The main components of the dissertations are: introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion and conclusion.
We also covered the research proposal, which is a document outlining what we will write about, the research we want to accomplish, why the field of study is important and how we plan to carry it out.
We looked at wicked problems. A wicked problem is a complex, social or cultural issue that is near-impossible to solve due to incomplete, contradictory and constantly changing requirements. Examples include poverty, climate change and education.
Next, we were introduced to what a literature review is. It’s basically an evaluation of existing academic literature on a specific topic using related words. For example, if you were looking at the impact fast fashion has on the environment, you would search for keywords such as: textile waste, carbon footprint and microplastics.
Our lecturer mentioned not to just look at websites, but to use a variety of sources such as books, articles and journals. On Google Scholar, it tells you underneath the title how many people have cited the article, meaning the higher the count, the more reliable the research generally is.
We also spoke about how important peer reviews are because they prove that other experts in the field have checked and verified the findings, making sure you're using high-quality sources to back up your dissertation.
As part of our upcoming pitch presentation, we have to include a critical bibliography, which is a list of research sources where you evaluate each text and explain how it answers your research question.
Lastly, we were recommended to read Writing for the Design Mind, which helps designers approach writing in the same way they approach design. This is an interesting concept that will be really useful when starting my dissertation.
We were given 5 minutes in our groups to think of digital products we use daily and write down one feature that is good and one that is bad.
We looked at Translink and discussed how the map for viewing the nearest bus/train stop to your destination is very effective, but we noticed that if you’re getting interconnecting trains leaving at the same time, you can’t buy a second active ticket in advance.
We worked individually to brainstorm dissertation topic ideas. This was an effective way to explore potential areas of research that would be interesting to develop.
