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Guidelinesforwritingdissertations

CONTENTS

1. Introduction:Whatisdifferentinacademicwriting?
2. Structure
3. Style
4. ReferencesandQuotations
5. ReadingforWriting
6. DevelopinganArgument
7. TheStructureofDissertations

1.INTRODUCTION:WHATISDIFFERENTINACADEMICWRITING

InyourMastersprogramme,youwillhavetowriteassignmentsformostmodules,aswellasadissertationof
15,000wordsattheend.ThetypeofwritingthatisrequiredatMastersdegreelevelintheSocialSciencesmaybe
differentfromthewritingyouhavedoneeitherprofessionally,orinapreviousdegreecourse.Theseguidelinesoffer
informationonthecharacteristicsofacademicwritingintheSocialSciences.

Herearethemainfeaturesthatdistinguishacademicwritingfromsomeothertypesofwriting.

1.1Academicwritingneedstobepresentedinaspecificway

Academicwritingrequiresaclearstructure,anobjectiveandrelativelyformalstyle,preciselanguage,andthe
acknowledgementofallsourcesthatyouused.Thesefeaturesarediscussedinsections2,3,and4.Youalsohave
tostaywithinthesetwordlimitsforthevariousassignmentsandthedissertation(thesearestatedinthe
ProgrammeHandbook).

1.2Unlikeotherformsofwriting,allclaimsmadeinacademicwritingmustbebackedupby
evidence

Insometypesofwriting,youcanmakeclaimsonthebasisofyourpersonalopinionsorassumptions.Inacademic
writing,youmustprovideappropriatejustificationforyourclaimsthroughargumentsandevidence.

Evidencecomesfromresearch.Inyourassignments,theevidenceforyourclaimswillmainlycomefromtheworkof
otherscholarsinthefield.Inyourdissertation,itislikelythatyouwillcarryoutempiricalresearchyourself.Then,
youwillhavetwosetsofclaimsandtwoevidencebases:

1)Claimsbyotherauthorsthatjustifyyourresearchandpositionitinthefield.Theseclaimswillbebasedonyour
carefulreviewoftheliterature.Theliteraturereviewwillhaveprovidedevidenceofwhatpreviousresearchhas
achieved,andwhichquestionsithasleftunanswered.

2)Claimsbasedontheevidenceofyourownresearch.Theseclaimsusuallyrepresentnewknowledgeinthefield.

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Example:Needforevidence

Ineverydayconversations,youarenotnormallyexpectedtoprovidea
detailedanalysisofthetopic.Forinstance,ifsomeoneasksyouWhatdo
youthinkofdevolution?theywanttoknowwhetheryouarefororagainst,
andtheywouldbeboredifyouwentintoananalysisofthecurrentdebate.
Inacademicwriting,theprioritiesarereversed.Thereaderisnotinterested
inyourpersonalopinion,butwantstoknowwhatare(a)themainissuesto
beconsidered,and(b)thevariouslinesofargumentthatcanbe
developed.Youmustputthereaderinthepositiontoformhis/herown
judgementbasedontheevidenceandargumentsthatyouhavepresented.
Yourclaimsorconclusionarelessimportantthanhowyouarrivedatthem.

Thisfeatureofacademicwritingisfurtherdiscussedinsections4,5,and6.

1.3AcademicwritingatMastersandDoctoraldegreelevelisnotabouttestingyour
knowledgeitisaboutbuildingknowledge

Atundergraduatelevel,someexamsandassignmentsmaybedesignedtoteststudentsknowledgeoffacts.At
Masterslevel,youareexpectedtocontributetoknowledgethroughyourwriting.Itisnotenoughtoreportwhat
othersinthefieldhavedoneandwritten.Youareexpectedtocriticallyanalysetheliteratureandtotakeastance,
expressingyourownvoicebychallengingexistingclaims,conceptsandtheories.

Theassignmenttopicorquestionoftenindicatesthisexpectationbyaskingyoutodiscussorevaluate.

2.STRUCTURE

Assignmentsanddissertationsneedaclearstructurewithheadingsandsubheadingsforthevariouschaptersand
sections.Thesectionsneedtobestructuredbyparagraphs.

2.1.Themainsectionsofassignments
Assignmentsusuallyhavethreemainsections,theIntroduction,theMainTextandtheConclusion,followedbythe
ReferenceListand,ifappropriate,Appendices.TheMainTextshouldbestructuredbyheadingsthatreflectyour
lineofargument.
TheIntroductionsetsthescene.Itintroducesthequestion/problemandexplainsthepurposeandfocusofthe
paper.Italsoprovidessomebackgroundinformation,forinstanceonpreviousworkinthearea,andonresearch
gaps.Ifnecessary,itprovidesdefinitionsofthekeyterm(s).Finally,theIntroductionoutlinesinsummaryformhow
youaregoingtodealwiththetopic,andthevariousstagesyouwilltakebeforereachingtheConclusion.If
appropriate,youalsomaystateherewhythetopicisrelevanttoyou,forinstanceinrelationtoyourprofessional
context.

