Writing An English Dissertation: Useful Hints On How To Create A Solid Paper
Writing a dissertation is quite a substantial activity to undertake. It requires extensive work to be done. First of all the research takes time to conduct, and after that comes the long and painful process of putting it all into a comprehensible and presentable form. Here are some useful hints on writing a solid dissertation in English.
- Use good formal language.
- Be careful with phrasing.
- Focus on results.
- Learn to reference.
- Write inside-out.
- Define the terms.
- Make only warranted conclusions.
- Don’t overload your paper with data.
Good means that you don’t have problems with grammar and punctuation, because errors are totally unacceptable. Keep it simple and keep it formal. Don’t abuse adverbs, avoid using imprecise constructions maybe (maybe, seems, etc.) or highlighting your own judgement (good, bad, nice, etc.) Explain every term on initial use. Always use present tense and active constructions. Also, avoid self-assessment, both positive and negative.
Compose your sentences in a way that there won’t be possible to come to another conclusion, than the one you intended. Follow this rule at all times, if you want to avoid being misunderstood.
Focus on resultsrather than the circumstances of the discovery or the people who discovered it. People are not interested in the fact thatthat you were sitting in the lab all night chatting with your associate about politics when you discovered some phenomenon.
A scientist always refers to a paper, not to a person. So, even if it was written by several authors we say that “Williams and Bond [Q&A93] report that…”
It is much easier to write a dissertation beginning with the chapters that describe your research. Organize the terms and definitions in a separate chapter, then read the body carefully and write conclusions, and finallyfinish with an introduction and an abstract.
Each term and definition should be clarified, even if it is used with its conventional meaning. Remember, that a term may be used one way and one way only throughout a dissertation.
Your conclusions must be supported by your experimental data. You should only conclude something, if you have an undeniable scientific result to confirm it. For example - if you compare something, don’t say that a certain thing is better before dismissing all the influence of the other variables and possible errors.
Keep in mind that it is the critical thinking that forms the base of the work. Do not include raw, unprocessed data into your dissertation.