demystifying dissertation writing

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Demystifying dissertation writing : a streamlined process from choice of topic to final text

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Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text Paperback – 28 September 2009

Purchase options and add-ons.

• ISBN-10 1579223133
• ISBN-13 978-1579223137
• Edition 1st
• Publisher Routledge
• Publication date 28 September 2009
• Language English
• Dimensions 15.2 x 1.3 x 22.9 cm
• Print length 224 pages
• See all details

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Product description

"Demystifying Dissertation Writing by Peg Boyle Single is a wonderful tool for assisting students through the rocky road of dissertation writing. By using a thorough and relatable writing style, having advisors and students as an audience, addressing the human topics of dissertation writing, providing visual process markers and tools, and believing in student/literature engagement, Single has written an amazing book for both advisors and students alike. I would recommend this book to anyone who works with any graduate students who are considering continuing their studies and those who are already in a doctoral program."

NACADA Journal (National Academic Advising Association)

"Any college-level library needs Demystifying Dissertation Writing, a powerful reference on dissertation writing. Humor and a converstational style may be unexpected side benefits here but they drive an informative and readable text on how to start, sustain and finish a dissertation."

Midwest Book Review

“I was so impressed with this book that I offered to write the foreword for it.”

Rick Reis, editor of the Tomorrow's Professor eNewsletter

"Whether you’re inching towards a dissertation topic, choosing an adviser or already coping with the last stage of doctoral work, this book will be a life-saver. Demystifying Dissertation Writing is for anyone who wants to increase their writing productivity and especially for those who experience anxiety, blocking, impatience, perfectionism, or procrastination when they write. Through easy-to-follow steps, Single helps you rise above all these barriers and become a fluent writer. She has managed to package into this book her expertise as a writing seminar organizer and a writing coach and it is just what academe needs."

JoAnn Moody, Faculty Development and Diversity Specialist, www.diversityoncampus.com and author of Faculty Diversity: Problems and Solutions.

"Dr. Single has written the definitive text on how to start, sustain, and finish a dissertation. Her book describes what she calls her 'Single System for Academic Writing.' Her system is directed toward dissertation writers in the humanities and social sciences. The text is at once practical, accessible, and, in her aptly chosen descriptor, 'streamlined.' Starting with choosing a topic and advisor, Dr. Single adeptly takes the reader through the necessary dissertation tasks of preparatory reading and note-taking, crafting clear focus statements and outlines, creating regular writing routines and overcoming writer’s block, and finally revising. I now have the quintessential writing text that I can recommend to all my doctoral students, regardless of the research genre they will be using."

Robert J. Nash, Professor & 2003 University Scholar in the Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Vermont & author of .

"I highly recommend this book to all directors of doctoral programs. Demystifying Dissertation Writing provides a blueprint for facilitating a dissertation writing seminar. Our students and their advisers rave about Peg’s seminar and her book."

Susan Hasazi, Stafford Distinguished Professor of Education Leadership & Special Education and Director of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, University of Vermont

As someone who directs programs to help graduate students become effective teachers on top of productive researchers, I am delighted to be able to bring Single’s book and system to these students’ attention―and to recommend it as well to faculty directing dissertations. In a compact, practical, and engaging way, Single shares ideas that should make the writing ‘load’ of academic life that much easier for all of us.

Michele Marincovich, Director of the Center for Teaching and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Stanford University, and past Executive Director of the POD Network.

“Written with humor in a friendly, conversational style, this book makes explicit the too often implicit aspects of successfully researching and writing a dissertation. Readers will feel that they have a guide-at-their-side (and a stern task master in the form of Peg Boyle Single in their conscience) as they learn about and acquire the habits of fluent writing–reading interactively, taking citeable notes, outlining, and writing and revising their dissertations.”

Barbara E. Lovitts, author of Making the Implicit Explicit and Leaving the Ivory Tower

About the Author

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (28 September 2009)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1579223133
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1579223137
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.2 x 1.3 x 22.9 cm
• 1,377 in Language Arts Teaching Materials
• 2,708 in Educational Certification & Development
• 4,860 in Education Textbooks

About the author

Peg boyle single.

