Dissertation kick-off meeting 2015

Dissertation Kick-off Meeting

BA Events & Leisure MarketingBA Events Management

Agenda• Dissertation

Objectives• Dissertation

Structure• Topics• Data collection• Writing up• Supervision

process• Getting

starting

What should you achieve with the dissertation?

BAELM and BAEM students should:

• Identify an appropriate topic for investigation that reflects the aims of the programme of study;

• Demonstrate an understanding of the context of the research by reference to published material;

• Formulate and apply research methods appropriate to the topic;

• Become acquainted with the issues raised by designing and conducting research;

• Critically appraise the information and apply judgement in analysis and evaluation of new/abstract data &

• Contextualise their own findings in relation to the established body of knowledge to draw suitable, analytical and realistic conclusions

Dissertation structure• There is some variation but

generally you have:– Introduction (1000)– Literature review (3000)– Methodology (1000)– Findings (2000)– Analysis (2000)– Conclusion &

Recommendations (1000)

TOTAL NUMBER OF WORDS = 10,000

TopicsStudents should have selected topics which are rooted within the core areas of their courses:Events • Motivations to attend events• Marketing of events• New media and events• Event impacts• Consumer behaviour and events• Events and destinations• Event tourism• Events and branding• Event experiences

Events & Leisure Marketing• Consumer behaviour in

Leisure• Marketing of Leisure• The nature of Leisure• New forms of Leisure• New media and Leisure• Leisure branding• Demand / motivations

for specific types of Leisure

Topics (cont’d)• Topics should

also be linked to literature available at the library:• Journals on E

vents, Leisure & Tourism

• Books on Events, Leisure & Tourism

• Databases for Tourism

• Events & Leisure Industry Reports

Data collection considerations

PLEASE NOTE DATA COLLECTION SHOULD START AFTER YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW AND

METHODOLOGY HAS BEEN APPROVED

• Ethical considerations• Practical considerations• Archived data available via

[email protected]– Bournemouth Air Festival,

Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury, Notting Hill, Luton & Trinidad Carnivals, city data (new!)

– Custom archives can be done on request depending on demand

• Research Approaches

Writing-up• There is no such thing as a “writing-

up phase”• Students thinking they can simply

“write-up” in the last three weeks are deluding themselves!!!

• Writing starts from the first meeting with your supervisor

• Every meeting with your supervisor should move your dissertation further along – this can only be achieved through continuous writing

Tools for writing-up

PLEASE NO TWEETS, FB STATUS UPDATES OR HAND-WRITTEN NOTES UNDER MY DOOR

• Blogging• Online-portfolio• Wikis• E-mail• Dissertation

Appointment Record Sheets

Both students and supervisors have specific duties in this process

Students should ...• Make appointments• Have an objective(s) for each meeting• Bring copies of the Dissertation

Appointment Record to meetings• Make a firm commitment to achieving the

planned timescale for completion• Undertake the necessary research and

reading from a variety of sources• Submit draft sections or chapters at

mutually agreed points

Supervision process

Supervision process (cont’d)

Supervisors should ...• Give a timely response to your queries and

submissions • Give advice and comments on what you

propose to do including sources which they may be aware of

• Give advice and comments on what you have written, including guidance on structure and content

Note: You will only receive tutor support up to the LAST TEACHING DAY OF THE SPRING TERM - after this, you will not be able to meet with your tutor, so please try to ensure that you have covered all areas with me by this date.

Key Deadlines1. Part B of the proposal form (see Appendix 1) due in on 30th October 2015 directly to your Dissertation Tutor;

2. An ethics checklist (see Appendix 4) submitted on-line AT THE VERY LATEST by 29th January 2016 and subsequently reviewed by your Dissertation Tutor;

3. The dissertation itself, which will count for 100% of the overall grade due in at 12 noon on Friday 15th of April 2016 (see Section 2.8);

4. Last day to receive feedback on the dissertation from your tutor 16th March 2016 (Wednesday before Easter Break)

Some key tasks to complete this semester

Note this is not a plan, your plan for completion needs to have dates, mile stones, durations and resources required for tasks and persons

responsible!

October • Preliminary Research and submission of Title, Aim

and Objectives • Review electronic copies of dissertation(s) from

previous years on myBU • Make use of tutorials with the Faculty Subject

Librarian November • In-depth research commences specific to Literature

Review and Methodology chapters • Complete the on-line ethics checklist (as soon as

possible) December • Identify issues that might form the basis of your

primary research; develop methodology • Produce drafts of Literature Review and

Methodology chapters • Solicit identified participants for their agreement to

support the primary research

I am here for you• Your dissertation supervisor is also

your personal academic advisor (PAA)

• You can talk to me for confidential advice about issues that may be affecting your performance on the dissertation and your other units on the course

• Later on in the semester or next semester you may want to talk to me about your future career

Getting Started• The first step in writing any

dissertation is establishing its relevance

• Your must prove that what you have planned to study meets the learning objectives of the dissertation

• This means demonstrating– The topic is relevant to the

programme of study (academically and professionally)

– The topic fits within the context of existing research (e.g. it adds, extends, refutes existing publications)

– The dissertation can be related to existing academic work published on your topic

How is this done?• Students link their work to trends or

patterns they are seeing within academic research

• Students demonstrate how their work fits the demands of professionals working in the industry to which their subject(s) is/are linked

• Students cite other academics who have already identified gaps within academic research to show that there is a real academic need for their topic

• Students show the relevance of their work to society, the economy or a specific community

Example 1 – Why do a study on destination event marketing?• World Tourism Organization

(UNWTO) estimated that in 2002 international arrivals generated receipts of US$463 billion, supporting over 200 million jobs (8.2% of total employment)

• Events have been recognized as one of three contributors to destination image (Kotler 1993).

• The integration of tourism and sport events has not only contributed greatly to tourism destinations, but also attracted the interest of a number of researchers in the tourism literature in recent years (Weed and Bull 2004, Standeven and Knop 1999, Hudson 2003).

• In contrast, the level of published research on sport event marketing in the context of destinations is still limited, compared to the importance of the phenomenon in tourism.

Example 2 – Why do a study on event authenticity/integrity?• Tourism is one of the largest industries in

the world. In 2005 it accounted for 10.4% of the world’s gross domestic product.

• Event tourism studies rarely study the complex aspects of the human psyche because they are paid for by funders with financial motivations.

• Promoters often over estimate the benefits and ‘push’ the community to hosting an event without considering if it fulfils the needs of those concerned (Getz, 1994).

Over to you …Questions???