Publisher's Synopsis
This book addresses all the main issues faced by doctoral researchers in the social sciences.
It blends the individual chapters with multimedia online resources, tailored to enhance the text and develop the reader's reflection. Videos, audio files, screencasts, interactive questions and other techniques are deployed to deepen understanding. Carefully engineered prompts for artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT give readers feedback on their own drafts. Their draft research questions, abstracts, titles, claims for significance and so on are improved by interaction with generative AI and subsequent reflection and redrafting. Chapter 1 introduces the book and the linked discussion forum and social space. Chapter 2 assists in developing a workable project from an initial idea. The online space helps you to reflect on your own ideas, and to develop them Chapter 3 is about asking good research questions, and mistakes to avoid. The online resource space helps hone your skills in developing good questions. Chapter 4 concerns questions doctoral examiners ask about your research design. The online space asks you to consider the appropriate research design for a sample project. You can also respond to common questions examiners ask on this topic. Chapter 5 addresses your ontological and epistemological positioning. There is video on this online, more information and a reflective activity. Chapter 6 is about engaging with the literature. It offers guidelines on how you should discuss the literature, and choosing relevant literature. Online, there is a video, an audio narrative about the 7 deadly sins of literature use and other resources. Chapter 7 concerns theory in doctoral research: what theory is, what it can do for you and how you choose an appropriate theory. The online space is extensive, with videos, examples and audio narrative about the 7 deadly sins and an opportunity to reflect. Chapter 8 is about writing your introductory chapter, its structure and content. Online, there is an audio file about questions examiners ask about the introduction and an opportunity to reflect. Chapter 9 concerns your contextualisation chapter and how to navigate different possibilities. Online, there are similar resources to the above. Chapter 10 concerns your research design chapter, its structure and contents. The assistance online with this follows the pattern above. Chapter 11 concerns writing the concluding chapter of a doctoral thesis and follows a similar structure to the previous chapter-related topics. Again, 2 audio files are offered in the online resource space helping you to reflect on your own concluding comments. Chapter 12 helps you to think about the significance of your research: your answer to the "so what?" question. The online resource space is extensive because this is such an important issue. There are videos, a screencast, and audio slideshow and other components in this online resource. Chapter 13 concerns getting alignment across your thesis. The online resource helps you to apply these ideas in the chapter. Chapter 14 is about writing an abstract, its contents and an evaluation of an example. The online resource space evaluates, through video, two doctoral abstracts. Chapter 15 discusses great titles for your thesis. The online resource elaborates on this and offers an exercise to help reflect on the quality of titles, so that you can improve your own. Chapter 16 suggests likely questions that examiners will ask you, or ask themselves about your thesis. The online resource offers resources about an examiner's approach to examining, discussion of questions and meeting examiners' criteria.
