The initial steps of dissertation writing
1- Understanding dissertation writing
Dissertation writing involves you in three processes: conducting research, understanding the results of your research, and writing a paper on your understanding. These processes are interwoven throughout your research project. All three processes roll ahead and circle back according to what unfolds as you work. To help you, I cover each process in this article.
For example, the writing process for a research paper resembles the process of writing for all academic papers. Using research simply adds one more dimension. In PLANNING the paper, you choose a suitable research topic; refine that topic in to a research question; use the search strategy to locate, understand, and evaluate sources; and take notes. In DRAFTING and REVISING the paper, you present your SYNTHESIS of the material you found during your search. Then you support your synthesis by quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing your sources. At all stages of dissertation writing, be sure to consult with expert or use necessary guidelines so that you can apply the principles of critical thinking.
Although few research paper assignments are phrased as questions, research writing means that you must search to find answers. Regarding research as a quest for answer gives you focus: You cannot know whether you have found useful material unless you know what you are looking for.
Research questions, whether stated or implied, and the strategies needed to answer them vary widely. Your purpose might be to present and explain information: "How does penicillin destroy bacteria?" Or you purpose might be to argue one side of an issue: "Is congress more important than the Supreme Court in setting social policy?" To find answers, you SYNTESIZE material from various sources in an attempt to understand.
Attempt is an important word in relation to research. Some research questions lead to final, definitive answer, but some do not. In the preceding paragraph, the question about penicillin leads to a definitive answer (you describe how the antibiotic penicillin destroys the cell walls of some bacteria), so your writing, has to be INFORMATIVE. The question about social policy has no definite answer, but rather, it invites you to present an informed opinion based on information and opinions gathered from your research; so your writing has to be PERSUASIVE.
Research can be an engrossing, creative activity. By gathering information, analyzing its separate elements, and compromising a synthesis of them, you come to know your subject deeply. The act of writing can help you make fresh connections and gain unexpected insights. Equally important, you can sample the pleasure of being a self-reliant learner, someone with the self-discipline and intellectual resources to track down, absorb, and synthesize information independently. If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of research writing into the series of steps describe in this article becomes far less intimidating.
2- Scheduling for research writing
Dissertation writing takes time. The key to your successfully completing research project is to plan ahead and budget your time intelligently. As soon as you get a research paper assignment, work out a time schedule for finishing each step. The schedule will be listed shortly below. No two research paper projects are alike, so adapt the schedule to your needs. You might need only one day for some steps but two weeks for others. Be flexible, but always keep your eye on the calendar. The more you use the time schedule, the better you will handle research projects efficiently.
Sample schedule for a research project
Assignment received .
Planning Finish By (Date)
1- Start a research log
2- Choose a topic suitable for research
3- Draft a preliminary research question
4- Decide on my purpose and audience
5- Gather needed equipment
6- Learn how to evaluate sources
7- Decide what documentation style to use
Researching
8- Start with a "search strategy"----but remember I might modify it.
9- Decide what types of research I need:
field research
interview
print and/or electronic sources
10- If 9a or 9b, schedule tasks and appointments.
11- If 9c, consult Library related to your search.
To get library call numbers
To begin list of heading and keywords
12- Consult reference works:
General
Specialized
13- Consult book catalog and books.
14- Consult periodicals.
15- Decide whether to use online sources: World Wide Web.
16- Decide whether to use electronic sources: tapes, CD-ROMs, etc.
Writing
17- Draft a preliminary dissertation statement and expect to revise it.
18- Outline as required
19- Draft paper
20- Use correct in-text (parenthetical) citations.
21- Revise paper
22- Complete a final list of Works Cited
Assignment due----------------------------------------
Using a research log
A research log is like a diary. It becomes a record of your research process, especially your evolving thoughts about your work. Start a research log as soon as you get your assignment. Use a separate notebook for the log, one that you can take with you wherever you conduct research. If you use a laptop, start a separate folder for your research log. Begin by entering the schedule you intent to follow.
Although much of your research log will never find its way into your research paper itself, you can use its pages to enhance your efficiency. A well-kept log traces your line of reasoning as your project evolves, tells where you ended each work session, and suggests what your next steps should be. Such a record means much less wasted time retracing a research path or reconstructing your thinking.
After all, college students are expected to focus on many separate courses all at the same time. A research log also helps you "think on paper," especially when you use the critical thinking sequence of chart. Writing in your log helps you discover insights that only the physical acts of writing make possible.
TEACHING TIP
Saying something original based on several sources in an imposing challenge for most students. Many instead treat the research as a knowledge-telling exercise in which they restate what they have read. The research paper becomes the string of quotations, paraphrases, and summaries that drown out the student's voice, lack purpose and focus and often invite plagiarism. According to Margaret Kantz ("Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively," College English January 1990). "Writing an original persuasive argument based on sources requires students to apply material to a problem or to use it to answer a question, rather than simply to repeat it or evaluate it ". But students "have learned to see texts statically, as description of truths, instead of as arguments ". The view encourages students simply to collect facts in to a research paper in the belief that the facts will settle any disagreements and reveal the truth. Students should try to understand what the author of source was trying to accomplish and what audience was being addressed. They should treat facts as claims that could be challenged or interpreted differently. And they should write their research paper to solve a problem or answer a question for a particular audience.