Writing and Presenting Your

Thesis or Dissertation

By: S. Joseph Levine, Ph.D.

Michigan State University
www.learnerassociates.net

Bahar Hourtan
 The Thinking About It Stage

 1. Be inclusive with your thinking.

Don't try to eliminate ideas too quickly. Give yourself the luxury of being expansive
in your thinking at this stage.

 2. Write down your ideas.

This will allow you to revisit an idea later on. Or, you can modify and change an
idea. If you don't write your ideas they tend to be in a continual state of change and
you will probably have the feeling that you're not going anywhere.

 3. Don't be overly influenced by others-it's your research.

This will be one of the few opportunities you may have in your professional
life to focus in on a research topic that is really of your own choosing.
 4. Try and set a realistic goal.

Don't begin your thinking by assuming that your research will draw international
attention to you!! Make sure your expectations are tempered by:
... the realization that you are fulfilling an academic requirement,
... the fact that the process of conducting the research may be just as important
(or more important) than the outcomes of the research, and
... the idea that first and foremost the whole research project should be a
learning experience for you.

 5. Set appropriate time lines.

If the project you'd like to do is going to demand more time than you're willing to
commit then you have a problem. Try using the 6 Stages (see the next item)
and put a start and a finish time for each. Post your timeline in a
conspicuous place (above your computer monitor?) so that it continually
reminds you how you're doing. Periodically update your timeline with new
dates as needed.


6. Take a leave of absence when it will do the most good.

Assuming that there are six major phases that you will have during your research
project, probably the best time to get the most from a leave of absence is during the

fourth stage* - the writing stage.

 Stage 1 - Thinking About It
 Stage 2 - Preparing the Proposal
 Stage 3- Conducting the Research
 Stage 4- Writing the Research Paper*
 Stage 5- Sharing the Research Outcomes with Others
 Stage 6- Revising the Research Paper

7. Try a preliminary study to help clarify your research.
The key is that it will give you a chance to get closer to your research and to test out

whether or not you really are interested in the topic.

 Preparing The Proposal
 8. Read other proposals.

How has the other proposal been organized?

What are the headings that have been used?
Does the other proposal seem clear?
Does it seem to suggest that the writer knows the subject area?
Can I model my proposal after one of the ones that I've seen?

 9. Prepare a comprehensive review of the literature.

Now, why would you want to wait? Now is the time to get informed and to
learn from others who have preceded you!
 10. Photocopy relevant articles.
Keep your photocopies organized according to categories and sections. And,
most importantly, photocopy the bibliographic citation so that you can easily
reference the material in your bibliography.

 11. Proposal should be first 3 chapters of dissertation.

It should begin with a statement of the problem/background information

(typically Chapter I of the dissertation), then move on to a review of the
literature (Chapter 2), and conclude with a defining of the research
methodology (Chapter 3). Of course, it should be written in a future tense
since it is a proposal. To turn a good proposal into the first three chapters of
the dissertation consists of changing the tense from future tense to past
tense.
 12. Focus your research.

Don't try to have your research cover too broad an area.

Usually a broadly defined project is not do-able.
When you complete your research project it is important that you have
something specific and definitive to say.

Often the researcher finds that what he/she originally thought to be a good
research project turns out to really be a group of research projects. Do one
project for your dissertation and save the other projects for later in your
career. Don't try to solve all of the problems in this one research project.
 13. Include a title on your proposal.
Work on your title early in the process and revisit it often.
Preparing a good title means:
...having the most important words appear toward the beginning of your title,

...limiting the use of ambiguous or confusing words,

...breaking your title up into a title and subtitle when you have too many words,

...including key words that will help researchers in the future find your work.

 14. Organize around a set of questions.

try to write them so that they frame your research and put it into perspective with
other research.
These questions must serve to establish the link between your research and other
research that has preceded you.
Don't be carried away at this point and make your questions too narrow. You must
start with broad relational questions.

15. Some considerations for designing your research:

a. Design your research so the subjects benefit.

b. Choose your methodology wisely.

c. Consider combining methodologies.

d. Carefully select location for your research.

e. Avoid conducting research in conjunction with another agency.

 16. Use your advisory committee well.
 a. Select faculty who will support you.

b. Your major professor is your ally.

c. Provide committee with well written proposal.

d. Plan the proposal meeting well.

Writing The Thesis Or Dissertation

 17. Begin writing with sections you know the best.

The most productive approach in writing the dissertation is to begin writing
those parts of the dissertation that you are most comfortable with.
Then move about in your writing by completing various sections as you think
of them.
 18. Rewrite your proposal into dissertation sections.

 19. Use real names/places in early drafts of dissertation.

at the end of the writing stage you can easily have the computer make all of
the appropriate name substitutions. If you make these substitutions too early
it can really confuse your writing.
 20. Print each draft on a different color paper.

Just as soon as you print a draft of a chapter there will appear a variety of
needed changes and before you know it another draft will be printed. And, it
seems almost impossible to throw away any of the drafts! After awhile it will
become extremely difficult to remember which draft of your chapter you may
be looking at.

 21. Use hand drawings of graphics/tables for early drafts.

Make sure your data are presented accurately so your advisor can clearly
understand your graph/table, but don't waste the time trying to make it look
word processor perfect at this time. Once you and your advisor agree upon
how the data should be graphically represented it is time to prepare
"perfect" looking graphs and tables.
22. Make your writing clear and unambiguous.

To do this well you should prepare a list of key words that are important to
your research and then your writing should use this set of key words
throughout

 23. Review other dissertations before you begin to write.

Examine their use of headings, overall style, typeface and organization. Use
them as a model for the preparation of your own dissertation.

 24. Introduce tables in the text, present the table and then
describe it.
If there is nothing to discuss then you may want to question even inserting
it.

25. Use similar or parallel wording whenever possible.
If each introduction and discussion of the similar tables uses very similar wording
then the reader can easily spot the differences in each table.

 26. Let your Table of Contents help you improve your manuscript.
Use it to see if you've left something out, if you are presenting your sections in the
most logical order, or if you need to make your wording a bit more clear.
Don't wait until the end to do your Table of Contents. Do it early enough so you can
benefit from the information it will provide to you.

 27. Write real conclusions and implications - don't restate your

findings.

This is a key section of the dissertation and is sometimes best done after you've had
a few days to step away from your research and allow yourself to put your research
into perspective. If you do this you will no doubt be able to draw a variety of insights
that help link your research to other areas.
I usually think of conclusions/implications as the "So what" statements. In other
words, what are the key ideas that we can draw from your study to apply to my areas
of concern.
 28. Make your Suggestions for Further Research meaningful.

The biggest problem with this section is that the suggestions are often ones
that could have been made prior to you conducting your research. Read and
reread this section until you are sure that you have made suggestions that
emanate from your experiences in conducting the research and the findings
that you have evolved.


29. Chapter One should be written last.
Reread Chapter One carefully with the insight you now have from having
completed Chapter Five.
Does Chapter One clearly help the reader move in the direction of Chapter
Five?
Are important concepts that will be necessary for understanding Chapter
Five presented in Chapter One?
 The Thesis/Dissertation Defense
 30. Attend some defenses before it's your turn.

31. Discuss your research with others.
 32. Don't circulate chapters to committee.
 33. The defense should be team effort - you and adviser.
 34. Don't be defensive at your defense.
 35. Organize your defense as an educational presentation.
 36. Consider tape recording your defense.

37. Prepare an article on the outcomes of your research.