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How to Write a Thesis
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Review
This is an invaluable book for both students and supervisors. It is comprehensive in its range and impressive in its awareness of the demands of different disciplines. There is no doubt that every PhD student will find something of value here, and most will find the entire book and indispensable companion, and the source of much wisdom during their long journey towards their PhD." - Linda Dryden Napier Teaching Fellows Journal 20030303
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
"This book has become a trusted resource for students from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. Not only does it take you through the steps and stages of thesis writing, but more importantly, it offers rich advice and support that helps build confidence, sets up effective writing habits and generates a positive orientation towards the complex task of thesis writing."
Professor Sarah Moore, Associate Vice President Academic, University of Limerick, Ireland
Professor Sarah Moore, Associate Vice President Academic, University of Limerick, Ireland
"I've found Rowena's shrewd and insightful suggestions for writing helpful, not only for others but also for me." Peter Elbow, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
"This book is a brilliant resource for all doctoral students to help guide them through the completion of their doctoral thesis. The book develops students’ confidence and motivates them to start the writing process."
Emma Jackson,Second Year PhD Student, University of Worcester, UK
Providing down-to-earth guidance to help students shape their theses, Rowena Murray offers valuable advice and practical tips and techniques. Useful summaries and checklists help students to stay on track or regain their way.
Moving beyond the basics of thesis writing, the book introduces practical writing techniques such as freewriting, generative writing and binge writing. Issues such as working out the criteria for your thesis, writer's block, writing a literature review and making notes into a draft are also covered.
New to this edition:
- New introduction by students - 'How I used this book'
- Update on doctoral skills set and Training Needs Analysis
- Extended treatment of plagiarism - and how to avoid it
- Expanded section on students' well-being
- Learning outcomes for each chapter
Inside This Book
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you are contemplating tackling a higher level degree that involves academic writing of some sort or are entrenched in the process already, this book is an essential must for your decision-making and/or library. Murray’s book offers practical and insightful information into the process of thesis, dissertation and academic publication writing. The layout of the manuscript is also rewarding offering hints and suggestions at the important moments of the research and writing phases as well as exercises to bust moments of anxiety, fear, writer’s block and moments of discontent and apathy. I have two suggestions though: First for the publisher and printer, offer a volume that is spiral bound so it lays flat while we are immersed in our subjects. And finally, hopefully, Dr. Murray can develop a workbook that can accompany the book itself. Perhaps in journal form.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I discovered this book about a year before submitting my thesis from an 8-year part-time PhD. It helped enormously in getting my ideas together and making the final product useful. This was particularly the case for me as an "external" since I'd long been away from the academic style of writing and although it's clearly got a bit of a humanities bias, this didn't really disturb me as an aerospace engineer. Anybody who is doing a research degree, BUY THIS, more importantly buy it BEFORE you start work on your thesis not towards the end. It will save you enormous amounts of aggro and is a brilliantly useful volume. This will be required reading for any PhD students that I find myself supervising in the future.
59 of 66 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Most universities will have two types of courses on thesis writing, one for the Humanities and one for the Sciences. This is because the structure of these PhDs is very different and a course that covers both types is not realistic. This book is for the humanities and only pays lip service to the scientific thesis.
For example it states that you may have a chapter titled Methods; in all practical PhD's you “will” have a Materials and Method section. The way this section is written is very different from the Introduction and Discussion, in that it is very stylised, concise, and may consist of page after page of recipes. Writing the Methods section in a concise and logical manor can also be a problem, again this was not discussed. Similarly, presenting only experimental data in the Results section requires a style of its own. The Results chapter is the main “make or break” section of a scientific thesis and so needs more than a passing comment. This section relies heavily on figures and tables neither of which gets covered at all in the book.
The book does not even mention the possibility that some one else publishes your work or the basic theory of your thesis is disproved during your PhD studies. I personal have seen this on numerous occasions. This does not kill the project but does require special consideration when writing the thesis. It may result in a different end point than originally intended or in extreme circumstances, two unrelated halves.
It also does not mention negative results; a thesis may contain a section on expressing a protein that you never managed to express. This should not be omitted from the final thesis, but included to demonstrate how you approached a difficult problem and attempted to solve it. It’s nice to win all the time but not very likely.
In summary this book is for the production of a discursive thesis which is based on presenting and supporting an opinion and not a scientific thesis based on explaining experimental data.
For example it states that you may have a chapter titled Methods; in all practical PhD's you “will” have a Materials and Method section. The way this section is written is very different from the Introduction and Discussion, in that it is very stylised, concise, and may consist of page after page of recipes. Writing the Methods section in a concise and logical manor can also be a problem, again this was not discussed. Similarly, presenting only experimental data in the Results section requires a style of its own. The Results chapter is the main “make or break” section of a scientific thesis and so needs more than a passing comment. This section relies heavily on figures and tables neither of which gets covered at all in the book.
The book does not even mention the possibility that some one else publishes your work or the basic theory of your thesis is disproved during your PhD studies. I personal have seen this on numerous occasions. This does not kill the project but does require special consideration when writing the thesis. It may result in a different end point than originally intended or in extreme circumstances, two unrelated halves.
It also does not mention negative results; a thesis may contain a section on expressing a protein that you never managed to express. This should not be omitted from the final thesis, but included to demonstrate how you approached a difficult problem and attempted to solve it. It’s nice to win all the time but not very likely.
In summary this book is for the production of a discursive thesis which is based on presenting and supporting an opinion and not a scientific thesis based on explaining experimental data.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Thesis Bible
Rowena Murray's book is excellent! I would recommend every PhD student read it at the beginning of their candidature. Read more
Published 20 days ago by mlb213
Just wow..
You guys must be kidding. The book should be a used book but it was new!!! You guys made me to see the bill again but I was billed as 'used book'. I found book perfectly new. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Youb Raj
Waste of money
Dissapointed with this book. Too general. I expected a book called How to write a thesis to be about writing a thesis. Read more
Published 10 months ago by M. Sima
Very helpful book
This book was very helpful and easy to read. I felt this book helped me understand many aspects of writing and not limited to writing a thesis. Read more
Published on 1 Nov 2009 by Mrs. J. M. Mackenzie
Useful for advanced students
I'm planning a dissertation and this book was recommended as advance material to prepare for the report writing. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2009 by Mole
Not just for PhDs - a must have for any dissertation
This really is probably worth more than its weight in gold, especially because gold is quite cheap at the moment. And it doesn't weigh much. Read more
Published on 31 July 2007 by A. Tatton
do not waste your time with other books, this is great
I wasted a lot of time and money searching for books to help me write better. This book i practical and WILL be your holy grail to a phD if you have problems in writing, structure... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2006 by Claire White
How to write a good PhD thesis
I am a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and am in the third year of my studies. I have published a number of papers based on my PhD research. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2002 by Ali Shiri
A very useful book for all PhD students and Supervisors
I am a PhD student and in the third year of my study. I have written and published a couple of papers in the professional journals and conferences. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2002 by Ali Shiri
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