ForanexampleofanIntroductionseetheexampleforSignpostingbelow.

TheMainTextincludesacriticalreviewoftheliterature.Basedonthisreview,youwilldevelopyourargument.The
natureoftheargumentisspecifictotheassignmentquestion/topicandcanbeanyofthefollowing:a)youarguefor
onepositionpresentedintheliteratureandexplainwhythisis,onthebasisofyourcriticalanalysis,moreconvincing
thanothersb)youarguethatallcurrentpositionsarenotconvincingandexplainwhyc)youarguethatforyour
specificprofessionalcontext,onepositionismoreapplicablethantheothers.
Dependingonthequestion/topic,theremightbeotherlinesofargument.Theimportantpointisthatyoutakea
stanceandmakeacriticalevaluationoftheliteratureinsteadofjustreportingit.

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TheConclusionshouldgivethereadertheclearimpressionthatthepurposesoftheassignmenthavebeen
achieved.Ittypicallyincludes:

Asummaryofthemainpoints(discussedintheMainText)
Concludingstatementsdrawnfromthesepoints

TheIntroductionandConclusionmustlinktogetherattheendofyourpaper,youshouldlookbackatthegoalsyou
setoutintheIntroductionanddiscusshowyouachievedthem.

Thedissertationisusuallyaboutyourownresearch,notagivenquestion/topic,andthereforethestructureincludes
chapterssuchasResearchMethodology,Findings,andDiscussionofFindings.Thestructureofthedissertation
isdiscussedinsection7.

2.2.Signposting

Signpostingisanimportantfeatureofacademicwritingwhichenablesthereadertofollowyourdevelopmentofthe
topic.Youneedtosignalhowthevarioussectionsofyourwritinglinktogether,andwhatyouaregoingtodiscuss
nextandwhy.
Therearetwoaspectstosignposting:1)sayingwhereyouare2)sayingwhereyouaregoing.
Belowisanexampleofsignposting,wherethesignpostingdevicesarehighlightedinboldprint.

ExampleofSignpostinginanIntroduction
Vocabularyisseenasanissueofprimaryimportancenowadaysinlanguage
teaching, and at the same time it is an issue that poses problems to
learners. In this paper I am going to comment on what constitutes ease
and difficulty in vocabulary acquisition focusing on how it is influenced by
lexicalcorrespondencesbetweenfirstandsecondlanguage.

Afterabriefopening,Iwilllookmorecloselyatdifferentdimensionsof
lexicalcorrespondencesbetweenlanguagesandexplainhowthesecanaffect
theacquisitionoflexis.Forthepurposeofthisessay,threegroupsoflexical
correspondenceswillbeadapted:truelexicalcorrespondences,polysemic
extensionsandnoncorrespondences.ThenIwillpresentmyownsmallscale
actionresearchasawayofillustratingtheissueinquestion.Finally,Iwill
discusssometeachingimplicationsofthesubjectmatter.

Extractfromastudentassignment

Notethatthestructureoftheassignmentisclearlysignpostedthoughtthediscoursemarkers:afterabriefopening
(i.e.Introduction),then,finally(i.e.Conclusion).

2.3.Paragraphs

Itisimportanttodivideyourtextintomeaningfulparagraphs.Thismakesiteasierforyoutodevelopyourargument,
andforthereadertofollowit.Considerthefollowingguidelines:

Eachparagraphshouldcontainonemainideaortopic.
Theideaortopicisoftenintroducedintheopeningsentence.Therestoftheparagraphisthenusedtogive
examples,evidence,definitionsandfurtherexplanationsoftheidea/topic.
Thereisnogoldenruleabouthowlongaparagraphshouldbe.However,avoidparagraphsofjustoneortwo
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sentences.

Thefollowingexampleshowsthetopicandtopicdevelopmentoftwoparagraphs.

Example:Paragraphs Topic

TheteachingofforeignlanguageswithintheUKeducationalsystem
hasgivenrisetoanumberofconcernsovertheyears.Thesehavebeen

relatedtosuchissuesasthemostappropriateageforcommencementof
languagelearning(Burstalletal,1974),themostappropriateteaching
methodologies(Richards&Rogers,1986),andtherelativeachievements
ofgirlsandboys(Graham&Rees,1995Clark&Trafford,1996). Examples
However,themajorconcernhasundoubtedlybeentheapparent

reluctanceoftheBritishtolearnaforeignlanguageatall,andthe
declininglevelofachievementinthisdomain(Saunders,1998).Aswe Focusingonkey
moveintoanerawhereourfuturewillneedtobebasedon aspect
multilingualism(Graddol,1997),suchasituationhasserious
consequences.

ArecentreportonbehalfoftheNuffieldFoundation(Moys,1998)
highlightsanumberofkeyquestionsregardingthecurrentsituationand
NewParagraph:
thefutureofforeignlanguagelearning,aswellasemphasisingthedeeply
Newtopic
politicalunderpinningsofapolicyonlanguagelearning.TheNuffield
Detailsoftopic
Inquirypointsfirmlytotheneedforforeignlanguagesinthetwentyfirst
centuryfromaEuropeanperspective,fromabusinessstance,and Focusingonkey
becauseoftheincreasingnecessityforinternationalcommunication.As aspect
DavidGraddolwarnsinthereport,SpeakingEnglishalonewillnotbe
enoughtoensureafullandproductiveparticipationinthe21stCentury
(1997,p.29).