Peg Boyle Single is a writer and workshop leader. For over 15 years, Dr. Single has worked with doctoral students and new faculty members, facilitated dissertation writing seminars and writing workshops for faculty members, and provided writing coaching to academic writers. She has helped universities start dissertation writing and thesis writing programs and her presentations are funny, motivational, and instructional. She wrote her book, Demystifying Dissertation Writing, to pass along the writing techniques she has found so effective while working with doctoral students. Her book also emphasizes the importance of writing seminars and writing groups. As such, she wrote her book so it could used as a "text book" for a dissertation writing seminar or a guide for an informal writing group. She strongly encourages faculty members and program administrators to offer dissertation writing seminars for their students.

Peg is thrilled to be writing a book on thesis writing and once again working with Stylus Publishing. You can follower her on twitter @pegboylesingle

Peg Boyle Single received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology with a minor in quantitative methods from the University of Stony Brook and a B.Accy. from the George Washington University.

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Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text Hardcover – 28 September 2009

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Research shows that five strategies correlate with the successful completion of a dissertation:·Establishing a consistent writing routine·Working with a support group·Consulting your advisor·Understanding your committee’s expectations·Setting a realistic and timely scheduleBuilding on these insights, this book is for anyone who needs help in preparing for, organizing, planning, scheduling, and writing the longest sustained writing project they have encountered, particularly if he or she is not receiving sufficient guidance about the process, but also for anyone looking to boost his or her writing productivity.The author uncovers much tacit knowledge, provides advice on working with dissertation advisors and committee members, presents proven techniques for the prewriting and writing stages of the dissertation, sets out a system for keeping on schedule, and advocates enlisting peer support. As Peg Boyle Single states, “my goal is quite simple and straightforward: for you to experience greater efficiency and enjoyment while writing. If you experience anxiety, blocking, impatience, perfectionism or procrastination when you write, then this system is for you. I want you to be able to complete your writing so that you can move on with the rest of your life.” Few scholars, let alone graduate students, have been taught habits of writing fluency and productivity. The writing skills imparted by this book will not only help the reader through the dissertation writing process, but will serve her or him in whatever career she or he embarks on, given the paramount importance of written communication, especially in the academy. This book presents a system of straightforward and proven techniques that are used by productive writers, and applies them to the dissertation process. In particular, it promotes the concept of writing networks – whether writing partners or groups – to ensure that writing does not become an isolated and tortured process, while not hiding the need for persistence and sustained effort.This book is intended for graduate students and their advisers in the social sciences, the humanities, and professional fields. It can further serve as a textbook for either informal writing groups led by students or for formal writing seminars offered by departments or graduate colleges. The techniques described will help new faculty advice their students more effectively and even achieve greater fluency in their own writing.

• ISBN-10 1579223125
• ISBN-13 978-1579223120
• Publication date 28 September 2009
• Language English
• Print length 192 pages
• See all details

Product description

"Demystifying Dissertation Writing by Peg Boyle Single is a wonderful tool for assisting students through the rocky road of dissertation writing. By using a thorough and relatable writing style, having advisors and students as an audience, addressing the human topics of dissertation writing, providing visual process markers and tools, and believing in student/literature engagement, Single has written an amazing book for both advisors and students alike. I would recommend this book to anyone who works with any graduate students who are considering continuing their studies and those who are already in a doctoral program."

NACADA Journal (National Academic Advising Association)

"Any college-level library needs Demystifying Dissertation Writing, a powerful reference on dissertation writing. Humor and a converstational style may be unexpected side benefits here but they drive an informative and readable text on how to start, sustain and finish a dissertation."

Midwest Book Review

“I was so impressed with this book that I offered to write the foreword for it.”

Rick Reis, editor of the Tomorrow's Professor eNewsletter

"Whether you’re inching towards a dissertation topic, choosing an adviser or already coping with the last stage of doctoral work, this book will be a life-saver. Demystifying Dissertation Writing is for anyone who wants to increase their writing productivity and especially for those who experience anxiety, blocking, impatience, perfectionism, or procrastination when they write. Through easy-to-follow steps, Single helps you rise above all these barriers and become a fluent writer. She has managed to package into this book her expertise as a writing seminar organizer and a writing coach and it is just what academe needs."

