Introduction-
Dear Learner,
At the Masters level, a learner is expected to acquire tools, abilities and knowledge that will qualify him/ her to teach, carry out research, and perform as a professional social scientist. The Project Work in Gandhi and Peace Studies, MGPP-017, seeks to partially fulfil this requirement.
We are happy that you have opted to undertake the Project Work in Gandhi and Peace Studies that essentially involves writing a dissertation. This will allow you to explore the areas of the social world that interests you and present your findings in a well-structured document. In addition, it helps you in becoming a critical consumer of research done by others.
This Handbook is a supplement to the course MGPP-017, Introduction to Research Methods. This Handbook details the policies and procedures of dissertation project and work in Gandhi and Peace Studies. It also serves as an introductory guide to conceive, plan and execute the dissertation project.
Project work, by definition, is a self-directed work. It is conceived, executed and reported primarily by you. There will, however, be an Academic Supervisor to advise and guide you at different stages of the dissertation work. The Academic Counsellors at the Study Centre will organise counselling sessions and one of them will most probably be your Academic Supervisor. We suggest that you be in touch with your Academic Supervisor at regular intervals to discuss specific stages in the preparation of the dissertation, e.g., writing the dissertation proposal, timetable, and methods; draft chapters; final draft even if you are familiar with the contents of the course MGPE-015 Introduction to Research Methods and feel confident of taking up research work on your own,
You may also write to the faculty at the headquarters to seek additional information and advice
IGNOU MGPP-017 Project Guideline
Master Project Work: Course Requirements-
The Masters Project Work in Gandhi and Peace Studies is an independent research project worth 8 credits of course work. This means that it requires about 240 study hours and has the same weightage as a full year course.
The Masters Project Work generally consists of a review of the scholarly literature relating to a research question selected by the student and relevant to his/her area of specialisation. However, it need not be restricted to literature survey. Since you have been acquainted with research methods and techniques, you can choose a project work involving primary research, e.g. in the form of surveys, interviews or fieldwork.
The project work process begins with the identification of a topic and ends with the submission of a well structured document of about 20000 words (excluding bibliographic references), which shows you have completed the following tasks:
Identifying a research topic
Reading relevant literature
Constructing a project proposal
Collecting and evaluating data
Analysing and interpreting the data with reference to the aims and objectives of your study
Presenting the work in an extended and coherent manner.
The tasks involved in your Masters degree project work are very similar to the Doctoral research process. However, the resources and time available at the Master’s level are limited. Your project is, therefore, not expected to demonstrate a substantial original contribution in the field of research. It must, however, provide evidence that you are able to independently conceive, design and carry out a systematic and sustained task in study and writing according to the academic requirements of any discipline in Social Sciences.
Since the project work is a substantially large research and writing project than anything you may have encountered during your undergraduate studies, an Academic Supervisor recognised by the University shall guide project work.
All Academic Counsellors of the MGPS programme at the Study Centres and faculty members of the School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies (SOITS) at the University headquarters and the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti are recognised as Academic Supervisors for guiding project work. In addition, you can approach any University/College teacher who has a doctoral degree in any Social Science discipline to supervise your project. If you are taking an Academic Supervisor of your choice (from University/college teachers), send a brief bio-data of him/her along with the project proposal to the Project Coordinator at New Delhi for approval.
YOU CAN CHECK MEDSP-051 PROJECT GUIDELINE
The Project Proposal-
Each student who undertakes project work is required to submit to the Project Coordinator of the MGPS at the University headquarters, a short ‘research plan’ or project proposal of approximately 2000 words.
- a working title for the proposed research
- a clear statement of the research problem to be examined
- a very brief review of relevant literature to demonstrate the unique methodological and/or theoretical contribution of the proposed research to the discipline
- an outline of the plan of research and methods to be used
- an outline of chapter headings for the dissertation; and
- a preliminary bibliography of primary and secondary sources relevant to the proposed research work.
The Faculty at the IGNOU/GSDS- must approve the project proposal before you can begin work on the project work. Suggestions and comments made by the Faculty Committee on the project proposal, if any, must be incorporated before proceeding with research and writing of the project. A change in the title, even its wording, is not allowed once the Committee has approved the proposal, with or without modifications.
