As many doctoral students have already experienced, the literature review chapter can literally be hell. The chapter is completely unique from the other chapters and, for doctoral students inexperienced in advanced academic writing, it can lead to all kinds of trouble. Therefore, this article is written as a guide containing certain principles for you to keep in mind when writing your literature review chapter. Following them will help you avoid sinking into the literature review quagmire. This … [Read more...]
12 Steps to Write an Effective Discussion Chapter
This article gives doctoral dissertation students valuable guidance on how to go about writing their Discussion chapter. The article starts by outlining the main goals and writing approaches. Then the article explains 12 specific steps to take to write an effective Discussion chapter. Discussion Chapter: Main Goals and Writing Approaches You should always keep in mind the main goals when writing your Discussion chapter. These include stating your interpretations, declaring your opinions, … [Read more...]
Avoiding Common Errors in your Literature Review
As so many doctoral students working on their dissertations have discovered, writing the literature review chapter is a tedious process involving many steps and pitfalls. To help save you time and heartache, this article will show you the most common mistakes encountered when putting together your literature review. These common literature review errors are broken down into three general categories: Writing & Stylistic Issues Issues with Literature Review Structure & Elements … [Read more...]
NVIVO Mini-Tutorial 2: Importing your Literature Review
Importing your literature review files This mini tutorial shows you how to import your literature review files into NVIVO. Most likely, your literature review files will either be scattered across your computer or other storage medium or be stored onto a centralized program like Endnote (a program to manage literature review, bibliographies, and more). Therefore, there are two general ways to import your literature review files to NVIVO: By manually importing your literature review … [Read more...]
Dealing with PhD Stress
The entire process of writing a PhD dissertation is a tedious one. From thinking of your research topic, coming up with a research question, and choosing a sample, to testing that sample, selecting a research method, doing a literature review, conducting the actual research, analyzing the results, and putting it all together, all this is not easy to do. The Importance of Stress Management During PhD Dissertation Work Compounding the stress of writing a PhD dissertation with the stress of daily … [Read more...]
The Qualitative Research Method – A Brief Tutorial
The Qualitative Research Method – A Brief Tutorial Researchers often find that certain research topics cannot be reduced to mere numbers. As a result, they are left contemplating whether to use qualitative rather than quantitative research methods, or perhaps even a mixed study. Contrary to popular myth, qualitative methods can be equally, if not more challenging, than quantitative methods. On the other hand, researchers may also think that quantitative methods are more applicable to their … [Read more...]
Planning the Perfect Dissertation
Anything you work on that has a solid structure and foundation will minimize your time and effort while maximizing your results. On the other hand, any initiative lacking a sound structure will create many problems down the line. Therefore, when the time to start on your dissertation is approaching, you can make the entire dissertation process so much easier on yourself if you work carefully on laying a strong foundation for your study. Doing this will bring wonders for you throughout the … [Read more...]
Dissertation Pitfalls II: Dissertation Time Management
When you first start planning for your dissertation, you may find yourself completely pumped up and motivated, ready for any dissertation obstacles that come your way. However, with the passing of time, some of you will most surely find yourself procrastinating, postponing, or just not putting your heart into it. You try to solve this problem but it is easier said than done. Dissertation procrastination is among the biggest problems graduate students experience and the Internet is filled with … [Read more...]
The 5 Golden Tips for Your Dissertation
Dissertation writing is a long and tedious process but one that can be made easier with a few useful tips in mind. For over 20 years, Dissertation Genius - a professional dissertation consulting firm - has helped countless masters and doctoral students successfully submit and publish their dissertations. Thus, with this experience, I’ve gathered the five most useful tips that you should include your dissertation completion toolbox. Golden Dissertation Tip #1 The Student-Dissertation … [Read more...]
Qualified Dissertation Consultants – What They Do and Where to Find Them
It goes without saying that at some point during the thesis/dissertation process, you may be forced to seek help from an external party. This is true even for the most seasoned dissertation veterans and is nothing to be ashamed about. Usually, this help comes in the form of a fellow student, colleague, and your dissertation adviser. However, especially when implementing more technical studies, it may be very difficult to find quality help especially if your dissertation supervisor is not … [Read more...]