From:Williams,M,Burden,R.andLanvers,U.(2002)Frenchisthe
languageofloveandstuff:studentperceptionofissuesrelatedto
motivationinlearningaforeignlanguage.BritishEducationalResearch
Journal,28,4,503527.

2.4.Tablesandfigure

Itissometimesmoreeffectivetousetablesandfiguresthanlengthyverbalexplanations,particularlywhenyouwant
topresentnumericalinformation.Tablescanalsobepresentedtosummariseyourargument.Makesurethatall
tablesandfiguresinyourpaperhaveanumberandatitle.Theyalsomustbereferredtointhetext.

Example:UseofTables

AnothermodelofmotivationwasdevelopedbyRitcheandMartin(1999).The
categoriesandsomeofthefactorsarelistedinTable1.
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Table1:RitchieandMartin'smotivationaldrivers

EconomicRewards Intrinsicsatisfaction SocialRelationships

Money Interest Socialcontact

Career Achievement Recognition,respect
enhancement Selfdevelopment
Creativity
Powerand
Influence

Extractfromastudent

assignment

3.STYLE

Academicwritingdoesnotrequireastyleorvocabularythatisradicallydifferentfromothertypesofwriting,e.g.
writingyoumighthavedoneprofessionallyorforyourfirstdegree.Nordoesitrequireanoveruseoftechnical
jargon.Youareexpectedtoexpressyourselfinaclear,accurate,concise,objectiveandcoherentmanner.

3.1Clarity

Itisamyththatacademicwritingrequiresasophisticatedstylewithlongsentences,complexexpressions,and
technicaljargon.Avoidoverlongsentencesandcutoutredundantwordsandphrases.
Thisisillustratedinthefollowingexample.

Example:concisestyle

Fromastudentassignment

WhatIproposetoinvestigateistoidentifylevelsofanxietyamong
foreignstudentsofEnglishandthentogotoexplainthereasonsof
theseanxietiestoexist.

Editedversion(aftercuttingoutredundentwordsandphrases):

IproposetoidentifylevelsofanxietyamongforeignstudentsofEnglish
andexplaintheirreasons.

Hereareafewrulesforachievingclarityandaccuracy:

Useshortwords,rathershortsentences,andplainlanguage.Plainlanguagemeansforinstanceto
use:toinsteadofinorderto,goinsteadofproceed,IwillexplaininsteadofIintendtoexplain.Usingplain

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languagehelpsyoutoavoidmistakes.
Avoidtautology(usingtwoormorewordswiththesamemeaning):forinstance,expressionssuchas
newinnovation,pasthistory.
Avoidcontractedverbforms:inanacademictextitisnotacceptabletouseformssuchasdont,isnt,its,
werent.
UseBritishspellingconventions:behaviour,colourinsteadofbehavior,coloranalyse,generaliseinstead
ofanalyze,generalize.
Useyourspellchecker:correctspellingandpunctuationisessentialinacademicwriting.

3.2.Personalorimpersonal?

Impersonalstyle(avoidingpersonalpronounssuchasI,we)usedtoberequiredinacademicwriting.Itwas
believedthattheimpersonalstyleenabledthewritertodiscussideasinadetachedandobjectiveway.This
conventionhaschanged,andtheuseofpersonalpronounsisnowcommonandencouraged.UsingIorwestill
allowsyoutobeobjective,ifyoudrawonarangeofauthorsandtheirargumentstosupportyourposition.Theuse
ofpersonalpronounsmightmakeiteasier,however,todevelopyourownvoice.Someresearchersarguethatusing
thefirstpersonhelpsyoutobereflectiveaboutyourowncontributiontotheexistingdebateandknowledge.

3.3.Coherence

Coherencemeansthatthetextwithinparagraphsiswelllinked,andthattheparagraphsarelinkedwitheachother.
Coherencecanbeachievedwithlinkingwordsandphrases(and/but,however,consequently,although).

Coherencecanalsobeachievedbypronouns,referringtopreviousstatements(it,they,this,these,those).The
linkingwordsandphrasesarealsocalledcohesivedevicesordiscoursemarkers.Theyshowthereaderhowyou
movefromonepointtoanotheranddevelopyourargument.

