Thesis Writing

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Thesis Writing
Dr. Tamara OConnor Dr. Mark Matthews Student
Learning Development http//student-learning.tcd.i
e
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Steps in Thesis Writing

• Background
• 2. Ideas
• 3. Planning
• 4. Writing

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Demystifying Dissertation Writing Peg Boyle
Single
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• Background
• why? preconceptions - starting

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Why do we write

• A professional thesis writer?
• Learn how to write
• Learn how to think
• Learn how to conduct research
• Plus much more

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Preconceptions

• It takes 6 months
• You do it at the end
• You can cut and paste from papers
• No one will read it

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When do I start?

• Immediately keep a journal

Where do I start?
Read theses
Do the groundwork
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• Ideas
• message title abstract

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Start with.

• A focus statement.

• The essence of your research
• 1-4 sentences
• Get feedback on it
• Discuss with supervisor

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Examples

• Why do some graduates succeed and others
• dont? Is it due to the student, the department,
  or
• both? Using mixed methods, I examine how
• subject variables and departmental variables
• influence the adjustment and success of first
  year
• graduate students. The study uses data from
• surveys and semi-structured interviews. (PhD in
• Social Psychology)

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Focus Statement Interview

• Play the role of a journalist.
• Using the Focus Statement Sheet
• Interview the PhD student
• Take notes
• in pairs
• 5 mins

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The Title
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Then develop an abstract

• A tool to think about your thesis/research
• 100-300 words
• Structure
• Precise, clear interesting

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SPSE Technique

• Situation Describe the general background /
  setting in which your research takes place
• Problem Describe a problem that the research
  addresses.
• Solution What did you do or try to address this
  problem?
• Evaluation How did you evaluate the proposed
  solution and what were the results?
• Individually complete 5 mins

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5 / Browns 8 Questions

• Who are the intended readers? (name 3-5)
• What did you do? (50 words)
• Why did you do it? (50)
• What happened? (50)
• What do the results mean in theory? (50)
• What do the results mean in practice? (50)
• What is the key benefit for readers? (25)
• What remains unresolved? (50)
• (Brown 1994/95)

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• Planning
• structure thinking vs. writing table of
  contents

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Structure

• Outline
• Generic thesis structure
• Allocate word count for each
• section
• Design sub-sections
• Table of contents
• feature
• Write in layers

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Outlining Level 1
Background Objectives Method Findings Conclusions
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Outlining Level 2
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Level 3
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Rule of Three

• Within each chapter, repeat 3 times
• Intro. We will show ..
• Body. Show them ..
• Concl. We have shown ..
• Within thesis, repeat contributions 3 times
• Intro chapter
• Main chapters
• Conclusion chapter

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• Writing
• a habit how not to write - strategies

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The Habit of Writing

• Writing at the end of a long list of tasks no
  fixed deadline
• I cant find the time for writing.
• I have no energy for writing

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Balance
Where you work When you work What you do
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10 ways to not write

• 1. Open your email at the start of the day and
  never quit it.
• 2. Keep your writing goals quite general.
• 3. Dont talk about your writing-in-progress.
• 4. Only seek feedback when you have a full draft.
• 5. Dont write unless you know exactly what you
  want to say.
• 6. Wait till youre ready to write.
• 7. Dont bother defining sub-goals you know
  what you have to do.
• 8. Dont bother with the 5-minute warm up for
  writing -- you know what to do.
• 9. Always write in large chunks of time.
• 10. Try and find more time for writing.
• Rowena Murray

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Writing Strategies

• Book/journal
• Warming Up
• Write to prompts
• Freewriting
• Writing in Layers

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Warming Up Exercise

• What I want to write about today is.. (30 words)
• This is important because. (30 words)
• Today, I will not write about (30 words)

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Writing to prompts

• What writing have I done and what would I like to
  do?
• Where do my ideas come from?
• How does what I read compare with my own views?
• What I want to write about next is
• What do I want to write about next?

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Freewriting

• Writing for 5 minutes
• Without stopping
• In sentences
• Private no external reader
• No structure needed
• Topic related to your research
• Like brainstorming in sentences

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Writing in layers

• Write a list of chapter headings
• Write a sentence or two on contents of each
  chapter
• Write lists of headings for each section in each
  chapter
• Make notes for each heading on how you will
  develop the section
• Write an introductory paragraph for each chapter
• Write the word count, draft number and date at
  top of first page

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• Tools Techniques
• a habit how not to write - strategies

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Tools?

• Academic Writing http//www.phrasebank.manchester
  .ac.uk
• What do you use?

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What are examiners looking for?

• Look at the checklist in your guide
• Review of literature
• Methodology
• Presentation of Results
• Discussion and Conclusions

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Tips for successful writing

1. Plan to write regularly
2. Make a time plan and stick to it
3. Write up section as soon as its ready
4. Stop writing at a point where you could go on
   makes it easier to start next time!
5. Decide where and when best for you
6. Dont write when exhausted
7. Seek support

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Steps in Thesis Writing

• Background
• 2. Ideas
• 3. Planning
• 4. Writing

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Student Learning Development
Thank you for your time Visit our website at
http//student-learning.tcd.ie