Authoring a PhD: How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation

311 Pages·2003·1.78 MB·English

by  Patrick Dunleavy (auth.)

Authoring a PhD
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Authoring a PhD
How to plan, draft, write and finish
a doctoral thesis or dissertation
Patrick Dunleavy
© Patrick Dunleavy 2003
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as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
First published 2003 by
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ISBN 978-1-4039-1191-9 hardback
ISBN 978-1-4039-0584-0 ISBN 978-0-230-80208-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-80208-7
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunleavy,Patrick.
Authoring a PhD :how to plan,draft,write,and finish a doctoral
thesis or dissertation / Patrick Dunleavy.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4039-1191-9 – ISBN 978-1-4039-0584-0 (pbk.)
1.Dissertations,Academic–Authorship–Handbooks,manuals,etc.
2.Academic writing–Handbooks,manuals,etc.I.Title:Authoring a Ph.D.
II.Title.
LB2369 .D85 2003
808(cid:2).02–dc21 2002042453
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03
For Sheila and Rosemary
Thanks for the encouragement
All rules for study are summed up in this one:
learn only in order to create.
Friedrich Schelling
Contents
List of figures and tables ix
Preface x
1 Becoming an author 1
Authoring is more than just writing 2
Different models of PhD and the tasks of
authoring 5
Managing readers’ expectations 11
2 Envisioning the thesis as a whole 18
Defining the central research questions 18
Doing original work 26
3 Planning an integrated thesis:
the macro-structure 43
The whole and the core 44
Focusing down or opening out 53
Four patterns of explanation 62
4 Organizing a chapter or paper:
the micro-structure 76
Dividing a chapter into sections 76
Devising headings and subheadings 84
Handling starts and finishes 89
5 Writing clearly: style and referencing issues 103
The elements of good research style 104
Effective referencing 120
VII
VIII ◆ CONTENTS
6 Developing your text and managing the
writing process 134
Drafting, upgrading and going public 135
Remodelling text 143
Organizing the writing process 148
7 Handling attention points: data, charts
and graphics 157
Principles for presenting data well 159
Handling tables 165
Designing charts and graphs 172
Other techniques for data reduction 185
Using diagrams and images 192
8 The end-game: finishing your doctorate 197
From a first full draft to your final text 199
Submitting the thesis and choosing examiners 209
The final oral examination (viva) 217
9 Publishing your research 227
Writing and submitting journal papers 227
Re-working your thesis as a book 251
Afterword 264
Glossary of maxims, terms and phrases 266
Notes 277
Further reading 287
Index 291
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
3.1 Interrelating the whole and the core 50
3.2 The focus down model 55
3.3 The opening out model 59
3.4 The compromise model 61
3.5 Three ways of viewing my home study 64
3.6 Examples of a matrix structure 74
4.1 The tree structure of a chapter 102
5.1 How PhD students’ writing can develop 105
7.1 Eight main types of chart (and when to use them) 173
7.2 How health boards compare 182
7.3 How Scotland’s health boards compared in treating
cataracts, 1998–9 financial year 183
7.4 An example of a box-and-whisker chart comparing
across variables 189
7.5 An example of median-smoothing 191
8.1 Integrating themes 200
9.1 An example of a journal article evaluation form 236
Tables
5.1 How different pressures on authors improve
or worsen the accessibility of their text 107
7.1 How health boards compare 166
7.2 How Scotland’s health boards compared in
treating cataracts, 1998–9 financial year 167
IX