Lecture notes on thesis and dissertation writing in a second language.docx
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Lecture notes on thesis and dissertation writing in a second language.docx
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Lecturenotesonthesisanddissertationwritinginasecondlanguage
Lecturenotesonthesisanddissertationwriting
inasecondlanguage
LectureOne
Writingaresearchproposal
Researchproposal:
‘theresearchproposalisoftenthekeyelementtothesuccessfulthesisand,assuch,themostimportantstepinthewholeprocess’(Madisen,1992)
Adissertationshoulddemonstrate:
★Anoriginalinvestigationorthetestingofideas;
★competenceinindependentworkorexperimentation;
★Anunderstandingofappropriatetechniquesaswellastheirlimitations;
★Anexpertknowledgeofthepublishedliteratureonthetopicunderinvestigation;
★Evidenceoftheabilitytomakecriticaluseofpublishedworkandsourcematerials;
★Anappreciationoftherelationshipbetweentheresearchtopicandthewiderfieldofknowledge;
★Theabilitytopresenttheworkatanappropriatelevelofliteraryquality.
Achecklistfordevelopingaresearchproposal
Nunan(1992)andBell(1999)providegoodadviceforstudentswritingaresearchproposal.Thisisahelpfullisttoworkthroughasyouaredecidingonandrefining,yourresearchtopic.(asummaryofNunanandBell’swork)
I.Drawupashortlistsoftopics.(generatedbyspeakingtootherstudents,askingcolleagues,askingpotentialsupervisors,orlookinguprelatedresearchinthelibrary)
II.Selectatopicforinvestigation
III.Then,formulateageneralquestion.(turnthetopicintoaresearchquestion)
IV.Next,focusthequestion.(beasspecificaspossible,butitshouldbeworthaskingandcapableofbeinganswered.)
V.Decideontheaimsandobjectivesofthestudyorformulateahypothesis
VI.Thinkaboutthedatathatneedtobecollectedtoanswerthequestion
VII.Drawupaninitialresearchplan
VIII.Readenoughtobeabletodecidewhethertheprojectisontherightlines(esp.journalarticles,researchreportsandotherthesesanddissertationswritteninthearea.)
IX.Finallywriteupadetailedproposal,includingdefinitionsofkeytermsusedintheproposal.(thatis,definethecharacteristicsofthetermsyouusedintheproposalinawaythatwouldenableanoutsidertoidentifythemiftheycameacrossthem.)
Refiningaresearchquestion
★readbroadlyandwidelytofindasubjectaboutwhichyouarepassionate.Immerseyourselfintheliterature,useyourlibrary,readabstractsofotherrecentthesesanddissertationsetc.
★narrowyourfocustoasinglequestion:
bedisciplinedandnotoverambitious.
★Bepreparedtochangeormodifyyourquestionifnecessary.,
★Readup-to-datematerials___ensurethatyourideasachievableandnooneelsehasdoneorisdoingit.
★Consultotherstudentsfurtherdownthetrack,esp.thosewiththesamesupervisorasyou.
★Discussyourideaswithyoursupervisorandlotsofotherpeople.
★Attendspecializedconferencesinyourarea___takenoteofthefocusofresearchandlearnfromtheexpertsinyourfield.
★Workthroughtheimplicationsofyourresearchquestion:
considerexistingmaterialsandideasonwhichitisbased,checkthelogic,spelloutmethodstobeused.
★Condenseyourresearchintotwosentences,writethemdownaboveyourworkarea.Changethequestionifneeded.
★Askyourself:
whatwillweknowattheendthatwedidnotalreadyknow?
Detailstoincludeinaresearchproposal
1.aclearlyfocusedstatementoftheoverallpurposeoftheproposedresearch
2.aclearlyfocusedresearchquestion/hypothesisthatis:
★worthasking
★capableofbeinganswered.
3.precisedefinitionsofthekeytermsintheresearchquestions/sorhypothesisthatwillallowthemtobeclearlyobserved,measuredandidentifiedthroughoutthestudy.
4.anawarenessofkeyresearchthathasalreadybeencarriedoutintheparticulararea:
★whatconclusionswerereachedinthispreviousresearch,bywhomandwhen;
★whethertheseconclusionsareinagreementorconflictwitheachother;
★themainissuesorcontroversiesthatsurroundtheproblem;
★significantgapsinpreciousresearchinthisparticulararea;
★anindicationofhowthispreviousresearchisrelevanttotheproposedstudy.
5.anappropriatechoiceofresearchapproachfortheparticularquestionorproblemincludingawell-definedlistofprocedurestobefollowedincarryingouttheresearch,includingdatacollectionandanalysisandthefollowingifappropriate:
★abroaddescriptionofanyparticularframeworktobeusedintheanalysisandwhy
★abriefstatementdescribinghowthesamplepopulationwillbeselectedforthestudyandreasonfortheapproachforselection;
★apilotstudyinwhichtheresearchinstrumentswillbetrialledandevaluatedandananalys8iscarriedoutofthetrialdata.
