Authoring a PhD
Authoring a PhD
How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation
Patrick Dunleavy
Contents
List of figures and tables ix
Preface x
1 Becoming an author 1
Authoring is more than just writing 2
Different models of PhD and the tasks of
authoring 5
Managing readers’ expectations 11
2 Envisioning the thesis as a whole 18
Defining the central research questions 18
Doing original work 26
3 Planning an integrated thesis:
the macro-structure 43
The whole and the core 44
Focusing down or opening out 53
Four patterns of explanation 62
4 Organizing a chapter or paper:
the micro-structure 76
Dividing a chapter into sections 76
Devising headings and subheadings 84
Handling starts and finishes 89
5 Writing clearly: style and referencing issues 103
The elements of good research style 104
Effective referencing 120
VII6 Developing your text and managing the
writing process 134
Drafting, upgrading and going public 135
Remodelling text 143
Organizing the writing process 148
7 Handling attention points: data, charts
and graphics 157
Principles for presenting data well 159
Handling tables 165
Designing charts and graphs 172
Other techniques for data reduction 185
Using diagrams and images 192
8 The end-game: finishing your doctorate 197
From a first full draft to your final text 199
Submitting the thesis and choosing examiners 209
The final oral examination (viva) 217
9 Publishing your research 227
Writing and submitting journal papers 227
Re-working your thesis as a book 251
Afterword 264
Glossary of maxims, terms and phrases 266
Notes 277
Further reading 287
Index 291
V I I I ◆ C O N T E N T SList of Figures and Tables
Figures
3.1 Interrelating the whole and the core 50
3.2 The focus down model 55
3.3 The opening out model 59
3.4 The compromise model 61
3.5 Three ways of viewing my home study 64
3.6 Examples of a matrix structure 74
4.1 The tree structure of a chapter 102
5.1 How PhD students’ writing can develop 105
7.1 Eight main types of chart (and when to use them) 173
7.2 How health boards compare 182
7.3 How Scotland’s health boards compared in treating
cataracts, 1998–9 financial year 183
7.4 An example of a box-and-whisker chart comparing
across variables 189
7.5 An example of median-smoothing 191
8.1 Integrating themes 200
9.1 An example of a journal article evaluation form 236
Tables
5.1 How different pressures on authors improve
or worsen the accessibility of their text 107
7.1 How health boards compare 166
7.2 How Scotland’s health boards compared in
treating cataracts, 1998–9 financial year 167
Index
291
abbreviated references, 129
ABD, ‘all but dissertationed’, 8, 266
abstract, for dissertation, 52, 203–5
academic jargon, 117–20
academics, 214–16
Access (software), 125
acronyms, 107, 120
adviser, main, 5, 8, 11, 13–14, 29, 64,
82, 140–2, 209–16, 245, 248–9,
271; see also supervisor
adviser, minor, 5–11, 13–14, 271
algebra, 30
amateur dramatics, 198
Amazon.com, 254
analytic explanation or structure,
68–70, 73–4, 145, 266
Anderson, Poul (1926–2001), 62, 281
anthropomorphism, 118–19
appendices, 61, 160
Apple, 125
appointment committees, 202, 234
Aquinas, St Thomas (1225–74), 284
archetypal singular, 119, 266
argumentative explanation or
structure, 70–4, 145, 267
AT & T, 227, 285
‘attractor’ elements, 93–5
Auden, W. H. (1907–73), 154, 284
authoring, passim, 267
authoring defined, 1
authoring dilemmas, 1, 73, 103–11
Bacon, Francis (1561–1626), xi, 283
‘banking’ a chapter, 141–2
bar charts, grouped, 177
bar charts, horizontal, 174
bar charts, vertical, 173
bar charts, 3D, 183
bar charts, percentage
component chart, 176
Becker, Howard S., 108, 135, 136,
197, 281, 282, 283, 285
beginning PhD students, 3–4, 13–14,
15–17, 20, 26–7, 28, 42
Bible, the, 94, 128
bibliographies, segmented, 130, 267
bibliography, 35, 122–33, 267
‘big book thesis’, 5–11, 19, 28, 43–75,
