Authoring a PhD

Authoring a PhD
Author: Patrick Dunleavy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2017-04-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0230802087

This engaging and highly regarded book takes readers through the key stages of their PhD research journey, from the initial ideas through to successful completion and publication. It gives helpful guidance on forming research questions, organising ideas, pulling together a final draft, handling the viva and getting published. Each chapter contains a wealth of practical suggestions and tips for readers to try out and adapt to their own research needs and disciplinary style. This text will be essential reading for PhD students and their supervisors in humanities, arts, social sciences, business, law, health and related disciplines.

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day
Author: Joan Bolker
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Total Pages: 206
Release: 1998-08-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1429968885

Expert writing advice from the editor of the Boston Globe best-seller, The Writer's Home Companion Dissertation writers need strong, practical advice, as well as someone to assure them that their struggles aren't unique. Joan Bolker, midwife to more than one hundred dissertations and co-founder of the Harvard Writing Center, offers invaluable suggestions for the graduate-student writer. Using positive reinforcement, she begins by reminding thesis writers that being able to devote themselves to a project that truly interests them can be a pleasurable adventure. She encourages them to pay close attention to their writing method in order to discover their individual work strategies that promote productivity; to stop feeling fearful that they may disappoint their advisors or family members; and to tailor their theses to their own writing style and personality needs. Using field-tested strategies she assists the student through the entire thesis-writing process, offering advice on choosing a topic and an advisor, on disciplining one's self to work at least fifteen minutes each day; setting short-term deadlines, on revising and defing the thesis, and on life and publication after the dissertation. Bolker makes writing the dissertation an enjoyable challenge.

Writing for Social Scientists

Writing for Social Scientists
Author: Howard S. Becker
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2008-11-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0226041379

Students and researchers all write under pressure, and those pressures—most lamentably, the desire to impress your audience rather than to communicate with them—often lead to pretentious prose, academic posturing, and, not infrequently, writer’s block. Sociologist Howard S. Becker has written the classic book on how to conquer these pressures and simply write. First published nearly twenty years ago, Writing for Social Scientists has become a lifesaver for writers in all fields, from beginning students to published authors. Becker’s message is clear: in order to learn how to write, take a deep breath and then begin writing. Revise. Repeat. It is not always an easy process, as Becker wryly relates. Decades of teaching, researching, and writing have given him plenty of material, and Becker neatly exposes the foibles of academia and its “publish or perish” atmosphere. Wordiness, the passive voice, inserting a “the way in which” when a simple “how” will do—all these mechanisms are a part of the social structure of academic writing. By shrugging off such impediments—or at the very least, putting them aside for a few hours—we can reform our work habits and start writing lucidly without worrying about grades, peer approval, or the “literature.” In this new edition, Becker takes account of major changes in the computer tools available to writers today, and also substantially expands his analysis of how academic institutions create problems for them. As competition in academia grows increasingly heated, Writing for Social Scientists will provide solace to a new generation of frazzled, would-be writers.

The Elements of Academic Style

The Elements of Academic Style
Author: Eric Hayot
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2014-08-26
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0231537417

Eric Hayot teaches graduate students and faculty in literary and cultural studies how to think and write like a professional scholar. From granular concerns, such as sentence structure and grammar, to big-picture issues, such as adhering to genre patterns for successful research and publishing and developing productive and rewarding writing habits, Hayot helps ambitious students, newly minted Ph.D.'s, and established professors shape their work and develop their voices. Hayot does more than explain the techniques of academic writing. He aims to adjust the writer's perspective, encouraging scholars to think of themselves as makers and doers of important work. Scholarly writing can be frustrating and exhausting, yet also satisfying and crucial, and Hayot weaves these experiences, including his own trials and tribulations, into an ethos for scholars to draw on as they write. Combining psychological support with practical suggestions for composing introductions and conclusions, developing a schedule for writing, using notes and citations, and structuring paragraphs and essays, this guide to the elements of academic style does its part to rejuvenate scholarship and writing in the humanities.

Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation or Thesis Faster

Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation or Thesis Faster
Author: E. Alana James
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2013-11-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1483324397

A doctoral dissertation is arguably the most important journey that students will embark upon in their professional careers, so smart travelers will want E. Alana James and Tracesea H. Slater’s Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation or Thesis Faster: A Proven Map to Success at their fingertips. James and Slater identify the key places and challenges that create extra stress during the dissertation process, and offer effective strategies and tools to address those challenges and ensure academic success. Their map walks readers through each step of the process, including: • determining the research topic, • choosing appropriate methods, • turning a hypothesis into a study, • completing a literature review, • writing and defending a proposal, • collecting and analyzing data, • writing up the study, and • ultimately defending the dissertation. Building on years of experience with doctoral students, the authors provide a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use tool that encourages student reflection; includes student stories, hints, and writing tips; and provides end-of-chapter checklists and ideas for incorporating social media. With the proven techniques and guidance of this indispensable book, doctoral students will finish their thesis or dissertation—faster!

Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation

Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation
Author: Randy L. Joyner
Publisher: Corwin Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2018-06-07
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1544317190

The classic step-by-step guide to thesis and dissertation success, fully updated for 2018. From selecting your topic to defending your finished work, a masters thesis or doctoral dissertation is a major undertaking. Since 1998, this book has been the go-to resource for scholars seeking guidance and best practices at every phase of the process. This revised and updated fourth edition is the most comprehensive guide yet to researching, writing, and publishing a successful thesis or dissertation. It includes: Insights on leveraging new technologies to maximize your efficiency. Current case studies demonstrating the book’s teachings in action. Tested principles of effective planning, an engaging writing style, defense preparation, and more. Written in an easy, digestible style perfect for a thesis or dissertation-writer’s busy schedule, this latest edition of a contemporary classic belongs on every advanced degree candidate’s shelf. Dr. Joyner and Dr. Rouse have again put together an in-depth, comprehensive, and practical guide that is a valuable resource for graduate students. This edition includes important information related to current and emerging trends in technology and valuable case studies focusing on the most common problems encountered in writing at the master’s and doctoral levels. James R. Machell, Dean College of Education and Professional Studies, University of Central Oklahoma Writing the Winning Dissertation is an essential guidebook for students writing a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. I used the first edition to write an award-winning dissertation and now use the updated edition with the doctoral students I advise. I highly recommend it to both students and advisors. Susan Colby, Director of Faculty Professional Development, Appalachian State University; Boone, NC Appalachian State University

Master’s/Ph.D. Thesis: A 40-Minute Summary

Master’s/Ph.D. Thesis: A 40-Minute Summary
Author: Mitchell P. Jones
Publisher: Mitchell P. Jones
Total Pages: 61
Release: 2024-03-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0645846724

Definitive advice and recommendations on thesis writing can be hard to come by and even harder to understand. Look no further for step-by-step support to guide you through the thesis writing process with concrete instructions and examples. In an average reading time of just 40 minutes, learn how to compile a highly scoped and impactful master's or Ph.D. thesis. Using only bullet points, recommendations are provided on all thesis sections in both monograph and publication-based theses including how to set up and caption effective tables, graphs and schematics and equation and unit formatting principles in addition to shortcuts for efficient referencing, titling and editing. Insights on what students can expect during the thesis examination process are also provided. 100% of the content, 30% of the time: Supercharge your learning experience. Mitchell P. Jones’ Key Points guide Master’s/Ph.D. Thesis: A 40-Minute Summary is a concision-orientated variant of the Scientific Writing for Beginners guide Master's/Ph.D. Thesis: A Step-by-Step Writing Guide. Further details on the points covered can be found in this parent guide.

From Dissertation to Book

From Dissertation to Book
Author: William Germano
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2014-02-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 022606218X

How to transform a thesis into a publishable work that can engage audiences beyond the academic committee. When a dissertation crosses my desk, I usually want to grab it by its metaphorical lapels and give it a good shake. “You know something!” I would say if it could hear me. “Now tell it to us in language we can understand!” Since its publication in 2005, From Dissertation to Book has helped thousands of young academic authors get their books beyond the thesis committee and into the hands of interested publishers and general readers. Now revised and updated to reflect the evolution of scholarly publishing, this edition includes a new chapter arguing that the future of academic writing is in the hands of young scholars who must create work that meets the broader expectations of readers rather than the narrow requirements of academic committees. At the heart of From Dissertation to Book is the idea that revising the dissertation is fundamentally a process of shifting its focus from the concerns of a narrow audience—a committee or advisors—to those of a broader scholarly audience that wants writing to be both informative and engaging. William Germano offers clear guidance on how to do this, with advice on such topics as rethinking the table of contents, taming runaway footnotes, shaping chapter length, and confronting the limitations of jargon, alongside helpful timetables for light or heavy revision. Germano draws on his years of experience in both academia and publishing to show writers how to turn a dissertation into a book that an audience will actually enjoy, whether reading on a page or a screen. He also acknowledges that not all dissertations can or even should become books and explores other, often overlooked, options, such as turning them into journal articles or chapters in an edited work. With clear directions, engaging examples, and an eye for the idiosyncrasies of academic writing, he reveals to recent PhDs the secrets of careful and thoughtful revision—a skill that will be truly invaluable as they add “author” to their curriculum vitae.

Writing the Doctoral Dissertation

Writing the Doctoral Dissertation
Author: Gordon B. Davis
Publisher: Barrons Educational Series
Total Pages: 164
Release: 1997
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780812098006

Here is the first book a prospective doctoral candidate should read. Updated to reflect both modern technological advances and the realities of contemporary academia, it serves as an excellent overview of the dissertation process in most academic fields. Advice starts with selecting an advisor and a dissertation committee, then covers problems connected with selecting a dissertation topic, submitting the proposal, working with an advisor, and writing and defending the dissertation.