What is a good thesis?
I have had it enough!! I gave 4 years of my life to this blood sucking PhD program in the Faculty of Law and the only thing I got in return is 100,000 words of rejection!
4 years back I enrolled in the PhD program at Monash University, Australia. With freelancing (as my side work) and living with my ignorant husband (who doesn’t give a shit), the faculty at my university has sucked me dry!! And after going through all their tests, the examiners have rendered my thesis as “bad”! I mean, WHAT?? I am a WRITER for Christ sake!! Did they even read my thesis? Anyways, I am stuck guys, I need approval or everything goes to trash. So, my question is, What do I have to do to Pass? How do I make my thesis “good”!
Posted in: PhD Thesis
HarryStewart HarryStewart 11:24 am on February 17, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
So your examiners said that your thesis is bad, but just rejecting your work on this basis is no reason at all. Your examiners must have given you some input about what’s wrong, right? What were their comments? Maybe if I know them, I can help you out.
Freya Rogers 4:47 am on February 19, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Sure they gave me input. They told me that I am not able to explain at the end of a thesis what has actually been argued in the thesis. BULLSHIT! Which is why I went to argue and here’s what they had to say: “Your thesis is SLOPPY, MERELY DESCRIPTIVE and LACKING CONFIDENT!”
HarryStewart HarryStewart 12:00 pm on February 19, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Well, that pretty much sucks! Let me first answer your question. So, what is a good thesis? It’s a report of work which others would want to read, a compelling story, an educative and original document. Now getting on to your thesis, maybe your research is good but lacks description in terms of simplicity? I am saying that because you are a writer and maybe you worked too much to make it perfect. And your perfection may seem sloppy to them. So, try to make it simple by using simple words. Also, you can make it more descriptive by using more references of peer-reviewed journals.
Freya Rogers 4:28 am on February 22, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I wrote 100,000 words! It is VERY MUCH DESCRIPTIVE! I don’t even think they have the time to even read the WHOLE document.
PriyaDesai PriyaDesai 12:23 pm on February 22, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey, you are right, the examiners don’t just sit and read the whole document. My guide was friendly and he told me that most of the examiners just read your abstract, conclusion and bits-and-pieces from here-and-there. So try working your abstract and initial paragraphs of each chapter of your thesis.
Jorja Dyson 6:36 am on February 23, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
You can try these books and papers to write a confident thesis, maybe they’ll be helpful:
1. Gruba, P & Evans, D (2001) How to write a better thesis, University of Melbourne Press, Melbourne
2. Kamler, B & Thomson, P (2006) Helping Doctoral Students to Write, Routledge, New York
3. Winter, R, Griffiths, M & Green, K (2000) The ‘academic’ qualities of practice: what are the criteria for a practice based PhD?, Studies in Higher Education, 25, pp. 25 – 37
Freya Rogers 7:31 am on February 25, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey PriyuPhD, you said that the examiners mostly read only the abstract and conclusion. How can you really say that? Do you know how they make decisions? What do they really want?
PriyaDesai PriyaDesai 5:36 am on February 26, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Well, there is no straight answer to that. In Australia, examination happens by external peer review. They are often sent guidelines according to which they review the thesis and make recommendations. However, it totally depends on the examiner and his perception.
My examiners pointed out few mistakes like the LR needs to be extended, things like that, and what I felt from their comments is that they didn’t really put much thought on it. I knew the limitations of my research and hell, I could have pointed loads of mistakes! Just make some prominent changes or hire an editor or someone who can help you out.