| CODE | PPL3015 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Dissertation | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 12 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Policy, Politics and Governance | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The overall aim of a dissertation is to give students the opportunity to develop research skills by undertaking individual research work and examine an aspect of public administration. It provides the student with the second attempt of a whole cycle of academic research because in their third year of studies, students are asked to research and write a long essay of 5,000 words as stipulated in PPL1100 Research Essay. Study-unit Aims: The dissertation provides students with an opportunity to pursue in some depth one academic topic they encountered within the area of public administration studies that especially interests them. More specifically, the dissertation provides students with the opportunity to design and complete a research project drawing on the assistance of a designated academic supervisor. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Practise and develop skills required to pursue independent learning, with adequate supervision; - Undertake primary and secondary research relevant to the chosen field of study and/or; - Demonstrate an ability to develop a level of conceptual and theoretical analysis commensurate with an undergraduate level degree; - Describe the implications of abiding by research ethical standards as issued by the University of Malta and other competent authorities. 2. Skills This study-unit strives to develop the following transferable skills: - Research skills in identifying, locating and exploiting a wide range of descriptive, evaluative and theoretical literature; - Intellectual skills of conceptual, original and independent thinking, critical analysis, synthesis and reasoned argument; - Skills of assessment and judgement in relation to the soundness of competing arguments and scenarios including the reporting and assessing of qualitative and quantitative data; - Generic and transferable skills related to the written presentation of ideas; - Skills of self-direction, self-evaluation and time-management. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Bell, J. (2009), Doing Your Research Project, UK: Open University Press. - Glatthorn, A.A. and Joyner, R.L. (2005), Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Guide. Addison Wesley Educational Publishers. - Levin, P. (2008), Excellent Dissertations. UK: Open University Press. - Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2010), Cite Them Right: The Essential Referencing Guide. UK: Palgrave Publications. - University of Malta, Turnitin FAQs, https://www.um.edu.mt/vle/pds/students/faqs |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Dissertation | ||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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