Dissertation writing is about the process of writing research and the journey a dissertation researcher has to take. The three underlying themes in the book are scholarship, thinking and writing.
This is a practical workbook with many activities. It includes topics such as dissertation genres, conceptualising research, developing a proposal and an argument, conceptual frameworks, developing critical thinking, intellectual creativity, thinking and writing, literature reviews, reading strategies, writing analytically, research integrity, dealing with criticism, original contributions and what examiners look for.
Dissertation writing - a research journey is a resource for researchers engaged in a dissertation- or thesis-writing process; for those completing coursework Master's with a research component, Master's by dissertation and doctorates; and also for supervisors of research.
Cecile Badenhorst works part time at the University of the Witwatersrand, teaching at the Graduate School of Public and Development Management on the PhD programme. She also holds research writing and qualitative research workshops for academic staff through the Centre for Teaching and Learning. She received her Master's from the University of British Columbia and a doctorate from Queens University, Canada. She has a longstanding interest in student support, academic writing and qualitative research, and has recently published Research writing - breaking the barriers.
INTRODUCTION
My dissertation story
Why read this book?
Your role
Dissertation experiences
The stories we tell ourselves
The call to adventure
Masters and doctors
Refusal of the call
Preparing for the voyage
PART 1 The journey out
1 Travelling alone
2 Different journeys
3 Baggage: intellectual or otherwise
4 Your critical voice
5 Tools of the road: dissertation “skills”
6 Street savvy: meta-cognitive skills
7 Dissertation genres
8 Dissertation requirements
9 The research cycle
10 Crossroads and decisions
11 Milestones
12 Enjoying the journey
13 Creativity and ideas
14 The writing process
15 Visual thinking
16 Researcher’s notebook
17 Woods and trees: complexity to simplicity
18 Problem/purpose statement and questions
19 Conceptualising
20 The extraordinary academic world
21 Academic routes and byways
22 World views and perceptions of research
23 Qualitative vs quantitative
24 Thinking academically 25 Writing a discipline
26 Broad perspectives in research
PART 2 On the road
27 First threshold: the proposal
28 Far horizons: conceptual frameworks
29 Evidence
30 Negotiating rapids: argument
31 Arguments in a dissertation
32 Problems with arguments
33 The journey within: thinking
34 Questions
35 Developing critical thinking
36 Intellectual traits
37 Forgotten worlds: intellectual creativity
38 Creative traits
39 Routine and creativity
40 Creativity and writing
41 Thinking, writing, creating
42 Enemies, allies, tests
43 Supervision
44 Into the maze: literature reviews
45 Reading strategies
46 Organising a review
47 Writing the literature review
PART 3 The way back
48 Ordeals along the way
49 Dissertation demons
50 Passion and perseverance
51 Writing through data collection
52 Analytic strategies
53 Writing analytically
54 Presenting data
55 Emerging plot
56 Ethics and integrity
57 Fellow travellers: audience
58 Clear vs obscure writing
59 First (complete) draft
60 Criticism
61 Ownership
62 Dealing with ambiguity
63 Unseen valleys: structure
64 Findings/conclusions
65 Crossing the mountain: coherence
66 Metaphor
67 Miraculous passages: revision
68 Attention to detail
69 Original contribution
70 Scholarship
71 Submitting for examination
72 Successful travellers
73 Journey’s end