JoAnn Moody, Faculty Development and Diversity Specialist, www.diversityoncampus.com and author of Faculty Diversity: Problems and Solutions.

"Dr. Single has written the definitive text on how to start, sustain, and finish a dissertation. Her book describes what she calls her 'Single System for Academic Writing.' Her system is directed toward dissertation writers in the humanities and social sciences. The text is at once practical, accessible, and, in her aptly chosen descriptor, 'streamlined.' Starting with choosing a topic and advisor, Dr. Single adeptly takes the reader through the necessary dissertation tasks of preparatory reading and note-taking, crafting clear focus statements and outlines, creating regular writing routines and overcoming writer’s block, and finally revising. I now have the quintessential writing text that I can recommend to all my doctoral students, regardless of the research genre they will be using."

Robert J. Nash, Professor & 2003 University Scholar in the Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Vermont & author of .

"I highly recommend this book to all directors of doctoral programs. Demystifying Dissertation Writing provides a blueprint for facilitating a dissertation writing seminar. Our students and their advisers rave about Peg’s seminar and her book."

Susan Hasazi, Stafford Distinguished Professor of Education Leadership & Special Education and Director of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, University of Vermont

As someone who directs programs to help graduate students become effective teachers on top of productive researchers, I am delighted to be able to bring Single’s book and system to these students’ attention―and to recommend it as well to faculty directing dissertations. In a compact, practical, and engaging way, Single shares ideas that should make the writing ‘load’ of academic life that much easier for all of us.

Michele Marincovich, Director of the Center for Teaching and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Stanford University, and past Executive Director of the POD Network.

“Written with humor in a friendly, conversational style, this book makes explicit the too often implicit aspects of successfully researching and writing a dissertation. Readers will feel that they have a guide-at-their-side (and a stern task master in the form of Peg Boyle Single in their conscience) as they learn about and acquire the habits of fluent writing–reading interactively, taking citeable notes, outlining, and writing and revising their dissertations.”

Barbara E. Lovitts, author of Making the Implicit Explicit and Leaving the Ivory Tower

About the Author

Product details.

• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1579223125
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1579223120

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How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

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Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text (my reading notes)

Over the past six weeks, I’ve been reading a lot of books on the PhD journey. Mine wasn’t easy, but I wouldn’t say it was a nightmare. I made a commitment to read more stuff about how to better guide my own doctoral students, and I’m sharing what I’m learning with the world too. The more books I read on the topic, the more I come to a realization: we need to learn how to mentor doctoral students. Our own experience isn’t enough.

My next book on the list of "books I am reading so that I can recommend the right one to my doctoral students and fellow PhD advisors" pic.twitter.com/Mi7DVxJbSA — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 7, 2018

When I received my copy of “ Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text ” by Peggy Boyle Single, I had exactly the same thoughts about the book as my good friend, Dr. Luis Alvarez Leon, and by Professor Jon Henner did: somebody approved that book cover.

I await Clippy’s request to help me with my dissertation. — Jon Henner (@jmhenner) June 9, 2018

BUT, this is a perfect example of that old saying “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover”. Single’s book is magnificent, and despite the fact that she’s a former student of Robert Boice, she seems much less strict than Boice. Most of us who write about scholarly prose have both praised and sometimes criticized Boice for his blanket approach to solving writers’ block, as outlined in his “Professors as Writers” book and other work he’s done. Single calls her nicer, kinder set of strategies, “The Single Method”. Many strategies Single suggests I’ve already applied in my own work and passed on to my own students.

Second shock: instead of selling you the Holy Grail of This is How You Finish in Two Semesters or Less, Single is explicit: writing HABITS pic.twitter.com/7ZZptZstQH — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 7, 2018

Single suggests to do frequent "prewriting" (which involves reading, thinking, mulling over, poring over data, interacting w/material) pic.twitter.com/adwJvw7OiT — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 7, 2018

Single’s Method is very similar to mine, though she has her own quirks and I don’t think I would ask my students to follow all her routines.

