9 TIPS AND TRICK FOR THESIS WRITING

Assalamualaikum.

How is your day my friends? and how is your Ramadhan?

Ramadhan kareem..Allahu akram.

Here I would like to share wonderful sharing from Elena Tengku (facebook name). May Allah bless her for this fantastic tips and tricks to get ideas for your thesis writing. Enjoy it.

Today I feel like sharing something that may benefit those who are currently working on their dissertation, like me. A lot of tips have been shared on how to graduate on time, how to write a literature review, and so forth. They are all equally important. But this time, I feel like sharing something else that I find may benefit others. So basically I come from a journalism background before moving to organisational communication and then now placed under the business and management school. Throughout the years of studying journalism, and my short stint in the media industry, I've found that there are so many things that I've learned during my journalism days that are helping me with my PhD. So I've compiled 9 major areas so far (don't want to force myself to find another. Will let you know once I do), and hope that it makes sense (and helpful) to others. If it doesn't sound right, feel free to criticise. If not, do share. :) Here it goes:

1. 5Ws and 1H

Not sure if other courses teaches this but if you've studied journalism, or you come from the media industry, you'd probably be taught this. It's the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Normally journalists would use this to write their news lead. In PhD, I believe that you could apply the same! With having these questions in mind, it allows you to write the early (and critical) part of your thesis - the Introduction as it helps tell the readers what your research is about. For instance, Who's involved (without disclosing their identity), Where is the research conducted, Why you're doing this (think about the problem, and contribution), and How it's going to be done (methods). Once all of the questions are answered (not necessary in the same section), I believe that the reader would be able to understand what you're trying to do!

2. The Inverted Pyramid

What is this? It's a pyramid but upside down. Often people use this when they write an article or a story. It means that you start with something broad and slowly narrow it down until the very end - the conclusion. In terms of the thesis, it's crucial to start off with a broad idea of your thesis.. for instance, mine, currently I'm doing on emotional labour among academics in Malaysia and the UK. I've started off talking about emotions in my literature review chapter, followed by emotional labour among other professions, then in the education sector, moving next with emotional labour in the higher education and then academics in other countries. Lastly, ending it with emotional labour among academics in Malaysia and the UK. So broad, narrow, narrow, narrow.

3. K.I.S.S

I absolutely love this abbreviation. For some it means Keep It Simple Stupid and for others, Keep it Short and Simple (or Sweet). Either way, it means keep your sentences short and direct. No need to beat around the bush. Often people think that the more you write, the better your thesis will turn out. It's not really about how many pages you are able to write or produce at the end of the day. It's all about being able to convey the message without making the reader(s) bored. People have short attention span so the last thing you want to do, is to make them sleepy and ask where you're heading in this research.

4. The 3C's of writing

Another thing that I've learned from journalism is that to achieve good writing, you should remind yourself the 3Cs - Clear, Concise, and Correct. For Clear, you need to make sure that your sentences are clear by using simple language, easy to understand, and also direct. For Concise - While you are trying to write your sentences clearly, make sure that they are written in a few words. Like KISS, keep sentences short but on point. For Correct - Make sure whatever that you write, you've checked the facts. Also whatever sentences that are not yours especially making claims, cite them. Doesn't matter if you refer a person's work multiple times..just cite him or her! Other areas to look includes checking your grammar, and punctuation. Something that I'm often struggling!

5. Jargons (or even bombastic words)

You don't really need to use technical or difficult-to-understand words unless you're required to do so in your thesis. The use of jargons makes it very difficult for others to understand especially those who are not an expert in the area of your study. It's best to use simple words but if required, explain what the term is. For instance in my thesis, I'm using the word 'emotional labour' extensively. What I have done (so far) is to explain its origin and what it is. That way, normal people would be able to understand the term.

6. Coherence 

This really isn't just being taught in journalism. Your English or writing class should have taught this. Coherence means that all of your ideas in your thesis flow smoothly from one sentence to the next, paragraph to the next, and also section to the next! One thing people tend to assume is that other people would understand where you're heading. It isn't the case. So make sure you use words that helps make your sentences flow (e.g. furthermore, however, similarly) and also create sentences to introduce what you're about to present next!

7. Interviews and transcribing interviews

Other stuff that I've learned in journalism is conducting interviews and transcribing them (oh the horror!). If you're a qualitative kind of person, you'll be doing loads of that! I am thankful that I've been able to have enough experience interviewing and transcribing interviews. Interviewing can be difficult for some. I still find it a pain to go through. The best thing about interviews is that it allows you to observe the facial expression of those involved which can also be a rich data for your thesis! Learn how to write short notes but if you can't, learn to write fast! Transcribing interviews can also be a hell for some especially if you're a slow typer. When I was young (probably around 10), we had this PC game called Mavis Beacon which allows you to practice your typing skills in a fun way. Not sure if it still exists but if it doesn't, I'm sure there are others that is worth purchasing. To be honest, typing fast has helped me a lot with saving time especially when transcribing interviews as it can take a huge portion of your time.

8. Credibility and truthfulness

Like Correct, it's extremely important that your sources are credible. Just because the thing that you want to find shows up on the internet, doesn't mean that it's credible! It's like googling whether rice makes you fat. If you search it this way "Rice can make you fat", I'm sure it'll show as it is. If you search "Rice doesn't make you fat", chances that you'll find what you want is high. So make sure to double check the facts and sources of what you've found. Sources that are popular to cite is from Q1 journals. One of the ways to check whether the journals that you've searched for exists or are high ranking journals, is through a cite called Scimago Journal & Country Rank.

9. Editing and proofreading

Last but not least is editing and proofreading. This is something that I've learned since my undergrad days. It's important to check your work for common areas such as grammatical errors, and typo errors. I understand that it can be hard to check on your own. The best way is that once you've completed your work, print it out (reading through hard copy can do wonders!), read it.. and then ask others to help read it too. There are other options to check your work such as by paying for editing and proofreading services. But probably you could do that towards your thesis submission. In my case, my supervisor often checks, and edits my work sentence by sentence, and word by word which makes it much easier for me. I'm thankful for that. For instance, I send it Monday, she responds it a day later with many red markings which you should also be totally fine with it. It's part of the learning process especially that you're working on something that is new to you! Sometimes you might have supervisors who are very busy and have no time to check your work in full therefore check your work on your own and ask others to help too. Don't be afraid to ask for help!

That's it!