MSc Sustainable Waste Management
School of Civil Engineering and the Environment
Dissertation Proposal
Name of Student:
Proposed Supervisor:
Proposed Submission Date:
Project subject area (please tick - you may select more than one category):
Bioprocessing
Waste minimisation
Recycling, reuse
Waste collection systems
Pollution (eg leachate, gases)
Hazardous waste
Other (please explain):
Legislation and codes of practice
Integrated waste management (eg LCA, EMS, EIA)
Landfill engineering
Thermal treatment and energy recovery
Waste policies/strategies
Residuals management, aftercare and monitoring
Proposed Project Title (maximum 120 Characters):
Principal research question(s) (ie aims of project) (no more than two):
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Subsidiary research questions (ie associated objectives) (no more than four):
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Explain briefly why your proposed research can be considered to have some element of originality:
Methodology (please tick - you may select more than one category):
Desk study
Questionnaire/ survey
Laboratory experiments/trials
Field experiments/trials
Site work
Other (please explain)
You should also include a concise account of your proposed methodological approach, including:
i)
Identification of the population and strategy for sampling
ii)
Description of the proposed tools/techniques to be used
iii)
Methods for data collection
iv)
Methods for data analysis
v)
Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (see documentation on Blackboard)
vi)
Identification of any ethical issues, and a clear strategy for addressing these
vii)
Identification of any anticipated implications for the study
viii)
Proposed timetable, including milestones, key dates, deadlines and deliverables (see
Gantt chart on Blackboard)
ix)
Relevant references for methodology
Please provide a brief review of key literature relating to your proposed area of study (no more than 500
words plus references).
Please hand in to or post to the programme administrator:
Mrs Amanda Fielder, School of Civil Engineering and the Environment,
University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ. A.fielder@soton.ac.uk
MSc Sustainable Waste Management
Proposal Guidance
Introduction
A Masters research project forms the most important single element of Masters training and
assessment. The research project must normally be completed within a period of 12 months and is
intended to give you an opportunity to demonstrate your ability as a critical, independent thinker.
Guidance for the Preparation of MSc Dissertations in Sustainable Waste Management were provided at
the beginning of the Programme and should be read carefully before embarking on your research
project.
The following material has been provided to assist you in writing the research proposal for your
dissertation.
Scope of dissertation
Project work is intended to develop a student’s ability in independent advanced investigation. Projects
can be practical, based either in the laboratory or on fieldwork, computer studies or extended paper
studies, analysing data and literature from other sources. With a wide variety of students with different
interests, a large variety of dissertation topics can be expected.
Dissertations must include a degree of analysis and a degree of originality. The analysis can be based
on experimental data, fieldwork, a database, from archives, surveys or even information in the literature.
Data analysis essentially means finding relationships between different items of information and may be
quantitative or qualitative.
However, you should not be interested in performing routine tasks, where you are repeating something
that has been done many times before. In order to be able to defend the originality requirement, you
should ask yourself: “What is new about this?” Of course, this does not mean that everything about the
project must be new. As an extreme example, an extended literature survey can be considered original if
the subject has not been reviewed before – such examples are rare. The objective of a review is to put
the published papers in some sort of order, correlate them, criticise them and end up with a definitive
document that can be used as a reference source.
Dissertations should include information from a wide range of sources. In particular, where projects are
done in industry, do not rely solely on in-house reports and trade journals. The industrial supervisor
should regard your project work as an opportunity to bring a fresh, outsider’s, view on his/her problem,
and perhaps on the industry in general.
Formats of dissertations are expected to follow the guidance provided in Section 10 of the Guidance
document. There cannot be any definite stipulations on the length of a dissertation, but since many
people ask, 15,000 words can be generally considered as ample. Note though, that your thesis will be
judged on quality, not weight! If you can say precisely all you need in a short space, then do not pad it
out with excess verbiage – it is a waste of time to write it, the examiners’ time to read it and the paper to
print it. Conversely, if you need more to expand your ideas usefully, then do not be afraid to write more.
Project selection and definition
The choice of dissertation project is very important. The research topic must be of an appropriate level
and should contribute to the solving of real problems related to waste management areas. Dissertations
linked with external companies or organisations are encouraged. Members of academic staff will also
offer project topics for consideration by students. The project should be challenging but feasible within
the constraints of time and facilities, without being over-ambitious. The student’s ideas should be
discussed with a tutor and a suitable supervisor obtained. It is then essential for the student to discuss
the topic fully with their supervisor and to do some preliminary research, which could be termed a
“scoping” study. The idea of this is to explore the topic in some detail and to check the availability of
information, data, laboratory facilities and equipment, field sites etc, in order to test out the feasibility of
the project.
The title of your research
The title of your research should explain in sufficient detail what you are doing so that potential readers
can decide if this is relevant to their interests. For example, imagine yourself looking through Masters
projects to check for ideas and material you could use. Would your project be a good enough guide to
attract your attention?
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The title for your research should be a clear and precise description of the topic. A title can be
phrased as a question or hypothesis (though it doesn’t need to be).
Specify sufficient detail so that places, organisations, subjects are readily identifiable.
Use appropriate phrases to specify the nature of the investigation eg “differences between….”,
“relationship of ….”, “quantify …”. Do not use vague phrases eg “look at”, “study”, “research into”.
A good title will help you be clear in your own mind about what it is you are doing and will therefore
help decide methodologies, statistics, etc.
Examples of good titles
The relationship between odour and the presence of sulphurous hydrocarbons in landfill leachate
sampled from boreholes at ABC Landfill Site, Anywhere.
This title gives detail on target (“odour …hydrocarbons”), focused in clear venue (“landfill leachate”),
where (“ABC Landfill Site, Anywhere”) and nature of study (“relationship between”).