I loved Peggy Boyle Single's book where she outlines "the Single Method". Some of her practices get on my nerves (like her file naming) pic.twitter.com/IrAG6sOjzm — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 9, 2018

Her view of PhD theses is strange but somewhat similar to mine. For me a PhD dissertation has 3 or 4 major components/contributions. pic.twitter.com/ZJITLZ2kWR — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 9, 2018

If my doctoral students write in the book format, I ask them to clearly identify 3-4 contributions. I do the same if they consider the 3 papers format (3 manuscripts for publication in journals). At any rate, all three should (combined) posit a Throughline (as per Germano): a coherent thread that

I can recommend it for *other* students, not mine. Mine follow the Pacheco-Vega method. </thread> — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 9, 2018

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[…] TIME. The authors I mentioned, plus Bolker and Boyle Single, all suggest that you should designate (or carve) *SOME* time to sustain a writing practice. Most […]

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Home > etextbooks > 238

eTextbooks for Students

Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text, 1st Edition

Peg Boyle Single Richard M. Reis

Link to Library Sourced Electronic Textbook

Publication Date

Course number, course title.

Dissertation Research Design in Texts and Technology

Instructors

Sonia Stephens

Instructor emails

[email protected]

Course College

College of Arts & Humanities

Course Department

Dean’s Office of College of Arts & Humanities

Library-Sourced

Unlimited User Access (Owned)

Instructions

https://vimeo.com/644560656

9781579223120

Electronic ISBN

9781000974652

Recommended Citation

Single, Peg Boyle and Reis, Richard M., "Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text, 1st Edition" (2009). eTextbooks for Students . 238. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etextbooks/238

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Demystifying the Dissertation-to-Book Process with Michelle Lipinski

On March 8, 2024, the  Rutgers Digital Ethnography Working Group  welcomed  University of California Press  Senior Editor,  Michelle Lipinski , for the online event  Demystifying Dissertation-to-Book . 

This talk breaks down the steps and the often winding pathways scholars can take from finishing a dissertation to publishing a book. The presentation is for doctoral students, early-career researchers, and any scholars looking to learn more about the terrain of academic book publishing. Michelle talks through common myths and misconceptions about publishing-related topics, such as: 

• approaching acquisitions editors
• crafting compelling book proposals
• navigating peer review
• obtaining publishing contracts

Watch the event recording here

The discussion ends with a short audience Q&A. For more behind-the-scenes resources on book publishing, visit the  author resources section  of our blog.

TAGS: Acquisitions Editors , author resources , book authors , book proposals , book publishing , book publishing 101 , digital ethnography working group , dissertation , Editor interview , ethnography , first-gen scholars , FirstGen Program , Michelle Lipinski , peer review , presentation , publishing contracts , Rutgers , videos

CATEGORIES: Author Resources , FirstGen , Scholarly Publishing

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https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/nist-physicists-once-obscure-work-now-helping-researchers-learn-about-origins

Taking Measure

Just a Standard Blog

NIST Physicist’s Once Obscure Work Is Now Helping Researchers Learn About the Origins of the Universe

When physicist John “Ben” Mates completed his doctoral thesis in 2011, he figured few people would read it. 

It’s not that Mates, who conducted his Ph.D. research at NIST while a graduate student at the University of Colorado, thought his work unimportant. 

Mates was just being realistic. Most scientists don’t bother to wade through doctoral dissertations, which can run more than 100 pages. Dissertations tend to focus on highly specialized topics. 

And for several years of his career at NIST, Mates was right.

He had devised a novel method to read out the signals from an array of exquisitely sensitive sensors that measure tiny changes in the intensity of thermal radiation (heat), including the afterglow of the Big Bang, known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

Reading out data from the detectors, developed at NIST and known as transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers, had proved challenging. That’s because the bolometers can only operate at temperatures a fraction of a degree above  absolute zero , which is about minus 273 degrees Celsius or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit. If too many wires link the ultracold detectors to room-temperature equipment, the sensors will heat up and stop functioning.

