Table of Contents
2. Intended Learning Outcomes. 2
3. The dissertation process. 3
5. Dissertation subject areas. 7
7. Approaches to your dissertation. 10
8. Research questions, aims, and objectives. 11
12. Writing your dissertation. 17
1. Introduction
This module involves researching and writing an extended piece of work, normally an 8,000 word dissertation. A dissertation is the culmination of your legal studies, in which you will apply and develop your research skills, and to extend your knowledge, understanding and ability to critically analyse a specialist area of law.
This module is different to all of the others you have taken so far in your degree, as it is principally self-directed, with only a handful of lectures and workshops. You will be guided through the process by a supervisor, who will also be responsible for assessing your work.
2. Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to:
- Identify and justify a research question or practical issue of relevance to the student’s programme of study.
- Critically identify and evaluate the key stages involved in a research project and identify and apply appropriate theories to form a coherent research proposal including structured and focused research objectives.
- Identify, analyse and critically review the relevant literature.
- Evaluate and utilise appropriate research methodologies and methods, and critically apply the principles of effective and ethical research practices.
- Analyse, interpret and critically evaluate research data and clearly present the research analysis and findings.
- Formulate realistic and appropriate conclusions and recommendations, including suggestions for future research and/or practices as appropriate.
The Project module offers three potential routes:
- Route 1: An individual research-based dissertation.
- Route 2: An individual work-based project report.
- Route 3: An individual work-based project report on their engagement in the Coventry Law School’s Law Clinics.
Unless agreed otherwise in advance, every student will undertake Route 1: a research-based dissertation.
3. The dissertation process
3.1. Module Timeline
| Semester 1 | |||
| Week | Format | Aim | |
| 2 | Lecture | Explaining the process for the dissertation and what is expected of you. | |
| 4 | Task | Selection of subject areas and allocation of supervisors. | |
| 5 | Lecture | Selecting a research topic. | |
| 6 | Lecture | Legal research methods. | |
| Meeting | To agree topic and research questions. | ||
| 7 | Lecture | Conducting ethical research. | |
| 8 | Deliverable | Submission of agreed research topic and three questions. | |
| Semester 2 | |||
| Week | Format | Aim | |
| 1 | Lecture | Introductions. | |
| Meeting | Meeting schedule agreed. | ||
| 2 | Lecture | Finding and using high-quality sources. | |
| Deliverable | Abstract, table of contents, and indicative bibliography. | ||
| 3 | Lecture | Critical analysis. | |
| Meeting | Review dissertation plan. | ||
| 4 | Lecture | Comparative legal research. | |
| Deliverable | Introduction (maximum 750 words). | ||
| 5 | Meeting | Review of introduction. | |
| 7 | Lecture | Turning a good dissertation into a great dissertation. | |
| Deliverable | 2,000 words substantive chapter. | ||
| 8 | Meeting | Review of substantive chapter. | |
| 13 | Summative assessment | Final submission. | |
3.2. Engagement and attendance
All of the sessions within the dissertation process are designed to drive you towards a successful outcome. The dissertation process is a journey – do not engage selectively.
Attendance at all lectures, workshops, and meetings is recorded and monitored. Furthermore, students not completing the formative assessments will be assumed not to be engaging and pursued accordingly.
Meetings with your supervisor are particularly important. When a student starts missing meetings it is a near-certainty that they are falling behind. Furthermore, for most students, their supervisor is the most appropriate reference when they leave university and apply either for employment or further study. How will it look if you missed half your meetings?
4. Before you get started
A dissertation is a significant undertaking, involving writing a piece of work more than three times longer than anything you have completed thus far. The process also requires a much greater degree of independence than you have had to exercise so far in your degree. The success of your dissertation rests significantly on your ability to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, and to take early action to address any aspects of law study you might hitherto have found challenging.
4.1. Key skills for writing a dissertation
The regulatory body for all University degrees in the United Kingdom, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), sets out the attributes a graduate in law should demonstrate upon completion of their degree.[1] Many of these attributes are tested in the dissertation. The following skills are essential for success in the dissertation process:
Legal research
According to the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Benchmark Statement for Law, upon graduating with a law degree, you should be able to:
identify, locate, and retrieve standard legal materials in relevant jurisdictions’ law in paper and electronic form.
