Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13810 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

John Peck, Cardiff University, UK
'Authoring a PhD is superb. I know of no other work offering advice of such substance.' -

Synopsis
"Authoring a PhD Thesis" involves the development of creative ideas, working out how to organize them, writing up from your plans, upgrading your text, and finishing it speedily and to a good standard. It also includes being examined and getting your work published. This title provides a huge range of ideas and suggestions to help you cope with both the intellectual issues involved and the practical difficulties of organizing your work effectively. It is a useful and time-saving aid for doctoral students and their supervisors, and should also interest anyone writing creative non-fiction.

About the Author
PATRICK DUNLEAVY is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a member of the Academy of the Social Sciences, London. He has authored numerous books and academic articles in political science and is currently general editor of the journal Political Studies. This book draws on his experience in supervising more than 30 doctoral students over two decades, and in teaching a large inter-disciplinary course on 'Drafting and Writing a PhD' at the LSE over twelve years. In the field of study skills Patrick Dunleavy has also published Studying for A Degree (Macmillan, 1986). He was awarded the Political Science 'Making a Difference' Award by the Political Studies Association in 2003.

Customer Reviews

Clear, full of good tips - and witty too
I bought this book because I'm thinking about doing a PhD part time and wanted to get a better idea of what it would entail and how to get started. I found it very easy to read and, most surprisingly, funny. I have to write long research reports for non-academic audiences and the book is full of excellent advice about structure and signposting which applies equally to this type of non-fiction writing as well. It is particularly good at suggesting how to help your readers to navigate your text rather than expecting them to go out of their way to understand your work.

A practical and high value-added guide
I strongly recommend this book to other Ph.D. students. It is practical and contains useful and very specific advice. The author stays clear of general and obvious comments of the type 'communication with your supervisor is important'.
A particular focus of the book is on the structure of the thesis and the organization of chapters. There are tips on clear writing (but this is not a style-book). Further, the book contains: how to draft and remodel text; how figures of different types ought to be integrated; tips on finishing the thesis (first and laster chapters, abstract); and getting published.

Comprehensive, succinct, practical
In the midst of an unstructured mass of data and ideas, this book helped me to construct a semi-workable framework for writing up my PhD thesis. Dunleavy is concise with languge and examples and unlike many 'how-to' dissertation writing books, does not clutter his book with useless anecdotes. His chapters on structuring and maintaining a coherent argument across a 80,000 - 100,000 word doctoral dissertation are a lifesaver to any social science/humanities student. Dunleavy gives practical advice on everything, including structuring your thesis, how to start and end chapters and sections of chapters, and gives practical tips on tricky language use. This book is one you will keep even after you finished your thesis as it contains helpful chapters on how to turn your thesis into papers and books, giving you an incentive to get out there and complete the degree ! Definitely a winner.