Disserted : The Secrets of Writing a First-Class LL. B Dissertation / Dunia Zongwe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zongwe, Dunia, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Decolonization--Africa.

Decolonization.

Dissertations, Academic--Africa.

Dissertations, Academic.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Bamenda, Cameroon : Langaa RPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group, [2023]

Summary:

Disserted is a groundbreaking, comprehensive book that guides LL.B 
students on how to craft a first-class dissertation. It tackles head-on 
the triple crisis faced by law students in developing nations - a crisis
 of doubting, thinking, and writing This crisis manifests itself in the 
form of poorly written dissertations. This is the first book to show 
how to practically assemble a dissertation from the perspective of 
decoloniality. This makes Disserted uniquely suited to students from the
 Global South, considering that decoloniality empowers them to overcome 
the triple crisis. Indeed, its originality in presenting practical 
advice and decolonial theory sets this book apart from the handful of 
guides on LL.B dissertations. Existing resources and manuals are filled 
with generalities and lack in practicality. Written in 
student-friendly prose, its 23 chapters cover a wide range of topics. 
including research proposals, topic selection, purpose and problem 
statements. literature reviews, digital tools and models powered by 
artificial intelligence (AI), the basics of legal prompt engineering, 
plagiarism, grammar, and research methods. Each chapter offers secrets 
and deep insights, drawing from the author's extensive experience in 
supervising LL.B dissertations and research papers, notably in Southern 
Africa and India. Though primarily targeting LL.B students, Disserted
 also serves as an essential companion and indispensable resource for 
supervisors, law professors, jurists, and anyone interested in 
unraveling the complexities of writing dissertations. Overall, Disserted
 underscores the importance of structured dissertation writing coupled 
with a decolonized research approach that subverts dominant 
perspectives, exposes the role of Al and technology in entrenching the 
coloniality of knowledge, and fosters a broader understanding of law.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

About the Author

Contents

Before I start…

Chapter 1 - Let's get started!

A 'dissertation' and an 'LL.B dissertation'

The triple crisis

The first book on decolonial LL.B dissertations

Who I'm speaking to

My point

In what order, should you read this book's chapters?

Am I qualified to lecture you on dissertations?

Significance of disserting

Chapter 2 - The obstacles you'll face at your university

1 The obstacles

2 Poorly trained supervisors

3 Overcoming the challenges of legal education in the Global South

Chapter 3 - Your research proposal: your dissertation roadmap

1 Snapshot of your roadmap

2 The 12 steps on your roadmap

3 Coordinating all these elements: an unexpectedly difficult task

Chapter 4 - Find a topic

1 How to find a research idea

2 Where golden topics lie

3 Determining the scope of your topic

4 The relationship between you and your topic

5 Should you avoid 'political' topics?

6 Your topic in the title of your dissertation

Chapter 5 - What you should expect from your supervisor

1 Five rules of engagement

2 The four hats that your supervisor wears

3 Your supervisor's specific duties

4 You've got responsibilities too

5 Peers and third parties

6 A few notes on your supervisor's qualifications

Chapter 6 - Formulate the general purpose and design your dissertation

1 The seven basic purposes

2 How to state your purpose(s) in writing

3 The seven basic purposes in action

4 Analysis as research aim?

5 Decolonizing purpose statements

6 Prompting research aims

7 Your design, and why you should have one or two purposes

Chapter 7 - What problems does your dissertation address?

1 Background to the problem

2 Your problem statement

3 Central questions.

Chapter 8 - Which theory informs your approach to the main problem?

1 The power of theory in shaping dissertations and scholars

2 What a theoretical framework is

3 Where to place a theoretical framework

4 How to identify a fitting theoretical framework

5 How to draft a theoretical framework

6 Examples of theoretical-framework sections

7 Critical theories

Chapter 9 - Survey the literature

1 The make-or-break importance of literature reviews

2 Essential parts of a literature review

3 What to include in the 'key sources' section

4 Key sources

5 How you can organize your literature review

6 Process the relevant literature strategically

7 Survey the literature systematically and specifically

8 Citing authors from the Global South

Chapter 10 - Use the Internet and digital tools

1 You can't dispense with the Internet

2 How to use the Internet for your LL.B research

3 Words of caution

Chapter 11 - Chat out your research (prompt engineering)

1 What prompt engineering can help you accomplish

2 Concepts, principles, and techniques

3 The dissertation tasks that prompt engineering excels at

4 Nine shortcomings of AI tools

5 In fine: blending, bending, ending?

Chapter 12 - Decolonize your mind

1 What does decolonization mean?

2 Transformative constitutionalism

3 The decoloniality movement

4 Critical thinking

5 Decoloniality can shape several aspects of your dissertation

Chapter 13 - Put forth strong arguments or hypotheses

1 The whole point of arguments

2 What's an 'argument'

3 Hypotheses versus arguments

4 How you can formulate your main argument

5 Counterarguments

6 The four conditions of a strong, well-crafted argument

Chapter 14 - Tell me what makes your research significant

1 What makes the significance section so significant.

2 What factors determine the significance of research

3 What to include in a significance section

4 Two more things about significance sections

5 Examples of significance sections

Chapter 15 - Which methods will you use?

1 The easiest method for a final-year law student

2 The scientific characteristics of doctrinal research

3 Types of doctrinal methods

4 The 'methodology' section of your dissertation

5 Multi- and inter-disciplinary legal research

6 Decoloniality and the limitations of the methods

Chapter 16 - Structure your dissertation

1 The beginning: The preliminary pages

2 The scientific structure of your dissertation

3 Your dissertation's introduction

4 How you can organize the body of the dissertation

5 The three-part method as a tool to evaluate structure

6 What to include in the conclusion

7 Bibliography and the annexes

8 Example of a dissertation structure

Chapter 17 - Your chapters

1 The introductory chapter

2 Your discussion of the law must flow from established facts

3 Background chapters: describing the core facts

4 Analysis: break it down to its essence

5 Critical chapters: discuss the crucial problem

6 Sample chapters in a dissertation

7 The final chapter: Conclusion and recommendations

Chapter 18 - Write clearly

1 Clear writing in a nutshell

2 The golden lesson on clear writing: The funnel approach

3 Adjusting the structure of your paragraphs and sentences

4 Other ways of learning how to write clearly

5 Digital tools for clear prose and plain English

6 Decoloniality and English as a second language

Chapter 19 - Follow the rules of grammar

1 Students commit all sorts of grammatical mistakes

2 Verbs

3 Verbs with(out) adverbs

4 Zombie nouns

5 Adjectives

6 Punctuations

7 Further tips

8 The key principle.

Chapter 20 - Cite, cite, cite… and avoid plagiarism

1 Plagiarism and its incidence

2 Typology of plagiarism

3 Other types of academic misconduct

4 How your supervisors detect plagiarism

5 You must develop the habit of citing your sources

6 When to cite and not to cite

Chapter 21 - Format the text and set the layout

1 The format

2 The parts of an LL.B dissertation

3 Wrapping up

Chapter 22 - Manage your time effectively

1 The necessity of managing your time effectively

2 Guidelines and tips for organizing your time

3 Late runners and plagiarism

4 Example of a workable time plan

5 Gantt charts

Chapter 23 - And before you go…

"Poverty is no excuse for mediocrity"

Secrets, tips and tricks for an A+ dissertation

Looking over narrow horizons

Back cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789956553181

9956553182

OCLC:

1409402814