How to Write a Thesis @ Develop good writing habits 4 @ Overcome writer's block . @ Understand the % assessment process < @ Get the most from your supervisor Rowena MurrayHow to Write a Thesis THIRD EDITION“This book has Become a tusted resource for students fioma wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. Not only does it take you through the steps and stages of thesis writing, ut nioze importantly, offers rich advice and support that helps build confidence, sets up effective writing habits and generates a positive orientation towards the complex task of thesis writing.” Professor Sarah Moore, Associate Vice President Academic, University of Limerick, Ireland “Pve found Rowena’s shrewd and insightful suggestions for writing helpful, not only for others but also for me.” Peter Elbow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USAHow to Write a Thesis THIRD EDITION Rowena Murray fe Open University Press(Open Univesity Press MeGraw-Hill Education MeGraw-Hill House ‘Shoppenhangers Road Maidenhead Berkshire England sL620L email: enquiies@openup.co.uk world wide web: wi. openup.co.uk ‘and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA First published 2002 Second edition published 2006 Reprinted 2007 (twice), 2008, 2010, 2011 First published in this third edition 2011 Copyright © Rowena Murray 2011 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages fr the purposes of criticism and review, no part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, corby any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording at otherwise, without the prior written permission ofthe publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6-10 Kisby Steet, London, ECIN BTS, ‘catalogue record ofthis book is available from the British Library ISBN-13; 978-0-33-528028-7 ISBN-10; 0.23-524428.9 eISBN: 978.0-33-524429-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-n-Publication Data CIP data applied for ‘Typasel by RefineCateh Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in the UK by Bell & Bain Lid, Glasgow Fictitious names of companies, products, people, characters andlor data that may be used herein (in ease studies or in examples) are not intended to represent any real individual, company, product or eventThis book is dedicated to Glennis Tavener Fiona Averill, Beth McKay Sheila Hughes Matthew Alexander Marie-Jeanne McNaughton Stella Neil Maura Murphy Akwugo Emejulu Janis Mcintyre Annette Coburn ‘Anne Ryan Rosemary Sleith Cherie Woolmer Tatpol Vajarodaya Chapter 8 is for MoragContents Preface to the third edition “Acknowledgements Overview Introduction: How to write 1,000 words an hour ‘The need for this book What the students say: ‘How I sed this book’ What the students want A.wrlters ‘toolbox’ ‘The ‘quality question’ Principles of academic weiting ‘The literature on writing Disciplinary differences ‘Thinking about structure Prompts Supervisors enabling student writing Waiting in a second language Grammar, punctuation, spelling Goal setting Lifelong learning Audience and purpose ‘Timetable for writing Checklist: defining the writing task Learning outcomes 1 Thinking about writing a thesis Doctorate or masters? What is a doctorate? New routes to the PhD. Why are you doing a doctorate? Internal and external drivers PhD or professional doctorate? Full-time or part-time? What will you use writing for? xill xvil 43 43 44 47 48 49 50 53 54‘CONTENTS. Regulations How will it look on the page? Demystification: codes and guides How will my thesis be assessed? What are the criteria? Defining ‘originality’ ‘What is the reader looking for? IT processes and needs Reasons for not writing Peer discussion and support Your first meeting with your supervisor ‘Training needs analysis ‘Questions for reflection Prompts for discussion ‘Writing timetable Checklist: pre-planning Learning outcomes Starting to write Can’t it walt tll later? Audiences and purposes Primary audience Secondary audience Immediate audience ‘The role of the supervisor A common language for talking about writing ‘Whiting to prompts Freewrlting Generative writing Checklist: starting to write Learning outcomes Seeking structure Revising your proposal Outlining Finding a thesis Whiting a literature review Plagiarism Designing a thesis ‘Writing in layers’ Waiting locations ‘Writing times 86 87 87 88 89 90 91 96 100 101 12 116 116 17 118 119 121 122 135 144 146 148 149CONTENTS ix Checklist: seeking structure 150 Learning outcomes 150 The first milestone 151 First writing milestone 152 the first-year report 152 From notes to draft 15 Dialogue 156 Monitoring 158 Pressure 159 What Is progress? 