The Project-
The topic for the project work should be a theme or problem in an area of your choice within the framework of the contents of the courses you have studied in the First Year of Master’s Programme in Gandhi and Peace Studies. A list of priority areas for research is given in Section I of this
Handbook. However, you are free to work on any other topic or theme falling within the domain of Gandhi and Peace Studies.
Format of the Project Work
The project should be around 20,000 words in length (excluding the title page, acknowledgements and bibliographic references). Essential statistical and documentary appendices such as questionnaires, surveys, interview schedules may be added to the total, but these should be kept within absolute limitation.
Project should be typed or word-processed on A-4 size paper.
All material in the main part of the project, excluding the bibliographic references, should have 1.5 line spacing and printed on one side of the paper with one-inch margins.
Notes and references should be in the prescribed format given in this manual.
Pages should be numbered sequentially at bottom centre.
The final project along with the cover page of the approved project proposal should be spiral bound between transparent plastic sheets (cover pages).
The sequence of the material in the project work should be in following order:
- The Cover Page of the project should state the title of the project, the name and enrolment number of the student, the name of the Academic Supervisor, the degree programme for which it is prepared, the name of the University and the month and year of submission. (The Cover Page format is given in the Annexure-I).
- The Title Page should give the same information as on the cover, together with the statement: ‘This project is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master’s degree in Gandhi and Peace Studies of the Indira Gandhi National Open University’, followed by the date (month and year) of submission.
- A Certificate issued by the Academic Supervisor that the dissertation submitted by the candidate is his/her own work and that the same be placed before the examiner. See the format given in Annexure C.
- The Table of Contents should list the contents of the project by chapters, with sections where appropriate, and the page number for each, together with the page number for the bibliographic references and figures, tables and maps, if any.
- Acknowledgements: Acknowledge any help you might have received in the preparation of the project work.
- The Main Text comprises the chapters (usually three or four, including the Introduction and Conclusion) bibliographic references and appendices, if any. Each main heading (chapters, bibliographic references and appendices) should start on a new page; sections within main headings may continue on the same page. The numbering of the main text of the project should be sequential. The bibliographic references should list all works cited in the chapters and other valuable sources used in the preparation of the project. Do not give separate entries for primary and secondary sources. Further guidance on citing and referencing is given in Section 5 of this Handbook.
The Cover page of the project proposal approved by the Faculty Committee must be appended to the project at the end.
Choosing A Research Topic-
In choosing topic, reflect on what has really interested you in your degree programme so far; Are you interested in pursuing an in-depth project in ideas or theory, in the practice of peace and conflict at interpersonal, regional, national or international level? Pick up a topic in an area, which really excites you, on a subject that you would like to spend more time exploring.
A topic is not automatically a problem for investigation. Explore the topic or theme by conducting a specific survey of literature. Survey the literature first from a general source such as an encyclopaedia or textbook, which will give you an overview or summary. This overview will not only clarify your main concepts or keywords but also help in focusing your research question. Follow this up by reading books related to the topic you have chosen. Journals are other important source of information. They provide sharply focused information on recent events, discoveries or research. The World Wide Web is yet another valuable source of information. Use Internet search engines and subject directories to find materials on the Web.
This type of broad and deep reading will help you in deciding and defining what questions you want to ask in your own study. By the time you write your project proposal, you should be able to show the reader the answer to the following questions: (Please check the sentence)
what problems or questions of significance are suggested by the material you have studied?
why the reader should be interested in these problems -that is, what light your work sheds on questions of more general interest? and
what questions have arisen in the course of your studies that need further investigation?
Before you finalise the topic, decide what is practically possible in terms of access to data, which would provide the basis for the topic. If you are planning an empirical study, the secondary data, that is, original published data is going to be your primary source of information. You may not have the time and resources to collect primary data, that is, original data from the field. Think about the resources (access to libraries, internet and other sources of secondary data) and the time available for data collection and analysis. Is the data easily accessible?
If you wish to take up a historical subject or a theme in social or political theory, choose a topic that has some relevance to the contemporary problems or area. The Faculty of Gandhian Studies Programme in the School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies has identified some themes or topics, given in the box next pages, as priority areas for research. We would like you to work on one of these themes, but you are free to work on any other theme as long as it falls within the framework of the four courses you have studied in the first year of Gandhi and Peace Studies
