dissertation ideas

[Bluefrog]

I'm in my first year studying outdoor education at Liverpool John Moores University and starting to think about what to write my dissertation on. Everyone seems to suggest that you should write it on something that your passionate about, as i'm very passionate about bushcraft as I've always had a passion for it. Has anyone got any ideas on what i could base my research on within bushcraft?

Thanks for any suggestions,
Ste

 

[Man of Tanith]

First off i have no university education or experience so i may not be talking right line of thing
could you maybe look at the rise in popularity in the skills relating to bushcraft
something like how much the industry has grown etc?
i seem to recall someone else did a dissertation relating to bushcraft maybe have a search on here?

 

[Bluefrog]

First off i have no university education or experience so i may not be talking right line of thing
could you maybe look at the rise in popularity in the skills relating to bushcraft
something like how much the industry has grown etc?
i seem to recall someone else did a dissertation relating to bushcraft maybe have a search on here?

That sounds like a great idea, another idea i came up with was the effect of media on bushcraft. I'm not to sure what their expecting as i havn't been told anything about it yet, since it's the summer and i'm now between work i though i'd try and get a head start

Thanks so much for the idea
Ste

 

[crosslandkelly]

How about the loss of, and rediscovery of ancient skills within the context of bushcraft. Just a thought.

 

[Elines]

How about the practical benefits in everyday life of having bushcraft skills and attitude/approach.

 

[Callum]

How about examining the opposing views of backpacking (i.e. take everything you need into the wild on your back) and bushcraft (take only the tools you need to live in the wild). You could find out what these two camps of people thought about 'conservation' and then assess what the environmental impact their equipment and activities had.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Like some others, I don't have a university education, but I do enjoy studying the things that I find exciting.

And, though I wouldn't call it a dissertation, I began making notes of my bushy knowledge about two years ago...

... if I was to print it out, it would now take up a little over 400 pages and I'm adding to it all the time.

I'd be careful about doing your dissertation on something that has the potential to grow in such a manner!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Harvestman]

If you are doing Outdoor Education, then it seems to me that the teaching of skills is a topic that might be of interest. This suggests a few avenues of thought:

• Traditional crafts - apprenticeshipes - passing down of knowledge via generations
• The plethora of organisations and individuals now teaching 'bushcraft skills' - what do they do, what do they teach, what is the fedback, what is their target audience etc
• Comparisons of teaching methods - traditional and modern
• Or target a specific skill set - foraging, firelighting, navigation, transport (canoe, horse, hiking) and look into that - how is it taught, how is it perceived, etc
• The historical angle - how did these things that are now classed as leisure activities originate, and how have they changed

Degree dissertations are quite often questionnaire based - find a subject that you want to investigate, construct a survey sheet, aim it at your target audience, and analyse the results. Remember that you are not necessairly trying to break completely new ground or revolutionise anything, just look at a topic in slightly more detail than may have been done before.

Best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

 

[Beefy0978]

Hi,
What about trying to measure the positive effects that forest school / bush crafting can have on those younger ones who struggle with academics? Or indeed the positive effects that might be had in relation to special needs or injury / illness impaired kids including things like motor skills as well as academic achievement?
Just a couple of thoughts.
Good luck with this. If you use one of my ideas and get the degree I'll accept payment by way of a free lesson in one of your first classes.
;-)
Stu

 

[udamiano]

How about a comparison with the outdoor classroom as opposed to more traditional teaching environments. Look how different teaching and learning styles (eg cognitive, etc) stand up to a no wall class room, and make comparisons in the different learning style opportunities can be adapted for the teachers role in passing on information in a woodland environment.
and off course the one that everyone loves at the moment. how success can be measured as well as learning.

hope you do well

Da.

 

[Lupin Rider]

I'm in my first year studying outdoor education at Liverpool John Moores University and starting to think about what to write my dissertation on. Everyone seems to suggest that you should write it on something that your passionate about, as i'm very passionate about bushcraft as I've always had a passion for it. Has anyone got any ideas on what i could base my research on within bushcraft?

Thanks for any suggestions,
Ste

ogri's advice is spot on.

Whilst collecting two masters degrees I've battled through my fair share of dissertations, and in the last 10 years i have sponsored a quite a few guys though mba's that my employer has sponsored.

For one of my earlier ones i picked a subject that i was really passionate about and made a mistake and i hope you can learn from my story. The college required an academic basis for the dissertation and after ploughing my way though what felt like tonnes of research papers and cross referenced articles the passion i had became more of a burden, then a chore, in fact afterwards i secretly hoped to never cross paths with the subject again. The temptation for your pet subject is also to boil the ocean to create the masterpiece and loose the focus on the task objectively which is to provide the examiner with evidence that you know what you are talking about. using the dissertation as a vehicle to write a business plan may set you up for your next life phase but won't tick off the academic rigour required by some institutions to pass for award for the qualification.

Of those i mentor through the process i strongly council that the subject should be one that you are prepared to "loose" from your soul as no you will have a likely probability of wanting to never see it again afterwards. Ask any mba just how many times he/she has been back to re read that masterpiece.

