How to Write a Doctoral Dissertation/Thesis—Part Two

Research and Writing

A lot of research is needed in order to write a
successful PhD.

This is the second article in a series that outlines the mechanics of doctoral dissertation writing. Part One of Scribendi.com's "How to Write a Doctoral Dissertation/Thesis" dealt with some commonly asked questions about the PhD process. In Part Two, we aim to provide potential PhDs with tips on how to handle the difficult tasks of selecting a thesis topic, a supervisor, and a thesis committee.

Formulating a thesis topic for your dissertation

Writing a doctoral dissertation begins with the selection of a thesis topic, and the circumstances of your admission to the PhD program will likely determine the latitude you are given in selecting your research question. In many cases, research funding awarded to support a PhD student will clearly indicate the research questions that are to be addressed.

Selection of the thesis committee

The selection of the thesis committee is one of the most important decisions you will make during your career as a dissertation author and PhD student. In science departments in North America, it is common for the thesis committee to consist of a principal supervisor and two (possibly three) other experts in your field of study. These individuals will act as mentors who will guide you through the process of defining objectives, conducting research, editing drafts, and writing the thesis. Choose your committee—and especially your principal supervisor—with care. The relationship between supervisor and PhD student should be mutually beneficial. In the sciences, for example, the PhD student will conduct research and take classes, while the supervisor's time will likely be divided between teaching, administration (procurement of funding/maintenance of a laboratory), writing research articles, and mentoring graduate students. The ideal supervisor would be one who

• is readily available for consultation and proofreading,
• is a balanced thinker (i.e., he or she considers both specific and general questions),
• is respected in his or her field, and
• has a good track record with respect to graduating previous thesis students.

Of these traits, accessibility is crucial, as the skills involved in academic research and dissertation writing are more easily acquired when a student has an accessible supervisor as a mentor.

The research process

Researching and creating a dissertation literature review

Although the selection of a general thesis research topic may be relatively simple, formulating specific and realistic research questions is a task that will require a considerable amount of contemplation and research. Although you may have a general idea of the questions you would like to address in your thesis, the appropriateness and relevance of your research questions and the methods you intend to use to answer them have to be framed in the context of existing research. The dissertation literature review has several purposes:

1. to demonstrate that your research questions have been proposed in consideration of the results and methodologies of other researchers in your field,
2. to support the relevance of your research question (i.e., Has the question been proposed before, and if so, what is the justification for your research?), and
3. to give future readers of your dissertation an overview of the literature relevant to your research question(s).

A useful first step in conducting the dissertation literature review would be the identification of "key words" relevant to your research question. These key words will serve as useful starting points for navigating existing literature. And remember—when searching for information, always give preference to primary/original sources.

The structure of your dissertation literature review can be likened to an inverse triangle. In the biological sciences, for example, you would begin by placing your study organism or system in the context of the "big picture." After establishing the general context for your research, you would then proceed to examine work that more closely addresses the theories, methodologies, and perspectives relevant to your research question. Determining which literature is relevant to your research is a challenging task. However, it can be made easier by keeping one question foremost in your mind: Will citing or summarizing a particular study or work allow future readers of my thesis to better comprehend my research?

In certain respects, the dissertation literature review is similar to a major term paper. Maintaining a coherent and logical progression of ideas is critical to producing a successful and comprehensive dissertation literature review. To make the process easier, we suggest this: Write the title, author(s), and date of each study you wish to include on a small index card. On each card, summarize the principal result of the study in a single sentence. You can then use these cards to create "reference piles" corresponding to specific sections of the dissertation literature review.   

Writing and editing the first draft of your thesis

Writing the first draft of your thesis can be a daunting process. There are essentially two strategies one can take when writing the first draft. In the sciences (and depending on the requirements of your department), you can choose between two styles of thesis organization. The first is the thesis-by-chapter style, in which a dissertation literature review is followed by chapters describing the methodology and results of discrete research projects that address the principal research question/objective that the thesis aims to answer. A summary chapter—in which the implications of the research are discussed in the context of the principal research question—typically concludes a thesis of this format.

A second alternative for thesis organization is the manuscript format. When this format is applied in the sciences, the contents are organized as a unified body of text with sections for a literature review, materials and methods, and results and discussion. Of the two formats, the thesis-by-chapter format is probably the most common, as it minimizes the work required to prepare, edit, and proof the contents of the thesis for publication as discrete research articles.  

Take the next step

In the third and final installment of Scribendi.com's "How to Write a Doctoral Dissertation/Thesis" series, our in-house editing and proofreading professionals will continue discussing the mechanics of writing a PhD dissertation. We will then explore the strategies you should employ when attempting to integrate the editorial suggestions of your examining committee into your final draft.