#dissertation proofreader

I often proofread dissertations where the author has thought deeply about their subject but has failed to think about the logical structure of their argument. This is a real shame and could cost them marks. So what could you do to make sure your argument is as strong as possible?

Make Sure it Flows Logically

An argument should be made up of logical steps. Imagine that I am trying to convince you that bananas are made of cheese. I would plan out the steps of my argument as follows:

1000 studies of randomly selected bananas were tested to see if they tasted similar to cream cheese.

The chemical make-up of these bananas and cream cheese was proven in scientific labs to be identical.

The methods used in this study were scientifically accurate (you’d have to give detail here).

Smith, Jones, and Harrison (1999, 2004, 2010) have all independently come to the same conclusion.

Therefore, we can suggest that at least some bananas are actually made of cream cheese.

So here, I have mentioned the results of my studies, backed it up with secondary research and used these to suggest a conclusion. I haven’t claimed in my conclusion that all bananas are made of cheese- I have simply claimed that some are.

Don’t Make Straw Men

If you make a ‘straw man’ you make someone else’s argument look poorly constructed in order to knock it down. People often think this makes their own argument look better by comparison but you won’t fool a professor that easily!

Imagine I am describing Peterson’s argument, which suggests that no bananas are made of cream cheese. I might say that his account is not to be trusted as he has made other scientific claims which have been proven to be untrue. This is a ‘straw man’ as it is not objective. I am not looking at the results and conditions of this particular study on bananas. To be more objective, I could say that his study was incomplete as he only studied 100 bananas from Venezuela.

What you Should Do

When speaking about someone else’s argument you should:

Show how it is different from/similar to your view

Show that you understand the strengths of the other’s view

Suggest a re-working of the argument which strengthens it

State clearly whether you agree or disagree with the argument

Disregard it only if you can prove it is irrelevant or incomplete

When constructing your own argument, you should:

Check the logical steps

Check that each step builds on the last

Show that your methodology is accurate and leaves minimal room for error

Acknowledge any weak points in your study

Show why your methods are the best way to approach the study

Clearly present your results.

When it comes to writing up your results and findings for your dissertation there are many different styles that you might wish to use. Your first port of call is to check out your university guidelines as these will usually tell you what to aim for. However, I will give you a few handy hints here!

Make It Clear

The most important thing is to make sure that people can easily understand your results. What sort of chart would display them best? A pie chart can be good for displaying percentages whereas tables can be more flexible and display a range of data. Generate a few ideas and talk them through with your supervisor.

Plan Out the Order

Think about how you would like the reader to encounter your results. Do you feel that a broad overview is needed first or can you dive straight in? Again, it can be best to talk this through with your supervisor before writing your final piece.

Find Out What Other People Have Done

When speaking about quantities, it is very easy to use the words ‘amount’ and ‘number’ in the wrong way. Slip-ups like these can make your work look quite unprofessional so, if you want to make sure you have it right, send it over to a professional proofreader before you submit!

Amount

The word ‘amount’ is used to refer to mass nouns such as ‘sand’, or ‘butter’. These are items that are either individually very small or that come as a mass. We would say:

What amount of butter should I put in this recipe?

or

There was a large amount of sand in my shoes after the trip to the beach on Sunday

Number

The word number is used to refer to things that can easily be differentiated. For example:

I saw a great number of cars on the road at rush hour

or

I only have a small number of plants in my garden

Using Latin abbreviations such as ‘et al.’ in your academic documents shouldn’t be a headache! Unfortunately, many students make mistakes when using Latin terms; this can lose you vital marks. Today, I will show you how to use ‘et al.’

When to Use ‘et al.’

The term ‘et al.’ is a Latin abbreviation that stands for ‘et alias’ meaning ‘and others’. It is used to shorten in-text references for works that have more than four authors. When you cite a work, you will use ‘et al.’ in brackets, along with the other information needed for the citation:

Scientists found that 90% of the Great Barrier Reef has now been destroyed (Walker et al., 2013, p.5).

The term ‘et al.’ always needs to have a full stop after the ‘al’ to show that it is an abbreviated word. Although usually Latin words are italicised in academic writing, ‘et al’ does not need to be as it is so common. This also holds for other commonly used Latin terms.

Reference List

If you are going to be writing your dissertation next year, and want to get ahead of the game this summer, why not begin planning out your dissertation project now? Finding that you are disorganised halfway through is really unhelpful, but it can take valuable time to make a plan of attack; all the more reason to get this done before you start the next year!

To-do list

A to-do list should be:

1) A source of encouragement- you can see how far you are progressing as you tick items off

2) A way of organising your time efficiently

3) A rewards system- you can use it to plan time off, or to give yourself a much needed treat!

4) An overview of your work: it will allow you to take a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the writing process.

A Suggestion

Your to-do list will have to be structured to reflect your individual process but, as a starting point, here is a suggestion for the entire project:

  Choose a question. Try to make this as specific as possible.

Do some research. Find out if your question has already been sufficiently covered, or if there is a niche for your study.

Write a dissertation proposal and contact a professor to see if they are willing to work with you as a supervisor.

Meet with your supervisor to discuss your question. Make careful notes about the avenues they suggest for research.

Consider your research methodologies and ask for your supervisor’s advice.

Work out how your notes will be organised. For example, will you use certain colours to indicate useful quotes that you may wish to cite later?

Do as much research as possible. Use books, published essays, unpublished theses. You could even attend conferences and seminars in order to run through your ideas with other people researching the same subject.

Plan out the structure of your dissertation.

Start writing up your literature review and methodology.

Meet with your supervisor to check your draft.

Check you are ready and have all you need for any empirical work you need to carry out.

Start working on a draft of your argument.

Carry out your empirical work, (if applicable) collate your results and meet with your supervisor to check how best to interpret and present the results.

If your work is non-empirical, continue meeting with your supervisor to develop your ideas.

Write up any results and create the necessary diagrams and charts.

Collate all the sections written so far to create your first full draft.

Write up your final draft.

Send your chapters for proofreading as you go. This will avoid stress later on as you can check chapters and finalise them before the final deadline.

Re-read your dissertation guidelines, check the deadline and write a to-do list and timeline of your final couple of weeks.

Read through your proofread copy and make any necessary final changes. Make sure you leave 1-2 days for this.

Submit your dissertation.

Celebrate!

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