Writing a Watertight Thesis: A Guide to Successful Structure and Defence

Description

Writing a doctoral thesis can be an arduous and confusing process. This book provides a clear framework for developing a sound structure for your thesis, using a simple approach to make it watertight, defensible and clear. Bottery and Wright draw on their extensive experience of supervising and examining numerous doctorates from an internationally diverse and multicultural student body both in the UK and overseas, and include examples of how successful theses have been made watertight along with exercises to enable readers to do the same thing to their own thesis. The authors demonstrate how the key to making a thesis watertight lies in selecting the central research question and the sub-research questions that together collectively answer this main one. If these questions are well formulated the thesis can be defended successfully against criticism on structural grounds – a major part of the battle. Including chapters on the viva process, strength-testing your thesis and essential preparation for writing up your research, this is the resource for anyone looking to produce a well-structured, watertight piece of research. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Part One Moving in Chapter 1: The need for a ‘watertight’ thesis Introduction So, what is a ‘watertight’ thesis? Does ‘watertightness’ work for different kinds of doctoral studies? Does the watertight approach work for doctorates in different countries? Does ‘watertightness’ work for doctoral studies in different disciplines? Why not use an ‘Aims and Objectives’ approach? Chapter 2: Structuring your proposal The introduction The key contexts The central concepts The evidence to be gained Methodology The working title Redrafting Exercise – Interrogating definitions, assumptions and relationships Chapter 3: Structuring in the early stages Introduction Initial discussions with your supervisors Structuring your time Over-directive and under-directive supervision In knowing what questions need asking Finally: Thinking about your examiners and the end of the doctoral journey Part Two: Moving through Chapter 4: Focusing on the major research question Introduction What is the area of interest? Some thoughts on your statements Coming to the Major Research Question: Taking your time and owning it Moving from your area of interest to your MRQ Creating a thesis title from the MRQ Chapter 5: Creating your research sub-questions Introduction Moving from a general area of interest to a major research question, and then to its deconstructed elements Deriving the elements from your own MRQ Creating your own RSQs Chapter 6: Linking the research sub-questions to the thesis chapters Introduction What does a standard empirical thesis structure look like? Sorting out the thesis order Groups of thesis chapters Linking the RSQs to the thesis structure Chapter 7: Structuring the early chapters Introducing the structure to others The introductory chapter: Getting your suitcases on a train Writing the ‘literature reviews’ Chapter 8: Structuring the middle chapters Introduction: The meanings of methodology Selecting techniques and methods Choosing the right techniques to ensure the quality of your data Issues of epistemology, ontology and positionality in different kinds of theses Applying the techniques and writing about the unexpected Chapter 9: Structuring the later chapters Introduction A preliminary caution Structuring your results chapter(s) The discussion chapter The conclusions and recommendations chapter All done? Not quite: Twenty structural leaks to check for before you stop The final page of the thesis Pater Three Moving out Chapter 10: The examiners’ need for structural clarity Introduction: The importance of the examiner The needs of the examiner: Three questions Train journey or mystery tour? Travelling on the wrong track Linear and non-linear travel on a thesis journey Chapter 11: Preparing for the summative viva Introduction What is a viva? The normal structure of a summative viva Formative vivas ‘Viva roulette’ Mock vivas Dealing with tricky questions The role of the chair, the examiners and supervisors during the viva process Post-viva discussions and the possible results Dealing with the changes Chapter 12: Structuring and publishing your first articles Introduction Getting the article structure right Working on your writing processes Selecting and engaging with the journal Deciding when to send your article to a journal Dealing with journal feedback References Appendix Some references for grounded theoryand action research Index