160 Looking for topics 162 Work-in-progress writing 163 Auwriters’ group 170 Checklist the fist milestone 7 Learning outcomes 7 Becoming a serial writer 178 What isa serial writer? 179 Scaffolding for an argument 180 Paragraph structure 180 Introductory parageaphs 184 Writing about the method(s) 186 Study buddy 188 Regular writing 189 Problems with writing 190 Writer's block 191 Incremental writing 198 Writing binges 199 Developing a writing strategy 200 Checklist: becoming a serial writer 201 Learning outcomes 201 Creating closure 202 What is closure? 202 Interim closure 204 Don’t put it off any longer 205 Research journal 206 Writing habits 212 Halfway point 214 Brown's eight questions 216CONTENTS. Pulling it all together A design for writing Frustration ‘Whiting conclusions Checklist: creating closure Learning outcomes 7 Fear and loathing: revising Why ‘fear and loathing?” Repetition Forecasting Signalling Signposting Conceptualizing and reconceptualizing Managing yout editor End of the second phase Look back to the proposal Checklist: revising Learning outcomes 8 Itis never too late to start Step 1 Take stock Step 2 Start writing Step 3 Outline your thesis Step 4 Make up a programme of writing Step § Communicate with your supervisor(s) Step 6 Outline each chapter Step 7 White regularly Step 8 Revise Step 9 Pull it all together Sigp 11) Do final tasks Does the fast-track mode work? Learning outcomes 9 The last 385 yards ‘The marathon “Done-ness is all” Concentrated welting phase Well-being Peer support Discussion chapter 218. 219 219 220 225 225 226 207 227 229 230 230 231 233 236 236 237 237 238 242, 243 245, 248. 251 252 253 254 255, 255, 256 257 258 259 260 260 261 263 264New goal Style tips Binishing Enough is enough It is good enough You have made a contribution Convince your reader ‘Polish’ the text Motivation Presentation of final copy ‘Timetable for writing Checklist: polishing Learning outcomes 10 After the thesis examination: more writing? More writing? What isa viva? Pre-viva Defining tasks ‘Talking about your writing Practice Anticipate the questions Mock viva, Fear ‘The external examiner During the viva Post-viva Endurance Revisions and corrections Anti-climax: Is there life after a thesis? Was it really worth it? Recovering ‘Thesis into book ‘Theend Checklist: before and after the examination Learning outcomes Bibliography. Index CONTENTS xi 265 26 267 268 269 270 270 271 272 2; 277 279 279 283 285 287 289 291 295 296 298 299 304 304 304 305 306 306 306 307 31 31 312 313 323Preface to the third edition Since the ist edition of this book was published in 2002, things have changed. Its now expected that students will receive some form of training in weiting during thelr doctorate. There Is now broad agreement on the need for training and development in the wide range of skills in a wide range of doctorates, although there is debate about what form that training should take, whether it should be taught in courses, whether these should be credit-bearing, and soon. An update on doctoral skills development has therefore been added to the Introduction, along with guidance on the Training Needs Analysis component of doctoral training programmes, which is one way of ensuring that they meet individuals’ needs. ‘There is also growing awareness of the possibility and consequences of plagiarism — deliberate and accidental - in academic welting, so that section of Chapter 3 has been expanded, ‘There is new pressure on doctoral students to publish during - not after- the doctorate, so that topic has moved to an earlier chapter in this book, while the subject is teeated in much more depth in my book Writing for Academic Journals (2nd edn, Murray 2009b). Finally, there are now many more thesis writing courses than there were in 2002, and this book has become a course textbook. Teachers of these courses dare now among the audience for this book, and I responded to the request for learning outcomes, which appear at the end of each chapter. However, it seems that this book is still useful to students trying to get a handle on how to manage a bigger academic writing project than they have ever produced before, at a higher level than they have ever achieved before. ‘This book is still designed primarily to help you.