My dissertation is done. Still I find difficult to submit it. I need to know that can somone help in doing the english right for it? My supervisor says that the writing need to be fixed. My topic is good and is also researched nice. All I need is advise who can make my dissertation […]
Continue reading URGENT!! Help Needed For Editing
I have had it enough!! I gave 4 years of my life to this blood sucking PhD program in the Faculty of Law and the only thing I got in return is 100,000 words of rejection! 4 years back I enrolled in the PhD program at Monash University, Australia. With freelancing (as my side work) […]
Continue reading What is a good thesis?
So your examiners said that your thesis is bad, but just rejecting your work on this basis is no reason at all. Your examiners must have given you some input about what’s wrong, right? What were their comments? Maybe if I know them, I can help you out.
Sure they gave me input. They told me that I am not able to explain at the end of a thesis what has actually been argued in the thesis. BULLSHIT! Which is why I went to argue and here’s what they had to say: “Your thesis is SLOPPY, MERELY DESCRIPTIVE and LACKING CONFIDENT!”
Well, that pretty much sucks! Let me first answer your question. So, what is a good thesis? It’s a report of work which others would want to read, a compelling story, an educative and original document. Now getting on to your thesis, maybe your research is good but lacks description in terms of simplicity? I am saying that because you are a writer and maybe you worked too much to make it perfect. And your perfection may seem sloppy to them. So, try to make it simple by using simple words. Also, you can make it more descriptive by using more references of peer-reviewed journals.
I wrote 100,000 words! It is VERY MUCH DESCRIPTIVE! I don’t even think they have the time to even read the WHOLE document.
Hey, you are right, the examiners don’t just sit and read the whole document. My guide was friendly and he told me that most of the examiners just read your abstract, conclusion and bits-and-pieces from here-and-there. So try working your abstract and initial paragraphs of each chapter of your thesis.
You can try these books and papers to write a confident thesis, maybe they’ll be helpful:
1. Gruba, P & Evans, D (2001) How to write a better thesis, University of Melbourne Press, Melbourne
2. Kamler, B & Thomson, P (2006) Helping Doctoral Students to Write, Routledge, New York
3. Winter, R, Griffiths, M & Green, K (2000) The ‘academic’ qualities of practice: what are the criteria for a practice based PhD?, Studies in Higher Education, 25, pp. 25 – 37
Hey PriyuPhD, you said that the examiners mostly read only the abstract and conclusion. How can you really say that? Do you know how they make decisions? What do they really want?
Well, there is no straight answer to that. In Australia, examination happens by external peer review. They are often sent guidelines according to which they review the thesis and make recommendations. However, it totally depends on the examiner and his perception.
My examiners pointed out few mistakes like the LR needs to be extended, things like that, and what I felt from their comments is that they didn’t really put much thought on it. I knew the limitations of my research and hell, I could have pointed loads of mistakes! Just make some prominent changes or hire an editor or someone who can help you out.
Danielle Veronneau 10:20 am on March 1, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I understand that you are stuck because of your poor writing skills. A lot of grammatical and spelling mistakes or poor vocabulary might be keeping you away from your destination. All you need is editing. Why don’t you ask a friend of yours, who can go through your dissertation?
Leonardo Carvalho Pereira 4:31 am on March 2, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Don’t have much friends who are good in English. That is the big problem. I am worried for my research will go to waste. What should I do??
HarryStewart HarryStewart 11:23 am on March 3, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Have you tried the online tools for editing your document? If not, then you can try Stylewriter.
Here’s the link: http://www.editorsoftware.com/StyleWriter.html
Download its free version which is available for a month. I assure you, it works wonders as I have been using it for months now!
Leonardo Carvalho Pereira 8:49 am on March 4, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Ok, thanks. I would try it. See how it works.