How good are you at using primary legal sources? Do you use Lexis Library, Westlaw, Curia, and EUR-Lex? Or do you simply use search engines? You may want to brush-up on your skills with key legal databases.
Reading the law
According to the QAA Benchmark Statement for Law, upon graduating with a law degree, you should be able to:
analyse, evaluate and interpret the primary source materials of law; that is, statutes, law reports, treaties, directives and other relevant materials.
When was the last time you read a case from start to finish? Do you read legislation, or just secondary accounts of what statutes say? Reading the law can seem like a waste of time when you can get the key points from somewhere else, but reading cases helps you fully understand the background and reasoning behind decisions. Similarly, reading and understanding legislation helps you build a better understanding of statute law and how it operates. If you haven’t done so for a while, go read some case law and legislation.
Writing fluently and professionally
According to the QAA Benchmark Statement for Law, upon graduating with a law degree, you should be able to:
understand and use terminology, both verbally and non-verbally and in writing, to convey and explain technical legal information.
Have you been told you need to polish-up your writing? A good starting point might be to consult the Centre for Academic Writing. They can only help with academic skills broadly, though. If you want to write better, you need to read better. Regularly reading high-quality scholarly law articles will help develop your academic fluency, generally, but also an appreciation of terminology appropriate to the legal discipline.
Referencing and citing the law
According to the QAA Benchmark Statement for Law, upon graduating with a law degree, you should be able to:
demonstrate appropriate legal citation and reasoning skills in written answers and communication.
Formally referencing is easy. OSCOLA tells you exactly how to do it. Trickier is understanding when a reference is required. See Foster on referencing.
Critiquing the law
According to the QAA Benchmark Statement for Law, upon graduating with a law degree, you should be able to:
make a critical judgement of the merits of particular arguments and make a reasoned choice between alternative solutions.
Have you been told in feedback that your answers are descriptive, or lack critical analysis? There exist a great many ways to critically analyse the law, rather than just describing it. A good starting point is to revisit Foster.[2] The best way to see how critical analysis is done, however, is to look at the scholarly literature. Revisit some of your reading lists. There is almost certainly a lot on there that you didn’t read at the time, but they’ll help you see how to critique the law.
Thinking about the bigger picture
According to the QAA Benchmark Statement for Law, upon graduating with a law degree, you should be able to:
show understanding of individual, regional, national and global contexts, as well as institutional, normative, social, political, economic, cultural, historical, ethical, philosophical, technological and ecological contexts.
Law does not exist in a vacuum. Throughout your degree, you have been encouraged to think about law in context. This is because the broader policy context is crucial to understanding why the law is the way it is, what’s wrong with it, and how it might be critiqued.
Structuring an argument
If you think your structure is simply ‘introduction’, ‘main body’, and ‘conclusion’, you do not understand the importance of structure in making an argument. Your writing should be logical, such as answering questions or proving hypotheses. Your supervisor will help you develop a structure for your argument.
Writing with technology
According to the QAA Benchmark Statement for Law, upon graduating with a law degree, you should be able to:
develop skills in digital literacy in finding, managing, creating and communicating information.
Do your essays look like journal articles or official documents? Are they professionally formatted and presented? The University pays for every student to have access to a full package of Microsoft Office 365. You should make the most of it.
Motivation and time management
Your dissertation is your project. It starts with your idea, it ends with your submission, and you are in charge of everything in-between. You will need to be motivated to work, and you will need to manage your time. This is not an assignment you can leave until the last minute. Get started early. Make a plan. Set yourself deadlines and stick to them.
4.2. Identify your strengths and weaknesses
Nobody’s perfect. It is very unlikely that any student, at any stage, is perfectly equipped of all the above skills. The reason perfect marks are never given out in law degrees is that there is always room for improvement.
Review your feedback
Go through your second year assessments and see if there are common patterns. What do you do well, and what do you do badly? Consider, in particular, the feedback from your best, and worst modules. This will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Do something about it
Sometimes students can fix problems themselves. Most of the time, however, students need help from others. A good starting point is to see a Success Coach to help you make a plan to address your weakness and build on your strengths.