It is my strong view that you should pick something;-
*aligned with your key passion,
*not totally it,
*that clearly and objectively has potential to end in a answer
*avoids the aspirant this mba/dissertation/phd is going to change the company/world once you've finished it (as it probably won't and you'll more than likely be looking to one on to a new employer afterwards)
*be prepared to hate it passionately as it is ripped from your soul,
*and to party like you've never lived afterwards


hope that makes sense. go and seek out others that have written similar dissertations and understand the pain they had (was it closing the topic, the research, the analysis etc) and make you selection knowingly.

it might be however that I'm the outlier but evidence of the guys i know is that the above is good advice.

hope that helps.

John

 

[robin wood]

ogri's advice is spot on.

Whilst collecting two masters degrees I've battled through my fair share of dissertations, and in the last 10 years i have sponsored a quite a few guys though mba's that my employer has sponsored.

For one of my earlier ones i picked a subject that i was really passionate about and made a mistake and i hope you can learn from my story. The college required an academic basis for the dissertation and after ploughing my way though what felt like tonnes of research papers and cross referenced articles the passion i had became more of a burden, then a chore, in fact afterwards i secretly hoped to never cross paths with the subject again. The temptation for your pet subject is also to boil the ocean to create the masterpiece and loose the focus on the task objectively which is to provide the examiner with evidence that you know what you are talking about. using the dissertation as a vehicle to write a business plan may set you up for your next life phase but won't tick off the academic rigour required by some institutions to pass for award for the qualification.

Of those i mentor through the process i strongly council that the subject should be one that you are prepared to "loose" from your soul as no you will have a likely probability of wanting to never see it again afterwards. Ask any mba just how many times he/she has been back to re read that masterpiece.

It is my strong view that you should pick something;-
*aligned with your key passion,
*not totally it,
*that clearly and objectively has potential to end in a answer
*avoids the aspirant this mba/dissertation/phd is going to change the company/world once you've finished it (as it probably won't and you'll more than likely be looking to one on to a new employer afterwards)
*be prepared to hate it passionately as it is ripped from your soul,
*and to party like you've never lived afterwards


hope that makes sense. go and seek out others that have written similar dissertations and understand the pain they had (was it closing the topic, the research, the analysis etc) and make you selection knowingly.

it might be however that I'm the outlier but evidence of the guys i know is that the above is good advice.

hope that helps.

John

That's the best advice I have read for anyone considering embarking on any academic work I have read anywhere.

I would particularly suggest paying attention to this
"*that clearly and objectively has potential to end in a answer"
Just studying something is too open ended. You need to pose a question that you can reasonably collect data on and answer in the time allocated.
I wonder about a comparison of traditional outdoor ed provision vs bushcraft education provision? Easy enough to devise some objective questions to take to a number of providers. It might be interesting for instance to know if perceived supply and demand for courses is growing or shrinking in each area. Whether there are differing attitudes to qualifications, demographics of course participants etc.

 

[rik_uk3]

How about "Why do people feel the need to step back to a simpler lifestyle"

 

[Man of Tanith]

How about "Why do people feel the need to step back to a simpler lifestyle"

That could be a very interesting one to look at in detail

 

[Lupin Rider]

It would be interesting in detail but the thing is thats a subjective paper and difficult outside of the commitment of a phd to get a good academic answer, and after the years of doc research it'd bore the feck out of you, all your mates and everybody else.

And if we all knew for sure why'd we spend our free time debating it to the small hours over beer and bonfires?

The OP is in his first year, the dissertation is a while off. He might discover interest in Areas currently unstudied. Narrow topic is best, although it wont save the world, it will enable you to finish it and bag the qual and get on with doing your passion.

Many of the above ideas have more than one question in, and are interesting but will be too broard in my view for a uni degree dissertation, touching on macro cultural shifts, phschology of decision making, strategic/tactical marketing impacts etc, key imo is not to make it too hard for yourself.

I am probably rambling now. I dont know much specifically about outdoor education, exam passing is my forte.

John

 

[abominable_scouse_monster]

How about how bushcraft skills and techniques play into sustainable living, i.e. how dose a understanding of basic human skills lost to most in the modern world key into the challenges faced by city dwellers and examples of use.

 

[Lupin Rider]

Edinburgh kindly have on their www. This http://www.education.ed.ac.uk/outdoored/research/msc_students.html

And this http://www.education.ed.ac.uk/outdoored/research/phd_students.html

And include full dissertations for some of the subjects. I recommend the OP has a browse.

 

[Lupin Rider]

I just scanned through eoin keans expedition treaty, i hope that after the 100 papers he read and referenced and the 100 odd he would have looked at and not referenced he still had energy to expedition.

 

[Trunks]

With your dissertation, you will need to start with a question.
You are then expected to widely research what others in the field, and any other areas you think significant, have previously written, draw your own conclusion from this and perform some sort of primary research to see if your own findings match, build on or conflict to those. Ultimately you may not come to a final "answer" to your original question, but end up with yet more!
My dissertation (interactive media (at LJMU)) was titled "do aesthetics affect usability". This offered me a wide range of sources to reference and compare with my own studies.
When I get back off my holiday, I'll dig out the assessment criteria for you, it might give you an idea about how to plan for yours.
Good luck, it will drive you round the bend


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Manacles]

How about a historical comparison between what today could be viewed as a hobby against what was, not so long ago, a way of life. For example until the invention of the match (vesta) most fire was started with a flint and steel - that was only 150 years ago.

There is also a wealth of historical data to draw from, not only from within bushcraft writing, but through historical writing.

My experience of dissertations is that the more material you are able to reference the more you are able to build a cohesive case.