Researching and Writing Dissertations Roy Horn Researching and Writing Dissertations

Researching and Writing DissertationsRoy Horn

Researching and Writing Researching and Writing DissertationsDissertations



Reviewing and Evaluating Your Dissertation

WEEK 10


ReadingReadingRecommended text:

Researching and Writing DissertationsHorn, RCIPD: London2nd Edition, 2012ISBN: 978 184398 302 6

Chapter 10: Reviewing and evaluating your dissertation, page 240.


Lecture outlineLecture outline

Techniques for reviewing and proof reading your work.

How to meet the word target. The fragmentation technique. How to involve others in your writing. Auditing your work using the assessment

criteria. How your work will be marked. Reflecting on the experience.


Learning objectivesLearning objectives Be able to use a range of techniques

for reviewing your dissertation. Understand how to adjust your work

to meet the word target. Understand how to involve others in

reviewing your work. How to audit your work against the

assessment criteria. How to reflect on the experience.


ActivityActivity

Experiential Activity

Review the short passage of writing in the hand-out.Try to make constructive comments about how the author could improve the writing.

Work

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20 minutes prep

3 minutes feedback

Feedback to the group – ‘I think this writing could be improved by…’


Reviewing your workReviewing your work

The process of writing precisely what you mean takes time. Every sentence requires careful rereading and revision to ensure that it expresses precisely what you wanted to say, and importantly communicates your meaning to the reader.



While a sentence may look fine, precise and accurate to you, ask what message it conveys to the reader.There is no easy way to know this except by allowing someone else to read your words and asking them what it conveys.

Part of the reviewing process must involve someone other than the author of the words.



The good news is that because nearly all writing is completed on a computer, reviewing your work has never been easier.

Remember to use the spelling and grammar-checking facilities of the software, but do not trust them.

They do not pick up every kind of error and they often encourage you to express yourself in very stilted and one-dimensional ways.



The basic reviewing process involves:Re-reading the writing.Reflecting – thinking about the writing and the message.Revising – changing aspects of sentences, paragraphs, sections and chapters.


Reviewing your workReviewing your workThe basic reviewing process involves:

The basic process will be used many times for each section of writing. Each sentence of your work may well have been reviewed five to ten times by the point at which you submit it.

A general complete process involves the processes of auditing your macro writing and then your micro writing.


Reviewing your workReviewing your workmacro writing

At the macro writing stage you will have a set of chapter headings, section headings, and paragraph headings. Once you have laid out how a chapter or section is to be structured, you can review that chapter or section by itself.Once the ideas, chapter, sections and paragraphs are laid out, consider:Overall structure – does this address what is expected in a dissertation?


Reviewing your workReviewing your workmacro writingContinued…Do the chapters and sections work in a logical fashion?Have I missed out a section or chapter?What is the main argument running through this work?If the sequence was different, would the work be clearer, more logical?Does each of the paragraphs develop one and only one idea?


Reviewing your workReviewing your workmacro writingContinued…Do the chapter contents all belong together?Is this chapter too long? Is it too short?Does the sequence of the paragraphs work in a clear and logical way?If each of these paragraphs is 100–200 words, will my work be too long?Is it too short?Do I have sufficient evidence to support a statement or claim in each paragraph?



If the answer to any of these questions is ‘Maybe’, then you need to think and reflect more on the structure before proceeding.

Macro reviewing should be carried out before any micro writing is carried out.

You may well review the macro writing 10 or 20 times before you are sure that it is the most appropriate structure.



Even when the micro writing process has commenced you may need to return to the macro writing and review and change things. The micro writing process often throws up problems, anomalies, and/or potential improvements in the overall structure.



The macro review process should involve someone other than the author. In decreasing order of usefulness the macro writing can be reviewed by:Your supervisor.Another tutor.The skills unit of your university.A study group.A work colleague.A friend.A family member.


ActivityActivity

Macro Writing Review

Study the excerpt from the dissertation you have been given and make an assessment of the macro writing. Use the criteria already listed.W

ork

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ne

30 minutes prep

2 minutes feedback

Feedback to the group – five good things about this writing and five poor things...


Mapping the argumentMapping the argument

At this point in the review process it is worth ‘mapping the argument’, or better still, getting someone else to map the argument.

This is done by setting out the steps and evidence in the argument on a sheet of paper. Once mapped, you should check for the following issues:Does the introduction set out the steps of your argument?Are the steps in the argument clear?Does each step follow logically?Is the argument suitably referenced?


Mapping the argumentMapping the argumentContinued…Is each step supported by evidence, illustrations, research?Have you signposted the argument?Have you provided links to different parts of the argument? Does your conclusion summarise your argument?

Once your argument is mapped, you should review and adjust it until it represents the best argument you can produce.

Successful dissertations always have a strong, clear argument.


Proof readingProof reading

Once you have completed these revision processes you will have to proof read your dissertation.

After all the effort you have expended reviewing your work, correcting structures, creating arguments and well-evidence statements, you do not want to diminish your work by careless mechanical errors.


Proof readingProof reading

We all have personal errors in our writing style, and often these go unnoticed by us, no matter how many timeswe read them. Getting someone else to read your work – a friend, colleague, tutor, professional proof reader – will surface these errors so that you can eliminate them from your writing.