5. Dissertation subject areas
5.1. Areas available for supervision
Coventry University has an extensive body of expertise across a broad range of areas of legal study, within the Law School and related research centres. We are, therefore, able to offer supervision in the following subject areas:
Alternative dispute resolution
Banking and financial services law
Commercial law
Company law
Constitutional law
Contract law
Criminal law and justice*
Employment law*
Equalities law
Equity and Trusts
Environmental law
European Union law
Evidence
Family and child law*
Human rights law
Insolvency law
Intellectual property law
International law
Jurisprudence
Law and religion
Legal practice
Legal system
Media law
Medical law*
Property law
Sport law
Succession law
Tax law
Technology law
Tort law
Trade law
5.2. Subject area selection and allocation of supervisors
You will be required to select two subject areas in which you would be interested in writing your dissertation. This must be completed no later than week 4 of semester 1. The dissertation team will then allocate supervisors, which will be communicated to you around a week afterwards.
You will be asked to indicate a first and second preference of subject area. Every effort will be made to ensure that as many students as possible can write their dissertation in their first choice of subject area, however, this is not guaranteed.
Please note that areas marked with * are typically in very high demand and/or have limited supervisory availability. Consequently, these subject areas will be available as first choices only. You must, therefore, select a second choice from among the remaining areas.
Please make your choice using the form, below:
Warning: Students often select subject areas in the hope that they will be allocated to their favoured supervisor, rather than on the basis of their interest in the subject. This is an unwise approach, because there is no guarantee you will get the lecturer you want, and you may end up doing a dissertation in a subject in which you are not interested. Select your subject area solely on the basis of your interest in the subject.
6. Choosing a topic
One of the first things you will do in this module is also one of the most important, and that is selecting a topic on which you will write your dissertation. Choosing a topic to write about is not as easy as it might seem at first, but you will not do so entirely on your own. First, you will be asked to select two broad subject areas in which you might like to write your dissertation. This will allow module team to allocate you to a supervisor, who will then help you develop a dissertation topic.
Please keep in mind the very first learning outcome: your chosen topic must be relevant to your programme of study. While we afford maximum flexibility in this respect, where a chosen topic bears no relation whatsoever to your degree programme this will not be permitted. For advice in this respect, please consult with the module leader.
6.1. Tips for choosing a dissertation topic
Think about what you’ve already studied (or will study) on your course
The subject material you cover in your modules serves as a solid foundation on which to build a more advanced piece of work. Attempting to write a dissertation in an area of law you have never studied before is particularly challenging, as you will have to acquire that foundational knowledge yourself. This is not impossible, but given the available time and your commitments in other modules it is not often advisable. It is often safest, therefore, to write your dissertation in a subject you have already studied, or that you will study this year. If you do decide to stray from these subjects, try, at least, to identify a topic which uses elements from modules you have studied previously.
Example: you have never studied tax law, but you are studying conflicts of laws. You might, therefore, write about the role that the domiciliary principle plays in tax law.
Do what you like!
The dissertation requires you to be self-motivated to research and write in a particular subject area. This is so much more difficult when you have little enthusiasm for the subject. Think, therefore, about the subjects (not lecturers) you found most interesting. In all likelihood, these will be the best areas in which you could write a dissertation.
Pay attention to the news and current events
Contemporary issues make great dissertations. You have been advised throughout your degree on how to keep up to date with current developments. To recap, these include:
- Current awareness sections on LexisNexis and Westlaw.
- The Times has a Law section every Thursday.
- Out-Law by Pinsent Masons provides daily updates on legal news.
- The Law Show (formerly Law in Action) is the BBC’s long-running legal affairs programme. It’s great for the bus!
Think about your own experience
You might have some experience in your work or personal life which provides you with a valuable perspective. Be careful with this, however, as you cannot use any confidential information.
Reflect on your own views
You may care passionately about a particular legal issue. This can be a good thing, as it will keep you motivated, but there is also a risk associated with this approach. You may find it more difficult to address your chosen topic objectively, with arguments based on personal belief rather than evidence and legal arguments.
Talk with your friends
Sometimes you come up with what you think is a great idea, but once you get started on your dissertation you realise it doesn’t have any legs. Discuss your thoughts with others to see if there’s an argument to be made.
6.2. Tips once you’ve thought of a topic
Have you considered a range of different ideas?