Hereareexamplesoflinkingwordsandphrases:

Addingideas:and,also,aswellas,besides,finally,first(second,third,etc.),finally,furthermore,in
addition,likewise,similarly.
Emphasisingideas:aboveall,afterall,especially,indeed,infact,inparticular,itistrue,mostimportant,of
course,truly.
Illustratingideas:forexample,forinstance,inotherwords,inparticular,namely,specifically,suchas,that
is/
Comparingideas:inthesameway,likewise,similarly.
Contrastingideas:yet,but,atthesametime,conversely,despite,differently,evenso,however,in
contrast,nevertheless,notwithstanding,onthecontrary,ontheotherhand,or,otherwise,rather,regardless.
Showingcauseandeffect:accordingly,asaresult,consequently,forthatreason,forthispurpose,hence,
otherwise,so,then,therefore,thus,tothisend.
Placingideasintime:again,already,always,atfirst,atleast,atlength,atonce,atthattime,atthesame
time,briefly,concurrently,duringthistime,earlier,eventually,finally,first(second,third,etc.),formerly,
gradually,immediately,infuture,inthemeantime,inthepast,last,lately,later,meanwhile,next,now,
presently,promptly,recently,shortly,simultaneously,sofar,sometimes,soon,subsequently,then,
thereafter,untilnow.
Summarisingideas:altogether,ashasbeennoted,finally,inbrief,inconclusion,inotherwords,inshort,
insimplerterms,insummary,onthewhole,toputitdifferently,tosummarise.

Thefollowingexampleshowshowpronounsandlinkingphrasescreatecoherenceinthetext.

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Example:Coherence

The teaching of foreign languages within the UK educational system has

given rise to a number of concerns over the years. These [1] have been
related to such issues as the most appropriate age for commencement of
language learning (Burstall et al, 1974), the most appropriate teaching
methodologies (Richards & Rogers, 1986), and the relative achievements of
girlsandboys(Graham&Rees,1995Clark&Trafford,1996).However [2],
the major concern has undoubtedly been the apparent reluctance of the
British to learn a foreign language at all, and the declining level of
achievement in this domain (Saunders, 1998). As we move into an era
where our future will need to be based on multilingualism (Graddol, 1997),
suchasituation[3]hasseriousconsequences.

From: Williams, M, Burden, R. and Lanvers, U. (2002) French is the

language of love and stuff: student perception of issues related to
motivation in learning a foreign language. British Educational Research
Journal,28,4,503527.

[1]Referringbackto"concerns"

[2]Contrastingidea

[3]Referringtolastpoint,linktonextparagraph

4REFERENCESANDQUOTATIONS

AsmentionedinSection1.2.,allclaimsinacademicwritingmustbesupportedbyevidence.Mostevidencethatyou
willprovideinyourpaperswillcomefromyourreadingoftheworkofotherauthorsinthefield,andsomewillcome
fromothersources,forinstancenewspapers,websites,governmentreports.Allyoursources,includingtables,
chartsorphotos,mustbeacknowledgedthroughreferences.
Therearevariousconventionsofreferencingforinstance,insomedisciplinesreferencesareprovidedinfootnotes.
IntheSocialSciences,theHarvardSystemisused,inwhichabrief(partial)referenceisincludedinthetext,while
thefullbibliographicalreferenceispresentedattheend,intheReferenceList.

4.1PartialReferences(referenceswithinthetext)

Withinthetext,onlytheauthorsname(s),publicationdate,andincaseofdirectquotationspagenumbers,are
presented.Below,youseeexamplesandexplanationsofthevariousformsofpartialreferences.

PartialReferences Explanation

Literacyiscommonlyregardedas Workofsingle
1
autonomous(Street,1984) author

Reportedbyan
Publicinvolvementinpolicyformationis
2 organisationno
increasinglyencouragedthroughdialogueand
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debate(NewEconomicsFoundation,2003). specifiedauthor

Explanationcanbesoughtfromthecontinuum
ofinstrumentalandintegrativeorientation, Pagenumberis
3 whichisdescribedasanantecedentthathelps givenfordirect
toarousemotivationanddirectittowardsaset citation
ofgoals(Drnyei,1998,p.123).

Anotherimportantfactorinfluencingstudents
chancesofcompletioniswhethertheyobtained
4 Workoftwoauthors
theirpreferredchoiceofuniversityandcourse
(Ozga&Sukhandan,1998).

AsDewhurst(1992)argues,studentsaregoing "Integral"reference
5 tomeetmoraldilemmasbeforeandafterthey =author'snameis
leaveschool. partofthetext

6
AsBoyleetal(2002)pointout,studentsneed "Integral"
tobeconfidentinordertobesuccessfulintheir reference/morethan
studies. twoauthors

Thee.g.meansthat
Furthermore,thereisevidencefromacademic thereismore
7 researchthatgenerationalvaluesdiffer(e.g. literatureonthe
Smola&Sutton2002). topicandthatthisis
onlyanexample.

Inexample6,therearemorethantwoauthors.Forspacereasons,onlythefirstauthor,Boyle,isnamed,the
othersarereferredtowithetal.TheirnamesarelistedintheReferenceList.

Inexamples5and6,thename(s)oftheauthorwasnotinthebracketbutintegratedinthetext.Thiswayof
citationgivesmoreprominencetotheauthorsvoice.Below,youfindverbs/phrasesthatcanbeusedinintegral
references.

TheAcademicPhrasebankisausefulresourcewhereyouwillfindcommonlyusedphrasesforexpressingyourself
inthevariouspartsofyourpaper.

