Dissertation Writing for Engineers and Scientists

Dr Mark Breach is Principal Lecturer in Engineering Surveying at Nottingham Trent University. As Programme Leader for the MSc Civil and Geotechnical Engineering degrees he manages all its postgraduate dissertations and he also performs a similar function for undergraduate Civil Engineers.

• 1  What is a dissertation?1.1 Why do we do projects?1.2 What is a project?1.3 What happens when?1.4 Planning the project1.5 Your tutor, friend or foe?Summary  2  Making a start2.1 Choosing and defining the project2.2 Motivation and added value2.3 What type of project?2.4 What is the question?2.5 The aim2.6 The objectives2.7 Methodology2.8 Hypothesis and key questions2.9 Resources2.10 Timetable2.11 Example project proposalSummary  3  Hard work or pleasure?3.1 Getting stuck in3.2 The science and engineering context 3.3 Health, safety and risk assessment3.4 COSHH3.5 Ethics3.6 Proving your point.3.7 Quantitative or qualitative methods3.8 Quantitative methods3.9 Qualitative methods3.10 Getting the data3.11 Questionnaires3.12 InterviewsSummary  4  Meaning from numbers4.1 The nature of uncertainty4.2 Data types4.3 Previewing your data4.4 Statistical methods4.5 Parametric methods4.6 Non-parametric methodsSummary  5  Paperwork, paperwork5.1 Writing up5.2 Introduction chapter 5.3 Literature review chapter(s)5.4 Citing references5.6 Results chapter5.7 Analysis chapter5.8 Conclusions and recommendations chapter5.9 Abstract5.10 Tops and tailsSummary  6  Tips and hints6.1 What can go wrong?6.2 Recovering from disaster6.3 How to make it go right from the start: prevention, better than cureSummary  7  Assessment and beyond7.1 Project proposal7.2 Preliminary literature review7.3 Progress presentation and the viva voce7.4 Preparing your presentation7.5 Poster presentations7.6 Marking the dissertation7.7 Preparing for publication7.8 CopyrightSummary8  Plagiarism – avoidance and detection8.1 What is plagiarism?8.2 Why people plagiarise8.3 How you are likely to be caught8.4 What happens when you get caught?8.5 How to avoid accidental plagiarism8.5 How to avoid accidental plagiarismSummary9        Questions and answersI