Don’t just settle for your first idea. Explore a range of different topics until you find one you think is interesting. You might want to draw up a list of five different topics before selecting the one that is best for you. Your supervisor will help you make that choice.
Is your topic too broad or too narrow in scope?
8,000 words is longer than anything else you’ll have written on the degree – roughly the length of an article in a peer-reviewed academic journal. In general, it’s better to pick a narrower topic on which you can really focus, rather than a broad topic that requires consideration of a wide range of issues.
Be careful about going too narrow, though. Sometimes this requires a depth of knowledge and understanding that is too sophisticated for an undergraduate dissertation. If in doubt, ask your supervisor.
Is the topic relevant to the course?
You are not studying sociology, politics, or business. You are a law student. A simple question you might ask of your topic is ‘is there any law in this?’ If the answer is ‘no’ or ‘not a lot’ then it’s probably not a suitable topic for a law dissertation.
What materials are available in this area?
The library is incredibly well stocked, and library services are brilliant at sourcing hard to find materials, but not everything is available. The early part of your research will likely involve broad reading on the subject, and having plenty of relevant material at your fingertips is key to this. Take a look at what is available through the library.
7. Approaches to your dissertation
There are many different methods for conducting legal research. These include doctrinal research, comparative studies, historical legal research, qualitative research, quantitative research, anthropological research, to name but a few. Most of these are highly specialised, and not suitable for an undergraduate dissertation. In general, most undergraduate law dissertations involve either doctrinal or comparative legal research, different approaches to which are considered, below.
7.1. Current and/or unresolved issues in the law
There is very little to be said about problems that have been solved. Try to think about those problems that haven’t been solved, either because they are extremely new, or because they have gone a long time without being fixed.
7.2. Recent and/or proposed changes to the law
Has the government announced plans to introduce legislation in an area? Has the law recently been changed, and its effects are only recently being understood? Has the Law Commission recommended changes to the law, or are activists campaigning for a change in the law? All of these have the potential to make for an interesting dissertation.
7.3. Recent decisions of courts
Recent decisions of courts or tribunals can make a good dissertation topic, but 8,000 words is quite long for a case note. If you are going to write about judicial decisions, be sure that they are sufficiently significant. You will need to write about the legal and policy background to the case, and its broader impact.
7.4. Legal problems relating to current social, political, or cultural issues
Have changes in politics or societal attitudes changed the way we look at certain legal issues? Has technology moved on since a law was enacted? Have issues arisen that were not foreseen? Have these changes rendered the law outdated?
7.5. Comparative studies
How does the law in one jurisdiction compare with another? Comparative studies are particularly popular dissertation topics. Be warned, however. One key element of a comparative study is explaining why you are comparing the two jurisdictions. The fact that you come from one and study in the other, or that there is a lot of American material (for example) on the internet is not a sufficient explanation.
8. Research questions, aims, and objectives
Once you have identified a topic, you need to start thinking about what you’re going to say. Your dissertation needs to have an argument running throughout it. Simply explaining or describing the law is not sufficient. You are expected to critically evaluate the law. Crafting the right researchs question is, therefore, crucial.
Crafting good research questions is best explained by way of example. Consider the below examples. Both questions are concerned with the practice of ‘Greenwashing’ – the practice of misrepresenting a brand’s environmental credentials in order to make products more appealing to consumers.
Bad example:
What is the law on ‘Greenwashing’?
Why is this bad?
The problem isn’t so much the question, as the answer. The answer to this question will be entirely descriptive. You might do some sophisticated legal research, and you might explain complex legal issues, but nothing in your answer to this question will provide a critical evaluation.
Good example:
Do the UK’s existing consumer protection laws provide adequate protection against ‘Greenwashing’?
Why is this good?
The question invites a critique. You will have to do more than merely explain the law, you will have to consider whether the law is providing ‘adequate protection’.
Your research questions should be capable of being answered, even if the answer is ‘we don’t know’ or ‘there are arguments on both sides’. Evaluating the law involves setting up evaluative criteria, which will be covered in our lecture in week 3.
Your dissertation will likely address a number of questions on the same topic. You might, therefore, set a single, over-arching question, and then a number of sub-questions. For example:
- What is the current legal framework relating to marketing claims about goods and services?
- How significant is the problem of ‘Greenwashing’?
