Writing a dissertation can be both challenging and rewarding. In this personal account, Abdullah Dashti, a Kuwaiti police investigator, shares his transformative experience of pursuing a Master's degree in Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS).
My name is Abdullah Dashti, I am from Kuwait, and I studied law for my bachelor's degree at Kuwait University. I have been working as a police officer investigator for 20 years. Studying at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has been my dream since 2011, when I attended a conference in Kuwait, gathering many British universities to advertise for Kuwaiti students.
I chose Queen Mary because it ranks at the top of global lists and provides unique programmes. Thus, I studied Technology, Media and Telecommunication law for my master's degree. I joined the university in 2020 and finished in 2023. Although the writing of a dissertation is a stressful process, it is well worth it because it improves the writer in a number of important ways. This article will elaborate on my experience of thesis writing. It begins with demonstrating briefly the technical process of writing a dissertation, such as selecting the subject, reading articles, and writing. Finally, I will explain how the technical procedures incentivised me to remain excited.
The first step of writing a dissertation is to choose the subject. It can be baffling to pick up a topic. However, following a writer's passion undoubtedly eases the confusion. Moreover, the journey of thesis writing is often long and may last a year rather than months. Thus, an interesting topic to write about can definitely motivate the student to work hard during that period. Nonetheless, an interesting topic may lack materials, such as articles and cases for reading. Hence, in addition to asking the supervisor of the thesis, initial research about the topic is necessary. The initial research could also assist in shaping the student's level of understanding of the topic. Consequently, the writer will save time by not modifying the topic in the middle of the writing duration. Furthermore, the dissertation topic should be innovative as it can benefit the student writer's career.
For example, my thesis title was 'The Contradiction between Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and Personal Data in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)'. Despite its emergence in 2008, DLT is an innovative technology that is still being developed, and new applications are being implemented. Additionally, the GDPR was imposed in 2016 but came into force in 2018. Notably, although the regulation was enacted after the DLT emergence, the law articles did not explicitly regulate the issues and complexities of DLT, such as data immutability and undefined responsible parties. Moreover, the wide application of DLT in various sectors, such as finance and healthcare, has raised these issues. These difficulties posed privacy and security concerns which contradict personal data rights. Hence, there are countless articles addressing these concerns, but they are not crystal clear. As a result, the student must strive to figure out convincing explanations to obtain high marks. Rational justification requires extensive reading, which is the next step in the dissertation journey.
Reading is significantly necessary for writing a dissertation to comprehend the topic and reach a rational conclusion. Reading materials include books, cases, legislation, and online resources. Each one has particular advantages for reading. For instance, books often elaborate topics thoroughly. Cases elucidate situations which legislation may not address. Journal articles normally illustrate a specific aspect of a topic. These materials can be obtained from a university's library and associated libraries with the college. Moreover, a module reading list throughout the semester is an excellent start to reading. However, sticking to the list is insufficient because it will not cover all topic points to comprehend. Furthermore, the more reading one does, the more a student will grasp a topic because they can examine issues and situations related to the topic. To decide whether a material is worth reading, a student should read the introduction and conclusion because these parts reveal the writer's claim and the article's arguments. If a student decides to read the material, taking notes is absolutely necessary while reading so that the student does not forget the source of the information and the reference for citation to avoid plagiarism. Moreover, these notes will be the foundation of writing paragraphs because claims and premises are the consequences of student's comprehension. Finally, writing is the final stage of the dissertation process.
Writing constitutes an essential part of thesis marking criteria. Thus, writing should follow the essay form and avoid grammatical errors. To demonstrate, a dissertation has a particular form in which a paragraph comprises a claim, which is a student's perspective on a topic, and premises that support the claim. These premises include reasoning, cases, studies, and surveys. Thus, extensive reading and taking notes are the base of accurate writing to form the claims and premises. Regarding grammatical errors, proper writing is crucial in obtaining high marks. Hence, avoiding grammatical errors is crucial. For instance, students whose first language is not English should not rely solely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) apps because AI does not always accurately convey what the writer means, so it may lead to losing marks. Nonetheless, it can sometimes be applied when focus is weak, but a revision is required to check for errors. Hence, time management is also essential because it assists a student in recognising the best time to write.
Students must plan out the dissertation journey, because dividing the dissertation tasks into parts and accomplishing them will enhance the student's feelings of achievement. Moreover, planning can guide the students in managing time to meet the deadline of the thesis submission. To illustrate, additional tasks, topics, or issues related to the main thesis topic may arise, requiring time to search for and read. This could result in missing the deadline. To effectively plan an essay, a student should allocate specific timeframes for each process: research, reading, and writing. Students cannot stick to writing the dissertation all day; otherwise, they may feel overwhelmed. Therefore, spending time on favourite activities is critical to easing the stress of writing the essay. For example, going to the gym, listening to music, meeting friends, etc., can provide a necessary distraction.
In conclusion, my dissertation has significantly improved my life because I have learned many new skills. For instance, I use a planner book to always plan my day in advance, and at the end of the day, I tick the accomplished tasks. Furthermore, my master's programme taught me how to efficiently locate and extract information, as well as how to ask the right questions in order to gather data. Therefore, the master's programme is certainly worth the effort and experience.
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