Expressionsforintegralreferences
AccordingtoSmith(2003),preventative medicine is far more cost effective,
andthereforebetteradaptedtothedevelopingworld.

pointsout

argues preventativemedicine
isfarmorecost
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maintains effective,and
Smith
that thereforebetter
(2003) claims adaptedtothe
developingworld.
concludes

suggests

from
the
Academic
Phrasebank,
University
of
Manchester

4.2FullReferences(referencesintheReferenceList)

TheReferenceListprovidesspecificdetailsofapublicationyouhavecitedwhichallowthereadertoaccessthat
publication.Theorderisalways:nameofauthor(s),yearofpublicationinbrackets,titleofpublication,andfurther
detailssuchaslocationofthepublication.Thedetailsdifferbetweenjournalarticles,books,chaptersinedited
books,reports,andwebsites,andthesedifferencesareexplainedbelow.

Journalarticle:(1)nameoftheauthor(s),(2)yearofpublicationinbrackets,(3)titleofthepaper,(4)nameofthe
journalinitalics,(5)volumeandissue,(6)pagenumbers.

Example:Referenceofajournalarticle

Adams,G.,King,L.andKing,D.(1996).Relationshipsofjobandfamily
involvement,familysocialsupport,andworkfamilyconflictwithjobandlife
satisfaction.JournalofAppliedPsychology,8,4,411420Adams,G.,King,L.and
King,D.(1996).Relationshipsofjobandfamilyinvolvement,familysocialsupport,
andworkfamilyconflictwithjobandlifesatisfaction.JournalofApplied
Psychology,8,4,411420

Book:(1)nameoftheauthor(s),(2)yearofpublicationinbrackets,(3)titleofthebookinitalics,(4)placeof
publishingcompany,(5)nameofpublishingcompany.

Example:Referenceofbook

Rousseau,D.(1995).Psychologicalcontractsinorganizations.ThousandOaks,
CA:Sage.

Notethatthemaintitleispresentedinitalics.Forajournalarticle,themaintitleisthejournalforabook,
itisthebooktitle.

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Editedbook:(1)nameofeditor(s),(2)edoredsinbrackets,toshowthisisaneditedbook,(3)yearof
publicationinbrackets,(4)titleofthebookinitalics,(5)placeofpublishingcompany,(6)nameofpublishing
company.

Example:Referenceofeditedbook

Street,B.(ed.)(2005).Literaciesacrosseducationalcontexts:mediating,learning
andteaching.Philadelphia:CaslonPress.

Report:Reportsareoftencommissionedanddonotspecifytheauthor(s).Theorderofreferenceisthesameasin
otherpublications,butinsteadoftheauthor,thenameoftheorganisationappears.

Example:Referenceofreport

DepartmentofTradeandIndustry(DTI)(2002).FullandFulfillingWork.London:
DTI.

Websites:Internetsourcesneedtobetreatedwithcaution,asthereisalotofinformationthatisnotverified.
Wikipedia,forinstance,isnotacknowledgedasasourceforacademicenquiry,becauseeverybodycancontribute,
andthecontributionsarenotverifiedbyacademicpeerreview.Ifyouuseawebsiteasyoursource,youwillhaveto
stateinbracketswhenyoulastaccessedthiswebsitethisisbecausesitesmaydisappearfairlyquicklyfromthe
web.

Example:Referenceofwebsite

Pincas,A.(2000)Featuresofonlinediscourseforeducation.LearningTechnology,
2(1).Availableonlineat:
http://lttf.ieee.org/learn_tech/issues/january2000/index.html(accessed21March
2009)

4.3DifferenceswithintheHarvardsystem

TheHarvardsystemonlyrequiresthatthereferencesarelistedinalphabeticalorder.Thereisnosinglestandard
whichdefinesthestyleorappearanceofthereferences.Differentpublishersmayprintthesamereferencewith
differentformattingorwithdifferent

ExamplesofdifferentreferencerequirementsbyAppliedLinguistics
journals

Cortazzi,M.andL.Jin.1996.EnglishteachingandlearninginChina.Language
Teaching29/1:6180.[asitwouldbecitedinELTJournal]

CORTAZZI,M.&JIN,L.(1996).EnglishteachingandlearninginChina.Language

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Teaching,29,1,6180.[asitwouldbecitedinLanguageTeaching]

Cortazzi,M.,&Jin,L.(1996).EnglishteachingandlearninginChina.Language
Teaching29,6180[asitwouldbecitedinTESOLQuarterly]

Cortazzi,M.,&Jin,L.(1996).EnglishteachingandlearninginChina.Language
Teaching,29,6180.[asitwouldbecitedinTheModernLanguageJournal]

Cortazzi,M.&L.Jin.(1996)EnglishteachingandlearninginChina.Language
Teaching29:6180.[asitwouldbecitedinInternationalJournalofApplied
Linguistics]

Cortazzi,M.andL.Jin.1996.EnglishteachingandlearninginChina.Language
Teaching,29/1,6180.[asitwouldbecitedinAppliedLinguistics]

YoucanuseanyoftheseHarvardreferencestyles,butyoumustbeconsistentandusethesamestylethroughout
yourassignmentordissertation.