92, 131, 155, 267
binding dissertations, 210
Biot, Jean-Baptiste (1774–1862), 33
blank page/screen problem, 91–2,
134, 136, 149–50
body (in paragraphs), 112–13, 267
body text, 267
books, academic, 11–12, 46, 103,
112, 120, 132, 223, 251–64
Botton, Alain de, 1, 104, 109, 278,
282, 287–8
box-and-whisker plots, 188–9, 192
brainstorming, 34–5, 202
Britain, PhD exams, 218–26
Browning, Robert (1812–89), 208,
285
bureaucratization, ix, 39–40
business studies, 289
‘by-product’ view of authoring, 2–5
capitalizing words, 120
case studies, 52causal analysis, 69
CDs, 160, 168, 272
central research question, 18–26,
200–9, 276
chapter banking, 141–2
chapter conclusions, 99–100
chapter ends, 97–8
chapter headings, 84–6, 143–8,
199–209
chapter planning, 76–84, 143–8,
199–201
chapter sequence, 43–75
chapter titles, 91–2
chapter, first, 52, 205–6
chapter, last, 55, 207
chapter, structure, 84–100, 143–6
chapters, middle, 206–7
charts, 90, 120, 157–65, 171–84,
188–92, 196; see also charts,
figures
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith
(1874–1936), 24, 118, 264,
279, 282
‘chop and stick’, 146
chronology structures, 66–7
circulation of journals, 230–1
citation scores, 230
citation systems, 103–4, 122–33,
228–9
‘classical model’ PhD, 5–11, 56–7, 219
Collins, Randall, 53, 281
Colton, Charles Caleb (1780–1832),
16, 278
comments (in journals), 240
commitments, 37–8, 288
compromise model, 60–1, 267
conceptual frameworks, 30
conclusions, to chapters, 79, 97–8
Condillac, Abbé Etienne de
(1715–80), 117
conference papers, 47, 142–3, 192
conferences, 142–3, 155, 158–9,
215–16, 226, 243, 246, 291
Constable, John (1776–1837), 31
contents page, 52, 88
contents page, extended, 83–4
contract, for books, 251–2, 261–2
contractual nature of PhD, 19–20
conventional wisdom, 32, 279
coursework, 5–11, 57
craft approach, in PhD education,
2–11
creative non-fiction, x, 124–5, 290
creativity, 5, 26–42, 288
Crisp, Quentin (1908–99), 21
cultural studies, 289–90
curriculum vitae, 21, 252
Darwin, Charles (1809–82), 227
data analysis, 25
data presentation, 159–65
data reduction, 95, 159, 185–92, 267
Davies, Robertson (1913–95), 40, 280
deadlines, 148–9
defamation, 262
‘defence in depth’, 222–4
departments, 79, 141, 211
derivative writing, 113–14
descriptive explanation or structure,
63–8, 145, 268
Dewey, John (1859–1952), 41, 284
diagrams, 30, 90, 120, 192–6
Dimnet, Edward, 11, 12
dinner-party test, 22–3
displacement activities, 148
dissertation committees, 5–11, 14–15,
19, 88, 209–16, 217, 289
dissertation defence, 268
documentation searches, 29–30
double-blind refereeing, 229, 268
dual publication, 250–1, 268
Eco, Umberto, 143, 192, 283, 285
edit stage, 138, 149
editorial boards (of journals), 232–3
editors, of journals, 227–51
effective digits, 268
Ehrenberg, A.C. S., 284, 285
electronic journals, 30
Eliot, T. S. (1888–1965), 281
Elster, Jon, 38–9, 280, 288
emergency stop test, 98–100, 147–8,
268
end-game, 14, 197–226, 284
end-loading (a dissertation), 51–2
Endnote (software), 124–5, 132
endnotes, 114, 122, 128, 130–3,
268
endnotes, positioning, 131–2
endpoint (for research), 203
epigraph (quotations), 93
ergonomic keyboards, 151
Europe, PhD exams, 217–18
Evans, Greg, 185, 284
292 ◆ I N D E Xexamination (final oral), 216–26,
268, 269
examiners, 13–14, 19, 58, 90, 121–2,
157, 209–26, 268
examples, 94–5
Excel (software), 172
exercise, 152
exploratory data analysis, 185–92
false starts, 92–3, 242
figures, 90, 120, 157–65, 171–84,
188–92, 196; see also charts;
graphs
figures, list of, 163
final chapter, 207
final oral examination, 216–26,
268, 269
first chapter, 77–92, 203–5
first-order sub-heading, 78, 269
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1896–1940), 284
Fleming, Alexander (1881–1955), 280
flow charts, 193–5
focus down model, 53–9, 269
footnotes, 132–3, 269
