Starting your Postgraduate or Honours Study
Starting your Postgraduate or Honours Study
Notes from a Session given by Dr Marian Stone (warilei (at) bigpond.com)
The first thing that must be considered/answered is what is the point/purpose of the study?
Any study is an exercise in research and as such it has rules. These rules include:
· You must focus on the topic and not ‘waffle’.
· Your study must contribute to knowledge (not just repeat what is already known).
· Your own practical knowledge and experience is extremely valuable because it is what you know best but you cannot simply write something like “based on my experience” without any justification or references. This can be avoided by simply using the phrase “anecdotal evidence suggests.”
· The method of obtaining knowledge is more important than what you find out because:
· It allows your study to be repeated thus allowing confirmation
· It demonstrates your ability to carry out the research which gives confidence to the reader that they can trust your findings.
· Avoid any temptation to be dishonest.
· Remember to be prepared to be critical of your own work and acknowledge shortcomings of your study.
· Keep any person or organisation that is assisting you onside. Remember that they are often not rewarded for assisting you and that you need them for your study.
· Spell their name correctly
· Take extra care to use good English in your communications, be it a telephone call, a letter or an email.
· Always acknowledge their contribution
· In the thesis (e.g. as pers. comm. or as a footnote) and
· Whenever they contribute (e.g. send a thank you email in reply).
· In meetings, always use a person’s title and do not assume that it is ok to use their Christian name. Dress appropriately, be polite and be on time (recommend 5 min early but no more, and definitely do not be late).
Information Management
You will forget things, thus never rely on your memory
· Always carry something that you can take notes with. It is amazing when you think of crucial ideas (in bed or a bath etc).
· Don’t throw away any notes; they are your written memories.
· Scrap paper makes great note paper.
Referencing and Thesis layout
a.. Always check your discipline guide/past thesis in your field
b.. Supervisors often forget the correct layout as they write mainly for journals.
c.. Start the way you intend to finish to save reformatting later.
How to present your work.
a.. Who are you writing for?
a.. Not your markers but whom you want to read your work.
b.. In general terms, you write for a well-educated audience with little/
limited knowledge of your field of study.
c.. Do not assume prior knowledge, explain everything.
a.. Quality English
a.. Avoid long sentences (> 3 lines).
b.. Link paragraphs
c.. Explain terminology
d.. To proofread, an effective method is to read your work out loud as you
read what is written not what you think you have written (can be a crucial
difference).
e.. When proofreading for English reasons (i.e., for clarity as opposed to
technical reasons) it is good to have someone outside of your discipline read
your work. If they understand it, then it is good.
Supervision.
a.. Need to maintain a good professional relationship. Need not develop into
freindship
b.. Arrange regular contact. Do not assume the supervisor will arrange this This
is often left up to the student to organise.
c.. Take notes at meetings with supervisors. After meeting summarise what was
achieved at the meeting (if anything) and where future direction lies; send a
copy back to supervisors.
General
a.. Remember to live as well as study
a.. Treat it as work and try and maintain regular office hours where possible.
a.. You will hit brick walls that seem insurmountable. If it was easy, anyone
could do it and you would be no better than them.
Recommended reading
How to get a Ph.D : Managing the peaks and troughs of research by Estelle M.
Phillips and D.S. Pugh. 378.24/P558h