几本关于写博士论文的一般性指导书（英文）

GL_n · 发表于 2018-6-21 18:27:58

本帖最后由 GL_n 于 2018-6-21 18:27 编辑

几本关于写博士论文的一般性指导书

This post is about four books that I personally have found to be interesting and helpful. I recommend them to common readers, especially doctoral students, because these books can help them prepare for the difficult process (of course those geniuses definitely do not think so) of writing the doctoral dissertation( thèse in french). Four books are described briefly as follows:

1, Writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day, by Joan Bolker, who is a writing instructor and Ed.D. She has taught at several elite Boston-area universities and coached the authors of hundreds of doctoral dissertations. Although the book title indicated a possibility of producing a Ph.D. thesis in fifteen minutes a day, we should understand its real meaning, at least in part, that you do not push yourself beyond fifteen minutes in the beginning. To start small and remain consistent lies in the core of this guidebook. Why should we stick to the guiding principle of starting small and remaining consistence? Well, it is easy to feel blocked when we are preparing for our thesis. A big part of feeling blocked in writing thesis process is the pressure (as strongly self-imposed as it is externally imposed) to get everything right or at least to produce something that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to show someone else. How can we deal adequately and effectively with this frustrating problem? The appropriate strategy is exactly the application of the principle of starting small and remaining consistence!

As a PhD candidate, you have primary responsibility for the management of your thesis program. Your advisor and other faculty members can help, but you should take responsibility, which requires you to keep on writing, writing, and writing again, even though the drafts do not have structure or organisation. What we have to do is firstly to give yourself a modest goal, and then to write down your initial thoughts about the selected topic related with that short-term goal through even short research paragraphs. If you are consistent in carrying out this research program step by step, you will certainly get a full success in completing your thesis on schedule.

The style of writing, as a concomitant of Bolker’s fantastic language, is very lucid and fluent, which makes this book highly readable. I would like to recommend this book to anyone (not only the doctoral students) with an interest in project writing. By the way, this author had ever written another good book, named The writer’s home companion: An anthology of the world’s best writing advice, from Keats to Kunitz.

2, Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation - Invisible Rules for Success, by Rita Brause. This book is a practical guide for students who need help in progressing from the decision to write a dissertation to the planning, writing and defending of it, especially useful for those students who have no prior exposure to materials regarding doctoral work and who are not familiar with the process at all. It includes samples of proposals and dissertations that have been accepted and data drawn from a number of sources, including focus groups with doctoral students and graduates and responses to an open-ended questionnaire from doctoral students across the United States. This book can be used as a guide one way or another throughout the PhD process.

3, Writing the Doctoral Dissertation: A Systematic Approach, by Gordon B. Davis and Clyde A. Parker. The emphasis of the book in question is on management of the dissertation process rather than on writing the text of the dissertation. You will find some helpful and detailed advice in this book, such as selecting an advisor and a dissertation committee, selecting a dissertation topic, investigating existing knowledge on a particular topic, making a dissertation proposal, budgeting and scheduling time for research and writing, working with the advisor and dissertation committee, and so forth. It can be regarded as a concise planning tool for anyone embarking on the journey toward a doctoral dissertation.

4, The Dissertation Journey: A practical and comprehensive guide to planning, writing, and defending your dissertation, by Carol M. Roberts. Writing dissertation is never a shot thing, in contrast to which, writing dissertation is the same as climbing a mountain. If you are going to climb a mountain you have to make yourself ready and also patient to make phase after the other. All the requirements for climbing a mountain are also applicable to writing a PhD thesis. Building this guidebook around a mountain climbing metaphor, the author Carol Roberts structures this informative manual simply, concisely, and in a natural tone free of jargon. This handy guide can help doctoral students overcome the obstacles along the way. Using graphics, checklists, and sample forms, this book readies you for each step of the process, including selecting the committee, getting acclimated to academic writing, preparing for your oral defence, and publishing your research. Eventually, the training roadmap formulated by Carol M. Roberts can put you more at ease when you march forward with your thesis. I would recommend this book for anyone currently in or entering the process of climbing the thesis-done mountain.

NB: I gather the 1st Ed. and 2nd Ed. of this book. New features of the 2nd Ed. include:
• A new chapter titled “What are the ethical considerations in research?”
• New information about the process, importance, and purpose of developing a theoretical or conceptual framework.
• A completely revised and updated chapter titled “Using the internet and technology to conduct research.”
• A completely revised and expanded chapter on reviewing the literature.
• A thorough update of all website and references, including new editions of works.

As for me, I would like to read the 1st edition since its page background is slightly yellow. I feel very comfortable for my eyes with this page condition.

Note: The download links are all included in zip files. You need to decompress those zip files.