Ford, Henry (1863–1947), 76, 281
formalization (of arguments), 110,
288
Forster, E. M. (1879–1970), 137
Foucault, Michel (1926–84), 94–5, 282
framing text, 45
France, Anatole (1844–1924), 120,
283
France, doctoral education, 23
Freelance (software), 193
Galbraith, John Kenneth, 32, 279
gap-filling theses, 21, 29
Garfield (cartoon), 263, 285
General Examination, 8, 10
Gershwin, George (1898–1937), 251
Gide, André (1869–1951), 34
Gleick, James, 152, 284
glossary (in dissertations), 120
Goethe, Johanne Wolfgang von
(1749–1832), 18–19, 30–1, 93,
152, 279, 282, 284
good style, 103–20
graphs, 90, 120, 157–65, 171–84,
188–92, 196; see also charts;
figures
Gray, Thomas (1716–71), 278
‘guidebook’ structures, 66
Hamilton, Alexander (1755–1804),
37, 280
Handel, George Friedrich
(1685–1759), 40
Harvard referencing system, 114,
122, 125–30, 269
headings, 76–92, 273
health, 151, 288
heuristics, 288
high impact start, 92–5, 270
Hirschman, Albert O., 38–9, 280
Humanities Citation Index, 230
Illich, Ivan (1926–2002), 29, 279
indenting (headings), 78
independence (in analysis), 27–8
Ingenta, 234
insurance elements, 25, 40
‘insurgent’ view, 32
intellectuals, 118–19, 197–8, 287–8
internal examiner, 209–16
Internet see Web
interrogative headings, 86, 96
interviews, 129–30, 225
in-text references, 126, 130–1
introductions, to chapters, 91–6
intuitive explanation (of equations),
110
ISI Web of Knowledge, 230, 252, 285
Izzard, Eddie, 34
jargon, 117–20
Jerome, Jerome K. (1859–1927), 76,
281
jottings, 35–7, 149–50
journal articles, 47, 227–51
journalism, 111–12, 289
journals, 9, 32, 83, 112, 120, 122,
158, 223, 227–51
journals, online, 132, 234–5
JStor, 234
Kant, Immanuel (1724–1804), 153,
284
‘keep the faith’ maxim, 209, 221–2
keyboards, 151
Kundera, Milan, 263, 285
labelling academic positions, 15–16,
31, 71
labelling, attention points, 163–4,
165–6, 172, 181, 195
I N D E X ◆ 293last chapter, 270
Latin abbreviations, 122
Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent (1743–94),
282
layer chart, 179
lead-in materials, 49–51, 52, 79, 95,
97, 205–6, 270
lead-out materials, 49–51, 52, 79, 95,
97, 205–6, 270
‘legacy’ views, 32
legal cases, referencing, 129
Lem, Stanislaw, 76, 281
‘less is more’ maxim, 208, 271
levels, sub-heads, 147
libraries, 203
life skills, 196
line graphs, 178
‘link’ elements, 143–6
Linux, 125
literature, 289–90
literature reviews, 15–16, 28–30, 32,
51, 53–8, 72, 83, 89, 113–14
‘loc. cit.’ references, 122
London School of Economics, xii,
xiii, 277–8, 279
London University, 27, 279
Lonergan, Bernard (1904–84), 283
Lotus, 172, 193
Lucas, George, 283
Machiavelli, Niccolò (1469–1527),
265
macro-structure (of thesis), 43–75, 285
managing expectations, 11–16, 38,
86–7, 89–94, 106–7, 154–5, 156,
371, 288
market rationale (for books), 258
marketing strategy (for books), 258–9
Marx, Karl (1818–83), 42, 281
masters degrees (MA, MSc), 11, 66
matrix pattern of argument, 72–4
maxims for authoring, 266–76
mean, 187, 190
mean-smoothing, 190
median, 187–9
median-smoothing, 190–1
Mellencamp, John, 280
Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475–1564), 89, 282
midspread, 187–9
‘mid-term’ slump (in morale), 8,
22, 288
Mill, John Stuart (1806–73), xi, 42,
277, 279
Miller, G. A., 35, 280, 288
Mills, C. Wright (1916–62), 2, 53,
277, 281, 288
Minkin, Lewis, 35, 41, 280, 281,
283, 288
‘minor’ revisions, 220–5
miscuing, mis-signalling, 86–7
Modern Languages Association, 123,
283
monograph books, 251–4
Montaigne, Michel de (1533–92), 35,
280
Monty Python, 218, 285
morale, for writers, 8, 22, 133, 153–4,
288
Morton, Rebecca, 288
Moynihan, Daniel, 165
multiple submission (of articles),
249–50
Murdoch, Iris (1919–94), 111
Nabokov, Vladimir (1899–1977), 43,
281
narrative headings, 85, 95
narrative structures, 66
National Audit Office (UK), 157, 284
