Writing Up Your Dissertation – Overall Structure  Introduction (10-12 pages)  Literature Review (25-30 pages)  Methodology (15-20 pages)  Findings (14-16 pages)  Analysis – Discussion (7-10 pages)  Conclusions and Recommendations (6-8 pages)  References  Appendices

Introduction  Set up the context – a brief review of the literature (theoretical review and/or review of the secondary sources)  Research Rationale  Aims and objectives  Presentation of overall structure – in narrative form and/or as a diagram  Last chapter in writing up

Literature Review  Review of theory  Be critical  Establish linkages between different sections  Avoid having too many subheadings  Referencing  Conceptual framework (in narrative form and/or as a diagram)

Research Methodology  Research approach – justification  Data collection techniques - justification  Sample selection  Actual data collection process (what happened in practice) (Preparation stage, interview schedule / questionnaire design, gaining access, pilot study, interview process)  Analysis of data  Reflections on the methodology and limitations of research

Findings  Secondary Findings (Participant organisation, tourism industry – demand/supply - of a country)  Primary Findings (Findings from interviews and questionnaires)  Present them according to different themes – themes from literature review or from primary data analysis  Pure description/presentation of your informants/respondents’ views on your research topic

Analysis/Discussion  Interpretation/discussion of your findings in the light of your literature review  Compare/contrast your findings with your literature review  Identify the similarities and differences  Not expected to introduce new literature  Starts during data collection stage  Time and energy consuming chapter  Allocate enough time

Conclusions and Recommendations  An overall synthesis of your research  Reminder of the overall aim and objectives of your research  Explanation of how they are achieved  Discuss how your research study differs from the previous ones  What are the implications of your research for theory (academic world), the industry etc?  Recommendations (to hospitality and tourism organisations and/or industries, further research)

References  Include references you make use of in the text  Harvard Referencing  Alphabetical order  Up-to-date sources  Independent research (avoid relying too much on the electronic databases).

Appendices  One example of transcription  Methodology things (letters, diagrams used for the data analysis etc.)

Strategies for qualitative analysis  Using a theoretical or descriptive framework  Exploring without a predetermined theoretical or descriptive framework

Qualitative Data Analysis – Key Stages  Stage 1: Familiarisation  Stage 2: Coding, Categorising and Ordering  Stage 3: Enfolding Literature

Stage 1: Familiarisation  Present your findings in a workable format  Listen to each audiocassette several times and note the impressions and intuitions  Re-read the data transcripts and documentation.

Stage 2: Coding, Categorising and Ordering  Coding: The process of breaking down, examining and comparing findings.  Categorising: The process of grouping concepts at a higher, more abstract level. 1. A template approach (theory driven or pre-structured), a coding scheme 2. Breaking down the interview and observation transcripts and notes and as well as documents into manageable blocks in order to classify them under each code/grouping  Ordering: Integration of the categories to form a story, framework etc.

Stage 3: Enfolding Literature  Involves asking what it is similar to, what does it contradict and why.  Recognition of the conflicting findings builds confidence in the findings.  The juxtaposition of conflicting results forces researcher into a more creative, frame-breaking mode of thinking than s/he might otherwise be able to achieve.  Identification of the similarities on the other hand, allows researcher to tie together underlying similarities in phenomena normally not associated with each other.

Importance of Writing Memos in the Data Analysis Process  Theoretical Memo: The theorizing write up of ideas about the codes and their relationships  Record comments or thoughts on incidents, record the linkages

The occasions to write a memo  When you are writing up interview or observation notes, or producing a transcript of this event  When you are categorising these data  As you continue to categorise and analyse these data  When you engage in the process of writing.

Increasing the validity and the reliability of the findings  Comparing the information with the other informants  Comparing the emerging themes with the information obtained through observation and secondary analysis of documents etc.  Checking the validity of the choice of themes with selected informants, particularly with the insider  Discuss the themes with the supervisors  Present your findings, have the analysis questioned dialectically.

Presentation of Findings  Create time for your writing  Write when your mind is fresh  Find a regular writing place  Set goals and achieve them  Generate a plan  A satisfactory level through iterative processes and trials and errors

Questions  Devise categories to label these data and ‘unitise’ or code these data using these categories.  Do any relationships or patterns begin to emerge in the data and if, so, what are they?

What is a Conceptual Framework? A conceptual framework covers the main features (aspects, dimensions, factors, variables) of a case study and their presumed relationships (Robson, 1999, p. 150) Source: Robson, C. (1999) Real World Research, Blackwell, Oxford

Why Do You Need One? Forces you to be explicit about what you think you are doing. Helps you to:  Decide which are the important features  Decide which relationships are likely to be of importance or meaning  What data you are going to collect and analyse

When Do You Do This?  Have an initial attempt to do this before starting the study.  You should not regard this initial framework as definitive.  Remain open to alternative formulations, or possible features or relationships not captured in your initial framework.  Keep reviewing as you do more reading and weight your efforts heavily towards the features or relationships included in the conceptual framework.

How Do You Do It?  While some prefer a narrative or descriptive account of the framework, most seem to find a diagrammatic version more compelling. Our advice is to do both!  Get all of the diagram on one page and map relationships between the boxes.  Inputs to the framework come from theoretical formulations and previous related research, together with your personal orientation and what is already known about your topic.  Don’t worry too much about getting the definitive structure. You will not get it right first time.