- How has the law been changed to deal with this problem?
- Have these changes been sufficient to deal with the problem?
- What further changes to the law might be necessary?
You will note that setting these questions also produces the outline of a structure.
Research aims and objectives are related to your research question, insofar as they help you identify what it is you want to say in your dissertation. To craft aims and objectives, Bloom’s Taxonomy is informative.
Figure 1: Bloom’s Taxonomy[3]
All of these might be appropriate for a dissertation. Using this taxonomy for our example, above, the following research aims and objectives might be appropriate:
- Define ‘Greenwashing’ for the purposes of consumer protection law.
- Describe and interpret the current legal framework as it applies to ‘Greenwashing’.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the current legal framework.
- Formulate proposals for further reforming the law.
9. Getting started
There is nothing more fearful than the tyranny of the blank page. Embarking on a lengthy written project is a daunting task, even for the most experienced of academics. Take heed, therefore, of the following tips for getting started on your research journey.
9.1. Build a foundation
Every dissertation requires a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding of the relevant subject matter. You might be writing a dissertation in a subject area you studied some time ago, or an area you are yet to study. The best starting point is reviewing the module material in your subject area and, in particular, your textbook. A textbook is not the basis upon which to write a dissertation, but it is a good starting point. Ensure you have a solid understanding of the key legal knowledge in the subject area of your dissertation before you start developing your critical framework.
9.2. Set out your structure
Every well-structured piece of work starts as a plan. An 8,000 word piece of work wouldn’t normally be divided into chapters, although this is more usual when it comes to a dissertation. Your chapters may be divided into sections and sub-sections. These should follow a logical structure designed to answer your research questions and meet your aims and objectives. Crucially, setting out your structure provides a clear workplan.
A structure made up of sections and subsections also helps you divide your project into manageable chunks. 8,000 words is a lot to write in one go. If, for example, you divide your work into four chapters, with four sections each, you only need to write 500 words at a time, which is much more manageable.
9.3. Write an abstract
Every piece of scholarly work is summarised by an abstract. Your abstract should briefly summarise the purpose of your work, your key arguments, and your conclusions. A typical abstract is around 250 words.
While it might seem to make more sense to write an abstract after you have completed the finished draft of your work; writing an abstract is a useful early exercise. An abstract is akin to a sketch – a rough outline of what you eventually hope to produce. You will, therefore, be asked to draft an abstract early in the process. You will then revisit and revise your abstract as your project progresses.
10. Supervision
While the dissertation process is supported by a handful of lectures and workshops, you will primarily be guided by your supervisor.
10.1. Allocation of supervisors
You will be expected to select your preferred subject areas in week 4 of semester 1. Supervisors will be allocated shortly thereafter. It is common for students to approach their favourite lecturers in the hope that they might supervise their dissertation, but this is a pointless endeavour. Supervisors will be allocated by the Law School Project Committee, and the principal determinant is expertise.
If you do not submit your favoured subject areas, you will be allocated to a supervisor at random. You will be required to write a dissertation within the area of expertise of your allocated supervisor, and you will not be permitted to change.
10.2. Supervision meetings
Meetings with supervisors will appear on your timetable for the purposes of attendance monitoring, but may not necessarily take place at the time at which they appear on your timetable. You will be provided with a schedule of meetings by your supervisor. Attendance at these meetings is mandatory.
The objectives of these meetings will be clearly stated in advance. Many of these meetings are for the purposes of reviewing work. If you do not submit the work to be reviewed in advance the meeting will not take place and you will be marked as absent.
10.3. Guidance on supervision
Demonstrating your independence as a legal scholar is a critical element of this process: it is your project. Your supervisor’s role is to guide and oversee.
What your supervisor will do:
- Help you select a suitable topic, and to refine research questions, aims and objectives.
- Advise you as to key issues you might want to consider.
- Point you in the direction of key texts and legal authorities you might want to consider.
- Review your outline structure and abstract.
- Provide feedback on your introduction and ONE substantive chapter of your project.
- Direct you to alternative sources of support (e.g. library support, Centre for Academic Writing) as appropriate.
What your supervisor will not do:
- Tell you what to write about.
- Teach you material.
- Retrieve resources on your behalf.
- Provide substantive feedback a draft of your entire project.
- Support requests for extensions or deferrals.
