Dissertation Topics

Re: Dissertation Topics

StephSVN — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:42:01 GMT

[quote user="chloehaddow"]how about the effects of stress on the animals, i.e feliway, hidy holes, position of kennel furniture in the kennel, or any sort of enrichment????[/quote]

I did a research proposal for this in my 2nd year at uni for something similiar to this(ended up not doing it for dissertation as it was too similiar to another assignment I had done).

Basically involved using heart rate monitors (human ones like used by athletes), put on dog when admitted then into kennel. The compare what happens to heart rates of dogs with lavender scented bedding, DAP bedding and owner scented bedding (all compared to control).

Got a good mark for my proposal and a couple of tutors seemed interested in supervising the study if I had gone ahead. Could always simplify it if it ended up as too much to write up byu choosing one of the options.

Re: Dissertation Topics

chloehaddow — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:09:12 GMT

Hiya! how about the effects of stress on the animals, i.e feliway, hidy holes, position of kennel furniture in the kennel, or any sort of enrichment????

Re: Dissertation Topics

Claire Cameron — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:13:39 GMT

[quote user="Princess Ophelia Hermione MacBeth"]

[quote user="sisterscope1"]

What about a review of corrective surgical techniques for cruciate ruptures? OTT, LFS, TTO, TTA, TPLO blah blah.

ps, if anyone's interested, I have a 260 page NICE guideline review on handwashing....

[/quote]

Ooooooo - send me a copy. I think Sandra's birthday might be coming up...

[/quote]

LOL

Re: Dissertation Topics

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:33:10 GMT

[quote user="Princess Ophelia Hermione MacBeth"]Ooooooo - send me a copy. I think Sandra's birthday [/quote]

Oh Joy

I get what you are saying Lou, but it's just not my bag... and yes the eg of a student having iso at... whatever%... lol see am bored already.. is a good idea, and I totally agree if you can find something that does not send you to sleep, then bash on... but I am just saying that I would need something a bit more tugging at the grey matter t get me to write something as long(short really I know) as 12,000 words

Re: Dissertation Topics

Louise B — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:10:52 GMT

[quote user="sisterscope1"]

What about a review of corrective surgical techniques for cruciate ruptures? OTT, LFS, TTO, TTA, TPLO blah blah.

ps, if anyone's interested, I have a 260 page NICE guideline review on handwashing....

[/quote]

Ooooooo - send me a copy. I think Sandra's birthday might be coming up...

Re: Dissertation Topics

Louise B — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:10:01 GMT

Hey Sandra! No offence taken. What I would just point out to people though is that if you are carrying out a practical investigation the point is to research something to find out something that wasn't known before. I think that is pretty exciting regardless of topic. And, as nurses, if we are going to practice evidence-based nursing it is researching those every day things that we take for granted and do a particular way just because that's how our practice does things that can move our profession on and in line with human medicine/nursing. Please don't rule out something just because it doesn't seem sexy - just look at the unsexy in a new light and start asking questions. Sometimes even things that seem dull can suddenly become fascinating.

E.g. What about anaesthetics? Boring, boring, boring. But what if you could plan a well designed study that showed that 1st year student nurses tended to maintain patients on 1% more isoflurane than qualified, experienced VNs? What could be the implications? Etc.

I just think that if you spend your life questioning everything we do in practice then we can find that the every day topics that are right under our noses might be actually fascinating when investigated.

Anyway, just my thoughts!

Re: Dissertation Topics

sisterscope1 — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:07:46 GMT

What about a review of corrective surgical techniques for cruciate ruptures? OTT, LFS, TTO, TTA, TPLO blah blah.

ps, if anyone's interested, I have a 260 page NICE guideline review on handwashing....

Re: Dissertation Topics

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:56:40 GMT

[quote user="S-J"]

[quote user="AC1"]

I completed my dissertation last year and the best advice is to pick something that you are genuinely interested in because you will spend so much time working on it that if you don't you will lose the will to live.

