Writing A Postgraduate Thesis Or Dissertation: Tools For Success

Writing A Postgraduate Thesis Or Dissertation: Tools For Success

Description:
Writing a Postgraduate Thesis or Dissertation discusses the challenges that students encounter in their writing and provides thoughtful advice on how to address those challenges. It provides guidance on writing about literature, methodology and methods and shows the importance of stating a contribution to knowledge. Providing key insight into the process of writing a dissertation or thesis, this book:
• explains the process of writing and provides insight into strategies that support good writing
• considers the audience and purpose of a report as well as the voice of the writer
• discusses the structure and organisational features of theses and dissertations, highlighting the central role of the research question
Writing a Postgraduate Thesis or Dissertation is an ideal guide for doctoral and masters students in the social sciences.

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
List of figures and tables
Preface
1. About writing
Why is writing important?
Why is writing a challenge?
How can you become a more productive writer?
Thinking about the process of writing
An example of planning and writing
Summary
Where to read more
2. Showing knowledge of your field
Why is reading important?
Reading strategies
How to take notes
Using notes to construct an account
A short note on summarising, paraphrasing, and patchworking
Theoretical and conceptual frameworks
What if someone has done a literature review already?
Being critical
Summary
Where to read more
3. Showing knowledge of methodology
How do I show knowledge of ontology and epistemology?
An example: Writing about riots
How do I show knowledge of methodologies and methods?
Writing about data collection
Writing about data analysis
Analysing more than one set of data
Being critical
Summary
Where to read more
4. Showing you have made a contribution
Addressing your research questions explicitly
Comparing to the literature
Generalising your findings
Moving from description to explanation
Making the contribution clear
Making recommendations
Being critical
Summary
Where to read more
5. The presentation of a thesis or dissertation
What is common to most reports?
Templates for the main body of the report
Organisation of chapters, sections, and paragraphs
The importance of words
Editing and proof reading
Finding a voice
Being critical
Summary
Where to read more
6. Final thoughts
A recap of the book
A holistic approach to academic writing
Tips for success
Key terms
Index