We now move to a macro level of
writing review in which you make sure the chapters and the paper as a whole are
consistent. As you write over time, it is easy for your paper to deviate in
your methodology and approach. If you have ever read a new novelist's first
book, you may have experienced the situation in which the details in how they
describe a character or scene changes throughout the book ("Mary" may
change from being "an auburn haired beauty" to a woman named "Marie,
with golden hair" by the end). This is a lack of good editing. The next
stage of your self-review should be as an editor.
To do this, you
need to read the entire paper in one sitting. You need to keep track of any
inconsistencies or changes in methodology descriptions; I like using track
changes' comments for this, but you can also use your journal for note taking.
Do not change things during the reading just note the problem areas. It is
important that you are able to read the paper without interruptions, because
you want to be able to remember details. Things to check carefully include the
description of theories throughout the paper, are you always using the same
terms? Check your research questions and hypotheses; are they the same in
Chapter 1 and in Chapter 3? Are your descriptions of your methodology the same
in Chapter 1 and Chapter 3? Are the topics introduced in Chapter 1 discussed in
Chapter 2?
When you review the
full five chapters of your final dissertation, it is even more important to
double-check the details. Are Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 5 all consistent? Did you
do the methods and analyses in Chapter 4 you discussed in Chapters 1 and 3? If
not, explain why they changed. Read Chapter 1 and then read Chapter 5 make sure
everything is consistent; particularly look at theory issues. Make sure you
have discussed all of your results in Chapter 5 you mention in Chapter 4. Each
of your key findings need to be discussed in terms of the literature and the
implications in Chapter 5. Compare the headers listed in the Table of Contents
with your document to make sure they are all accurate.
A final check is to
print out your references, then go through the paper and cross off each
reference as it is cited. They should come out even. Make sure citations with
3-6 authors list all the authors the first time cited, and then use et al. When
in doubt, check the APA manual for the correct citation. Make sure you have a
DOI (Digital Object Identifier), for each article. These are 10-digit numbers
unique to each article. They can be found on the first page of electronic
articles, near the copyright notice. They are also listed in library databases
for each article. Keep in mind some articles, particularly medical ones do not
have a DOI.
All of these
self-reviews will take you some time, but you truly will save yourself a great
deal of waiting time in the end. In addition, you will be a much better writer
for doing it. Eventually, you will do these reviews as you go and it will take
much less time.
Next time, I will consider how long a dissertation takes to
complete. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss
in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas!
leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu
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