‘need to know’ criterion, 52–3, 61,
106–7, 121–2, 154, 159–65,
160–4, 184, 271–2
neologisms, 30, 90
Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844–1900),
134, 151, 155, 285
non-substantive headings, 85–6
notebook PCs, 151
notes, 35–7, 149–50
novels, 134–5
Nozick, Robert (1939–2002), 23, 24,
31, 279, 288
Nudist (software), 283
numbering sections (in chapters),
81–2
numerical progression (in data),
168–9, 181–2, 185, 272
Oakeshott, Michael (1901–90), x, xi,
11, 12, 264–5, 277, 285
objects (in sentences), 114–17
Office (Microsoft), 125
offprints, 234
‘omnibus’ journals, 230–1
294 ◆ I N D E X‘one-stop look-up’ principle, 121–2,
267, 272
on-line journals, 132, 234–5
‘op. cit.’ references, 122
open refereeing, 229, 272
opening-out model, 59–60, 272
Oppenheimer, Robert (1904–67), 31,
279
oral examinations, 216–26, 268, 269
organizers, 78, 272
originality, 2, 5, 10, 26–42, 49,
109–10, 235–6, 244–5, 288
outliers, 188–9
outline (in word processors), 81–2
over-organizing a chapter, 80–3
over-writing, 45–7, 207–8, 209
papers model dissertation, 5, 8–11,
19, 46, 51, 272
paragraph replanning, 143–6
paragraphs, 106, 111–14, 143–6, 272
parsimony, 105, 107–8, 273
parts structure, 48–9
Pascal, Blaise (1623–62), 32, 35, 111,
114, 116, 153, 199, 266, 280,
282, 284, 285, 289
passive phrasing, 114–17
passive writing, 118–20
Pasteur, Louis, 37, 41, 281, 284
Pauling, Linus (1901–94), 35, 280
PCs (personal computers), 151–2
peer-group review, 228–9, 235–9
periodized chronologies, 68–9
personal digital assistant (PDA), 35
Pertwee, Boscoe, 209, 285
PhD, classical model, 5–11
PhD, taught model, 5–11
philosophy, 287, 288
‘physics envy’, 161
pie charts, 174, 184
plagiarism, 121
plan (for research/thesis), 25–6, 38,
43–75, 86–7, 153
Plato, 40, 277
Platonic form, 137
Popper, Karl (1902–94), 35
popular science books, referencing
in, 133
portable PCs, 151
Powerpoint (software), 193
preface, 52, 193
presentation packages, 165, 193
presentations, 142–3, 155, 157, 158
primary data, 185–92
primary sources, referencing, 129–30
‘print, edit, revise, upgrade, remodel’
operations, 138, 273
printing, 138, 146
professional bodies, 32, 141–3, 227,
233–4
project research, 11
psychology, 238–9, 289
publications portfolio, 249–50
publishability, 9–10, 227–64
publishers, 13, 122, 231, 233, 251–64
publishing, 223, 227–63
publishing subsidy, 255
quartiles, 187–9
question headings, 86
questions, for research, 18–26, 200–9
quotations, 78–9, 93–4
Radiohead, 158, 284
random sequence (of authors), 66–7,
74, 113–14
range (statistics), 187–9
rationality, 288
readability, 106–8
readers’ behaviour, 11–16, 58, 89–90,
113, 139, 154–5, 160, 288
re-basing index numbers, 167–8
refereeing, 109, 122, 227–51
refereeing, double-blind, 229, 268
refereeing, open, 229, 272
refereeing, single-blind, 229, 274
reference-handling software, 124–5
referencing circles, 222, 228, 273
referencing interviews, 129–30
referencing systems, 103–4, 120–33,
228–9
referencing, over, 103–4, 122, 256
referral, 221, 225, 273
regression line, 180
regulations, for PhD, 27–8, 45–7,
123, 205, 210–21, 224–5
reification, 118–19
religion, 289
re-modelling (or re-structuring) text,
137–8, 143–8, 208–9, 273–4
repetitive strain injury (RSI), 157
report writing, 82–3
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE),
249
I N D E X ◆ 295research degrees (other), 46–7
research methods, 235–7
research methods appendix, 61, 160
research myths, 241–4
research notes, 240, 246
research team projects, 20, 223
résumé, 21, 251
Return of the Jedi, 135
review articles, 240–1
revise and resubmit, 248
revising stage for text, 138
Rohe, Mies van der (1886–1969), 285
rolling synopsis, 53, 83, 209
rounding data, 161–2, 166–8, 171,
185–6
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712–78), 44,
281
royalties, 261
RSI (repetitive strain injury), 157
Russell, Bertrand (1872–1970), 33, 34
