first pass these before proceeding to the dissertation stage, and will submit and graduate at alater date. Work on the dissertation starts, however, prior to the allocation of a supervisor with the preparation of the outline research proposal as explained below

· Full-time students

For full-time students the programme starts in September and exams are taken in December and Aprili.e. at the end of the semester in which the course is taken. There are 8 taught courses each of which isexpected to take 150 hours of student effort. FT students attend classes 2 days per week, Monday andFriday, throughout semester 1 and 2. Although the majority of the research work will be undertaken

when students are given the ‘proceed to dissertation stage’ notification, all students are expected to



begin preliminary work on the research proposal immediately following the S2 exams. At this pointthere will be an induction session to guide students on how to prepare the proposal.

· Part-time and Distance Learning studentsPT students normally take the programme over a 2 year period. From September to April of each yearstudents take 4 taught courses, each of which is expected to take 150 student effort hours. PT studentswill be allocated a supervisor following successful completion in the taught courses in year 2, but areencouraged to prepare their research proposal in year 1 of their studies to help ensure good and early progress in thinking about the dissertation.

Distance learning students may commence the programme in September, January and May of eachyear and typically follow a more flexible route through their programme depending on theircircumstances. DL students are also allocated a supervisor on successful completion of the taughtcourses.

Part Time and DL students will often suggest topics that arise from problems or circumstances at their place of work. This can help students who may have some prior knowledge of the subject and the

student (and his or her employer) can be assured of its relevance. It also provides ready access tofieldwork data e.g. case studies, interviewees, questionnaire respondents.

3. Getting the research proposal underwayThe dissertation starts with the preparation of an outline research proposal, based on the student’sinitial ideas for an investigation, using the guidance in this document. Once the supervisor isallocated, the student’s outline research proposal is then discussed with the supervisor for feedbackand guidance on its development. The steps for preparing the outline research proposal are as follows.

1. Consider a topic area, most likely arising from an aspect of your programme that you have found of particular interest or relevance to you, which you would like to research in-depth for your dissertation.

There are no restrictions on the topic area as long as it is connected in some way to the builtenvironment. However it is important that the idea for the investigation is initiated by the student.Some initial reading and review of the literature will help to reveal contemporary issues which theconstruction industry and other researchers are facing which should help structure your initial ideas.

2. Prepare a 500-800 word (approx) outline research proposal which develops your initial ideas into a

draft research plan. Use the research proposal drafting guidance contained in Appendix 1 of thisdocument.

3. Once a supervisor is allocated forward him or her a copy of your research proposal and be preparedto discuss it in your first meeting with them. Feedback will help to modify, refine and develop the

initial research proposal into a workable framework and plan for preparing the dissertation.

4. Maintaining progress on the dissertationFollowing the research proposal phase it is most important to maintain progress on the research workover the duration of its preparation, even in the face of competing demands for time from the project.A dissertation cannot be completed satisfactorily in an intensive campaign because the planning ofinterviews, fieldwork, procurement of materials and writing up of the work takes time. Thereforestudents should work back from the submission date allowing sufficient time for the various stages ofthe work in consultation with their supervisor and work steadily.

The final stage is pulling the whole dissertation together in a format suitable for final presentation that

conforms to the School specifications (see the School dissertation guidance for details). This alwaystakes much longer than expected particularly the final stages when all the basic text is completed.



Usually it is only when writing up when certain features of the results (fieldwork or literature) arenoticed and often require further analysis or reading. It is not uncommon for a student to start writingwith one opinion and completely change their mind half way through. Students should be prepared torevise the structure of the dissertation as different aspects of the work change in importance. Theintroduction and final conclusions should not be written until the main text is finished since you willnot know what you are introducing or summarising.

5. Research methodsEvery MSc dissertation should give due consideration to research design and methods. Researchdesign includes evaluating the type of data that has to be collected, evaluating methods of selection,and designing the sample and subsequent analysis of the data. There are numerous texts on research

methodology and dissertation preparation that can be consulted. Two such texts which are particularto construction are ‘Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction Students’ by S.G Naoum(available as an EBook) and ‘Research Methods for Construction’ by R Fellows and A Liu- thoughthere are many others in the university library which are also very relevant. The research strategyshould be discussed thoroughly with your supervisor.

