This provides guidance to students doing Events & Leisure Marketing about getting started with the dissertation.

1. Dissertation Kick-off Meeting
BA Events & Leisure Marketing

2. Agenda
• Dissertation
Objectives
• Dissertation
Structure
• Topics
• Data collection
• Writing up
• Supervision process
• Getting starting

3. What should you achieve with the
dissertation?
BAELM students should:
• Identify an appropriate topic for
investigation that reflects the
aims of the programme of
study;
• Demonstrate an understanding
of the context of the research by
reference to published material;
• Formulate and apply research
methods appropriate to the
topic;
• Become acquainted with the
issues raised by designing and
conducting research;
• Critically appraise the
information and apply
judgement in analysis and
evaluation of new/abstract
data &
• Contextualise their own
findings in relation to the
established body of knowledge
to draw suitable, analytical and
realistic conclusions

4. Dissertation structure
• There is some variation but
generally you have:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Introduction (1000)
Literature review (3000)
Methodology (1000)
Findings (2000)
Analysis (2000)
Conclusion & Recommendations (1000)
TOTAL NUMBER OF WORDS = 10,000

5. Topics
Students should have selected topics which are rooted
within the core areas of their courses:
Events
• Motivations to attend events
• Marketing of events
• Event impacts
• Consumer behavior and events
• Events and destinations
• Event tourism
• Events and branding
• Event experiences
Leisure Marketing
• Consumer behavior in Leisure
• Marketing of Leisure
• The nature of Leisure
• New forms of Leisure
• New media and Leisure
• Leisure branding
• Demand / motivations for specific
types of Leisure

6. Topics (cont‟d)
• Topics should also be
linked to literature
available at the
library:
• Journals on
Events, Leisure &
Tourism
• Books on
Events, Leisure &
Tourism
• Databases for
Tourism
• Events & Leisure
Resources Guide

7. Data collection considerations
• Ethical considerations
• Practical considerations
• Research Approaches
PLEASE NOTE DATA COLLECTION SHOULD
START AFTER YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW
AND METHODOLOGY HAS BEEN APPROVED

8. Writing-up
• There is no such thing as a “writing-up phase”
• Students thinking they can simply “write-up” in
the last three weeks are deluding themselves!!!
• Writing starts from the first meeting with your
supervisor
• Every meeting with your supervisor should move
your dissertation further along – this can only
be achieved through continuous writing

9. Tools for writing-up
•
•
•
•
•
Blogging
Online-portfolio
Wikis
E-mail
Dissertation Appointment
Record Sheets
PLEASE NO TWEETS, FB STATUS UPDATES OR HANDWRITTEN NOTES UNDER MY DOOR, ALSO NO MIDNIGHT PANIC CALLS

10. Supervision process
Both students and supervisors have specific
duties in this process
Students should ...
• Make appointments
• Have an objective(s) for each meeting
• Bring copies of the Dissertation Appointment Record to
meetings
• Make a firm commitment to achieving the planned
timescale
• Undertake the necessary research and reading from a
variety of sources
• Submit draft sections or chapters at agreed points

11. Supervision process (cont‟d)
Supervisors should ...
• Give a timely response to your queries and submissions
• Give advice and comments on what you propose to do
including sources which they may be aware of
• Give advice and comments on what you have
written, including guidance on structure and content
Note: You will only receive tutor support up to the LAST TEACHING
DAY OF THE SPRING TERM - after this, you will not be able to meet
with your tutor, so please ensure that you have covered all areas with
him/her by this date.

12. Supervision process (cont‟d)
• Difficulties with supervisors
should be brought to unit leader‟s
attention as soon as possible
• Please note “not liking” your
supervisor is not a difficulty
• If a supervisor is to be replaced it
can take some time

13. Getting Started
• The first step in writing any dissertation is
establishing its relevance
• Your must prove that what you have
planned to study meets the learning
objectives of the dissertation
• This means demonstrating
– The topic is relevant to the programme of
study (academically and professionally)
– The topic fits within the context of existing
research (e.g. it adds, extends, refutes existing
publications)
– The dissertation can be related to existing
academic work published on your topic

14. How is this done?
• Students link their work to trends or patterns
they are seeing within academic research
• Students demonstrate how their work fits the
demands of professionals working in the
industry to which their subject(s) is/are linked
• Students cite other academics who have already
identified gaps within academic research to
show that there is a real academic need for
their topic
• Students show the relevance of their work to
society, the economy or a specific community

15. Example 1 – Why do a study on
destination event marketing?
•
•
•
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
estimated that in 2002 international
arrivals generated receipts of US$463
billion, supporting over 200 million
jobs (8.2% of total employment)
Events have been recognized as one of
three contributors to destination
image (Kotler 1993).
The integration of tourism and sport
events has not only contributed greatly
to tourism destinations, but also
attracted the interest of a number of
researchers in the tourism literature in
recent years (Weed and Bull
2004, Standeven and Knop
1999, Hudson 2003).
• In contrast, the level of
published research on
sport event marketing in
the context of destinations
is still limited, compared
to the importance of the
phenomenon in tourism.

16. Example 2 – Why do a study on
marketing Oktoberfest?
• Oktoberfest, which attracts some
6.2 million visitors a year, has a
noteworthy impact as an
international brand.
• The Expectancy value theory
and the uses and gratification
theory founded by Martin
Fishbein in the 1970s, two
directly linked communication
theories, will be utilized to
research this questions and to
explore and examine the causes
and effects of thecommunication
channels.

17. Example 3 – Why do a study on
event authenticity/integrity?
• Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world.
In 2005 it accounted for 10.4% of the world‟s gross
domestic product.
• Event tourism studies rarely study the complex aspects
of the human psyche because they are paid for by
funders with financial motivations.
• Promoters often over estimate the benefits and „push‟
the community to hosting an event without
considering if it fulfils the needs of those concerned
(Getz, 1994).

18. Over to you …
Questions???