10.4. Deliverables
Every meeting with your supervisor has a specific objective. Most of these objectives involve reviewing submitted work (deliverables). These deliverables are designed to ensure that you are making appropriate progress with your project.
Submitting work in advance of these meetings is, therefore, a necessary prerequisite. If you do not submit the relevant deliverable in advance of your meeting the meeting serves no purpose.
10.5. Missed meetings and authorised absence
In many respects, the dissertation is a module like any other. You are expected to engage with all timetabled sessions and undertake all of the tasks required by the module. Nevertheless, we understand that illness and unforeseen disruptions may occur from time-to-time.
In accordance with University policy and regulations, any absence spanning more than one week will need to be authorised by the registry, and supported by third-party documentary evidence. Accordingly, without such authorisation, missed meetings will not be rescheduled. Where such meetings are rescheduled, and a deliverable is required before that meeting, the meeting will not take place unless the required deliverable has been submitted in advance.
Please see the below document outlining the University’s policy on attendance and absence:
11. Supervision meetings
Meetings with your supervisor are intended to drive progress towards the eventual successful completion of your dissertation. Meetings are not a ‘general chat’ or a ‘check in’ – each one has a specific purpose.
11.1. Meeting 1: Topic Selection
Before this meeting
You will have selected your favoured subject areas, and you will have been allocated to a supervisor. Think, more specifically, about what you would like to do in the area.
During this meeting
You will discuss your ideas with your supervisor.
At a minimum, you will agree a dissertation title. You may also agree research questions and/or aims and objectives, and your research approach/method.
After this meeting
Begin building your knowledge of the subject area by reading relevant materials from textbooks.
11.2. Meeting 2: Resources
Before this meeting
Ensure you have a sufficient foundational knowledge of the subject area you are researching. At a minimum, you should have read three chapters from a relevant textbook, as well as an article in the area of your research.
During this meeting
You will discuss what you have read.
Your supervisor may suggest specific legal and/or scholarly texts for you to read.
You will agree a schedule of meetings and deliverables for the term. You will sign your supervisory agreement.
After this meeting
Read the texts agreed with your supervisor.
After this, conduct your own independent research.
11.3. Meeting 3
Before this meeting
Prepare an outline table of contents with section headings and subheadings. Draft an abstract summarising what you expect your dissertation will eventually say. Provide an indicative bibliography of up to ten books and/or journal articles you intend to use for your project. Submit these on Aula in advance of your meeting.
During this meeting
You will review your abstract, table of contents, and indicative bibliography. Your supervisor will provide feedback and guidance.
After this meeting
Start writing.
11.4. Meeting 4
Before this meeting
Draft an introduction of up to 750 words. This should set out your research question(s) and hypotheses, your research method, the structure of your dissertation, and your main conclusions. Submit this introduction on Aula.
During this meeting
You will review your introduction. Your supervisor may advise on any major issues with your writing style that you may want to address.
After this meeting
You should start seeking to make substantial progress with writing your dissertation. From this point onwards, you need to average 1,000 words per week until submission. Remember you will have other assessments due later in the term, so it’s best to make progress early.
11.5. Meeting 5
Before this meeting
You should have completed at least 3,000 words of work. Submit a chapter of up to 2,000 words in advance of your meeting.
During this meeting
Your supervisor will provide you with detailed feedback on your deliverable. This will focus, in particular, on:
- Your writing style.
- The sources you are using.
- Your research approach and/or methods.
- Your logic, reasoning, and argument.
After this meeting
Finish the job!
12. Writing your dissertation
In some respects, the dissertation is the most straightforward assessment in your whole degree. All you have to do, is write one piece of work. Of course, the challenge is that it is, by far, the longest piece of work you will write in your degree. Do not underestimate the time and effort involved in writing an 8,000 word piece of work – it is not as simple as writing four 2,000 word essays. The greater length means a deeper and more complex understanding and analysis is required. Making a strong start, and working on your dissertation over a sustained period is crucial to completing a high-quality piece of work.
12.1. Where to start
The greatest challenge when starting any piece of work is the tyranny of the blank page. There’s no way to overcome this other than to start writing, but two things make getting that start a little easier: a foundation, and a plan.
