Writing up your dissertation? Some

reflective ideas Dr. Gerard Paul Sharpling

What is your topic and your main researchquestion?What is your argument? What is your ‘niche’?How will your research contribute to the field?What literature have you looked at and how hasthis helped you? How have you used it?Does your work make a methodologicalcontribution to research in the area?

First, some questions to ask:

What has your previous feedback been like in writing so far? What aspects have been raised by your tutor(if any)? Have you implemented all therecommendations?What specific aspects of your feedback will youuse to develop your dissertation writing?How will you know if you have been successful(remember SMART objectives)? What is your major writing objective?

Have you used previous feedback?

Make writing into a ‘routine’ and see it as a job tobe done.Write when you are able to concentrate fully.Limit the time you sit in front of your computer.Work smarter, rather than harder.Have a clear framework for each chapter. Knowwhat you are going to write in each section. Start by writing the first sentence for eachparagraph and add in the details later. Write quickly. Don’t keep telling yourself you aredoing it wrong (working memory).

Do you have writer's block?

Always read actively, with a piece of paper and pencil to hand. In your notes, write down your own understanding

ofwhat you have read. Don’t simply copy chunks from thetext. Imagine you are in a social setting and you are tellingsomeone informally about what you have read. Whatwould you tell them? Get into the habit of summarising the significance ofitems of literature in one or two sentences. Don’t quote to mask lack of understanding.

Still reading? Some tips

It is important to know what you will be graded on Most marking schemes use some version ofBloom’s taxonomy of learning (1956). This is a pyramid which prioritises critique andevaluation over pure description.

Comprehension – your understanding Analysis – your approach to the taskCritique - your critical thinkingPresentation – spelling, grammar, layout

Do you know how will your dissertation be assessed?

Note that Bloom’s taxonomy of learning is incremental in nature. This means it is necessary to get the ‘comprehension’ and ‘knowledge’ bits right first, before moving to the ‘higher’ areas of ‘analysis’, ‘synthesis’ and ‘evaluation’.

Sometimes we move into evaluation too early, beforewe have done enough reading or explained thesituation fully!

Remember, we still need a number of generalisedstatements – we can’t ‘evaluate’ all the time, as this wouldmake the text meaningless for the reader. Try to alternatebetween general statements and analysis.

Get to know Blooms’s taxonomy (1956)

These three points are useful to help with the

internal consistency of your text:

LOGOS – Does your text appeal to logical reason?

ETHOS – Does your text appeal to emotions (e.g. sense of fairness and justice?)

PATHOS – Does your text give the impression of being fair and equitable to others?

Lessons from Aristotle (the rhetorical triangle)

Showing your paper to another person gives you additional, often helpful feedback.Another reader may spot issues that you oryour supervisor have not commented on.To become a ‘good’ writer, you needmultiple perspectives on your writing.Your peer reviewer may know you well and feelmore comfortable about commenting openly anhonestly about your work. Your reviewer may phrase criticism in a way thatis easier for you to understand.

Try to use peer review

The peer reviewer may not know what to look for,and therefore does not feel qualified to makecomments.The peer reviewer may not be familiar with thesubject area of the reviewee (but note: this may notnecessarily be a problem).The reviewer may wield power over the reviewee(but this is unlikely to happen in practice).The reviewee does not feel there is much to learnfrom the reviewer (but note: with a change inattitude, the review could be successful.

What might go wrong with peer review?

Peer review procedure – a few key tips1. Prioritise what you focus on.2. Ask the person you are working with how feedback is preferred3. Listen to each other4. Be positive about criticism an respond!5. Be realistic about what can be achieved. 6. Draw up an action plan.

Use Kolb’s learning cycle (1984) – a key reflective tool

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bury_irc/2827216705/

The reflective cycle is a very good way of developing writing but it is important to make sure that it keeps going round. Don’t stop the wheel from turning!

Make sure you don’t get ‘stuck’ at the reflection stage (which will slow you down) and make sure that you don’t always implement hastily without reflection first.

Some further thoughts on Kolb (1984)

Action planningWhat ideas will you take forward for your academicwriting as you complete your dissertation? Whatare the priorities for you?

How will you gain support and advice if you needit? What will be your sources of information?

Will you need proofreading? (note that this is notusually a formal requirement in universities).

Draw up a bullet point list of five areas that you willconcentrate on as you complete your draft.

Think criticallyHave you been self-reflexive? (‘why?’ as well as ‘what?’).Do you have a good ‘argument’?Have you discussed with a perspective in mind?Have you explained things rather than just quotingchunks of text? In your lit. review and discussion, did you ‘re-package’information rather than write chronologically?Did you evaluate strengths and weaknesses?Did you avoid ‘telling the story’ and being ‘anecdotal’?Did you bring out the relationship between writer, data(your own data or your reading) and the literature (especially in your discussion chapter?) NB: Keep drafting and redrafting your chapters!

Take care to avoid over-use of quotations in your dissertation.

Quotations are useful when there is something important that cannot be said differently. But using too many quotations in your literature review can mask a lack of understanding and will confuse the reader. Paraphrasing is usually better.

Of course, in your qualitative data/ results chapter, you should quote freely from interviews, focus groups, etc.

A final reminder