Dear researchers,
I would like to hear and learn from your suggestions based on your general experience, during the course of your doctoral thesis writing.
Ebenezer - Personally, I don't think that there is a smart and fast strategy for such a task. If you are talking about starting a PhD thesis from scratch and completing it within 4-8 weeks - I can't see that it is possible - unless one intends to fail. Even in the worst-case scenario - PhD students would commence writing (full-time or part-time) 12 months before submission. Most will start well before then - and have been crafting publications i.e. their literature review before then. One has to factor in other limiters - such as supervisors receiving drafts and feeding back periods.
I also note that you state a 40,000 word doctoral thesis. Most 'full' (not PhD by coursework i.e. EdD) PhD theses are usually more around at least double that.
Ebenezer - Personally, I don't think that there is a smart and fast strategy for such a task. If you are talking about starting a PhD thesis from scratch and completing it within 4-8 weeks - I can't see that it is possible - unless one intends to fail. Even in the worst-case scenario - PhD students would commence writing (full-time or part-time) 12 months before submission. Most will start well before then - and have been crafting publications i.e. their literature review before then. One has to factor in other limiters - such as supervisors receiving drafts and feeding back periods.
I also note that you state a 40,000 word doctoral thesis. Most 'full' (not PhD by coursework i.e. EdD) PhD theses are usually more around at least double that.
Ebenezer - I think there is no fast and smart strategy for writing a 40,000 word PhD thesis (dissertation), within 1-2 months ? It is good practice to start writing early so that a researcher can rewrite and make necessary corrections as the PhD thesis advances. To write a PhD thesis of 40,000 words or more within 1-2 months is not systematic for carrying research. Research follows a methodology and there are several steps to be done which need a suitable time. Report writing of PhD thesis should be given sufficient time as this part is very important because the researcher is presenting his/her findings and conclusions. Also, report writing involves a number of technicalities and the researcher should not ignore these.
A PhD is not a dissertation, which is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree. But if you have done the appropriate research and analysis of your results, then it is possible to write it in 2 months. But you should write the literature review at the end to match the results and analysis. Make the thesis as brief as possible and then it will be elegant and an achievement!
I finished my PhD thesis almost a year ago waiting to meet other requirements so that I can submit. I thought I had finished but as and when I keep on reading around the topic and writing research articles for publication I keep on adding more to the thesis. So if you are aiming at submitting an acceptable and standard thesis then you must revise your thought of doing it within that shortest time. Remember one of every PhD candidate is to add unto the existing body of literature so if at the end of the day your thesis contributed nothing meaningful to the body of knowledge the it becomes a flop.
Do not rush this process you cannot cut corners and compromise what is supposed to be an exercise in generating new ideas and understanding its place in the literature.
I would highly recommend against it. What makes for strong analysis and meaningful contribution to a field is increased exposure to the data. If you're spending 2 months on writing and data analysis included, you are, in all honesty, selling yourself short. Your data analysis is bound to be of low quality. Additionally, a PhD is not something that should be rushed, but enjoyed.
The smartest strategy would be to have done some write-up even before thinking on thesis. For example having literature done for a module, introduction or writing about your research for a supervisor report for example. You could also make sure you have enough contributions (conferences, journals), which help with your thesis writing in less than 3 months I would say.
Thiago Braga Rodrigues has good advice. You should pick your general topic early in your doctoral program and write all of your class papers, etc., about this topic. This way, you may have a significant part of your literature review done in advance.
The other key thins in a short timeframe writing project is to use data collection methods that can be done quickly. This may be easier in some disciplines than others. Waiting a long time for data collection to be complete slows down your project considerably.
Ph.D thesis requires quality time and concentration. It has many parts that need time and coordination to synchronologically follow.Therefore, no one with intention of doing a novel work can achieve it within 1-2 months
Doing that is the shorter way to fail, PhD thesis is not a report talking about what others have done in particular subject. It is about to show that you have done something never done by the others before which is quite challenging, be careful.
I am currently carrying out a literature review on Air Transport Deregulation/Liberalization in preparation for my Pd.D thesis. Any assistant or contribution on this area should be sent to my email [email protected].
Thanks in anticipation.
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