writing your thesis webinar 4th may 2016

RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

www.exeter.ac.uk/erdp/www.exeter.ac.uk/as/rdp/

Writing your Thesis - Webinar

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WRITING YO

UR THESIS

K E L L Y P R E E C E

R E S E A R C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E M A N A G E R

( P G R S )

RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT

www.exeter.ac.uk/as/rdp/ @UofE_RD

Meet the Experts Series of sessions supporting Postgraduate Researchers and Research Staff encouraging

researchers to think more widely about career choice by exploring a range of options.

15th June 2016

To find out more visit:http://as.exeter.ac.uk/rdp/postgraduateresearchers/careerspanelday2016/

Morning sessions include: Research Careers Outside Higher Education STEMM

Research Careers Outside Higher Education HASSDoctoral Graduates in Business, Finance and Law

Afternoon sessions include:Doctoral Graduates in the Cultural and Creative Industries

HE Professional Services Careers Doctoral Graduates into Teaching

COURSE CONTENT

We need to talk about writingPlanning your writingStructuring your thesisDrafting your chaptersManaging Feedback

PADLET

IN CHAT SHARE:

• What stage are you at with writing your thesis?

• Are you experiencing any issues with your progress?

PART 1: WE NEED TO TALK

ABOUT WRITING

WRITING AS A PRACTICE

PREPARING TO WRITE

Prepare your workspacePlan your piece of writingCollect materials you will need e.g.

article, notesNo interruptions!

Limit your writing time. Write for a maximum of 2 hours a day. Every day.

Write 1000 words a day.

Remember to take regular breaks.

POMODORO TECHNIQUEDecide on the task to be doneSet the pomodoro timer to n minutes

(traditionally 25)Work on the task until the timer rings; record

with an xTake a short break (3–5 minutes)After four pomodoros, take a longer break

(15–30 minutes)

ACADEMIC WRITING

STORYTELLING IN YOUR PHD

Your thesis should tell the story of your research

Unlike a novel, a PhD shouldn’t have ‘dramatic revelations’

COMMUNICATE YOUR STRUCTURE IN YOUR WRITING‘…say what you are going to say, say it, say

what you’ve just said.’ (Marshall and Green, 2010: 85 )

In other words “I’m going to tell you a story…”“This is the story of…”“I’ve told you the story of”

SIGNPOSTS

A detailed contents pageAbstractIntroduction and conclusionChaptersSub-headingsSummary paragraphsIn text, signposts, such as ‘and now it will be argued that…’

ACADEMIC WRITING RESOURCES

Manchester’s Academic Phrasebank http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/Word repetition – Pat Thomsonhttps://patthomson.net/2016/01/18/use-and-abuse-of-the-word-bank

/ Scaffolding Phrases – Explorations of Stylehttps://explorationsofstyle.com/2011/03/30/scaffolding-phrases

/

DEALING WITH WRITER’S BLOCK

Free writing - spend 15 minutes just writing about your chapter, or the material that you are stuck with

Return to your key message - to clarify the direction of your writing

Concept mapping - make an ordered map of your material, looking for logical links and coherence

Read - key papers in your field, work that is similar to your own and other PhDs from the library. Other researchers will have faced similar challenges.

Talk - explain your chapter or thesis to a friend in detail. Highlight your block and try to ‘think it out’ verbally

Do something else – especially something physical. Clean. Exercise. Go for a walk. Take your mind off your writing by keeping your body busy.

PART 2: PLANNING YOUR WRITING

IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING

Use your plan to help prompt your writing when you get stuck, and to develop clarity in your writing

This chapter will argue that…This section illustrates that…This paragraph provides evidence that…

MIND MAPPING

Use a mind map to:Visualise your dataRoughly map (in crude form) your entire thesisSet out your chapterReflect on what you haveBuild up a picture

Find a place to start

‘You can do some heavy thinking about your thesis with a diagram. Ideas are much easier to move around and the ‘helicopter view’ a diagram affords helps you see how different pieces of writing and information might fit together. ’

(The Thesis Whisperer, 2013)

APPROACHES TO MINDMAPPING

SOFTWARE FOR MINDMAPPING

Pen and paper!

But for the more digitally inclined…• Freemind • Mind Node

ORGANISE YOUR MATERIAL: CONCEPT MAPPING

DECIDE ON THE KEY MESSAGE

A key message is a summary of new information communicated in your thesis

You will need to have a key message and a series of subsidiary findings which collectively lead to that message

Subsidiary Findings• Research on sensitive subjects often encounters

censorship• Conflict of interest between researcher and

participant• Obligations to research subjects when

researching sensitive subjects

KEY MESSAGE: Social scientists must pay attention to ethical and methodological issues in their research

PART 3: STRUCTURING YOUR THESIS

KNOW THE REGULATIONS!