‘say it once, say it right’ principle,
109, 144, 274
scaling charts, 182–3
scatterplot, 180
Schelling, Friedrich von (1775–1854),
vi, xi, xii, 274
Schopenhauer, Arthur (1788–1860),
28, 279
second order sub-headings, 77–92,
274
sections, of chapters, 76–84, 143–4
segmented bibliography, 130
seminars, 4, 140–2, 159, 195
sentences, 114–17
serial methods of working, 43–4
Sertillanges, A. D., 26, 31, 264–5,
279, 280, 284, 285, 289
seven as a magic number, 35, 45, 288
Shaw, George Bernard (1856–1950),
33, 34, 110, 280
shelf-bending research theses, 12–13,
274
‘short article’ journals, 240
Sidney, Philip (1554–80), 148, 283
signposts, signposting, 95–6, 97, 274
Simon, Neil, 145, 155
single-blind refereeing, 229, 274
skim readers, 113
smoothing data, 189–92
Social Sciences Citation Index, 230
social sciences, mathematical, 5, 9,
46, 288
specialist journals, 231
spreadsheets, 165
SPSS statistics package, 172
stages (in writing), 136–43
Stata (statistics package), 172
statistics, 169–70
stem-and-leaf, 186–8, 192
Sternberg, Robert, 41, 84, 103, 239,
282, 285, 289
study skills, 3
style, 103–20, 133, 235–6, 271,
289–90
style guides, 119–20, 289–90
sub-headings, 76–94, 143–8
subject, in sentences, 114–17
‘subject, verb, object’ mnemonic,
114–17
subjects (in sentences), 114–17
submitting a PhD, 209–16, 275
subordinate clauses, 115
subsections, 76–84, 143–8
subtexts, 128, 132–3
Sun (newspaper), 84–5, 282
supervisor(s), supervision, 1–11,
13–14, 29, 56–7, 140–2, 209–16,
224–6, 245, 248–9, 275
suppressing the zero, 183, 184
synopses, for dissertations, 53, 83,
209
systematic structures, 69
tables, 90, 120
tables, list of, 163
Tardif, T. Z., 41
taught PhD model, 5–11, 275
teaching, 196
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre
(1881–1955), 38, 250
tenses, 118
text, remodelling, 143–8
thematization, 67
themes, integrating, 199–209, 275
theories, handling, 14–15, 25, 38,
71–2, 90, 114, 118–19, 208–9,
237
theory, new, 30, 90
thinking, 32–5
third-order sub-headings, 78
‘three effective digits’ rule, 275
three-dimensional (3D) charts, 181,
183
Thurber, James (1894–1961), 136
‘time bombs’, 123, 225–6
296 ◆ I N D E Xtime lags (in finishing), 200, 210–11
time lags (in publishing), 231–2
time planning, 43
title, of chapters, 84–9, 91–2, 96
title, of dissertation, 20, 21, 52, 87–8,
92, 96, 200–3
Tocqueville, Alexis de (1805–59),
197, 285
Tomalin, Claire, 145
topic sentence, 112–13, 275
‘topic, body, wrap’ formula, 112–13,
147, 275
topics, for PhD, 18–26
total quality control (for attention
points), 164–5
Tukey, John W. (1915–2000), 285
Tulving, Endel, 238, 285
Under Siege 2, 280
undergraduate work, 166
under-organizing (a chapter), 80,
99–100, 105
university presses, 253–4
upgrade (stage in writing), 138
USA, PhD exams, 217, 289
value-added criterion, 31–2, 43,
49–50, 57–8, 68, 104, 109–10,
221–2
‘vanity’ publishers, 255–6
Venturi, Robert, 285
verbs, 114–17
version control problems, 127, 132,
164–5, 184, 226, 276
vivas, 216–26, 276
vocabulary, 107, 117–20
‘voice’ (as a writer/researcher), 117,
219–20, 225
Vries, Peter de (1910–93), 148
‘warehouse’ publishing, 254, 261–2
Web, the, 30, 122–3, 149, 252
Web annexes (of journals), 247
Web sources, referencing, 225
Weber, Max (1864–1920), xi, 277
Web-only journals, 234–5
Woolf, Virginia (1882–1941), 35, 280
Word (software), 115, 118, 125,
153, 193
word counts, 115–16
word limits, 5, 11, 45–7, 72,
199–200, 207–8, 256
Wordperfect (software), 115, 125,
153, 193
word processors, 81–2, 165
wrap sentences, 112–13, 276
writer’s block, 26, 154
writing process, stages in, 136–43
writing sessions, 149–50
writing to deadlines, 148–9
writing, organizing, 148–55
X and Y graphs, 180
Yeats, W. B. (1865–1939), 18, 279
Young, Neil, 43, 281
Zerubavel, Eviatur, 151, 283–4, 289
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