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A Guide to Dissertation Writing

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 A Guide to
Dissertation Writing

Saadia Morse & Daniel Ogachi

EDITED BY ZOLTAN ZEMAN

A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING 1

 COPYRIGHT

Published by

University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PRI 2HE, UK

© Saadia Morse & Daniel Ogachi (Ed), 2021

Email: smorse1@uclan.ac.uk or ogachdniel@gmail.com

First Published in 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the authors, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-5272-8138-7

To cite this book:

Morse, S., & Ogachi, D. (2021). A Guide to Dissertation Writing (1st ed.).
University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.

2 A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING

A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING 3
 Dedication

This book is dedicated to Fares, Noah, and Elias

4 A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING

 PREFACE
This book draws on many studies from our experiences as students and lecturers, hence
the title “A Guide to Dissertation Writing,”. Many students struggle to complete their
dissertations, which delays their academic progress. Students are consistently looking out
for concepts and techniques written in plain, simple English for a quick, easy grasp of its
contents. This book will serve as an aid to students and effectively deliver resources to
help them in completing their dissertation successfully and promptly.

An estimated 30% of students left university without completing their PhD in the UK
(Times Higher Education, 2013). The dropouts are mainly associated with students’
inability to complete writing their dissertations. There are several contributing factors
involved: lack of student support by institutions; the fact that the dissertation writing is
difficult; and crucially, balancing time for dissertation writing with family life and leisure.

The book contains information on how students can plan and complete their dissertations,
the challenges involved, and ethical issues when writing it. It demonstrates what students
need to understand and ascertain when working on dissertations. In this book, the reader
will gain insight into the challenges of writing a dissertation: planning; choosing titles; the
skills, citations and referencing; and maintaining the balance of life and writing.

This book’s audience is primarily students in all disciplines, particularly those

experiencing difficulties understanding how to write their dissertation, and may find this
book a useful guide. Additionally, this guide may serve as a helpful teaching aid to
educators and can also be used as reference material.
Every academic institution has its procedures and guiding principles for writing
dissertations, but there are many similarities across institutions. With this in mind, this
book is written to ensure that every student can understand what dissertation-writing
involves in general. Hopefully, this will help students understand and embrace coping
strategies for any issues and hurdles they may encounter in writing their dissertation. The
book’s main objective is to help students not drop out due to the pressures of writing a
dissertation and instead, help make it an enjoyable process.

Our experience in writing doctoral dissertations has contributed to writing this book. We
have put ourselves in the students’ shoes to understand the complexity and intensity that
students endure while completing their dissertations. This book has the human element
interface that students mostly desire, versus looking for information on institution bulletin
boards. This book is a comprehensive aid for students in writing their dissertations.

A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING 5

To write this book, we engaged in in-depth research using our personal experience and
challenges in writing and supervising a dissertation. We also interviewed doctoral students
and advisers to bring out the real personal issues involved in writing dissertations. These
issues have been provided in this book in the simplest terms to assist students. Most
students commence their dissertations without understanding what a dissertation is or the
process involved in completing it. This book is meant to prepare students for the
dissertation roadmap providing them with the yardsticks to achieve at every step.

This book has taken one year to write and has incorporated an international experience to
provide a thorough guide to students. Students are advised to read this guidebook before
embarking on their dissertation journey.
A note to students: Even though writing a dissertation is such a tedious and intricate process; it
is also a gratifying achievement. Make this book your walking encyclopedia, your mentor, and
the journey will be adventurous. Starting your dissertation is the most challenging part, but as
you move on, the law of inertia will drive you to finish your dissertation. The power of
completing your research project lies within you. In this journey, remember that you are not
alone; this book will serve as your guide and should be used as such.

6 A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We want to thank students from the school of Humanities, Language and Global Studies at
the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, UK and Szent István University in
Gödöllő, Hungary for their input and perseverance when conducting interviews.
We must also thank Jerusha Wacuka Kanyiri, who provided support and insight at all
times. We are also grateful to our colleagues, who provided helpful comments on the
paper’s initial draft. A special thanks to Regina Marete and Diane Garcia, who doubled as
our research assistant and proofreader for this book.

A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING 7

 INTRODUCTION
Many students begin writing their dissertations but stall along the way. We must admit
that many students will attest that it is not an easy process. This book simplifies the
process and aids writers in ensuring that they complete a high-quality dissertation on time.
It all depends on how they approach it. This book is intended to support the writers by
equipping them with the knowledge and resources they will require for their dissertation.
It is organised into four parts consisting of ten chapters written in simple English.
The first part of the book introduces dissertation writing. It looks at planning for dissertations
and types of dissertations: qualitative and quantitative. This part introduces the various
definitions of a dissertation. It sheds light on the institutions’ requirements and the dissertation
committee expectations. Additionally, it provides students with the knowledge of how to plan
for the dissertation and implement a flexible time frame to ensure its completion.

