Writing a Watertight Thesis: Structure, Demystification and Defence PDF
Preview Writing a Watertight Thesis: Structure, Demystification and Defence
Writing a Watertight Thesis ii ALSO AVAILABLE FROM BLOOMSBURY Taking Control of Writing Your Thesis, Kay Guccione and Jerry Wellington Successful Dissertations, edited by Caron Carter Reflective Teaching in Higher Education, Paul Ashwin with David Boud, Susanna Calkins, Kelly Coate, Fiona Hallett, Gregory Light, Kathy Luckett, Jan McArthur, Iain McLaren, Monica McLean, Velda McCune, Katarina Mårtensson and Michelle Tooher Writing the Research Paper, Philip M. McCarthy and Khawlah Ahmed Using Questions to Think, Nathan Eric Dickman Narrative Inquiry, Vera Caine, D. Jean Clandinin and Sean Lessard Embodied Inquiry, Jennifer Leigh and Nicole Brown Diary Method, Ruth Bartlett and Christine Milligan Community Studies, Graham Crow Inclusive Research, Melanie Nind Quantitative Longitudinal Data Analysis, Vernon Gayle and Paul Lambert Rhythmanalysis, Dawn Lyon Qualitative Longitudinal Research, Bren Neale Writing a Watertight Thesis Structure, Demystification and Defence MIKE BOTTERY, NIGEL WRIGHT AND MARK A. FABRIZI iv BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2019 This edition published 2023 Copyright © Mike Bottery, Nigel Wright and Mark A. Fabrizi, 2023 Mike Bottery, Nigel Wright and Mark A. Fabrizi have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. Cover design: Grace Ridge All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: HB: 978-1-3502-6060-3 PB: 978-1-3502-6059-7 ePDF: 978-1-3502-6061-0 eBook: 978-1-3502-6062-7 Typeset by Newgen KnowledgeWorks Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India To find out more about our authors and books visit www.blo omsb ury.com and sign up for our newsletters. CONTENTS List of Figures vii List of Tables viii Preface to the Second Edition ix PART ONE Getting Ready 1 The Need for a Watertight Thesis 3 2 Demystifying the Doctoral Process 21 3 What Does It Take to Complete a Doctorate? 33 4 Making Sure Your Doctorate Is Original 53 5 Structuring Your Research Proposal 75 PART TWO Moving into the Doctorate 6 The Supervisory Relationship: Roles, Models and Mystification 101 7 Change and Problem-Solving in the Supervisory Relationship 119 8 Structuring in the Early Stages 137 9 Focusing on the Major Research Question 151 10 Creating Your Research Sub-questions 165 vi vi CONTENTS PART THREE Moving through the Doctorate 11 Linking the Research Sub-questions to the Thesis Chapters 181 12 Making the Early Chapters Watertight 199 13 Judging the Doctoral Quality of Your Work 213 14 Making the Middle Chapters Watertight 239 15 Making the Later Chapters Watertight 253 PART FOUR Moving Out of the Doctorate 16 The Examiners’ Need for Structural Clarity 269 17 Preparing for the Summative Viva 279 18 Structuring and Publishing Your First Articles 295 References 309 Index 315 FIGURES 1.1 Stages for constructing the watertight ship and thesis 6 4.1 Establishing originality 58 4.2 Types of originality 61 4.3 The emergence of originality 72 6.1 Different possible approaches to a supervisory relationship 108 7.1 Potential supervisor–supervisee interactions 124 8.1 Tasks at different ‘periods’ of an empirical doctoral thesis 140 11.1 Linking RSQs to thesis structure 188 11.2 Linking RSQs to relevant chapters 189 11.3 Applying linkages to your own thesis 190 14.1 A research methods continuum 240 14.2 Issues on a research methods continuum 241 14.3 A spectrum of opinions on the nature of knowledge, reality and researcher involvement 245 viii TABLES 3.1 Belbin team roles and doctoral task transferability 37 5.1 Categorizing verbs 93 13.1 Applying doctoral criteria to stages of development 218 15.1 Cataloguing and justifying your recommendations 262 17.1 Viva roulette questions 283 17.2 A table for organizing thesis amendments 292 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION Writing a doctoral thesis1 can be an arduous, confusing and mystifying process, and particularly at the start, when students may understand that they need to produce a strong structure for the entire work, but don’t quite know what a doctorate is, nor how to create its structure in a clear, rational and convincing manner. Indeed, the meaning and the process of a doctorate, more than any other degree, is sometimes more obscure, jargonized and difficult than it needs to be. This second edition of Writing a Watertight Thesis not only shows the beginner how to structure a doctorate but also helps to demystify the nature and processes involved in the study, both of which will ultimately make it more watertight and defensible. Not only does this edition of the book provide clear guidance on structuring, but the additional chapters also show the student how a doctorate differs from other degrees and help them to decide whether they have what it takes to do one, whether their ideas are sufficiently original, what kind of relationship they need to develop with their supervisors2 and whether their work is achieving doctoral quality. Much doctoral mystification is then removed. 1Throughout this second edition we will be using the terms ‘Thesis’ and ‘Dissertation’ interchangeably to reflect the fact that different countries use these terms for essentially the same purpose – to describe the major written output of the doctoral student. In some countries – and in some kinds of doctoral degrees – this written output is accompanied by coursework, the marking of which contributes to the achievement of the degree; in other countries, the written output is the sole criterion by which the degree is judged to be achieved or failed. 2In a similar manner, the academic individual overseeing a student’s thesis may be given a number of different titles, the two most used being ‘supervisor’ and ‘advisor’, and whilst we shall use the term ‘supervisor’ more often than ‘advisor’
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