Mates’ dissertation described a way to minimize the number of these wires, enabling the sensors to maintain their chilly operating temperature. 

After completing his thesis, Mates pursued another research project at NIST. 

(Many) Bolometers Needed 

In late 2013, however, his NIST supervisor, Joel Ullom, asked him if he’d like to return to his original study. His dissertation, Ullom told Mates, had taken on added importance. 

Mates had previously demonstrated that signals from two of the TES bolometers could be read out using a single wire connected to a room-temperature device rather than using a separate wire for each sensor. 

Although he had designed the method to minimize the room-temperature connections for a much larger number of sensors, he had not actually shown it could work.

Now, that demonstration was urgently needed — and on a massive scale. 

Astronomers wanted to use not just two but thousands of the TES bolometers on a set of ground-based telescopes to examine the CMB with 10 times more sensitivity than ever before. Although researchers have studied the CMB for decades, the bolometers are able to capture details of the tiny temperature variations in the radiation that may put to the test the leading theory of how the universe was born.

With thousands of bolometers, however, it would be virtually impossible to attach a separate room-temperature wire to each one without heating the sensors beyond their operating temperature.

Over the next 10 years, Mates perfected his technique, showing how the signal from each TES — a change in a tiny current — could be converted to a unique frequency. Thousands of those frequencies, he showed, could be carried on a single room-temperature cable, dramatically reducing the flow of heat back to the detectors.

Using his method, known as microwave multiplexing, astronomers recently installed 67,080  bolometers on the  Simons Observatory , a suite of four telescopes in Chile devoted to studying the CMB. 

The NIST-designed sensors act like miniature thermometers and can discern tiny temperature variations — as small as ten-millionths of a degree — in the CMB over more than 40% of the sky. 

The minuscule hot and cold spots correspond to slight variations in the density of the universe in its infancy, 380,000 years after its violent birth. Studying those variations reveals how and where tiny clumps of matter, the seeds of the galaxies we see in the sky today, first formed in the cosmos.

The bolometers also record patterns of different polarizations in the CMB — wiggles in the electric field of the radiation. Those wiggles encode a wealth of information about the universe an instant after the Big Bang and could hold clues about its mysterious beginning.

Multiplexing Research Goes Mainstream 

Now Mates’ dissertation is a hot topic — required reading for many scientists interested in multiplexing. He’s gotten hundreds of requests for reprints and has traveled around the world, recently installing instrumentation at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex in Tokai. 

“It’s sort of freakish how it all worked out,” Mates said. “I never imagined the work would have such an impact.”

His thesis is so popular that Mates said he’s considering publishing an updated version of his manuscript.

In the future, Mates hopes to keep refining the technique and reducing the cost, so there can be many more projects over the next decade or longer. 

While he appreciates the attention his work is currently receiving, for Mates, the measurement problems were motivation to keep researching. 

“I think I also find most of the problems of developing and improving the system to be interesting on their own,” he said. 

Measuring the Cosmos 

Many NIST technologies have found homes among the stars. Learn more about how this research is helping to better understand our world on our Measuring the Cosmos site . 

About the author

Ron Cowen has been a science writer and editor at NIST since 2016. When not working at NIST, he’s a freelance writer specializing in physics and astronomy. In 2019, he authored his first book, a popular-level account of the 100-year struggle to understand the general theory of relativity, Gravity’s Century: From Einstein’s Eclipse to Images of Black Holes . Cowen has written for Scientific American , The New York Times , U.S. News & World Report , The Washington Post , National Geographic and the news sections of Science and Nature . He was also a staff reporter for 21 years at Science News magazine. Cowen has twice won several awards: the American Institute of Physics' excellence in science writing award, the American Astronomical Society's science writing award in solar physics and the Society's David Schramm science writing award for feature articles on high-energy astrophysics. He has a master's in physics from the University of Maryland.

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Intriguing story of the CMB radiation, though I missed any reference to the presumed dark matter scaffold on which galaxies were formed.