A lecturer is using ‘It’s….Rebekah Vardy’ as a guide on how to do a dissertation

A politics lecturer at Strathclyde Uni is using the Coleen Rooney/Rebekah Vardy drama to show students how to put together their dissertation.

Richard Johnson showed his postgrad students how each part of Coleen's iconic unmasking was, in fact, the perfect template for an abstract.

"The reaction from the class was delayed due to how dry his delivery was, once people got it they were laughing," student Harry Caine told The Tab.

"I was in hysterics and thought 'Well, what would Coleen say?'"

To recap: Coleen Rooney outed Rebekah Vardy's account for allegedly selling stories to The Sun. Coleen blocked everyone except Rebekah and fed her fake stories over five months, before finally exposing her with the legendary post.

And now, students on the Principles of Research Design module can turn the legendary prose into a first-rate research proposal. Let's break it down:

Concise problem statement: “For a few years now someone who I trusted to follow me on my personal Instagram account has been consistently informing The Sun newspaper of my private posts and stories."

Why it matters: “There has been so much information given to them about me, my friends and my family – all without my permission or knowledge.

Preliminary observations: “After a long time of trying to figure out who it could be, for various reasons, I had a suspicion.

A testable hypothesis which sets out one independent variable only: “To try and prove this, I came up with an idea, I blocked everyone from viewing Instagram except ONE account. (Those on my private account must have been wondering why I haven’t had stories on there for a while).

Experimental Replication: “Over the past five months I have posted a series of false stories to see if they made their way into the Sun newspaper. And you know what, they did! The story about gender selection in Mexico, the story about returning to TV and then the latest story about the basement flood in my new house.

Summarises findings constrained by uncertainties/caveats: “It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to. Now I know for certain which account/individual it’s come from.

Data management like a champ (BONUS: Orthogonal support): "I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them."

Ends with most concise & clear conclusion possible on the basis of available data: “It’s……… Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

"I have to say this made me laugh a lot," says Harry.

Johnson, whose Strathclyde biography fittingly notes his interest in international conflict management, told The Tab he's not the slide's original author, and instead found it on Twitter before sharing with his students.

"I think the advice by the creator is well-thought out and solid," he said.

"There’s also a lesson in here about remembering to cite your sources, even from Twitter."

If you are planning to do your actual dissertation on Coleen Rooney, please get in touch at [email protected]

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• QUIZ: Are you a Coleen or a Rebekah?

• The 31 best memes about the Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney spat

• All the drama that’s gone down with Coleen and Rebekah since *that* tweet