Course Catalogue

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The dissertation allows the student to work on a chosen topic and make a contribution to knowledge in the area of tourism and heritage. It can be based on secondary sources and enables a broad engagement with the subject matter.

Monthly - 1 x 1 supervision

 A candidate will be permitted to progress to preparation of the dissertation, or other substantial independent work required by the degree, only if he or she has obtained an average aggregation score of 12 (equivalent to C3) or above in the taught courses described in Regulation 4 with at least 75% of the credits at Grade D3 or better and all credits at Grade F or above. Exceptionally, a candidate may be permitted to progress to the dissertation or other substantial independent work where the department judges that the candidate's performance offers a reasonable prospect of that candidate's reaching the standard required for the award of the Masters degree following reassessment.

The dissertation of 12,000 - 15,000 words will be marked by the supervisor and a second marker, then reviewed by an external examiner, and if necessary defended by the candidate in the presence of internal and external examiners.

- To foster and guide the skills of independent research.

- To encourage students to develop professional standards in the presentation of a research dissertation.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

Demonstrate a capacity to identify a research topic that is viable within the constraints of time and length and which makes a contribution to knowledge in the area of tourism, heritage and development or sustainability.

Utilise, analyse and assimilate appropriate quantitative primary and secondary source material.

Demonstrate an ability to select and apply an appropriate methodology from the range of qualitative, quantitative, critical, historical and theoretical options.

Access and utilise a range of information sources and technologies in effectively retrieving, storing and processing data.

Organise material in a well structured and clearly presented form.

Apply consistent rules of presentation of bibliographical materials, appendices and footnotes, using recognised academic standards.

Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship of the topic to other work in the same area.

If called upon to do so: orally defend the main arguments and conclusions of the dissertation in the presence of an examination panel including at least 2 examiners; this may include the external examiner.

Show an awareness of subject-related learning processes associated with the execution of the research.

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