Tips for Writing a Successful PhD Thesis | How to write your Ph.D. - AWH

Tips for Writing a Successful PhD Thesis

31 Jul Tips for Writing a Successful PhD Thesis

Writing a thesis is not just mentally challenged but also requires physical efforts along with focus and dedication. However, the thrill of discovering or finding something out that has not been done before is unmatched. PhD allows you to become a pioneer and an expert in the chosen topic and a master of the industry as well as academia. The PhD thesis requires substantial groundbreaking work in a single field or interdisciplinary subjects. It involves the definition and formulation of hypothesis followed by arguments that prove to substantiate or refute it. It is not just a piece of work that you have to complete to get that doctorate but a significant writing that will be your achievement and something you will be proud of for the years to come. This is the reason why it becomes important to successfully write a PhD thesis. But before that, it is important to understand what a successful PhD thesis is. A PhD dissertation or thesis is the one that is detailed in your area of work or line of thought and that helps in opening the doors for future discussion and research. It helps in leaving a mark in the field of study and fundamentally changes the way that subject or topics is looked at. It may involve solving a problem that has plagued the field for many years or results in the elimination of a fundamental assumptions being made on that subject. A successful thesis provides strong empirical evidence while ensuring that the work continues to influence the field and is cited in for the studies and researches conducted on the same or similar topics.

Some tips that can be helpful for you when writing a PhD thesis are included in this article. Although it is a Mammoth task to carry out the research and compile it in the form of a dissertation, these tips will make this task a little easier and manageable if followed.

  • The First Step

Before you begin writing a thesis, you should make sure that you have a discussion with your supervisor about what all is to be included in the study and develop a rough table of contents. There are so many students that jump right into the research part and waste their time on writing the chapters that are excluded from the thesis later on. Therefore, it is advisable to start by getting a broad idea of what all is to be included in your thesis.

  • Make a Countdown

You will have a plenty of work that would require your undivided attention throughout the research period. Making a countdown will keep you from getting distracted which is fairly common for the people pursuing a PhD. It will also provide you with the schedule that you need to follow and will keep you on track throughout the process of carrying out the research and compiling the dissertation.

  • Cut the Problem Down

Once you have a good idea of the table of contents for your thesis, you should start expanding these topics. Develop an outline of your dissertation by including the headings and subheadings for each chapter and the titles for the figures and tables to be included. You can also decide on the keywords and essential commerce that you wish to include. This Framework will act as the backbone for the text and will also break down the complex process into manageable tasks.

  • Decide the Format

Your department, educational institution or your supervisor may provide you with a standard format for writing the dissertation. It is recommended to write the thesis on the basis of the standard template provided to you to save yourself from getting frustrated. If you are allowed to choose the format by yourself, we would suggest you go through the previous researches and thesis and copy the format that appeals to you. Make sure that you do not choose an overly complicated template and focus on maintaining the quality of the thesis. Once the thesis is completed, you can review and upgrade the format if needed.

  • The Introduction

Although the introduction of the thesis is the first chapter, it is recommended that you write this last since it helps you to better understand what all is to be included and places your research in a broader context. You also understand the relevance of your study to the community and to the society better by this time and therefore you can continue to note down articles, research clippings or ideas throughout the research process to compile and form an elegant introduction for your thesis.

  • The Abstract

The abstract of the executive summary of the thesis is the section that is widely read and that determines whether the readers will go through the rest of the research or not. Do not focus on including all the results and conclusions of your study in this chapter and only focus on summarizing the essence of the thesis.

  • The Meat

Make sure that the chapters included in your thesis are sequential and form the building blocks for the final research. Each of the chapters should have a unique result and follow your presentation style guided by the outline. Make use of the figures and tables generously as they help in conveying a lot more information as compared to the text. Make sure that the visual display of the quantitative information included in the study is presentable and not overly complicated. Clearly state the assumptions, limitations and constraints of your work and the reason behind them. Always ensure that your results are related and add up to a whole instead of being scattered and unstructured. Stay factual throughout the thesis and repeatedly emphasize on the advantages of the approach adopted by you.

Wrapping Up

Don’t forget the significance of including the future direction of study in your thesis. This is not just a list of the limitations of your research but shows an honest reflection of your work. You can take the help of some other PhD dissertations envisioned by you and what all you would include if you had more time and resources at your disposal. You may also include the lessons learnt and the overall insight along with the progress that you made in the given subject.

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