Dissertation-Writing
Dissertation Writing
Brief Description
Writing dissertation can be a new experience because it is an independent project in itself. Graduate students tend to get very serious when it comes to writing dissertation. It is also true that dissertation can be a very tedious task because it is time consuming and brain consuming. One has to really manage great time skills in order to dedicate and commit to writing dissertation. Dissertation cannot be compiled in one shot it is a strategy that needs to be developed with time. Writing dissertation teaches and trains students in thinking, synthesizing, analytically utilizing information that serves well in a long term career. Dissertation is an important document and part of career as it completely transforms and moulds an individual. Dissertation is a process that involves important steps. It is important to read and understand through each step before writing dissertation.
Management of the Topic
Topic for the dissertation is a very difficult task, it is obvious that you won’t get ‘topic’ handy or at a tip of your hand. Topic has to be given a thought; it is a process, as people tend to change their topics continually. However, it is important to narrow down at topics that may be used for the dissertation. The topics also have to be approved by the committee or advisor as they need to agree with your focus and discipline. If your topic is not approved by the research committee or advisor then proceeding with the dissertation is lame and in vain.
If the topic is agreed and approved by the advisor and committee then the succeeding steps have to be followed in writing a well-planned dissertation.
• Variables are inevitably an important element when it comes to writing dissertation. It is important to think about the important variables related to the topic, and write them down, this will help dissertation to reach its scholarly value.
• It is important to discuss with the advisor about the changes that might take throughout the dissertation. There could be times that you may just have to change your focus, so it is important to inform the advisor about intentions related to the writing of dissertation.
• Take a peek at dissertations that have been written in the past, possibly in your own subject or close to your subject. This will give an idea on how to produce a dissertation from a single topic.
Understand that a good dissertation will always have the following:
• A clear objective of the topic which is well planned and researchers
• Dissertation shows that the student has understood the important concepts and variables and applied in their work
• Dissertation should include critical analysis and evaluation, in addition to the discussion throughout.
• Dissertation is expected to be consistent with correct references used throughout.
• It should be expressed and structured professionally.
• It should be more than being an academic piece.
• It should be descriptive with value
• It should rely on resources that have been articulately used
• Conclusion should make the reader challenge their own thoughts regarding the topic.
Planning Phase
The planning phase is an important element while writing a dissertation. Planning starts with a timetable and time management. Each day has to be planned articulately to make this dissertation a huge success. This is one in lifetime project that has to be given priority over other things in life. In addition to blocking time each day, it is important to schedule or map out a strategy that fits the work schedule. Daily dissertation work should be followed up by scheduling device. This will encourage in keeping track of time, and it will not allow procrastination.
Planning phase should also determine the assessment of your productivity in a day. If you are a morning person, and write well in the morning, then it is advised that you schedule your dissertation writing time accordingly. It is important to schedule the best hours in the day for writing dissertation.
Writing dissertation in a Productive Space
There are many students who have their favourite spaces of work. These spaces of work can either be the campus or at home. Determining the comfort of writing space can allow dissertation flow to be good. Dissertation writing has to be productive, and so working at the comfort of your space is also important.
Writing Table of Contents
This is an absolute significant part of dissertation writing. Table of Contents is like a skeleton structure of dissertation. Table of Contents should follow the methodology as given below:
• Objective of the Research Study
• Locating and Mapping Published Information
• Locating information from the relevant websites
• Search Strategies implementation
• Popular journals vs use of scholarly material
• Evaluation of Journal Articles
This table of contents is used only for the planning stage. At the planning stage, following the right strategy and table of contents helps in using good flow in writing perfect dissertation. It is important to stay focused with objectives in mind. There are some other basic questions that are important while writing dissertation:
• The main idea of the dissertation
• What ideas are been proved or described?
• Is there enough support to prove the research question or hypothesis statement
• Is there enough scholarly material for an evident based research?
Nonetheless all these important segments allow a good flow of thought and articulation through writing dissertation.
Evaluation of Journal Articles
This is an important segment in the research process. Evaluation of Journal articles leads to writing a good literature review. An articulate and organized literature reviews helps in perfect theoretical formulation and identification of the research problem. This further helps in research design, planning, and data analysis section. Lastly, it is only possible to answer empirical research questions when the literature review comes out to be strong. The research sources used during literature review are a basis and background to provide theoretical interpretation of results and comparison between other research studies. Last but not the least is the ‘Conclusion’ part which summarizes the arguments formed during the research process.
A diagram given below portrays ‘Research Process’ in one shot:
