Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text

each level can contain four, and only four, types of paragraphs: paragraphs that support your focus statements for that chapter or section, that preview forthcoming attractions, that review previous points, or that transition between topics. That is it. The paragraphs that support your focus statements address your dissertation topic; the previewin

The long outline is a tool that simplifies the process of reviewing your organization to assess whether it holds together.

Theoretically, you could continue in this manner all the way through to the paragraph level, adding headings for each increasingly smaller section. But I suggest that you do not organize beyond Heading 3 because too much planning and organizing can become onerous and inefficient. When you start writing, you will organize within each subsection.

I have found that doctoral students regularly knot themselves up in a pretzel over the organization of their writing. Because of the computer-generated table of contents, I tell them, “It doesn’t matter. You know the topics you need to write about. Write. You can switch topics around later, revise a few transition paragraphs, and you will be all se

we bifurcate creating and organizing.

Your dissertation is a series of papers strung together around a sturdy skeleton.

A focus statement is made up of a few important elements: the issues or research questions; the variables or constructs; the sample, sources, or objects being studied; the time frame; the theory; and the methodology.

students have not arrived at this point, they seem to pursue different ideas and methodologies, often in close succession, and never really seem to make progress—certainly not at the rate at which they invest their time.

The process of coding your notes into categories is the first step in contributing to the conversation because you view the literature through your unique lens and organize it into groupings that you identify.