Introduction
A doctoral degree is not like a bachelor’s or master’s
degree. Unlike these degrees, the Ph.D. degree requires students to work on
research rather than theory. Students have to work on original research and
publish it as part of their coursework. As I mentioned earlier, working on a Ph.D.
thesis is not an easy thing. Students face a lot of difficulties in
accomplishing this task. They need some kind of guidelines, tips and tricks,
and techniques to follow. Therefore, keeping this in view, today’s article is
here with all the required guidelines. It will discuss all the steps required
to complete a perfect thesis for a doctoral degree.
Steps to follow to write
a thesis
Writing
a thesis is not an easy job for students. They need some kind of guidance
in this regard. Therefore, I have prepared this guide after interviewing the
top professors of different universities in the UK. The points that I am going
to mention below are the common points that they talked about. Hence, a brief
description of the steps to follow is as follows:
Know the structure
First things first, you must know the structure of a Ph.D.
thesis. Without knowing the structure, you cannot know about the sections
of a thesis. Moreover, you will have no idea of what will go in, in every
section of a thesis. So, it is imperative for you to know about the thesis structure
before anything. Sometimes, the teachers give guidelines about the structure.
Therefore, it is always helpful to read those guidelines.
Prepare the thesis
outline
The next step in writing a thesis is the preparation of the
thesis outline. This outline does not let you go off track. In the thesis
outline, you break the whole thesis into small chunks and make a preliminary
report on what you will talk about in each chapter. This outline will also
serve as a table of content for your thesis. Always remember to make a
timetable too, along with the outline. It is because both things allow a smooth
writing process.
Research, research, and
research
After performing the steps mentioned above, you know what
will go in your thesis. So, now is the time to research that data. You have to
read tons of information before you actually start writing a thesis project. It
is why I have used the word research thrice. The more you read, the more
perfect your thesis will be. Another important thing while researching is that
try to take data from only the authentic sites. Use the CRAAP test if you do
not know whether the information is authentic or not.
Write as you research
Writing while researching is the best practice. The
professors said so because they think that you lose many things when you
research first and then write. For example, there can be an important point
that you forget to write while researching. Once you start writing the thesis,
there are chances that you will miss that point. So, write as you research if
you want a perfect thesis.
Conclusion
Writing a quality thesis is the most arduous job that Ph.D. students have to perform. Not only the complexity of the thesis contributes to this, but the students’ lack of knowledge about how to a thesis is also a major contributor. Therefore, you must pay special attention to the tips mentioned above.