6.asectionhighlightinganyanticipatedproblemsandlimitationsintheproposedstudyincludingthreatstothereliabilityandvalidityandhowthesewillbecountered.
7.astatementillustratingwhythestudyissignificant(whytheresearchquestionorhypothesisworthasking);
8.aproposedtimetablefortheresearch,extremelyimportantasitgivesanindicationastohowrealistictheproposalactuallyis;
9.alistreferencesrelatedtotheproposal;
10.appendicescontaininganymaterialthatwillbeusedoradaptedforthestudy,includinganypermissionthatmightneedtobeobtainiedtouseit.
Canprovideasampleforreference
Purposeofeachsectionofaresearchproposal
section
purpose
title
Tosummarizeinafewwordswhattheresearchwillbeabout
summary
Toprovideanoverviewofthestudywhichwillexpandoninmoredetailinthetextthatfollows.
Overallpurpose
Topresentacleatandconcusestatementoftheoverallpurposeoftheresearch
Relevantbackgroundliterature
Todemonstratetherelationshipbetweentheproposedstudyandwhathasalreadybeendoneintheparticulararea;thatistoindicatethe‘gap’thatthestudywillfill.
Researchquestion/s
Toprovideanexplicitstatementofwhatthestudywillinvestigate.
Definitionsofterms
Toprovidethemeaningofthekeytermsthathavebeenusedintheresearchquestions.
Researchmethodology
Togiveanillustrationofthestepstheprojectwillgothroughinordertocarryouttheresearch.
Anticipatedprob&limitations
Toshowawarenessofthelimitationsofthestudy,whatproblemsmaybemetincarryingitout,andhowtheywillbedealtwith.
Significanceofthestudy
Tosaywhythestudyisworthcarryingout.
Resourcesrequired/budget
Tosaywhatresourcestheresearchwillrequireandwhatothercostsmaybeanticipatedincarryingoutthestudy
Ethics
Toprovidedastatementastohowparticipantswillbeadvisedoftheoverallnatureofthestudy,andhowinformedconsentwillbeobtainedfromthem.
Proposedtableofcontents
Togiveanoverviewofthescaleandanticipatedorganizationofthethesisordissertation.
Timetable
Toprovideaworkingplanforcarryingout,andcompleting,thestudy
References
Toprovidedetailedreferencesandbibliographicsupportfortheproposal
appendices
Toprovideexamplesofmaterialsthatmightbeusedoradaptedinthestudy
Criteriaforassessingresearchproposals(basedonanarticleCadman2002)
★thelogicofthestudent’sargument
★awell-focusedresearchquestion,setofresearchobjectives,orhypothesis
★thewidthanddepthofthestudent’sreading
★thefeasibilityofthestudent’sproject
★acriticalapproachtoliterature
★justificationoftheprojectthroughtheliterature
★understandingofcurrentissuesonthestudent’stopic
★matchingofthemethodologyandmethodstotheresearchquestions.
Conclusion:
Thewritingofresearchproposalsisanimportantstageinthethesisanddissertationwritingprocess.Theproposalstudentswritebecomesbothaworkplanfortheirfurtherworkandthebasisofthetextthatwilleventuallybecometheirthesisordissertation.
Ofcoursetheproposalisonlyastartingpointinwhatmayendupbeingasomewhatdifferentprojectfromwhereitstarted.Therearelikelytobemanydeviationsfromwhatthestudentsinitiallypropose,asthey‘makenewdiscoveriesandencounterunforeseenchallengesoverthecourseofthethesiswritingprocess’.Theproposalishowever,averyimportantstagealongthedissertationroad.
Activity:
askyourstudentstowriteadetailedresearchproposalusingthefollowingsetofheadings.
1.proposedtitleofthestudy
2.summaryoftheproposedstudy
3.purposeoftheproposedstudy
4.relevantbackgroundliterature
5.researchquestionsorhypotheses
6.definitionsofterms\
7.researchmethodology
8.significanceofthestudy
9.ethicalconsiderations
10.timetablefortheresearch
11.anticipatedproblemsandlimitations
12.resourcesrequiredfortheresearch
13.bibliography
14.appendix
TheOverallShapeofThesisandDissertations
Introduction:
Toprovidesupervisorswithexamplesofthesisanddissertationtypes,adviceonguidingstudentswiththeoverallstructureofthethesisordissertation,andthedraftingofchapteroutlines.Alsotointroducetheconceptofmetatext,or‘textabouttext,akeyorganizationaltoolformanagingextendedtextsandforhelpingthereaderfollowtheorganizationofthetext.
Thestructureofthesesanddissertations
1.traditionalthesis:
Anumberpfresearchershavediscussedtheorganizationofdifferentthesistypes.Dudley-Evans(1999)termsthetypical“IMRAD”(introduction-method-results-discussion)typesthesisa‘traditional’thesis.Thonpson(1999)furtherrefinesthiscategorybydividingtraditionalthesisintothosewhichhave‘simple’andthosewhichhave‘complex’patternsoforganization.
A.Athesiswithasimpletraditionalpatternisonewhichreportsonasinglestudyandhasatypicalorganizational
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