Word limitsWord limits

If you use the macro planning reviewing process you should be able to arrange to write your work so that it meets the word target.

To do this you must add word limits to each of thesections in the macro writing phase.

It is vital that you plan both what will be written and the amount that will be written.


Word limitsWord limitsWhat if I am over the word target?

The stated penalties for being over the word target are normally small – around 5% of the total marks.

The bigger penalty is borne by the loss of clarity of your argument. Most work that is over the word target is poorly structured and ‘wordy’. By ‘wordy’ I mean that the writing has used far more words than is necessary to make the point.


Word limitsWord limitsWhat if I am over the word target?

Over length work is also often structured so poorly that sections are repeated and the points in some sections are made again in different sections.

Generally, it is for these reasons that work which is over the word limit receives middling or poor grades.



If you are over the word limit you will clearly have to remove some words, paragraphs and sections – sometimes even entire chapters must be deleted.

Where do you start the trimming process?

Indiscriminate trimming of words and sections is very likely to remove good, well-organised ideas along with the rubbish and in-fill.



Unfortunately, to effectively reduce the word count you must return to the beginning of the process and carry out the planning that should already have been done.

Do not despair – a lot of what you have written will remain once the process is finished.


Word limitsWord limitsFollow these steps: (Do not refer to any of your existing writing. Remember to keep in mind your research questions.)1. Open a new Word document in outline view.2. At the highest level add chapter titles.3. Then to each chapter add section titles. (Consider carefully how these sections are ordered.)4. Then to each section add paragraph titles. (These should make the specific points of argument.) Note: Remember the basic structure of paragraphs.



Carry on until every chapter has sections and paragraphs. Review the structure that you have created, asking all the review questions set out earlier.

At the conclusion of the revision process you should have an outline document setting out the argument for your dissertation.

Now compare the outline plan with what you have written.



You may find either of the following situations:

Your plan is very similar to what you have already written. The problem may be that you are trying to include too much material. The first area in which there may be too much material is theory and literature – this should be between 4,000 and 6,000 words.


Word limitsWord limitsContinued…

The second area is in the findings sections, where you may be trying to add all the analysis and findings (or too many of them).

This section should be about 4,000–6,000 words. Select the most important parts of these areas andremove the less important. Judge the importance of a section by how it connectsto your research questions.



Your plan is not similar to the work you have already produced, and you will have to restructure your work.

This is done by first selecting parts of your existing work that would fit into the planned paragraphs.

Copy these parts from your existing document and paste them in the new outline structure.



As you proceed you may find some areas that you have planned but that have no existing writing; these will have to be written. You should also find there are parts of the original document that are not needed. Pay particular attention to the word targets for each section.


Word limitsWord limitsWhat if I am under the word target?

Firstly, remember that this is not necessarily a problem. Word limits are given to indicate the upper limits of your writing. If you have followed and adhered to the writing advice given earlier, you may well find you have expressed all the areas and aspects of your argument in less than the word count.


Word limitsWord limitsWhat if I am under the word target?

Typically, do not worry if you are up to 2,000 words below the word target.

But do check that all the required sections have been completed.


Reviewing the workReviewing the workfragmentation technique

This is a review technique to evaluate how effectively you are using sentences.

Select a section of your writing – the theory and findings sections are usually suitable – cut and paste around 500–1,000 words into a new Word document.

Edit the work so that each sentence starts on a new line, separated by a line break.



Each sentence is analysed for:Grammatical and spelling accuracy.Clarity.Contribution to the argument.Whether it is the correct type of sentence for its position in the paragraph.



Also analyse each sentence with these questions:How many words does the sentence contain?How many sentences are there with 15 or fewer words?How many sentences are there containing more than 25 words?How many sentences are there with unsupported statements in them?What is the average number of words used in a sentence?What is the average number of sentences used in a paragraph?


Reviewing the workReviewing the workIn the final phases of reviewing your work, return to the assessment criteria grid and evaluate your work against this grid. Check the proportions of your writing in relation to the stated amounts of each of the skills. You can do this in sections, by printing out the work and using different coloured highlighters to indicate when the writing is:Knowledge.Understanding.Critique.Analysis.Creativity.Synthesis.Evaluation.


ReflectionReflectionWe could think of reflection as:‘A calm, lengthy consideration leading to an expression of personal development’.Why are we interested in reflection? There are several reasons for focusing on reflection.

The completion of your dissertation will probably mark the point where you return to the world of work, or different work. Many professions regard reflective practice and reflective learning as a vital part of what is called ‘continuingprofessional development’ (CPD).


ReflectionReflectionRecording your reflective thoughts on the dissertation process could be the first entry in your CPD log or file.

Reflective logs or diaries aim to trap the personal and emotive feelings of achievement and development.

We reflect on our learning and development so that we can learn and develop better in the future.

Recording your development throughout the dissertation process may have many parallels for your learning in the future.


ConclusionConclusion Reviewing and revising your work will improve it. Using a revision process, such as: – rereading the writing, – reflecting – thinking about the writing and the

message, – revising, changing aspects of sentences,

paragraphs, sections and chapters. Review the macro elements before the micro elements. Involve others in the review process. Assess your work against the published assessment

criteria. Learn to be reflective.



The EndThe End

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Researching and Writing Dissertations Roy Horn Researching and Writing Dissertations