6. Presentation of the Completed DissertationDetailed specifications for presentation of the dissertation are contained in the accompanying SchoolDissertation Guide. It is extremely important that you conform to these specifications. Errors of non-standard presentation are easy to avoid, yet can cost significant marks. In particular, your attention isdrawn to the form of referencing to be used. The Harvard system (as explained in the SchoolDissertation Guide) is to be used throughout. Dissertations that do not conform to the Harvard system

of referencing may not be accepted for submission and assessment.

7. Dissertation QualityTo illustrate the possible range in quality that may be found in completed dissertations, the followingexamples show typical features that might be found in 3 dissertations of varying quality- poor, good

and excellent. As your work progresses you should reflect on where you feel your dissertation might be placed and do all you can to ensure the best quality possible is achieved.

· An example Poor dissertationThe introduction is woolly and neither the general subject area nor the specific topic of investigation

is properly introduced. The literature review is little more than a summary of documents with noattempt to be critical, no attempt to place the text in a logical sequence and no discussion on the

implications. The logical development of the hypothesis will probably be unclear and there is probably little or nothing on research methods and data analysis. The attempt at data collection is

poor, experimental work would be poorly described and badly executed e.g. no calibration, did notfollow the ISO method, selective collection of published data, or poorly thought out questionnaires,incomplete case studies or haphazard use of archives or literature. The resulting analysis of the

information is poor. There is little data to consider and this is described rather than rigorouslyanalysed. Presentation of the results and other information is likely to be haphazard.

· An example Good DissertationThere is a good overview of the subject and a reasonable description of the aims and objectives whichare then appropriate for the rest of the dissertation. The literature review contains a summary of thekey documents and has some discussion. Some documents are compared to others though some probably appear to be unconnected to the main aims and objectives. Data collection is well thoughtout and explained, leading to collecting of data in a systematic manner. The dissertation demonstrates

that the student has a good grasp of the results and a relatively clear understanding of their



importance. The results will be well presented though it is likely that their full implication will not beappreciated. Inconsistencies in the data will probably be missed or ignored.

· An example Excellent DissertationThere is an excellent overview of the subject and a clear description of the aims and objectives of thedissertation, which are then appropriate for the rest of the dissertation. There is an excellent literaturereview with documents being reviewed which are all up to date and relevant. There is appropriatecross-referencing and points of agreement and dispute are identified and discussed. The aims andobjectives of the dissertation are seen to emerge naturally from the review. Areas where the literatureis deficient are also correctly identified. Research methods are identified and appropriate methodsselected. Data analysis methods are identified and discussed. The approach to data collection followsfrom the literature review but is modified to suit local experience and the topic. The student hascollected data in a consistent and appropriate manner and has used a method specifically designed toanswer the original aims and objectives. An excellent analysis of the data is carried out. In the case ofnon-numerical, or qualitative, data a thorough examination will lead to underlying themes and trends being revealed and presented in a highly structured way. Discussion of the themes is carried out withreference to the issues being investigated in the dissertation, leading to appropriate and concisely

expressed conclusions being drawn. In the case of numerical results they would be clearly presented probably in graphical form and would establish clearly whether or not the original hypothesis (aims

and objectives) had been met. Statistical analysis would probably have been carried out establishing beyond doubt whether or not the conclusions were justified. Inconsistencies in the data would behighlighted and explained.

8. Marking and assessment of the DissertationEach dissertation or diploma report will be independently read and assessed by two members of staff,including the supervisor, using the marking schedule reproduced in Appendix 2. An agreed mark isthen reported to the postgraduate examination board. If necessary the assessors will interview thestudent to clarify any uncertainties and help inform their view of an appropriate mark. Every

dissertation should address the following aspects. The emphasis placed on each of these should bediscussed with your supervisor to ensure the most appropriate balance of effort.

· Introduction and general contextIt is necessary to give context to your investigation within the first chapter to help ‘locate’ the workacademically. This helps justify why your study is timely and relevant by making reference to otherrelated published work in the field, and evaluating the contribution your dissertation will make to thefield. This section will not normally exceed 3 pages. The preparation of this chapter necessarily

requires a student to read widely about the subject even though not all material read will appear in thedissertation.