Also, dont make your study over-complicated as you can tie yourself in knots when it comes to data analysis. The best studies seemed to be the simple ones that were well done.

Good Luck!

[/quote]

i chose something that i didnt mind thinking that if i did a topic i loved that i would hate it by the end, but i do have a strange brain.

Ps you tend to only get 12000 words so make sure u can fit it all in what ever you choose, it aint a lot of words once you start reaserching and writing

[/quote]

I agree but I think I would rather do 12,000 words on something of interest... a question... how the hell could you get 12,000 words on scrubbing up?

Lou I know what you mean......... but I would seriously die of boredom if I had to choose a subject like scrubbing up.... flea tmts, etc etc etc... and no offence again to anyone, but that is something some do on a daily basis... and yes it would be easy point scoring... but dont you want to stretch yourself a bit...actually become well read and knowledgeable in a very interesting subject? afterall .... who the hell is going to care really if you wrote a dissertation on how to wash your hands because that is the bottom line... it's not going to make you stand out in the employment market is it!?

Re: Dissertation Topics

S-J — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:17:56 GMT

[quote user="AC1"]

Also, dont make your study over-complicated as you can tie yourself in knots when it comes to data analysis. The best studies seemed to be the simple ones that were well done.

Good Luck!

[/quote]

i chose something that i didnt mind thinking that if i did a topic i loved that i would hate it by the end, but i do have a strange brain.

Ps you tend to only get 12000 words so make sure u can fit it all in what ever you choose, it aint a lot of words once you start reaserching and writing

Re: Dissertation Topics

Louise B — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:17:02 GMT

Hi, it depends on what you choose to do really. If it is a literature review it can be as indepth as you can make it while keeping it within the word limit. However, if you should to carry out a scientific study then you really need to keep it simple, concentrate on a few variables only. The study itself will be hugely time consuming. E.g. if the nurse did a practical research project then, depending on the college, the word count for the intro + discussion might only be 2,000 - 3,000 words but the majority of the work will be 'off paper'. For example, I spent circa 60 hours a week for about 12 weeks carrying out an experiment, plus loads more hours analysing my data - but the paper I submitted to a journal (today - woohoo) was only c7,000 and, of that, only c3500 was the introduction and discussion (and that's at PhD level). Many of the marks come for scientific rigour - in planning/carrying out/analysing and writing up the results. In that case, the best studies that I have seen have always been pretty simple. The more complicated you make it the more likely you will make a f**k up somewhere along the way. If you do an experiment you will be marked on whether it was good science! I am assuming the nurse investigating handwashing was carrying out a practical study?

I agree though - pick something that you will enjoy as the chances are you will have points when you will still hate and detest it so if you have a genuine interest in the first place that will help carry you through the low times.

Re: Dissertation Topics

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:55:35 GMT

ps... I do remember a degree nurse that worked for us who wrote her dissertation on scrubbing up.... no offence but how much can you write on scrubbing your hands.. and I remember actually doing a case log on it for my portfolio..I would def want something of more interest

Re: Dissertation Topics

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:53:36 GMT

Can I say... can you not choose something more meatier than those choices... no offence but I would want something in depth complicated and totally grabbing my interest....something like renal failure in cats.... endocrinology disorders etc.. I hope you are allowed to write up something like that or I will be bored witless otherwise!

Re: Dissertation Topics

AC1 — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:46:59 GMT

Also, dont make your study over-complicated as you can tie yourself in knots when it comes to data analysis. The best studies seemed to be the simple ones that were well done.

Good Luck!

Re: Dissertation Topics

S-J — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:38:53 GMT

i compared blood samples of cats suffering from FLUTD

the effect of essential oils on bacteria
comparing the blood results of different breeds

Re: Dissertation Topics

Louise B — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:17:29 GMT

Effects of using felifriend on ease of blood sampling in cats?

Effects of warming fluids on patient body temperature for 1 hour post-starting fluid administration?