4.4Paraphrasinganddirectcitations

Whenyouarereferringtotheworkofotherauthors,youwillusuallyparaphrase(summariseandexpressinyour
ownwords)whattheyhavesaid.Inthiscase,thereferencewillonlyprovidetheauthorsnameandtheyearof
publication,forinstance:(Miller,2009).Youshouldonlyusedirectcitations(i.e.usingtheauthorswords),when
theauthorpresentsaspecificoruniqueconceptoranexpressionthatcannoteasilybeparaphrased,orwhenthe
author,asintheexamplebelow,isawellknownauthoritywhosesummaryofareportshouldbegiveninhis/her
ownwords.Ifthecitationisashortone,itisnotnecessarytoindentitandyoushouldputitinsingleinverted
commas.Inadditiontotheauthorsnameandyearofpublication,thepagenumberisgiven,forexample:

Exampleofdirectshortcitation

AsDavidGraddolwarnsinthereport,SpeakingEnglishalonewillnotbeenough
toensureafullandproductiveparticipationinthe21stCentury(1997,p.29).

From:Williams,M,Burden,R.andLanvers,U.(2002)Frenchisthelanguageof
loveandstuff:studentperceptionofissuesrelatedtomotivationinlearninga
foreignlanguage.BritishEducationalResearchJournal,28,4,503527.

Citationsofmorethan20wordsareformatteddifferentlyfromtherestofthetext.Theyareindentedandsingle
spaced.Quotationmarksarenotneededinthisformat,astheexampleshows:

Exampleofdirectlongcitation

Ourstartingpointwasthereforearecognitionthatthedominantvocabularyin
readingpedagogyisideologicalthatis,itisanexampleof

animplicitphilosophyinthepracticalactivitiesofsociallife,
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backgroundedandtakenforgranted,thatconnectsittocommonsense.
(Fairclough,1989,p.84)

From:Street,B&Lefstein,A.(2007).Literacy:anadvancedresourcebook.
London,NewYork:Routledge

4.5.Avoidingplagiarism

Academicstudyisalwaysbasedonthethoroughanalysisofpreviousworkinthediscipline,andyourargumentin
yourassignment/dissertationwillbuildonwhatotherauthorshavepreviouslywritten.Asastudent,youwilloften
feelthatotherexpertsinthedisciplinehaveexpressedtheirideasinawaythatyoucannotmatch.Youneedto
decidewhethertoparaphraseortoquotetheseauthorsdirectly(see4.4.).Inanycase,youmustmakeitabsolutely
clearthroughreferencingwheretheideascomefrom.YouwillhavetosignaCoverSheetwithaplagiarism
statementforyourassignments/dissertationtomakesurethatallyoursourcesareacknowledged.

5.READINGFORWRITING

Itisimportanttolearnhowtouselibraryfacilitiesandinternetsearchenginesefficiently.Youmustalwaysmake
notesofwhereyoufoundinformationandalwaysacknowledgeyoursourcesproperly.
Itwasemphasisedearlierthatyoumustnotjustreportwhatyouhavereadintheliterature,buttakeacritical
approachtowardstheclaimsmadebytheauthorsyoucite.Thiscriticalstancemeansthatyouneedtocarefully
examinetheargumentsandevidencewithwhichauthorssupporttheirclaims.Next,youneedtobringtogether,
compareandevaluatetheoftencontradictoryclaimsofvariousauthors.

Thefirststepinyourreadingistoidentifyrelevantsourcesandevaluatetheirsuitabilityforyourtopic.

5.1Identifyingrelevantsources

Youwillfindrelevantsourcesthrough:

1. Readinglists(inyourProgrammeHandbook)
2. Databases/Abstractsdatabases(forinstanceBritishEducationIndex,Educationline,ERIC)
3. KeywordsearchinISScatalogue,GoogleScholar
4. Keywordsearchinjournals
5. Whensearchingforliteratureinareaswherethereisongoingempiricalresearch,itisimportanttostart
searchingfromthemostrecentpublicationdates.Afteryourliteraturesearch,youwillcomeupwithalong
listofsourceswhichyouwillhavetoreducetoashortlistwiththemostrelevantitems.

5.2Evaluatingsources

Inyourassignment/dissertation,youwillhavetoprovidethefollowinginformationinyourLiteratureReview:

1. Anoverviewofthekeyissuesinthefield,andtheirimportance
2. Anoverviewoftheresearchthathasbeencarriedoutinthefield,thefindings,andasummaryofthecurrent
statusofenquiry
3. Specificexamplesofthetypesofmethodology,analysisandresultsreportedinindividualresearchstudies

Whichsourcesarevaluableforprovidingthatinformation?

Textbooks
Textbooksprovidesummariesofresearchwithoutgivingyouthedetailsoftheoriginalresearchstudies.The

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textbookauthorhasalreadyinterpretedtheresearchinawaythatyoumightnotagreewith.Also,thetextbook
authormighthaveemphasisedaspectsthatarenotrelevantforyourtopic.Foryourassignmentsanddissertation,it
isimportantthatyoureadbeyondtextbooksandtrytogetuptodateknowledgeofrecentresearchinyourresearch
area.

