Forum

Primary research for dissertation

15 April 2009 18:33

Hi there,

I am in my second year of a BA Graphic Design course, and i am currently preparing a presentation on my dissertation for next year.

I have been asked to include a comprehsive list of all intended primary research material to be analysed and discussed in my dissertation.
However i am unsure as to how i would go about this, my dissertation title is:

What contribution to graphic design and popular culture has the hippy subculture had, since the 1960's?

I think i know what primary research is, but i dont know what kind of research i could be doing.

Thank you for your time,

Rachael

Scarlet-Hills 20 April 2009 08:47

Hi Rachel

I found that just reading was enough, as long as you use a range of sources. I went through every book I could find, every website, every archived magazine etc. Of course, in reality I did a lot of skim-reading and got most of the information I needed from several books, but it's all about giving the impression of a well-rounded study. Also, if I came across an article from, say, Eye magazine on a google search, I listed it as coming from the magazine, not the website. This will look a lot more impressive in the eyes of tutors as it takes a whole lot more effort to go out and look through magazines than it does to just run a search on the web.

When it comes to actually writing the dissertation, I found it easiest to hammer through it in a short time. (Well, I actually didn't have much choice, - I left it all to the last minute!) Keeping to a tight deadline helps to keep things concise and stops you from repeating yourself. Divide your piece into distinct chapters, and although cross-referencing is important make sure you tackle a new aspect of the subject in each one.

If you need any help then PM me. As you might have seen in the other post I left for you, I kinda messed up my course from a design perspective, but managed to save it with a strong dissertation. I got a first (82) and did the whole thing in just over a week ;)

It can be done.

Rob