phd dissertation writing

phd dissertation writing

The Importance of Writing a Persuasive PhD Dissertation

1. Introduction

Now, the reason most students find writing a dissertation to be difficult is not the actual writing that will trip them up, but it is the process of trying to collect and identify research to support an overall idea for the paper that tends to be the most difficult. This fact alone is what makes the dissertation a complex, time-consuming, and formidable piece of work, with many students failing to understand the importance of it or why they are doing it. However, there is no rule of thumb that a student must undertake a dissertation. Some institutions may have substantial information science resources and training available that a student may not have to conduct one.

Students constantly experience difficulty with academic writing, especially when it comes to papers that are required for entrance into a prestigious graduate school program or a thesis for a degree. A thesis, or a Ph.D. dissertation, as it’s called in some institutions, is a detailed and lengthy piece of literature that is based on a chosen point of theory or a hypothesis and then uses supporting evidence from either past research or new research to prove the point. A dissertation does not only have to be written; it can also be presented in an art form. This may be in the form of a computer program, multimedia package, a film, or a piece of music with an accompanying explanation. However, the traditional thesis is a lengthy and in-depth piece of writing.

2. Review of Literature

It is very important to know the source where the academic published works are derived from. There are works which are not published by recognized publishers, but there are also a lot of self-published materials which can sometimes be inaccurate. To conduct a proper review, it is essential to know where the source comes from. Usually, self-published materials are less acceptable compared to researches published by recognized universities. Journals sharing the results of an academic research are the most common medium for academic publications. The research is presented in a systematic manner with an abstract, introduction, methodology, findings and conclusion. Updated knowledge can also be obtained from seminars, academic talks and conferences and the latest being online sources. These online sources are very dynamic and can sometimes be too up-to-date. This type of information can sometimes be too new and not proven as they tend to discuss on emerging ideas. During a literature review, researchers should be careful when selecting the source of information and should focus on the most proven information.

A few decades ago, students had to perform literature review through a tiresome process of going through piles of documents in the library. It was indeed a time-consuming task as researchers had to go through a lot of printed material. In this digital age, a lot of academic published works are written in many forms and formats. Printed materials are still widely available, however it is very difficult and time consuming to search for them. Most researchers now prefer access to journals through the internet as this method is faster.

3. Methodology

Once the topic is chosen and it is clear to both the writer and the reader what its intentions are, the writer must pick or even create a system of organization for the material. This might involve a storyboard or outline that maps the connections between the ideas. Oftentimes through research, the student will find entirely new topics for the PhD or subtopics for the original topic. By having this blueprint, the student can determine whether these additions are feasible for what is intended with the piece and where exactly to place them. Without this plan, the piece can become convoluted and disorganized, often confusing the writer and the reader. This step should take a considerable amount of time and at first, it may not seem like progress is being made in terms of writing, though it will save time in the long run. A well-thought-out organization system will allow the writer to write sections independently and stay focused on the topic at hand without straying too far into another topic. This may be the most crucial part of the writing process and if the plan changes at any point, the writer should re-evaluate their topic’s intentions and whether it is still feasible.

There are several steps one must take in order to prepare a well-researched persuasive PhD. For example, one should take enough time to brainstorm and consider several topics before choosing one. Take into consideration whether enough resources are available and whether the topic is feasible, or too broad or too narrow. This is a common mistake where students limit their topic to fit within a set parameter, often a page count or a chapter requirement. This is unrealistic and often results in a shallow piece of work. Instead, the student should set their parameters to fit the topic. A reader should make connections across the PhD and say “This is an interesting point, I would like to see it developed further”, something that is frustrating for the reader if it never comes to fruition. The reader has ultimately wasted their time on the piece and this is what the student seeks to avoid.

4. Findings and Analysis

Stella writes about how the prevailing employer attitudes on the role and contribution of mature employees towards mature aged workers produce barriers to their gaining suitable employment and secure advancement opportunities in their current workplaces. Stereotypical attitudes and beliefs about mature workers, held too by mature workers themselves, are reflected in workplace practices and policies and are built upon an ethos of early retirement. These have contributed to a social identity for mature aged workers as being ‘dependent’, under skilled, having a poor work ethic, resistant to learning, unable to adapt to new work environments or conditions, and simply biding time until retirement. This social identity has been internalized by mature workers, to the extent that it has affected their decision making, employability confidence, and job search behaviors, resulting in cyclical employment outcomes of underemployment and unemployment. Stella provides support to her thesis by recounting the stories, experiences, and attitudes of the mature aged participants observed and questioned in her study. This narrative qualitative data outlines the participants’ unfavorable employment experiences, health-related issues, and negative emotions about their treatment in the workforce. It reveals examples of direct and indirect discrimination, the effects of ‘redundancy pools’, and occupational marginalization reflective of the claims made in Stella’s thesis. This data is consistent with the existing literature and is used to construct a clearer picture of how and why barriers are being placed in front of mature workers.

5. Conclusion and Recommendations

Since qualitative analysis is often done during the data collection process and coding quality varies greatly, we commonly recommend testing an analysis coding structure on a small dataset. If things do not go well, there will at least be a basis for error diagnosis, and a sea change may be avoidable. This is far preferable to labored completion of an entire project using a method that may never work.

We understand that judging feasibility is more difficult for research based on qualitative methodologies than for that based on experimental or quasi-experimental designs. But in all cases, we believe that the problem-solving process of planning and running a pilot test to address an unexpected implementation impediment is a useful, professionally relevant experience. Lengthy effort followed by an unexpected and unanticipated dead end is both discouraging and all too common a research experience, and we advocate risk avoidance for our clients.

Since 2003, we have conducted over 100 dissertation studies on the topics on which these dissertations were based, most of which were federally funded. Although most have been conducted by our PhD clients, others were done by academic researchers with whom we partnered. In the vast majority of cases, these studies have demonstrated the feasibility of completing the studied dissertation on schedule, and several have resulted in journal publication.

We are aware of the problems confronting candidates who spend hundreds of hours preparing an empirical PhD dissertation only to find it is not finishable. We know that since this research represents your entry into the profession, you feel considerable pressure to complete it, particularly in a form suitable for publication in scholarly journals.