Tips For Dissertation Writing!

pug_in_a_bed

I'm soon to begin writing my thesis for my masters degree and am feeling very apprehensive, esp. as i didn't do one for my undergrad degree.

does anyone have any tips on structuring the thing, structuring time whilst you write it? should i do it in one go, or write small sections at a time? did people find there was enough time ? (i will have from mid may to end september).

i'm interested to hear from anyone who has tackeld a dissertation before or recently as i'm feeling a bit bonkers over it!

fran_from_willesden

I have a tip for you regarding bibliography / references. Keep references as you go otherwise it's difficult to go back and find them. It's also tedious typing them up. I used the standard formula you'd find in the back of textbooks -author surname, initials, article title, journal/textbook title, volume no (if necessary) year......etc. It never ends.

It took me about 8 weeks to get my undergrad dissertation together after I'd completed 5 weeks of field work and I wrote it in sections. Baring in mind I wasn't working on it every day as I had other modules to do work for and it was only 10, 000 words. I was lucky as I was able to dedicate a chapter for the different subjects I collected data on then the last chapter pulled everything together, comparing and contrasting and summarising. It also had my own conclusions.

For me, the bulk of that time was researching my topic and I gave myself deadlines to finish chapters and have them checked through by friends etc. Layout and presentation is important but should be one of the last things you should do.

Try and get someone who will understand what you're talking to go through the final draft. I didn't and I look back and there are some very obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes. It didn't stop me getting 67% for it though!

Hope that helps.

fran_from_willesden

smam21 wrote:

I'm soon to begin writing my thesis for my masters degree and am feeling very apprehensive, esp. as i didn't do one for my undergrad degree.

does anyone have any tips on structuring the thing, structuring time whilst you write it? should i do it in one go, or write small sections at a time? did people find there was enough time ? (i will have from mid may to end september).

i'm interested to hear from anyone who has tackeld a dissertation before or recently as i'm feeling a bit bonkers over it!

P.S. I forgot to say.
For structure, if you can, get hold of other dissertations from a library and just take a look at how those are structured. It can be a BIG help just looking at another thesis to help you get started!

Glad

I'm moving this to the Student board, I know it's not strictly money-saving but more students etc will be reading that board

halcyon_drift

have just spent the last 6 months doing my undergraduate thesis. my deadline is in less than two weeks so things are kinda hectic. i would recommend coming up with a gantt chart before you start, make sure you allocate realistic time to each task you put on the chart. i assume that you will have to carry out a certain amount of research for the subject, i would strongly recommend allocating much more time than you think for research as it is the key to a good thesis (in my opinion). if you can, try get your supervisor to read through a draft or outline of your thesis before you hand it in (mine is a ball bag and wont touch it until i have submitted the final copy). also, dont go into too many section headings, try keep it consise. 95% of examiners dont want to read a novel, that is, if your word limit is between 6000-12000, aim for the lower limit. you will probably go higher than what you think anyway, therefore it gives you a buffer.

Final bit of advise, when you are trying to write it up, cut the plug off your tv and turn the radio/music on instead.

just outta interest, what is the subject of your thesis?

Halcyon

eml_3

Write the introduction and conclusion last - that way you will be writing it knowing what you are going to say, and what you have said. Plan it into chapters and focus on each chapter at a time. Advice given to me, which I didn't take but wish I had, was to start writing as soon as possible, rather than leaving all the writing to the end when you have finished your reading. Also, do your bibliography as you go, rather than leaving it all.

Have back up copies of your work so if you have a computer crisis all is not lost. Good luck!

pug_in_a_bed

i will be writing a thesis about 13-14th mysticism (eng.lit), approx 15-20,000 words.
ahhh!
i didnt believe it till i just said it!

these tips are really useful everyone - esp the big chart.
my study is wall papered with post its at the mo so i'll have to try a bit of organaisation
got one more long essay for the course to write then i'll begin my research and stuff mid may.

Rex_Mundi

If you're writing it on the computer. I can't stress enough...KEEP REGULAR BACKUPS!!!! If you can backup at least every day on a medium that keeps a copy off your hard drive. I know someone that finished his, just before he was going to submit it his whole hard drive packed in. The work was not retrievable. He was lucky that he had sent a copy in an email to his supervisor to read through.

Use a flash drive or burn the work each day to CD to stay safe. At a minimum you can get yourself a yahoo or gmail account and save it each day as a draft on their servers.

Murtle

I'd agree with eml - intro and conclusion last.
And backups essential - when you back it up, also test that you can still access it!!!

Starting out for your dissertation, note down the different chapters you require; either from your "requirements/advise" or by looking at ones in the library will give you an idea.

Taking the chapters you require, you can start expanding your ideas into where they would fit - ie research method/analysis/explanation of what you are doing etc. This may not work out A1 first time, but will give you an idea of where the most work is required. Split your time accordingly, the fun chapters (is there such a thing.....) what I mean are the ones you enjoy writing/subject area you prefer are easier to write when you are tired! I assume you know when you work best, don't underestimate it, there's nothing worse then setting yourself a task first thing in the morning that you don't like, if you also don't like getting up in the morning!!!

Ensure you have read all the "must do's" for your dissertation, lots in my year panicked when we suddenly read that it had to be on x weighted paper, bound in a specific binder and font type x font size x!!!! Lots of reformatting required to make things fit, when type font changes!!

Importantly - also plan in some you time and some treats....if your planning for work goes well, you should be able to go out and enjoy yourself, if you don't and enjoy yourself first, you'll spend summer panicking to complete it!!!!

Hope that helps.

juno

My sister is currently writing hers. Somehow, I got volunteered to read it (I get paid, obviously).

Use Auto Correct to type words that you use regularly. Like GF is Goose Fair.

Take regular breaks.

Email a copy of it to yourself, just in case your computer crashes, you lose your floppy disc/whatever. And leave a spare disc in your car/dad's car/locker at uni or work.

See if you can read other people's dissertations for ideas, but don't copy their grammar mistakes.

I'll probably come up with more later, but my sister is out atm so I can't ask her

student100

Oh yeah... DEFINITELY backup very often!

When I'm doing coursework (I'm a Computer Science student so I mostly have programming projects) I make a dated backup copy of what I'm doing every couple of hours when I'm working on it, or before I'm about to make any major changes (that way, if you mess up, you can always go back; it's less likely to happen with a thesis than with a program I know but still worth having backups just in case). Then whenever I have finished working for the day or whatever I make a backup of all those versions onto a CD, to some reliable remote storage (like my university filespace). Ideally keep several CDs on the go too just in case one messes up...

It's very tedious but it could save weeks worth of work getting lost, and it can be quite handy being able to look back at what your program/essay/thesis looked like last Tuesday or whatever, before you made all those changes.


And never, ever, ever rely on a single piece of removable media (CD/floppy disk/USB key/Zip disk (does anyone still use those?) etc). Even if you do two hours work since your last backup you'll be very annoyed if the media fails and you lost two hours work. I'd recommend either making duplicate coipes on two pieces of media or having one removable copy AND email it to yourself etc.

And if you're really sensible/paranoid keep the odd printed copy (just in case all computers everywhere get a virus or something... :rolleyes:)