Thursday 20 October 2011

Writing a thesis

As some of us are entering the writting-up phase of our PhD, I would like to share with you some references about how to write a thesis. This is far from being an easy task and a bit of help is very welcome, though, one can easily be lost in the plethora of such literature, especially as no so many references deals with the specificity of writing a practice-based PhD.

I have lately discover How to write a better thesis by David Evans and Paul Gruba, and I have found it immensely valuable at this stage of the research as it is a very synthetic book focusing on the structuring of the thesis, providing very clearly and efficient guidelines and basic tips about using word appropriately for such a task. Not especially dedicated to practice-based and design-led PhD, one of the co-author is an architect, which make it very accessible.

How to write a thesis by Rowena Murray will also be a good friend, particularly useful in respect to writting schedule and how to engage with writting at different stages of the research.

As a starter, I would warmly recommand Visualizing Research: a guide to the research process in art and design by Caroline Gray. The book is not especially dedicated to the writing process but rather deals with different ways to handle a practice-based PhD, from the very first stages up to completion. It is an excellent introduction to the implications of PhD research. Comments are more than welcome to continue the discussion.

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