FAQs for Post-Graduate Students of Amity School of Communication (ASCO) – Noida
The Non-Teaching Credit Course (NTCC) dissertation is one of the most essential aspects of academic excellence in your post-graduate course. Here are a few FAQs answered from the industry/academia perspective.
Is the NTCC project a ‘Thesis’ or a ‘Dissertation’?
The words “Thesis” and “Dissertation” are used differently across the world. In some universities, ‘dissertation’ and ‘thesis’ are seen as the same thing. However, in general, thesis refers to a detailed and focused piece of original research such as a PhD. A dissertation, on the other hand, is part of a broader post-graduate research project. At Amity University the NTCC research project is termed as ‘Dissertation.’
Where do I place the NTCC Dissertation in terms of importance?
In terms of importance, the NTCC dissertation is placed just below the M. Phil dissertation, in the hierarchy of research work (With PhD Thesis placed at the top). The Masters dissertation serves as a synopsis of your Masters degree. Formally defined, the NTCC dissertation is an original, systematic and scholarly study of a significant communication problem. In this study you identify a problem, explain the significance of your study, describe the methods of gathering original information, analyze the results, draw a conclusion and possibly offer a recommendation.
What is the value of the NTCC Dissertation?
The NTCC dissertation is the most important document that you would have developed in your academic life so far. It strongly reflects your professional skills, competencies, personality and identity. So, while the marks you score in the end-semester exams help assess your performance quantitatively, the NTCC Dissertation enables an assessment of your performance qualitatively. The NTCC dissertation offers a balanced and nuanced view of your core competencies, much more than just your interest in a particular research area. It helps others assess your standing as a communication and media professional. This dissertation can be used to influence your employers for future research scholarships, future academic role or just about anyone interested to assess your skills and abilities in general. No matter how high your CGPA scores are, if your dissertation is not of a certain acceptable quality, you may find it extremely difficult to move ahead in your professional career.
How will the NTCC Dissertation help me in a corporate job?
Any corporate interviewer (a functional head – as in Marketing, HR, Strategy etc.) would be keen to do an in-depth qualitative assessment of your capabilities. Your Dissertation will come handy in offering the following insights about you:
1. Your English language skills such as your ability to write concisely, creatively and meaningfully
2. Your ability to articulate complex and well-rounded narratives
3. Your ability to stitch different formats and style of information to articulate an argument (such as schematic representations, illustrations, models, data tables etc.)
4. Your potential as a future organizational leader
5. Your critical thinking abilities
Will the Dissertation be of help for my higher studies?
Many international M. Phil and PhD programs require you to provide some evidence of your inclination/competency in research. These universities and the professors therein can gather this insight through your Masters Dissertation. Good dissertations act as a strong supportive document for international scholarships.
Will the dissertation help me even if I am not interested in doing further research studies? Today, every organizational role requires the deployment of basic research skills. You will need these research skills to navigate through complex stacks of information, assimilate data, articulate particular Point of Views (POVs) or create robust organizational strategies. In general it is believed that professionals with good understanding of research can become effective leaders, given the sheer span of tasks and complexities they have to manage.
Will the dissertation help me if I want to become an independent researcher?
Yes. Before you take-up independent research projects of organizations like the United Nations, Government Bodies or other international organizations, you will have to make a strong case that you are conversant with the basic tenets of research. A good dissertation can easily set you on the track of independent research.
In what other ways can I use the Dissertation?
You can use the dissertation in many other ways. It can be used to highlight your skills and competencies before a wide range of public including international scholars, publishing houses, consultancy projects etc. You can also use the dissertation to build a case if you want to shift from certain industry sectors to knowledge-intensive sectors like education, social organizations etc.
Is the Quality of the Dissertation Important?
Yes. The quality of a dissertation is paramount as it helps to differentiate you from others. Moreover, since the dissertation is likely to be referred to many times during your professional career the quality of the Masters’ dissertation becomes very important.
What Parameter should I follow for selecting the Dissertation Title?
Ideally the title should be selected in an area that interests you very much. This will open the doors of opportunities for you in that particular sector. For example, if you are interested in making a career in television production, your dissertation title should be focused on the evaluation of television content, television production management, case studies of television channels/content etc. Similarly if you are interested to make a career in the digital marketing industry the dissertation title can be on any cutting-edge area of business analytics, digital campaign management or website analytics.
Is the dissertation more important than my final Masters Mark-Sheet?
From the practicality point of view, Yes! Employers are generally aware that the marks you have earned in your university degree may not usually be a very strong indicator of your capabilities. Most feel that your CGPA scores/marks do not provide a holistic assessment of your skills/competencies and they usually need another yardstick for assessment. This is exactly where the dissertation comes handy. The dissertation helps them to cross-verify and validate the claims that you have made in support of your candidature for a particular role.
How much time should I spend on my dissertation work?
No amount of time is enough for developing a good dissertation. So, you should begin straightaway. Developing a good dissertation requires you to spend time in the library, review dissertations on the Web, talk to your seniors/peers, gather insights from your faculty members and industry experts, consider peer review, bench marking etc. You will also have to spend time gathering primary and secondary data, as well as, work continuously to prune your language for clarity, accuracy and impact. Since the time for developing the NTCC dissertation is limited you should plan your time effectively.
Where can I access high-quality Masters Dissertation for reference?
You can access the following links to download some good Masters Dissertation papers. However, do remember that the style and length of the dissertations available in these links may be different from your requirement. The exact size and other details related to your NTCC dissertation are available in your Amizone.
London School of Economics
http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/research/msc-dissertationseries
School of Communication – Rochester Institute of Technology https://www.rit.edu/cla/communication/graduate/ms-communication-mediatechnologies/past-masters-theses
University of South Florida
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/com_etd/
University of Iowa
https://ir.uiowa.edu/jmc_etd/
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ABOUT THIS KNOWLEDGE PAPER
Knowledge Paper is written by faculty members of ASCO in a personal capacity. This document seeks to address the concerns/queries of Post-Graduate students of ASCO. Therefore, any content herein does not reflect the opinion of the Amity University, ASCO or any of its officials.
The authors of this document have deemed this document to be copyright-free and hence can be circulated freely.
Authors: Prof. (Dr.) Asim Kumar Chowdhury & Dr. Rakesh Prakash | Amity School of Communication | AUUP, Noida
Release Date: 18th February, 2019
