Dissertation Definition

The dissertation definition has been presented differently by different sources. For example, the dissertation definition offered by one scholar is that “The dissertation thesis is used to report the PhD researcher’s study, and presented in a five-chapter format consisting of introduction, review of literature, methodology, findings, and discussion or summary. Another source of academic knowledge has offered dissertation definition as “the Dissertation is a long essay on a particular subject, which students have to write for achieving their final degree”. Get help from dissertation writing services uk for your understanding of the dissertation definition.

Dissertation writing is the most important part of most of the academic degrees. Preparation for a dissertation research study necessitates intensive critical reading of academic and professional literature that is peer-reviewed and appropriate for inclusion in one’s study. Reviews for studies is traditionally based upon quantitative methodologies adapted to include qualitative narrative stories, and identified researcher bias as an accepted feature of qualitative or mixed methodologies.

Almost every degree program in the UK has the unique requirement of a written dissertation in order to obtain the final degree. The writing skill progression is monitored and documented in terms of dissertation milestone attainment. The quality of student writing is a factor of academic success in the program as well as timely completion of that program. Students have the unique requirement of publishing their research results. This writing aspect of their program gives researchers and administrators an opportunity to examine whether the students’ writing and word choices reveal statistically significant writing skills and cognitive abilities.

As students develop their scientific writing proficiencies, they begin to transform into a newly identified writer. A researcher’s identity involves the creation of a uniqueness in how the student finds and explains a research problem, explains and justifies a research purpose, and documents and publishes original research findings from data, to answer research questions, and propose solutions, based on their research findings. Making the transition from the academic writing used in prior coursework, to the scientific research writing required in the dissertation, requires development of a new set of skills and a writerly identity of an independent researcher.

Many students experience a great deal of frustration and anxiety developing these new skills and their writer’s identity. Transformative learning theory informs the problem of this study, which ultimately seeks to determine how writing can be used to predict the effect of gender and writing skill progression with program success.

Many students do not complete doctoral programs because of the unique requirement of writing a dissertation. Because of the differences between undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, there is a need to use non-traditional methods to assess the writing skills of doctoral students and support their progression through the dissertation milestones and ultimately to graduation. Based on the current growth of online doctoral programs, and a doctoral program attrition rate of close to 50%, stemming primarily from student’s inability to successfully write a dissertation, there is a need to show if or to what extent writing style leads to subsequent student success in the dissertation phase of their program of study.

Skills required for the dissertation

The dissertation is a unique aspect of the doctoral program that acts as the capstone of the doctoral journey. There is a unique psychology involved in doctoral study, as the expectations are for the student to contribute new knowledge to the field, work independently, and function in a complex relationship with an advisory committee.

Writing at this level requires adherence to a strict scientific writing prose to meet the requirements of degree completion. The student must possess deep understanding of the literature and research for their selected research study.

Reading and synthesizing information

Students are expected to read and synthesize existing empirical journal articles, dissertations, and other research publications to fully understand the existing knowledge of their research topic. These articles are written in a scientifically complex manner, explaining the detailed collection and analysis of data. This process of becoming an emerging scholar offers the unique challenge of students being able to transform their reading comprehension into content specific knowledge.

Scientific writing skills

Students must employ a formal writing style in their academic programs. The scientific writing required for dissertations is a form of formal academic writing, used to present information from one professional to another in a concise and unbiased way. The purposes of writing in doctoral programs to include the task of writing to develop ideas, to find and explain the research focus and proposal to the committee.

Development of writing skills during the program

Many doctoral students go through a change in how they see themselves and their research as they progress through their program. Necessary writing skills are not inherently developed as students progressed through their doctoral programs and that the difficulties of scientific writing are compounded by the complexity of writing up the results of data analysis. The researchers further explained that students must develop the unique skill set of using the proper rhetorical use of language to complete this scientific writing process.