How to Write a Thesis, 3rd Edition

346 Pages·2011·1.338 MB·English

by  Rowena Murray

Open UP Study Skills
How to Write a Thesis
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Rowena Murray
CoverdesignbyNaomiMitchell
How to Write a Thesis
THIRD EDITION
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“This book has become a trusted resource for students from a wide range of disciplinary
backgrounds. Not only does it take you through the steps and stages of thesis writing,
but more importantly, it offers rich advice and support that helps build confi dence,
sets up effective writing habits and generates a positive orientation towards the
complex task of thesis writing.”
Professor Sarah Moore, Associate Vice President Academic,
University of Limerick, Ireland
“I’ve found Rowena’s shrewd and insightful suggestions for writing helpful, not only
for others but also for me.”
Peter Elbow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
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How to Write
a Thesis
THIRD EDITION
Rowena Murray
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Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL6 2QL
email: [e-mail]
world wide web: www.openup.co.uk
and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA
First published 2002
Second edition published 2006
Reprinted 2007 (twice), 2008, 2010, 2011
First published in this third edition 2011
Copyright © Rowena Murray 2011
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the
purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form,
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a
licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such
licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the
Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street,
London, EC1N 8TS.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978-0-33-524428-7
ISBN-10: 0-33-524428-9
eISBN: 978-0-33-524429-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
CIP data applied for
Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in the UK by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow
Fictitious names of companies, products, people, characters and/or data that may be
used herein (in case studies or in examples) are not intended to represent any real
individual, company, product or event.
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This book is dedicated to
Glennis Tavener
Fiona Averill
Beth McKay
Sheila Hughes
Matthew Alexander
Marie-Jeanne McNaughton
Stella Neil
Maura Murphy
Akwugo Emejulu
Janis McIntyre
Annette Coburn
Anne Ryan
Rosemary Sleith
Cherie Woolmer
Tatpol Vajarodaya
Chapter 8 is for Morag.
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Contents
Preface to the third edition xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Overview xvii
Introduction: How to write 1,000 words an hour 1
The need for this book 1
What the students say: ‘How I used this book’ 3
What the students want 14
A writer’s ‘toolbox’ 16
The ‘quality question’ 17
Principles of academic writing 22
The literature on writing 22
Disciplinary differences 24
Thinking about structure 29
Prompts 29
Supervisors enabling student writing 31
Writing in a second language 32
Grammar, punctuation, spelling 34
Goal setting 35
Lifelong learning 39
Audience and purpose 40
Timetable for writing 41
Checklist: defi ning the writing task 42
Learning outcomes 42
1 Thinking about writing a thesis 43
Doctorate or masters? 43
What is a doctorate? 44
New routes to the PhD 47
Why are you doing a doctorate? 48
Internal and external drivers 49
PhD or professional doctorate? 50
Full-time or part-time? 53
What will you use writing for? 54
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viii CONTENTS
Regulations 55
How will it look on the page? 58
Demystifi cation: codes and guides 59
How will my thesis be assessed? 65
What are the criteria? 65
Defi ning ‘originality’ 70
What is the reader looking for? 72
IT processes and needs 75
Reasons for not writing 78
Peer discussion and support 79
Your fi rst meeting with your supervisor 79
Training needs analysis 81
Questions for refl ection 83
Prompts for discussion 83
Writing timetable 83
Checklist: pre-planning 84
Learning outcomes 85
2 Starting to write 86
Can’t it wait till later? 87
Audiences and purposes 87
Primary audience 88
Secondary audience 89
Immediate audience 90
The role of the supervisor 91
A common language for talking about writing 96
Writing to prompts 100
Freewriting 101
Generative writing 112
Checklist: starting to write 116
Learning outcomes 116
3 Seeking structure 117
Revising your proposal 118
Outlining 119
Finding a thesis 121
Writing a literature review 122
Plagiarism 135
Designing a thesis 144
‘Writing in layers’ 146
Writing locations 148
Writing times 149
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CONTENTS ix
Checklist: seeking structure 150
Learning outcomes 150
4 The fi rst milestone 151
First writing milestone 152
The fi rst-year report 152
From notes to draft 153
Dialogue 156
Monitoring 158
Pressure 159
What is progress? 160
Looking for topics 162
Work-in-progress writing 163
A writers’ group 170
Checklist: the fi rst milestone 177
Learning outcomes 177
5 Becoming a serial writer 178
What is a serial writer? 179
Scaffolding for an argument 180
Paragraph structure 180
Introductory paragraphs 184
Writing about the method(s) 186
Study buddy 188
Regular writing 189
Problems with writing 190
Writer’s block 191
Incremental writing 198
Writing binges 199
Developing a writing strategy 200
Checklist: becoming a serial writer 201
Learning outcomes 201
6 Creating closure 202
What is closure? 202
Interim closure 204
Don’t put it off any longer 205
Research journal 206
Writing habits 212
Halfway point 214
Brown’s eight questions 216
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