· Literature reviewThe object of the literature review is to review the scholarly literature on the subject and critically

review it. This review will almost certainly include a comparison between references and thereforediscrepancies and differences of opinion should be highlighted and discussed. The review must

include a general review of the subject leading to a hypothesis, a review of research methods and areview of data analysis methods.

· Research methodologyThe research methods should demonstrate that the student is able to undertake research appropriate tothe subject in a systematic and meaningful manner. The method adopted would follow from theliterature review and may include experimental work in the laboratory or in the field, interviews,

questionnaires, surveys, case studies or the systematic collection of data and other information from

the literature or archives. Note that collection of published data is not the same as a literature reviewand that a student should clearly distinguish between them. The collection of information for analysis



and discussion is central to a dissertation and the rigour that would be expected for laboratoryexperiments should be the same as for any other data source.

· Discussion, information analysis, interpretation and conclusionsThe analysis of the information and the conclusions should demonstrate that the student understandsthe significance of the findings, present them in an appropriate manner and can draw sensibleconclusions.

9. Submission ProceduresThere are 2 forms of submission:

Two spiral-bound copies of the dissertation (campus based students only), conforming to the presentation specifications prescribed in the School Dissertation Guide should be submitted to theSchool office by the stipulated deadline. Exact dates and deadlines are posted on VISION. AnElectronic copy of the dissertation is uploaded to ‘Turnitin’ through VISION. This should be a singleMS Word file or pdf file matching exactly the hardcopy version. It is acknowledged that appendices

to the main document may not always be available in Word format. DL students only need to submitan electronic copy through Turnitin.

Students must make their own arrangements for copying and binding of the dissertations. Theuniversity’s printing department can provide spiral binding. Students bear the cost of all binding. Thecopies of the dissertation should be submitted to Postgraduate School Office of the School of Energy,Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society.

Delay caused by stationer’s printing/binding backlogs is not acceptable as a reason for late submissionof a dissertation. You should therefore allow plenty of time for your dissertation to be printed and bear in mind that every other MSc student has also handed in their dissertation for printing at the sametime.

Fieldwork material

Students should keep any supporting material generated from the fieldwork until after the exam board.This could include interview notes, minutes of meetings, questionnaire survey returns or log bookshowing experimental work as appropriate to the topic being studied.

PlagiarismThe School and the University treat plagiarism extremely seriously. Suspected cases of plagiarism

will result in disciplinary action being initiated against the student. Section 9 of the SchoolDissertation Guide explains the issue of plagiarism in greater detail. Please work with your supervisorto ensure that any published work used in the preparation of your dissertation is done so legitimatelyand referenced appropriately

Word Count

The word count of your dissertation (excluding references) should be no more than 15,000 words.Dissertations that exceed this limit will face a penalty in grading.



Appendix 2Starting the Dissertation- the Outline Research ProposalThis guidance note should be used to help you in the preparation of the outline research proposalThe research proposal is the essential first step in laying the groundwork for the dissertation. Itinvolves taking your initial idea and developing it into a more structured format which considers the

elements outlined below. Preparing the proposal will obviously involve some initial investigation andlibrary work to look at articles, books and perhaps other dissertations related to your topic of interest(It is not merely describing your idea!)

Don’t worry though, the effort involved is not wasted as the research proposal forms the first chapterof the dissertation itself. You will also find that a thorough approach to the proposal will help clarifyyour own ideas and direction for the project. In taking your initial topic idea forward, use thefollowing headings to structure your thoughts and lend some focus to the purpose of your proposedinvestigation. This will form the basis of chapter 1 of your dissertation. Preparing an outline research

proposal is a significant step forward in preparing to formally commence the dissertation.

The selection below is adapted from ‘Dissertation Resear ch and Writing for Construction Students’ by

S.G Naoum (available as an Ebook from university library), which is a good text to refer to for furtherguidance.

Rationale for the study

A discussion of approximately 500-800 words which sets out the problem and the reason for the proposed study, highlighting the issues to be investigated. This should explain to the reader why it is atimely and worthwhile investigation. The rationale should be supported by a few key references torelated work in the area which you are proposing to build on (a precursor to the literature review).Key references should be drawn from related research in the proposed area of study. Journals,

conference proceedings, reports etc. are a good source of up-to-date material.

