Final Reflections – Molly McAllister

What have been the major obstacles you have faced in putting a research project together?

I knew I wanted to discuss the important theme of conversion to Christianity  during my research but I had to make sure I placed this within a relevant historical context in order to meet the criteria for a history dissertation. Also, the dissertation topic was a bit vague so I had to remedy this. Additionally, I also struggled understanding methodology and choosing one.

What strategies have you adopted to overcome these obstacles?

Through detailed research of a variety of sources I have placed my dissertation in the time period of the 10th century Iceland. This therefore set my dissertation in a key historical context and make my topic more relevant to events today which helped when it came to justifying my topic. I did further readings about methodology to consider what one would be the most suitable and that helped to consolidate my understanding as well.

I utilised the sources given in this module such as JSTOR which is good database for sources, this provided a lot of sources that could not be accessed on the online university catalogue so this really helped collate evidence for my findings.

What has this taught you about approaching your dissertation?

Through the systematic ways of first finding a research question suitable, and researching the appropriate methodology in order to have a strong core base for my dissertation in order to produce a higher standard and quality of work overall.

Which aspects of the 9X6 module have been the most useful in helping you get your project ready to start?

The supervisor meetings I felt were the most helpful in assisting my starting point of my dissertation and then throughout the module in a means to aid my concerns in the research topic overall. Additionally, the lectures which outlined various different parts such as how to find a research question helped to consolidate my understanding of how I was to go about starting research for my dissertation topic as a whole.

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