Help needed re: undergrad dissertation..?

little-miss-little

Hi, wasn't sure where else i'd be able to get a response at this time of night so i turned to good old trusty MSE! :money:

I'm currently writing my dissertation for uni but i've just hit the word limit and have loads more i need to write.

I did questionnaires to 3 different groups and so far ive only analysed the answers from 2 of the groups before hitting the limit. I've still got to analyse the final group of questionnaires and the interviews that i did following them. Then i've got to do my conclusion.

Does any one have any good ideas of how i could analyse a group of questionnaires that were made up of open ended questions, in as few words as possible??

Really appreciate any feedback... thanks in anticipation!

bestpud

Isn't that the main part of it?

I'd say you need to trim words elsewhere rather than cut corners with the analysis/discussion.

spaceraiders

Ask your advisor about the word limit. They probably don't care if you go a little over. It might just be your particular topic needs that many words. You can move raw data to appendices as well and have your analysis elsewhere.

marluc

Hi
What subject is your dissertation about?
If you've got open ended questionnaires, have you graphed the results? If so, you can annotate your graphs (using text boxes) and draw some conclusions on there, without adding to your word limit. Hope this helps. Good luck.

The_One_Who

Tables of information, boxes of text and appendices could be used. These don't count in the work limit.

I agree with Bestpud that you should look at trimming words from elsewhere before thinking of cutting down the analysis chapter.

little-miss-little

Hi, thanks for the reponses.

All my questionnaires are fairly similar. I'm doing my dissertation on schools and educational buildings so i sent out questionnaires to Architects and i went through similar ones with children and teachers. Although they are similar, the questions are different and i wanted to be able to compare and contrast the results. I've also done interviews following these with Building Surveyors and i have no idea how i'm going to fit it all in. So far the analysis of the childrens & teachers questionnaires has taken 5000 words and we're aloud 15,000 - 18,000 max (including appendices). My lit review is another 5000 as is my methodology and introductions combined. I can't really see what i can cut out that isnt relevant to the work.

I do need to talk to my tutor but i need to have it finished by Sunday really so was looking for some quick fix answers from people who have already experienced all of this!

Phlip_corter

little-miss-little, Thanks for advice,It is really for us.

little-miss-little

erm? ok!?

i'm confused!

FStewart

If I were you, I'd continue using the same method analysis that you have been using with the previous questionnaires.

Ignore the word count for now and just concentrate on getting everything down. Much easier to take words out than to put words in.

Anything that can be put in tables/graphs or appendices then do it!!

:beer:

birduk

Put anything that isn't directly relevant in an Appendix and direct people towards it. Useful for raw data, graphs etc. Then use limited quotes and summaries in the actual text. I hope that helps!

tootiefrooties

Hiya

Do be careful what you put in your appendix (haha sounds like medical advice!) as on my course (linguistics) we were warned that someone was given a big fat FAIL for sneaking new information into their appendices to get around the word count. It's different for every course, so do check your departmental guidelines before making any decisions.

Otherwise, tables etc. sound like a good idea, but I would just write it all as normal then edit it down at the end so it's even (not loads on the first 2 and little on the 3rd).

Good luck Hard work isn't it