Table Of ContentI
N
GET THE INSIDE TRACK TO INSIDE TRACK
S
WRITING A SUCCESSFUL DISSERTATION I
D
Become a better academic writer and communicate your research & ideas fl uently and E
successfully whatever your discipline, prior knowledge or level.
T
Writing Dissertations & Theses will guide you through the whole process of writing an
R
academic dissertation, developing your ability to communicate your ideas and
research fl uently and successfully. From conducting research, working with a supervisor, A
understanding and avoiding plagiarism, right through to using feedback and editing to
C
improve your work and your skills, it will ensure that you understand and master the more
technical elements of producing well-written academic work. K
With the in-depth understanding of what is involved in writing a successful academic
dissertation that this book delivers, you will be better prepared to deal with producing a
high-quality dissertation, whether you need to learn the basics of dissertation writing from
scratch, or are already a profi cient writer but in need of a little extra specifi c help.
Get the inside track to: W
▼ Rationales, strategies, examples, and tasks designed to increase your confi dence, R
I
motivation, and sense of achievement T
▼ Examples of the different genres and purposes of academic writing IN
▼ A glossary of useful terms G
▼ Instruction on the use of software packages, e.g. Endnote D
▼ Advice on conducting academic research I
S
▼ Recycling/cross-referencing of concepts and ideas for ease of use S
E
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Visit www.smartstudyskills.com to access a wealth of useful information, WWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG
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tips, templates and interactive activities to support your studies. A
T
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About the Authors O
Dr Neil Murray is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and Senior N DDDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSS
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Consultant English Language Profi ciency at the University of South
Australia. He has taught academic English and Applied Linguistics &
at undergraduate and postgraduate level for twenty-fi ve years.
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Dr David Beglar is the Director of the Graduate TESOL Program H &&&&&&&&& TTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS
in the College of Education at Temple University, Japan E
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Campus. He has taught graduate level courses in Applied
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Linguistics for fi fteen years and has been the primary S
advisor to over thirty doctoral dissertation writers.
NEIL MURRAY & DAVID BEGLAR
www.pearson-books.com
An imprint of
CVR_MURR1703_01_SE_CVR.indd 1 27/5/09 16:23:01
A01_BEGL1703_00_SE_FM.QXD 5/15/09 6:55 AM Page i
WRITING DISSERTATIONS
AND THESES
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INSIDE TRACK
WRITING
DISSERTATIONS
AND THESES
Neil Murray
Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and
Senior Consultant English Language Proficiency,
University of South Australia
David Beglar
Director of the Graduate TESOL Program, College of Education,
Temple University, Japan Campus
A01_BEGL1703_00_SE_FM.QXD 5/15/09 6:55 AM Page iv
Pearson Education Limited
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First published 2009
© Neil Murray and David Beglar 2009
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been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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This book is dedicated to our parents,
Terence and Audrey Murray, and
David and Margie Beglar
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GET THE
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A01_BEGL1703_00_SE_FM.QXD 5/15/09 6:55 AM Page vii
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction xiii
1 ACADEMIC RESEARCH: AN OVERVIEW 1
Conducting academic research: common concerns 2
The similarities and differences between a thesis and a dissertation 3
Developing independence as a researcher and finding your voice 5
Meeting the challenges of academic research 8
Intellectual challenges 8
Emotional challenges 12
Motivational challenges 13
Becoming a member of an academic community 17
Research seminars and conferences 17
Local chapters and special interest groups 18
Networking in person and on the internet 18
Creating a support group 19
Choosing and working with your supervisor 19
The supervisor’s role 20
Factors affecting your choice of supervisor 22
Joint supervisions 25
What can go wrong in the supervisor–supervisee relationship 25
The upgrading process 26
2 PREPARING YOUR RESEARCH 29
Introduction 30
Familiarity with you r university’s rules and regulations 30
Ethical considerations 32
Identifying a gap in the literature 34
Deciding on a research topic 36
Generating research questions and research hypotheses 38
Deciding on the research approach 41
Philosophical inquiry 42
Quantitative approaches 43
Qualitative approaches 47
Mixed-methods approaches 50
Disciplinary and subject variations 52
3 PREPARING TO WRITE 53
Reading and planning before you write 54
vii
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Contents
Sources of information 54
Information literacy 54
Types of source materials 55
Electronic sources of information 56
Oral sources of information 62
Identifying and selecting appropriate information 62
Know what you are looking for 63
Search for titles of books or articles 63
Perform an internet search of relevant theories or concepts 63
Perform a name search of relevant scholars 64
Read abstracts 64
Read synopses of books 64
Look through tables of contents 64
Check indexes 65
Scan books or articles for key terms 65
Read bibliographies 65
Scan library shelves 66
Read book reviews 66
Ask a librarian! 66
A final note 66
Note-making 67
Directing your note-making 67
Making your notes understandable 69
Recording your sources 75
Creating a plan and organising your argument 76
Why plan? 76
Laying out your plan 77
4 CLEAR AND EFFECTIVE WRITING 79
The style of academic writing 80
Clarity 80
Level of formality 82
Avoiding clichés 87
Keeping your writing gender-neutral 88
Supporting your statements 89
Avoiding plagiarism 90
Referencing and quotations 90
Acknowledging alternative perspectives 103
Introductions 104
Summarising and concluding individual chapters 110
Summaries 110
Conclusions 113
The mechanics of academic writing 116
Capitalisation and punctuation 116
viii
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Contents
English and Latin abbreviations 128
Headings 128
Figures 132
Footnotes 134
Bibliography 135
Acknowledgements 139
Table of contents 140
Acronyms and abbreviations 140
Appendices 140
5 THE RESEARCH PROJECT 141
Introduction 142
The abstract 143
Keywords 145
The introduction 146
The background of the issue 146
Creating a sense of interest 147
Presenting key terminology 150
Statement of the problem 150
Purposes of the study 152
Significance of the study 153
Theoretical perspective 154
The audience for the study 156
Delimitations 157
The literature review 158
The purposes of a literature review 158
Reading critically 158
Options for writing the literature review 159
How to review published papers and books 160
Organising the literature review 161
Synthesising and summarising major sections 162
Presenting the gap in the literature 162
Stating the major purposes of the study 163
Stating research questions 164
Stating research hypotheses 167
Methodology 169
Research participants 170
Instrumentation 171
Procedures 174
Analytical approach 175
The results 176
Organising the results 176
Using tables and graphs to present results 177
ix
