Achieving a PhD degree is a milestone in life and is not an easy feat! Anyone aiming for this premium doctorate degree is mentally prepared for the hard work involved at each stage of the process. But, most of us want to accomplish it within a shorter time frame so that we can move forward in our professional career. Thesis, dissertation, and other subject related writing is an essential part of this doctorate education and choosing the right methods can offer you greater chances of success in less time. This is where pro tips for your PhD thesis come in handy.
Anybody who is trying to pursue a PhD doctorate degree is aware that a lot of writing work is involved to develop research thesis. Each student must find ways and techniques to perfect the process of research and writing the documents without getting overwhelmed or confused about different aspects. Thesis writing conveys what your research is about and includes multiple factors and rules that can help make it a success.
Create a Plan of Action
When you have chosen a topic that you are interested in planning the actions and making an outline is among the first steps to go forward with research work. It is vital to know what your argument is and to plan each step about it, including the title of your thesis, the problem solving and methods to implement it. How you will research the topic is also crucial as well as noting down the different methods and sources. The next stage includes creating a table of contents to break down the topic into chunks such as chapters, subchapters, diagrams, titles and so on, to make the work easier and more manageable.
Gain through a Mentor
Each step of the overall structure can be planned and written, and it is a good idea to involve a mentor or supervisor at this stage. Additionally, the supervisor or mentor can provide guidelines about rules and regulations for writing the thesis in terms of the number of words, citation style, format etc. or certain other aspects.
The Thesis Statement
Discuss how you will write the thesis statement with your mentor which includes the techniques and actions required for collecting related material and using critical thinking or problem-solving methods. Thesis statements tells readers clearly and unambiguously about what your writing assignment is about and your interpretation and is debatable. It can win the reader’s attention if the ideas are clearly represented.
Research and write
Research work and writing must go hand in hand, so never procrastinate the writing work. As you conduct research about your topic make notes about your findings on time, systematically and clearly. But it is important to remember that recording facts, figures or information derived from interviews should be noted in a methodical way so that it is clear and understandable when you refer to these notes later.
References
Ensure that you follow citation rules and styles according to the norms and follow it throughout the documents. This avoids the problems of redoing or editing and saves valuable time.
Writing work
When you begin writing break down the material into chapters and focus on writing few hours each day. Ensure that it does not sound repetitive and try to cut down extra words or explanations. Your writing must be supplemented with plenty of reading related to the research, so you must allocate adequate time slots for both activities wisely.
Thesis writing is about a targeted area or topic and not a generalization. Your claims must be substantiated with factual evidence even though the topic is argumentative. You present your side of the argument firmly, conclusively and factually, so it cannot be ambiguous. You will support the side you are on with statements through the paper you have written. Categorize and present your research findings so that you can remove extra information when editing the writing.
Be organized
Being organized helps during editing and provides a methodical way of working through your research paper writing. Create to-do lists and checklists to ease the process and recheck several times for any formatting, grammatical or factual errors or for discovering any important points that you may have missed or omitted. Make different lists for checking each area or factors of the documents so that you can polish the final thesis that you will publish.
Additional tips:
- Don’t overdo or overwork as it will only result in poorer quality of work and stress.
- Take regular breaks to refresh yourself
- Create a daily schedule and targets and fulfill them
- Back up your work on a USB or server as a safety measure
- Schedule time separately for proofreading and rechecking the document for formatting, typographical, grammar and error checks
- Be original and creative in your writing style and provide citations references where required
Following valuable pro tips for your PhD thesis can help you accomplish your ambition of a PhD doctorate successfully and in a lesser time span. It also helps to capture the reader’s attention and understanding.