Redrafting your dissertation

Dr Cheryl Lange

You’ve finished the first draft - well done

• Don’t race off to show it to your supervisor.

• There are still a couple of important things you need to do.

Set aside your work for a few days

Redraft

Many ideas in this presentation are adapted from Evans, D & Gruba, P 2002 (2nd ed.) How to write a better thesis, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, pp. 123-139.

Things to check

1. Structure

2. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting, etc.

Structure – some questions

• Is there a table of contents? (check that there is agreement between the table of contents and your chapter headings)

• Does the Introduction mention

– why the research is being done– what the aim is– how the aim will be achieved – what the scope of the dissertation is?

• Do the conclusions correspond with the aim?

Note areas to be improved in the margins of the text

Redraft questions – ask yourself

• Does the logic of my argument flow from introduction to conclusion? (If not, fix up any gaps, repetitions, problems with order, etc.)

• Has my aim shifted during my research? (If yes, re-write your aim.)

• Is there material in the body that would be better off in an appendix? (If so, move it to an appendix.)

• Have important points emerged that I didn’t consider when structuring my first draft? (If so, work out how/where to incorporate them.)

Results – more questions

• Are the results of my experiments, interviews or other aspects of my own work clearly presented and explained?

• Am I discussing the implications of my results as I go? (OK if you are doing a dissertation in the humanities and some social sciences. NOT OK, for dissertations in physical, biological sciences.)

Discussion and Conclusions

• Have I discussed my findings in terms of improving or extending current theory or practice? (This may not be necessary for some coursework dissertations.)

• Do my conclusions follow on from my discussion? (They should.)

• Have I introduced new discussion topics into my conclusion? (If yes, you will have to rewrite your discussion to include the new ideas or rewrite your conclusion and leave them out.)

• Do my conclusions explain the implications of my work for theory or practice or provide recommendations? (They should, depending on your dissertation requirements.)

More redrafting questions

• Does my formatting confirm to the specifications of my unit/discipline?

• Have I checked my spelling thoroughly (don’t rely solely on spell check)

• Does my punctuation help the reader understand my various points of view?

• Have I labelled all my tables and figures correctly?

• Have I meticulously checked my referencing?

Redrafting takes time but it MUST be done

Want to impress your examiners?

Use a clear, direct writing style

Tips for writing concisely

Circle the prepositions (of, in, about, for, onto, into)

Draw a box around the "is" verb forms

Ask, "Where's the action?”

Change the "action" into a simple verb

Move the doer into the subject (Who's kicking whom)

Eliminate any unnecessary slow wind-ups

Eliminate any redundancies.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/635/1/

An example

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/635/1/

More help?

• See Guide to Grammar and Writing Concise Sentences for lists of redundant phrases: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

• About.Com Grammar and Compositions lists 200 Common Redundancies: http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/redundancies.htm