Frontlineliterature
AccordingtoWallace&Wray(2006),frontlineliteratureconsistsmainlyofjournalarticles,books,andreportsthat
providetheoreticalwork,reportsoforiginalresearch,accountsofcurrentpracticeandpolicystatements.These
sourcesprovidedirectinformationforyourresearch.
Forthevalueofvarioussources(textbooks,readersandhandbooks,reports,policystatements,websites,see
Wallace&Wray,2006,pp.1725).

TheInternet
Muchliteratureisnowavailableonline(ejournals,accesstoprintjournalselectronicallysee5.1.).Thereare
powerfulsearchengines(i.e.GoogleScholar)thatdirectyoutodownloadablefiles.Forinternetsourcessuchas
Wikipediaoranyothersitestowhichindividualscancontributewithoutpeerreviewsee4.2.

5.3Readingstrategies

Readingisdonemosteffectivelyifyouhaveitspurposeinmind.Yourreadingshouldalwaysbeguidedbytwomain
questions:

1. Whatistherelevanceofthispieceformytopic/research?
2. WhatinformationdoIneedtogetfromthispiecethatfeedsintomywriting?

Yourreadingwillbemosteffectiveifyoutakethefollowingtwosteps:
Step1:Organisingreading

1. Makingaroughplanofhowyoumightstructureyourliteraturereview.
2. Putyourreadingmaterialsintotheappropriateorder.

Step2:Recordingreading

1. Takingnotesaccordingtoyourlearningstyle(linear,pictorial,diagrammatic,mindmaps)producing
summariesandlistsofimportantquotations
2. UsingEndnote(acomputerprogrammefororganisingyourreadingandnotes)foralongerpieceofwork
suchasyourdissertation
3. Creatingminiliteraturereviewsinsteadofnotes(writeasummaryofeverypieceofreadingyouhavedone
andrelateittoothersourcesyouhaveread).

5.4Readingcritically

Readingcriticallymeansfirstthatyouapproachyoursourceswithclearquestionsinmind,i.e.thatyouare
constantlyquestioningtherelevanceofthetexttoyourowntopic(see5.3.).Secondly,itmeansthatyoucritically
analysetheauthorsarguments.WallaceandWray(2006)explainwhatdistinguishesanargumentfromanopinion.

Whatisanargument?

Argument:Conclusion(claim)+Warrant(reasonfortheconclusione.g.
evidencefromtheauthorsresearchorprofessionalexperience

Opinion:Unwarrantedconclusionnoexplanationisgivenforclaim
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(Wallace&Wray,2006:27)

Evaluatinganargumentmeansthatyouhavetoassesswhetherthewarrantisconvincing.Ifyoumakecounter
claims,youmusthavesufficientwarranttosupportthem.

6DEVELOPINGANARGUMENT

Thetermargumentisreferredtoindifferentwaysinacademicwriting.Ontheonehand,itmeansaclaimthatis
basedonawarrant(see5.4.),ratherthananopinionthatisnotsupportedbyanyevidence.Inanacademicpaper,
ontheotherhand,itmeansthewayinwhichyouexplainanddevelopyourtopic.Inthissense,argument
encompasses:(1)alogicalstructureofyourpaperinwhichsometimescontradictoryclaimsarediscussed,and
whichenablesthereadertofollow,throughsignpostingandheadings,howyoudealwiththetopic,(2)yourcritical
analysisofexistingliteraturefromtheviewpointofyourownexperienceand/orresearch,and(3)thedevelopmentof
yourownstance,basedonyourliteraturereviewandyourownexperience/research.Consideringtherangeof
possibletopics,thereisnotemplatefordevelopinganargument,butthefollowingstepsmayhelp.

Essentialstepsfordevelopinganargument:

a. Donotbedescriptivebyjustreportingwhatothershavewritten.
b. Researchthetopicandgetasmuchinformationaspossible,mainlythroughreadingrelevanttexts.
c. Whenyouchooseanassignmenttopic,youmayhaveattendedlecturesthatdealtwiththetopic,andyouwill
bestartingtoreadtextsonthetopic.Fromthebeginning,askyourself:Whatismyexperienceofand
view/opiniononthetopic?WhatinformationamIexpectingfromlectures,tutorialsandtexts?
d. Intheinformationyoureceive,lookforevidencethatsupportsyourview/opinion,andforevidencethat
contradictsit.
e. Onthebasisofthatevidence,reviseyouroriginalview/opinion.Thisway,youropinionbecomesan
argument.
f. Whendevelopingyourargument,clearlystatewhyyouagreeordisagree.Yourargumentemergeswhileyou
discussandweighuptheargumentofotherauthors.
g. Considercarefullyhowyoupresentyourargument,bearinginmindhowthereadermightviewyourwords
(e.g.misunderstand,disagree).

