Master's Dissertation support

LSE LIFE's Master's Dissertation talks and workshops guide students through the process of identifying a research topic, writing a research proposal, developing research question, and planning, conducting, and writing up their postgraduate research project. Events begin in Michaelmas Term, take place throughout Lent and Summer terms, and continue after the end of the academic year through July, August, and September. Booking is required for these events. Attendance is optional and free of charge.

In previous years, the series has included:

• How to get started on your dissertation

• Write your research proposal

• What is a literature review?

• How to prepare to collect and analyse data

• Develop your research question

• Plan your dissertation research

• Define, refine, and practice your dissertation literature search

• Find and use social science data for your dissertation research

• Develop and practise your search strategy for your literature review

• Ethical issues in using social media data for your research

• Create a storyboard to visualise your whole project

• Write your data management plan

• Address procrastination while doing your dissertation

• Practical tips for qualitative research

• Practical tips for quantitative research

• Plan and conduct responsible, ethical research

• Practical tips for working with research participants

• Practical tips for planning and conducting interviews

• Practical tips for transcribing qualitative data

• Practical tips for doing thematic analysis

• Practical tips for doing discourse analysis

• How to write a master's dissertation

• Structure your dissertation

• Make a start writing your literature review

• Perfectionism – done is better than perfect!

• Plan your summertime research and writing

• Write a draft abstract

• Write a great introduction to your dissertation

• Reach a wider audience with your dissertation

• Practical tips for anonymising your data and protecting your participants’ identity

• Dissertation writing retreats

• Proofread your draft dissertation

n.b. The "practical tips" workshops are not methods courses. Research methods courses are taught by the Methodology Department.

Resources and activities related to most of these sessions are available on the LSE LIFE Moodle page for access at any time. LSE LIFE Study Advisers are available for discussions related to most of the topics covered above, including many aspects of planning a research project, conducting independent research, and writing a dissertation. These one-to-one sessions are also available for booking throughout the academic year and over the summer.

See also:

LSE LIFE website for more information about these sessions and to book a place.

Online materials and resources (LSE user name and password required)