Part two looks at the selection of dissertation titles and themes. Selecting a topic is one of
the problematic areas for students in dissertation writing. This part of the book will help
students select a topic, choose relevant material, and review the literature. This part will
detail the skills required to complete citations and show how students can develop those
skills.
Part three looks at the art of balancing other life and work commitments with writing a
dissertation. It examines the difficulties students go through during the writing process and
how to overcome them.

The last part focuses on ethical issues in dissertation writing, citations, and referencing. It
will aid students in gaining awareness of how to prevent plagiarism. In many instances,
plagiarism has led to the dissertation committee’s rejection of work, which is frustrating
and intimidating for students. Many end up dropping out of the programme as a result.
This book will help students understand how to avoid plagiarism and identify resources
for checking plagiarism in their work. This part will also support students to understand
the style and format to apply when referencing their work.
We wish success to our future scholars in their dissertations. This is supposed to be an
enjoyable experience, and we hope that this book will bring that experience to all students
writing their dissertations.

8 A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE
Chapter One .................................................................................................................. 12
Introduction to writing a dissertation .......................................................................... 12
Definition of a Dissertation............................................................................................. 12
Overview of writing a dissertation .................................................................................. 12
Am I capable of completing this dissertation? ................................................. 14
How will I avoid procrastination? .................................................................... 15
What am I going to sacrifice? ......................................................................................... 15
How can I achieve self-discipline in writing? .................................................................. 16
How will I tackle the writer’s block? .............................................................................. 16
Chapter Two ................................................................................................................. 18
Planning your Dissertation ........................................................................................... 18
Importance of planning .................................................................................................... 18
Managing time……………….. ......................................................................... 18
Quality and Clarity to Dissertation 18
Organised Dissertation..................................................................................................... 19
Minimising stress in writing a dissertation ...................................................................... 19
Timing of Dissertation ..................................................................................................... 19
Developing time plans ....................................................................................... 19
Schedules ........................................................................................................... 20
Charts ................................................................................................................ 21
Calendars ........................................................................................................... 21
Strategy for completing a dissertation ............................................................................. 22
Self-efficacy and motivation ............................................................................. 22
Dissertation Support Groups ............................................................................. 23
Elements of dissertation/structure ..................................................................... 24
Chapter Three ................................................................................................................ 26
Writing Qualitative Vs. Quantitative Dissertations .................................................... 26
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 26

A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING 9

Qualitative Dissertations .................................................................................................. 26
Features of qualitative Dissertations .................................................................. 26
Historical background of qualitative dissertations ............................................ 27
Concerns in a qualitative study .......................................................................... 29
Where qualitative research can be used ............................................................. 30
Quantitative Dissertations ................................................................................................ 30
Complementarity of Quantitative and Qualitative Dissertations 31
Emergent issues and the future of qualitative and Quantitative Research ......... 32
Conclusion 33
PART TWO
Chapter Four.................................................................................................................. 34
Choosing your dissertation title .................................................................................... 34
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 34
Characteristics of a good dissertation title ....................................................................... 34
Factors to consider while selecting a dissertation title ..................................................... 35
Generating ideas for your dissertation title ...................................................................... 36
Steps for creating a dissertation title ................................................................................ 37
Resources for a dissertation title development ................................................................ 39
Essentials for a dissertation title ...................................................................................... 39
Chapter Five ................................................................................................................... 42
Skills for writing a Dissertation .................................................................................... 42
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 42
Writing style for dissertations .......................................................................................... 42
Writing in the passive voice .............................................................................. 42
Formatting and templates .................................................................................. 43
Proofreading ...................................................................................................... 44
Editing ............................................................................................................... 45
Planning Skills ................................................................................................................. 45
Research Skills ................................................................................................................ 45

10 A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING

 Critical Thinking ............................................................................................... 45
Analytical thinking ............................................................................................ 46
Explanation Skills ............................................................................................................ 46
Developing and improving Dissertation Writing skills ................................................... 47
Students’ Experiences in Dissertation Writing Skills ...................................................... 48
Chapter Six ..................................................................................................................... 50
Layout and presentation of dissertations ..................................................................... 50
PART THREE
Chapter Seven ................................................................................................................ 60
Balancing dissertation and work .................................................................................. 60
Chapter Eight ................................................................................................................. 68
Difficulties in writing dissertations............................................................................... 68
PART FOUR
Chapter Nine .................................................................................................................. 76
Ethical issues in Dissertation writing ........................................................................... 76
Chapter Ten ................................................................................................................... 84
Citations and Referencing of Dissertations ................................................................. 84
GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................... 96
REFERENCE................................................................................................................. 99

A GUIDE TO DISSERTATION WRITING 11

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