7THESTRUCTUREOFDISSERTATIONS

Ifyourdissertationincludesyourownempiricalresearch,thestructureusuallyconsistsoffivechapters:
Abstract

1. Introduction
2. LiteratureReview
3. Methodology
4. FindingsandDiscussion
5. Conclusion

Appendices

Thisstructurecanvary,forinstanceChapter4canbesplitintotwochapters:4.Findings,and5.Discussion.When
theresearchisbasedonquantitativedata,itmaybemoreappropriatetopresentthenumericalresultsinthe

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Findingschapter,followedbyaDiscussionchapter.Inqualitativeresearch,itismoretocommontopresent
findingsanddiscussioninonechapter.

Thefollowingsectiongivesashortoutlineofwhatshouldbeincludedinthechaptersofadissertation.Eachchapter
shouldendwithashortsummaryandalinkingparagraphtothenext.Whenyousummariseyourresearchinthelast
chapter,theConclusion,checkthatyouarebeingconsistentwiththeshortsummaryattheendofeachchapter.

TheAbstractisasummaryofthedissertationwhichbrieflyinformsthereaderaboutthebackground,aimsand
objectivesoftheresearch,themainmethodsused,mainfindingsandconclusions.

7.1Introduction

Thischapterpresentsthe(1)backgroundand(2)theaimandobjectivesofyourstudy,i.e.therelevanceoftopic
thereasonsforyourinterestinit,and(briefly,becausethiswillbedealtwithinmoredetailintheLiteratureReview)
thecurrentknowledgeofthetopic.Youmayframeyourownresearchhere,statingthatisaneedfordoingthat
researchtofillknowledgegaps(forinstance,teachinglearningstrategiesmayhavebeenwellresearchedinother
contexts,butnotinyours).Atthispoint,youmaywanttopointoutwhatyourresearchisgoingtocontributeto
existingknowledgeinyourfield.
Leadingonfrom(1)and(2),youmaystateyour(3)Researchquestions.However,itmaybebettertostatethe
researchquestionsattheendofChapter2,theLiteratureReview,afteryouhaveconsideredthecurrentresearch
findingsanddiscussionofthetopic.
Next,providean(4)Outlineofyourdissertationwithabriefoverviewofthefollowingchapters.

7.2.LiteratureReview

Makesurethatyoufocusontheliteraturethatisrelevanttoyourtopicandpointoutwheretheliteratureleaves
knowledgegapsforyourcontext.Again,thischapteroffersyoutheopportunitytoshowthatyouaremakinga
contributiontoknowledgeinyourcontext.Donotjustsummariseyoursources,ratherselectanddiscussthethemes
thatarerelevanttoyourtopicandthecurrentdiscussionofthetopic.

7.3Methodology

Inthischapter,youneedtojustifywhyyouchosecertainmethodsofenquiry,andwhyyourmethodsarecapableof
answeringyourresearchquestions.ForthisjustificationyoumayhavetolinkbacktotheLiteratureReview(for
instancebysayingthatpreviousquantitativeresearchdidnotfindindepthexplanations,andthereforeyouare
choosingdifferentmethods,suchasinterviews).
Inadditiontothechoiceofmethods,youhavetodiscussthefollowingissuesinthischapter:

Ethicalconsiderations
Recruitmentofparticipants:whydidyouchoosethemandhowdidyougetthemtoparticipate?
Datacollectionprocedures:howwillyouadministeryourquestionnaire,conductyourinterviewsor
observations?
Dataanalysis:howwillyouanalyseyourdata(statisticalprocedures,contentanalysis,discourseanalysis,
etc).

7.4FindingsandDiscussion

Inthischapteryouansweryourresearchquestionsthroughpresentinganddiscussingyourresults.Yourdiscussion
shouldlinktotheLiteratureReviewandtheMethodologychapter,asyouarerelatingyourownfindingstothe
resultsofpreviousresearch,andtothewayitwasconducted.

7.5Conclusion

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1/17/2015 Writingdissertationsandthesis

Inadditiontoasummaryofyourresearch,thefollowingpointsneedtobeaddressedinthischapter:

Limitationsofyourresearch
Implicationsoffindingsyourcontributiontoknowledge
Recommendationsofactiontobetaken
Suggestionsforfutureresearch

Appendices
Examplesfromyourdata,forinstancethequestionnaireyouusedorextractsfrominterviewtranscriptscanbe
presentedinAppendices.

References:
Fairbairn,G.&Fairbairn,S.(2001)Readingatuniversity.Buckingham:OpenUniversityPress
Fairbairn,G.&Winch,C.(1996)Reading,writingandreasoning.Buckingham:OpenUniversityPress
Wallace,M.&Wray,A.(2006)Criticalreadingandwritingforpostgraduates.London:Sage.

UrsulaWingateDepartmentofEducationandProfessionalStudiesKingsCollegeLondon2009

GuidelinesforwritingdissertationsbyUrsulaWingateDepartmentofEducationandProfessionalStudiesKings
CollegeLondonislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttributionNonCommercialShareAlike2.0UK:England&
WalesLicense.
Basedonaworkatopen.jorum.ac.uk.

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