It is, arguably, easier to make a plan once you have a foundation, rather than the other way around. By a foundation, we mean a solid knowledge of the subject area in which you are going to write. You are not expected to know everything there is to know about your subject area before you start writing. The relevant chapters in a textbook, and, perhaps, one or two seminal articles, are enough to get you going.
Sometimes students claim that they like to do all their reading before starting to write. This is almost always merely an excuse for procrastination. While it is important to have a solid foundational knowledge before you start writing, the process of writing and research should take place simultaneously.
Once you have a basic, foundational knowledge of the subject area, you should make a plan. The simplest and most practical way to do this is to outline the structure of your dissertation. This should take the form of three or four chapter titles, as well as section headings. The great advantage of doing this is that it becomes clear what you need to write for each section. For example, an 8,000 word dissertation with four chapters, and five sections in each chapter, means that each chapter needs to be a mere 600 words in length, on average. This makes it much easier to allocate tasks to particular days of the week. If you set yourself a target of writing a 600 word section each day you work on your dissertation you will have a completed draft in 20 working days, which suddenly seems eminently achievable.
Another useful task is to write an abstract. You will be familiar with abstracts: they are the short summaries of work you will have read, typically about 200 words in length. Writing an abstract helps you envisage what your final dissertation will look like. You will likely re-draft that abstract several times as your dissertation develops. Do not worry too much about this. If, however, you find your abstract is changing beyond recognition it may be that you are straying quite far from your research question, aims, and objectives.
12.2. Write an introduction
You may previously have been advised to write your introduction last. This is not bad advice, but it is, perhaps, incomplete. Your introduction should be the first thing you start and the last thing you finish.
A good introduction will introduce your dissertation. It will set out the issue you intend to address, and explain how you will go about addressing it. Your introduction may include a problem statement and/or a hypothesis. If a recent development plays a significant role in your dissertation you may want to briefly introduce it here. You should also set out your research question, aim(s), and objectives. You might also want to summarise your research methods. Crucially, your introduction should outline the structure of your dissertation.
Much like writing an abstract and setting out your structure, writing your introduction helps you form a clear impression of what your dissertation will eventually look like. You will revisit your introduction as your dissertation progresses. In particular, be sure to revisit your introduction before you submit your dissertation, to ensure that it corresponds to the arguments you actually make. One common defect in rushed, last-minute dissertations is that their introductions bear very little resemblance to their contents.
12.3. Your evaluative framework
Like any piece of legal scholarship, you are not expected to merely describe the law. You should critically evaluate the law.
Every critique is, ultimately, an evaluation against a standard. At a very basic level, this is an assessment of whether the law does what it is intended to do. Think, therefore, about what the law in your chosen area seeks to do, or what it ought to do. Does it meet those objectives?
12.4. Structuring your dissertation
A dissertation of 8,000 words would typically be divided into three substantive chapters, as well as an introduction, and a concluding chapter. This should not be regarded as definitive, however, and your supervisor will help you devise a suitable structure for your dissertation.
The most important thing is that your dissertation has a logical structure. It should be possible to follow your argument just by looking at the headings. One approach is to align each chapter with individual research questions, which you then draw together in your concluding chapter. This concluding chapter would present your overall argument.
Make sure that each chapter is linked to what came before it and what comes after it. They are not standalone essays. Be sure to refer forwards and backwards throughout.
You should also include an abstract, a table of contents, and bibliography (including a list of cases and legislation). None of these count towards your word limit.
12.5. Formatting your work
Your work should look like a professional piece of work. An unprofessional-looking piece of work presents your assessors with an immediate negative impression. The simplest way of ensuring your work is properly formatted is to use the template document, provided.
In particular, you should ensure that your work adheres to the following requirements:
- Typeface should be Times New Roman or Arial. Whichever you decide you should stick with throughout. Do not be tempted to use other typefaces, no matter how ‘fancy’ they look.
- Body text should be 11pt in size. Line spacing should be set to 1.5. Text should be fully justified.
- Footnotes should be 9pt in size. Ensure that your typeface is the same as your body text.
- Long quotes exceeding three lines should be indented without quotation marks.
- Top-level headings should be in bold no larger than 14pt. Subheadings should be 12pt and italicised.
- Margins should be set to 2.54cm (1 inch).
- Each chapter should commence on a new page.
