Planning to apply for a PhD degree, and not sure about how to work on a doctorate dissertation? If this is the case, you may not be able to earn your doctorate degree. A PhD qualification does not come easily. You have to burn the midnight oil to score good grades in your dissertation. A PhD or doctorate dissertation is also the most valuable credential. Your academic career and success both rely on it. Thus, you must be able to conduct fine research for your dissertation.
Now, when we ask students who study, let’s say at the University of Houston, Texas, they say, “We researched a lot but still got poor grades.” In such cases, you might need to look into the methods or steps you are following. Every step in the research holds a significant value. Therefore, the centre of today’s discussion is the steps you need to follow in doctorate dissertation research. Without any further delay, let’s get into the topic.
Steps to Work on Research for Doctorate Dissertation
Researching to create an impressive dissertation can be a challenging task. But many students of the same university, as mentioned above, got distinctions. You can also get an A+ if you follow the points mentioned below:
Identify and Develop Your Topic
In every research, the first step is identifying the research topic of the doctorate dissertation. Research topics are mostly 10-15 words long and can answer many questions. Identification of the topic means that you are going to analyse it thoroughly. The analysis is what gives birth to new ideas. Conducting research on those ideas opens new doors for research. This process continues until you get your desired results. You can get help from an expert PhD dissertation help firm in this regard.
Identifying main keywords and focused words is also a healthy practice. Searching the keywords bring more topic-related content to read and analyse. For instance, your topic is, “A Research in the Use of Alcoholic Beverages by the College Student”. Now, you can see that there are two to three focused keywords. Those keywords are alcoholic beverages, college students and alcoholic beverages, and the effects of alcoholic beverages on students. It is how you can search the topic using keywords.
Find Background Information
Once the first step is complete, it is time to conduct some actual research. After identifying the keywords and focused phrases, simply search them. Make extensive use of Google and other search engines to gather as much information as possible. Google Scholar is also a good platform where you can find plenty of data on the searched keywords. The main point is extensive research, and you should do it wholeheartedly. Any mistake at this stage can have severe implications for your doctorate dissertation.
Now, after identifying the background sources, read them. Such sources will help you a lot in getting a broader understanding of the topic. They will generally tell you what is known in your field and what is unknown. A brief description of the most common background information sources is as follows;
Books and Articles
Considering books as your real friends can provide you with tons of information. You can go to the library or any online catalogue in search of relevant books. In today’s era of technology, acquiring knowledge is no more a problem. You just need a laptop and internet connection to search for the relevant articles.
Of course, no one can study all the articles in a field. The scrutinising and segregation process helps students a lot in this. Thus, to research a doctorate dissertation, you must read and analyse information from books and articles.
Databases for Research Journals
Online databases contain papers of the best research journals. They are the best sources to find all the relevant information on a given topic. Databases like ResearchGate and ScienceDirect have millions of free to access published research papers. What do you think? Can you not find a few 10 to 20 research papers on your topic? Of course, you can find hundreds of research papers relevant to your doctorate dissertation. This is how online databases help in your research.
Internet Sources
Search engines are the most extensive databases. You search for a topic, and millions of results are in front of you within a second. But be aware all the sources are not reliable on the search engines. Anyone can make a website ad upload his content that may not be up to the standard of the dissertation. It would help if you were careful of such content and only took data from credible sources.
The credible internet sources are Delicious Links and Google Scholar. They have the best published and credible research papers that can help you search. Thus, it is how you can use the different sources to work on research for a doctorate dissertation.
Evaluate your Findings
After doing the above research, the next step is the evaluation of all the sources. It is evident that every paper does not contain relevant information for your topic. Therefore, you must analyse them and separate the best sources available. You must also perform the evaluation process with the most care. One mistake can ruin all the hard work you have done in the above steps.
Check for Peer-Revision
Many journals are already peer-reviewed, but not all of them. This process is still not applied to all items published in a peer-reviewed publication. Only primary articles, such as research or reviews, are often peer-reviewed. You can find peer-reviewed articles in EBSCOhost Research Databases and Gale Databases.
Cite What You Found
Citation marks the end of your doctorate dissertation research. After finding and evaluating the sources, it is time to use them in your dissertation. You must give credit where it is due. The citations and references both should be in a standard format. In simple, you must avoid a severe crime called plagiarism.
Conclusion
Working on the research section of a doctorate dissertation is the most daunting task. Many students get fed up with the process. Apparently, students see no progress but in reality, effective research is the actual progress.