Aim

A clear one or two sentence aim should be provided, highlighting your ultimate goal for thedissertation.

Objectives

Usually between three and five, single-sentence, objectives should be developed. Objectives are the breakdown of the aim into those separate, but related, issues that when investigated will allow you toachieve the main aim. The aim can be considered to be strategic in nature while the objectives areoperational.

Outline research methods.This explains your approach to the study in terms of its ‘deskwork’ and ‘fieldwork’ aspects. Thedeskwork will be the literature review, and you should identify what the main themes of the literaturereview will be (what is it that you are looking for from the literature). Also what type of journals andother publications will you be investigating for the literature review. (you should try to identify a fewnamed journals that you will use). The fieldwork relates to the actual data you will collect. Inconstruction management research this is normally through case studies, questionnaires or interviewof relevant personnel. What form of data do you envisage collecting and how will this be used to helpachieve your objectives.

Sourcing information to develop the research proposalFor helping to develop both the rationale for the research proposal and the subsequent literaturereview there are a number of good construction management related journals available on-linethrough the university library web site. Try an online search of 'Construction Management and

Economics' , 'International Journal of Project Management', 'Journal of Construction Engineering andManagement', for example, for some of your themes. There are a number of other relevant resources



available on the university library web site as well. Google Scholar is also an excellent search enginewhich links directly to Heriot-Watt University library. The University library has an excellent guidecalled ‘How to find out in Built Environment’ which identifies and categorises useful sources ofinformation for the dissertation. It also provides tips on carrying out a literature review. It can befound athttp://www.hw.ac.uk/library/howtobuilding.htmlReference to related research published in academic journals is essential to a good literature review(textbooks and policy documents are not enough). Thankfully, access to such material is easy. A listof electronic journals can be found on the library homepage athttp://www.hw.ac.uk/library/journals.htmlThe journals are all keyword searchable online, andrelevant articles of interest can be printed off. It’s possible therefore to make a good start on theliterature review without leaving your desk.

Try a keyword search of these relevant journals… · Construction Management and Economics· International Journal of Project Management· Building Research and Information

· Facilities· Journal of Facilities Management

· Facilities Design and Management· Journal of Construction Engineering and Management· Journal of Management in EngineeringAnother excellent resource is the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM)website which has a searchable database of relevant papers at

http://www.arcom.ac.uk/publications.html



Grading guidelines:

Grade Guidance Notes:

A+Distinction

(Normally 80+%)

As previous category, but in addition, displaying a very high ability to comprehend the subject matterwithin the wider context and demonstrating considerable originality. The highest level of structure andpresentation.

ADistinction

(Normally 70- 79%)

An extremely thorough, distinction level piece of research. Thorough understanding of the subject andissues. Demonstrates a high degree of critical appraisal analysis, clear ability to formulate/constructhypotheses and excellent understanding and application of research methods. Conclusions are wellsupported by the content. Very well structured and presented.

B(Normally 60- 69%)

A good understanding of the subject and issues. Demonstrates a clear ability to ask the right questionsand formulate/construct hypotheses to address the issues. Good understanding and application ofresearch methods. Critical appraisal and analysis is demonstrated and conclusions andrecommendations supported. Well structured and presented over and above the basic standard.

C(Normally 50-59%)

A reasonable understanding of the subject and issues, which asks questions and addresses potentialanswers, supported by a reasonable degree of analysis and critique. Acceptable consideration ofresearch methods. Conclusions are reasonably formed and recommendations are generally supportedby the work undertaken. Reasonable structure and presentation.

D(Normally 40-49%)

Diploma Pass

Does not meet MSc standard. A basic piece of work which demonstrates limited knowledge/effort andunderstanding, supported by only little analysis and minimal review. Poor or non-existent considerationof research methods. Identifies the basic issues only where conclusions are not supported. Meets thebasic requirement for structure and presentation.

Fail(Normally <40%)

Does not meet Diploma standard. Poor piece of work which demonstrates very limited knowledge orunderstanding of the issues. Very poor or non-existent consideration of research methods. Inadequatediscussion with very poorly or unsupported conclusions. Poorly structured and presented.

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