Hey everyone. I am pursuing my PhD and stuck in the very beginning. I am finding it quite challenging to write research objectives. I very well know about what I am going to research and what are the problems of my research but the real struggle comes with the writing. How should I write various objectives of my research?
Hi. I have read few articles online on pre-viva anxiety & now I think I’m suffering from the same. Actually, my doctoral viva is scheduled after 3 months, so basically got a less time to prepare. And reading all those, I were nodding in positive. Can you guys just tell me how to deal with such state of mind? Any tips for preparation is appreciated. Thanks.
Let me tell you what my examiner said to me during viva on the very first moment. He told me that he wants me to pass the viva so I should not get nervous or restless. He even warned me to not to change his mind. Did you get what he and I mean?
Opt for the experienced examiners once provided choice. Experienced ones would make less tough for you to answer because they are already aware of your expertise. On the contrary, inexperienced examiners would ask each and everything which might give you a hard time.
@Terry Of course, I understand what you mean. Anyway, had you passed your viva then?
I had the same anxiety but mine wasn’t due to reading or something. Past viva experiences was the reason. I would suggest be positive and surround you with positivity. Keep yourself motivated, confident of your thesis; challenge your examiner since you are the expert of your paper. You can answer any question raised related to your thesis.
Pals, please advise me readings or any fruitful suggestion for literature review. I’m not finding enough criticism and material available to review and then compare and contrast with my own. What should I do now? I’m tired of going round and round in the libraries and bookstores. And I don’t find study material on internet reliable. I’m a PhD student of English literature and need to work on the renaissance era. Badly need help.
It’s not true. You can find scholarly articles and journals on J.Stor and Academia.edu. They only contain trusted and high level of research papers. And there are number of academic essays, books, and literary criticism available on renaissance. It’s just that you must ‘research’ to get the right information. Narrow your topic down but must look for related genre and theories.
Resist under-researched work please lest you should be ready to face rejection. Consult supervisor and professors of the concerned field and don’t be afraid to run after books, and journals. It is a PhD and this is why it is called ‘difficult’. Search for old journals, they contain vast information.
Thanks to both for advice. 🙂
When I took my medical research paper to a journal in order to get it published, they asked me to include keywords which would make it accessible all over. But what sort of keywords? How and where will I get them? Please suggest me guys.
Many journals ask for keywords, especially e-journals. Keywords should be directly linked to the ideas and concept of your paper. It would help the users to refine search and find your article in that journal easily.
Keywords are used for indexing purpose. Since, it’s your medical paper; you can take ideas from Medical Sub Headings (MeSH). It is sort of dictionary of medical terms controlled by U.S. National Library of Medicine.
I am pursuing PhD in English literature. And it’s my 3rd year when I have started writing dissertation. But I think I should have started doing it earlier, since literature is very broad and I’m all trapped here. Please advise me what shall I do to not to lose my important notes and all those things which I’m thinking to do in my dissertation writing?
You never heard of Mendeley? To keep soft copies of all of academic notes and journals, Mendeley app is perfect. It will make your systematic research organized. I have been using it for two years and found it helpful for researchers like us.
Hi. You should draft a plan of writing dissertation first like how much time you shall take for writing the introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, evaluation, conclusion etc based on type of your research. It will also save your time since. It’s an old advice but helping.
It’s not easy to draft a writing plan. I don’t think any researcher can follow it easily as it take a lot of time and the whole scheduled plan becomes a mess. We can’t predict if we would be able to complete introduction or literature review within 3 months or 6 months. But since you advised me. Thanks.
Always ask yourself some chief questions like how long the dissertation should be? What my title of dissertation demands? What should I do to justify arguments? Middle, beginning are clear and content is in flow or not? And many more questions that can be raised. Try to answer them with your writing. Avoid writing anything manually; instead type even the small hints or important points.
@ brad grey But why? I have a habit of pen and paper. I’m writing important points first on paper then will type it over. Otherwise I might get lost in typing and so. Also, when typing it later, there is a possibility of getting improved every time.
@Danny Avoid it because each chapter of Humanities dissertation generally consist 40-50 double spaced pages. Do not make it more hectic for you to write and type simultaneously. As you said, English literature is already very broad; it involves theories and criticism. I would recommend the same I said earlier.
Just adding another point here which may sound drastic but is effective. Always write your introduction at last when you are done with your entire dissertation because till then you will get a clear cut idea of what your dissertation targets and what you must introduce first.
Anyone please tell me if pamphlets are referenced in the same way as a book is done? I googled it but so many example made me sick. All look same. Tell me if there is any difference is referencing of book and pamphlet in APA?
No. there is no difference between the reference styles of both.
I have asked the same question to my supervisor. She says book, brochure, and pamphlet can be referenced in same style because any pamphlet barely consist some useful information for PhD. I would say use the formatting style of book as it is while doing it for pamphlet.
Mention in the brackets whether it is a pamphlet or brochure just after its title. And do not give spaces with brackets in APA.
I did that with a brochure, I think, pamphlets can follow same format. I will show it to my supervisor next week. Check this link it might help you http://valenciacollege.edu/library/mla-apa-chicago-guides/documents/pamphletbrochurebulletinapa6.pdf
HELP!! Forget about pamphlet’s format. First tell me how can I reference a You tube comment. I know it sounds dumb to do that. But I just found a conference video over there and some random person made a very logical comment about the issue discussed over there. Tell me how can I? Anyone?
@brad grey You have to reference a You tube comment too? Anyhow, follow this link http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2016/09/how-to-cite-a-youtube-comment.html It will clear all your doubts. It is similar that we do blog comments.
I have seen a lot of people in doubt as you are. It’s not your fault well internet has got a lot of mess over. However, you can format your pamphlet in the following format.
If it is in print
Company Name (or Author’s). Year. Title of resource (pamphlet or brochure). Publisher city or State abbreviation. Country: publisher name
If it is in digital form
Company name. year.title of resource(pamphlet or brochure). Retrieved from http://xyz.abc
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Discuss your Dissertation 
danny54460 1:43 am on December 15, 2016 Permalink |
You are quite right in the context of research objectives. It is sometimes difficult to write what you already know. I suggest you to provide accurate description of the specific actions you will take in order to reach this aim.
kelly2368 7:46 am on December 15, 2016 Permalink |
You remind me of my own PhD days. From my experience I can tell you that it is not as difficult to formulate research objective as it looks. You can start with making a draft of your research objectives and then formulate sentences for each one of them.
addison2017 9:24 am on December 16, 2016 Permalink |
Use action verbs such as to identify, establish, describe, assess, determine, estimate, develop, compare, analyse, collect.
Alisa Louis 9:28 am on December 18, 2016 Permalink |
The objectives should cover different aspects of the problem and its contributing factors in a coherent way.
Molly 9:31 am on December 19, 2016 Permalink |
You can always consult your supervisors. Do not hesitate because writing the research objective is an important part of your thesis and should be well written.