Take particular care when copying and pasting text. It often throws-off your formatting. Whenever you paste text, be sure to select ‘paste text only’. Of course, ideally, you wouldn’t be pasting anything at all.
13. Reaching conclusions
Your conclusions are, arguably, the most important part of your dissertation. It is here that you draw together your arguments and, crucially, demonstrate that you have answered your research question. It is regrettably common for students to leave their conclusion until the last minute. The result is that conclusions are often much too short, sloppily written, and bear little resemblance to the actual content of the dissertation.
Develop your conclusions as you write. Keep an open file, and whenever you develop your arguments in a substantive chapter, be sure to update your conclusions. This will save you time towards the end of your project. It will also help ensure that your conclusions are properly linked to the content of your work.
The conclusions you reach will depend upon the approach you are taking to your project and the research questions you have posed. It would be quite unusual for a dissertation to conclude that the law works perfectly and there is no possible room for improvement. While this is not a logically impossible conclusion, it is highly improbable, and indicates that you have not identified a suitable topic for scrutiny.
If you have sought to analyse the law against its objectives, you should consider whether the law currently meets those objectives. If it only does so partially, consider how the law might do so better.
If you have undertaken a comparative study, consider the strengths and weaknesses of your comparators. Consider, in particular, lessons that can be learned by one comparator from another.
14. Final submission
A great many defects with dissertations can be rectified by ensuring you have adequate time in advance of your submission to proof-read, review, and revise your work. The purpose of reviewing your work is not just to identify typographical errors. You should check that your work is fluently written and that your arguments are coherent.
The best way to check the fluency of your writing is to read your work aloud. If you find yourself stumbling over words or sentences there is a good chance your work could be improved by re-writing those passages.
Testing the coherence of your arguments is more challenging. It ultimately involves reviewing your entire project and asking yourself whether everything you have written is relevant to the questions you are seeking to answer and, crucially, whether you have succeeded in answering those questions.
You should aim to have completed your dissertation at least a week prior to the submission deadline – ideally two weeks. This will leave you with plenty of time to properly revise your work prior to submission.
15. Research Ethics
In accordance with Coventry University’s Block Approval Guidance (below), it has been determined that most undergraduate Law projects do not require ethical review. In certain circumstances, however, it may be necessary for a supervisor and/or module leader to require a student to apply for ethical approval. This will be required where a student project goes beyond:
- Literature review.
- Secondary data analysis.
- Topics that will always require ethical review
- Research in certain areas will always require ethical approval. These topics are:
- Terrorism, extremism, radicalisation
- Child abuse
- Sexual abuse, assault, harassment and exploitation
- Pornography
- Use of potentially distressing or explicit imagery
- FGM
- Suicide and self-harm
- Domestic violence
- Military or defence-related projects; projects that require security-clearance
- Hate crimes
- Cyber-security
- Artificial intelligence
- Examination of illegal activities
If you have any questions or concerns about research ethics, please contact the Law School’s Ethics Lead:
Ms Maureen O’Hara: ac5980@coventry.ac.uk
16. Resources
- Lammasniemi, Laura, Law Dissertations (2nd edn, Routledge 2021).
- Hutchinson, Terry, Researching and Writing in Law (4th edn, Lawbook Co 2018).
- McConville, Mike & Chui, Wing, Research Methods for Law (2nd edn, EUP 2017).
- Burton, Mandy & Watkins, Dawn (eds), Research Methods in Law (2nd edn, Taylor & Francis 2017).
- Hoffman, Marci & Rumsey, Mary, International and Foreign Legal Research: A Coursebook (BRILL 2012).
- Foster, Steve, Legal Writing Skills (5th edn, Pearson 2019).
- Hutchinson, Terry & Duncan, Nigel, ‘Defining and describing what we do: doctrinal legal research’ (2012) 17(1) Deakin Law Review 83.
[1] Quality Assurance Agency, ‘Subject Benchmark Statement: Law’ (8 March 2023) <https://www.qaa.ac.uk/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements/subject-benchmark-statement-law> accessed 1 April 2023.
[2] Steve Foster, Legal Writing Skills (5th edn, Pearson 2019).
[3] Patricia Armstrong, ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy’ (Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, 2010) <https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/> accessed 17 May 2023.