A bad version could be:
A study investigating odour from landfill leachate in various boreholes at a landfill site near Anywhere.
Brief Review of Key Literature
The literature review will provide a concise, up-to-date, synthesis of the literature on which the work is
founded.
What literature should I use?
There are four main sources of literature available to you: journals, books, the Internet and grey
literature. Refereed journals provide the most current, in-depth and reliable material.
Journals
A good literature review will almost certainly be based upon journal material. Journals provide up-todate, peer-reviewed material. Journal articles will often be challenging to read: complex, detailed, novel.
Do not let this put you off. These problems only go to show the trivial content of many book and website
sources.
Academic journals contain the most current, reputable and detailed information and ideas. Published
papers will have been scrutinised by referees and editors before being accepted to test the validity,
credibility and usefulness of the material. Whilst this may sometimes stifle novel ideas, the overall result
is that journal material presents the academic frontiers of a subject. Journals published by professional
bodies (eg the CIWM monthly Wastes Management) can contain useful information but articles in this
type of publication are not necessarily authoritative and are usually not peer-reviewed by international
experts.
Books
Books range from general background texts to research monographs. Most textbooks are summaries of
subjects, often rather general, lack the detail found in journal papers and are usuallly2-3 years out-ofdate by the time they are published. They can be a useful source of journal references, which you can
then check in detail. The contents will have been scrutinised by editors, but books often allow more
freedom for authors to express unusual, perhaps downright wrong, ideas. “A-level” textbooks may still be
useful, but only as (a) props on which to rest a journal whilst reading it, and (b) firewood.
The Internet
The Internet is a source of an extraordinary range of information. However, there is no check on the
content of WebPages. The site may be entirely reputable, credible and useful or it may be a load of
codswallop. Website information should be treated with great scepticism. Do not be deceived by the
superficial ease with which you can find sites and download apparently useful material.
http://sosig.ac.uk/desire/internet-detective.html is a website able to provide some guidance on assessing
the credibility of websites.
Grey literature
Grey literature referees to reports, papers and other documents that have not been formally published
into the public domain. Very often academic staff may have access to copies or they can be found in
libraries indexed in much the same way as books. The quality of the content can be variable. Often the
material is entirely credible and reputable, other times you may not be in a position to tell.
Diligence, initiative and originality
Whilst these do not show up directly in a dissertation, this element will allow the supervisor to judge
your work throughout the project period as a whole, and how effective your contribution is to the
general pool of knowledge. This does not mean that the staff are judging your every word and deed
and that there is no latitude for genuine mistakes. However, you should continuous improvement
throughout the duration of the project in terms of professionalism, independence and critical
awareness.
Ethical Considerations
“Ethics is used in research to judge the behaviours of the researcher and the consequences of the
research. The purpose of ethics is to guide individuals to make decisions when there is moral question
of whether an action is right or wrong. Research ethics therefore refer to the responsibility of the
researcher to make sure that the participants are not harmed by the research. Your research, as a
student, will rarely be of benefit to anyone except yourself. Therefore you will need to concentrate
most on avoiding harm to those who are involved in your research”
(Extract from Essential Research Skills by Val Bailey, Geoff Bemrose, Sharon Goddard, Ron Impey,
Erica Joslyn and Jen Mackness, pp4-21. Collins Educational, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers).
The main ethical considerations in research involving people are:
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Avoiding causing harm to them, and, as far as possible:
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Maintaining privacy – To uphold participants right to privacy, researchers are required to seek
the permission of participants before they collect information from or about them. You should
not use personal information bout the participants without their permission.
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Maintaining anonymity – Anonymity refers to the identity of individuals. The privacy of the
participants can be safeguarded by allowing them to contribute to your research anonymously.
The participants should not be capable of being identified by you or any other person. In the
case of postal questionnaire surveys, this means that the participants will not be required to
give a name or identify themselves.
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Maintaining confidentiality – Confidentiality refers to the information and data that the
participants provide. Each researcher has a strict moral and professional obligation to keep
information confidential. Confidentiality applies to all types of data and includes photographs
and information obtained through casual conversations. Participants have a right to know how
far confidentiality can be guaranteed.
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Allowing the research participant to exercise informed consent – Consent is required when
participants are exposed to substantial risks. Each participant in a research study should be
given the opportunity to choose or decide whether to participate or not.
Research projects based on secondary data present almost no ethical dilemmas, as the data for
research is already “public” in some way. Examples might include research on the content of popular
newspaper or television programmes; research based on data published in company reports; research
based on data provide by a business in response to your letter asking for information and explaining
how you will use it; etc. However, the greater the sensitivity of the information you are asking for, the
more you will need to protect and assure your participants. For example, details of company budgets,
financial forecasts, marketing plans, pricing strategy, health and safety performance are all sensitive
information that many firms will not be willing to divulge.
When writing to commercial organisations for information, bear in mind that every such letter means
potential waste of time to such organisations, hence it is advisable for you to:
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Direct your enquiry to the relevant party/department;
Show that you already know something about the subject of your enquiry;
Explain exactly why you are asking for the information;
Ask specific questions, rather than making a general request for “information”;
Avoid asking for information that would be valuable to the firm’s competitors;
Remember that the firm may receive scores of letters similar to yours every week;
Avoid asking questions that you could have answered by reading published literature;
Keep your letter as brief as possible, ensure that it is legible, and thank the firm in advance for
its help.
If you are working with a firm (particularly as a part-time student) or on a placement in a company and
you intend to use the organisation’s data, take heed of all the ethical considerations involved and,
most importantly, ensure that you gain permission from the head of the organisation.
If you are not sure whether your research could cause possible harmful effects on the participants,
seek the advice of your supervisor. In all cases, you must submit an ethical approval form and get it
approved before starting your research activities.