EXETER REGULATIONSSEQUENCE: Material should be arranged in the following sequence:- Title Page, with declaration- Abstract- List of Contents- List of Tables, Illustrations, etc (if any)- List of accompanying material (if any)- Author's declaration - Definitions (if any, being a list of definitions of any terms specific to the work); abbreviations (if any)- Introduction (when 2.2 applies)- Text (divided into chapters, sections, etc)- Appendices (if any)- Glossary (if any)- Bibliography- Index (if any)

From: Presentation of Theses/Dissertations for Degrees in the Faculty of Graduate Research: Statement of Procedures

BASIC STRUCTURE Introduction

Literature Review

Methods

Theme oneeg class

Theme twoeg gender

Theme threeeg race

Conclusion

STRATEGIES TO IDENTIFY YOUR STRUCTUREDiscuss the structure with a colleague,

explaining it as a continuous story you're trying to write 

Use visual techniques like mind-mappingCreate a storyboard for your thesis. This tells

the ‘story' of the thesis in a small number of panels that mix text and pictures

Sort index cards with key ideas into a coherent structure

Use post-it notes with key ideas on a whiteboard to make connections with lines and colours

(Vitae, 2015)

A RESEARCH STORYBOARD INCLUDES:

•all headings and sub-headings •quick verbal sketches of every main text section

•summaries of every main paragraph or groups of paragraphs

• images of all long quotations•versions of every figure, chart, table or case study

(Writing for Research, 2014)

ANALYSING EXISTING THESES

Macro level:• Structure:

•How many chapters?•How long is each chapter?•How have key sections like the introduction, literature review, methodology and conclusion been dealt with?

• Signposting

Mid level:• Linking between chapters• Repetition

Micro level:• Paragraph structure• Sentence structure• Choice of words

(Vitae, 2009 and 2015)

ANALYSING EXISTING THESES – KEY ISSUES

• how originality is shown• how the gap in knowledge is shown• how certainty/uncertainty is acknowledged• how weaknesses in the work are dealt with• how the writer’s voice is shown

(Vitae, 2009)

PART 4: DRAFTING YOUR CHAPTERS

7 POINT PROCESS

7 Point Plan

1. Organise

your material 2. Decide

on the key

message

3. Write an outline plan

and first draft 5. Stop and reflect

6. Clarify& edit your

drafts

7. Proofread, re-draft final copy

SUBMIT

THREE DRAFT APPROACH

1. Get the big ideas down2. Structure and fill in the gaps3. Proof

(Vitae, 2009)

TACKLING A MESSY FIRST DRAFT• provide context, provide background• clarify, define, specify• connect the topic to wider knowledges, referring to the

literatures, policy or practice• report, provide an audit trail of what you did• illustrate, exemplify, support, provide evidence, prove• complicate, anticipate counter argument, provide nuance• extend, draw out implications

(Pat Thomson, 2016)

WHEN REVIEWING YOUR DRAFTS ASK YOURSELF:Does the content match the title?Are important points emphasised enough? Is the content within each section

appropriate? Is there a logical sequence? 

Are information sources acknowledged? Do the conclusions relate to the objectives? Is the meaning of each sentence clear - or

open to interpretation?Can long sentences be broken down?

(Vitae, 2015)

CREATE A REVERSE OUTLINE

1. Number your paragraphs. 2. Identify the topic of each paragraph. At this point,

you can also make note of the following:a. Is there a recognizable topic sentence?b. How long is the paragraph?

i. Does the topic seem sufficiently developed?

ii. Is there more than one topic?3. Arrange these topics in to an outline.

4. Analyze this outline, assessing the logic (where elements have been placed in relation to one another) and the proportion (how much space is being devoted to each element).

5. Use this analysis to create a revised outline.6. Use this revised outline to reorganize your text.

7. Go back to your answers in 2a and 2b to help you create topic sentences and cohesion in your paragraphs.

a. Is there a recognizable topic sentence?b. How long is the paragraph?

i. Does the topic seem sufficiently developed?ii. Is there more than one topic?

(Explorations of Style, 2011)

5 WAYS TO KILL YOUR DARLINGS

1)Use that strike through tool 2)Move the questionable text to the footnotes 3)Start a ‘maybe later’ folder4)Triage your text5)Preform bypass surgery

(The Thesis Whisperer, 2010)

PART 5: MANAGING FEEDBACK

PLANNERS AND DRAFTERS

TEN STEPS FOR DEALING WITH FEEDBACK

Step One: Read or listen to the feedbackStep Two: Take some time out.Step Three: Create an Excel File to List the RevisionsStep Four: Extract the suggestions from your

supervisor’s commentStep Five: Re-arrange the suggestions for revision in

a logical fashion 

Step Six: Decide how you will respond to all of the suggestions

Step Seven: Tackle your revision plan, step by stepStep Eight: Double-checkStep Nine: Do a final read-overStep Ten: Submit!

Adapted from: Get a Life, PhD

FINAL THOUGHTS

10 WAYS TO WRITE EVERY DAY

Write on a blank pageLine-edit something you have already writtenRestructure a paper that you have been

working onPull together pieces of older documents you

have written into a new paper

10 WAYS TO WRITE EVERY DAY

Check references and footnotes for accuracyOutline or mind-map a new project (or

chapter)Summarize or take notes on something you

have read recently that might be relevant to present or future research projects

10 WAYS TO WRITE EVERY DAY

Make a revision plan for a rejected article or a “revise and resubmit”

Make tables, figures, graphs, or images to represent visually concepts or trends in a paper

Create an After-the-fact or Reverse Outline

THANK YOU!

researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk

www.exeter.ac.uk/as/rdp

@UofE_RD