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Writing a thesis

As a doctoral student, writing your thesis, is the grand finale of your research. This thesis will be your last obstacle to obtain your doctoral degree. You only need a positive assessment of the Doctorate Committee before you are admitted to the degree of doctor. When writing a thesis, useful tips and a basic structure come in handy. In this way, you will not only stay in control yourself, but it will also enable the Doctorate Committee to make a good assessment. Over the years we have made various and very diverse theses. Because of that we have a lot in-house knowledge and expertise which we would like to share with doctoral students. In this article you will find some specific tips and advice on writing and structuring a thesis.

What to write in the preface

In your thesis preface, you will write a short introduction to explain your motivation for the topic you chose. Stay way from unnecessary thank-yous and academic twaddle. Make sure it is plain and spirited. The reason that you chose this topic must be interesting, otherwise you would not have chosen this topic to obtain your doctoral degree. If everything went well, you also discovered something new during your research. Perhaps you can go into this briefly, without revealing too much. Keep it brief and to the point.

The introduction of your thesis

Taking your doctoral degree, doing research and writing a thesis requires discipline, perseverance, organizational abilities, analytical skills and writing talent. If you have all of these skills, a neatly arranged introduction should not be a problem.

How to write a thesis

Follow the conducted research and stick to the plan. Next to that, you can apply various beneficial techniques. For example, always write in a reasoning way, using words as because, therefore, so, as, through, although and however. We also recommend to write a summary for each chapter. A summary should be written as a stand-alone, so that it could be published on various correspondence pages without additional explanation. For this purpose, you can apply a useful technique that is also known as the cabaret perspective. By first claiming A and putting the reader on a specific track, you can then refute it and explain that not A, but exactly the opposite is correct.

Time is crucial, budget is helpful

Before starting on studying for your doctoral degree, it is good to know whether you actually have enough time. By conducting a small preliminary research and keeping a journal, you can assess whether it matches timewise or whether you need more time. Discuss with your family or at work to try and find out where you can find more time to invest in your doctoral degree. Besides this, you could buy or hire expertise to support you, if you have budget to do so. For example a research office or an editor who corrects your texts.

Structure of your thesis

We assume that every doctoral student has the understanding and knowledge about a basic lay-out of similar documentation. However, there are still plenty of misconceptions regarding some aspects, or seemingly basic skills are not being applied. Make sure you have a clear plan, it will probably change in due course, but make sure you have a clear plan and stick to it. This helps overcome doubts and gives you something to hold on to. We also recommend using concepts: concept questions, concept chapters and concept lists. Use stages and reports to come to something concrete. And do not forget to conclude with a piece that describes why your thesis is unique and groundbreaking, a clear quotation of sources and a bibliography of national as well as international works.

Main question, sub-questions and concept chapters

During your research, make use of sub-questions to get to the main question of your research. You can make these sub-questions (concept) chapters, so that each question is a separate chapter. You can always remove, merge or rephrase these chapters later on.

Thesis  acknowledgements

Close with a word of thanks that contributes to the research and also expresses due respect to all those involved. It is like the ending of a play, without encore it has a weird and unpleasant ending. You do not want such a negative ending. Do not exaggerate in your thesis acknowledgements, but keep it real and genuine.

Tips for writing your thesis

In conclusion we give you a few other tips that can support you when writing your thesis.

  • Choose a subject that you already know something about. The more time you spent thinking about the subject, the easier the process can move forward.
  • Make sure you do thorough preliminary research, also in matters of competence, such as time management, writing skills, analytical skills and organizational abilities.
  • If you have the budget, call in the help of experts and specialists.
  • Use a modular approach to write the chapters. Make sure readers can understand these without having read the prior chapter.
  • Refer to relevant international literature and research.

Let us produce your thesis!

Above all things, you want to do justice to your research and thesis. A thorough book that radiates what you want it to radiate and striking like your research findings. We can provide this for you. Please visit our website to request a free quotation.

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