To do a doctorate is to reach the third cycle of higher education (after a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree). It is a professional experience of three years after a Master 2 (Bac +8), within a research laboratory.
In this article, we will explain to you what steps you should take to write your doctoral dissertation.
A doctorate, what is it?
A student who decides to do a PhD must join a research team to obtain innovative results worthy of being published in major scientific journals.
The aim of a doctoral student is to collaborate in the advancement of the field he studies through his research.
Your doctoral dissertation is therefore the report of the research you are doing on a problem in your specialty.
You must describe what was known previously, what you did to solve the problem (s), what your results mean, the new issues raised by your research, and how these new problems can be solved.
See also: a doctoral thesis, is it for me?
If you are already convinced by writing a doctoral thesis, then you will have to follow these steps …
- The prerequisites
There is no thesis without:
- Register
- A relevant topic
- A thesis director
- Doctoral funding
- Human resources (director of research and laboratory)
Expect to:
- Provide important and organized work over a fairly long period (3 years)
- Having to do a work plan
- Respect a certain method of work
- Overcome the gains on the subject
This is the first step in the work of a future doctoral student. It is necessary to go through the current documentation on his research topic. This includes reading specific books, articles and magazines on the subject.
As a result of this work, you make records of your readings as well as who will be able to help you with your fieldwork.
It is also a good time to list your hypotheses and write a provisional problem for your doctoral thesis.
- Specify the problem and make a work plan
You have to find the main question that you will try to answer with your research.
Your problem will determine your work plan for the months to follow.
- Develop a methodology
You need to develop a methodology for collecting data and analyzing it. This is essential to evaluate the feasibility of the thesis.
You must also become aware of the work to come:
- The extent of the work to be done
- Difficulties approaching the field
- First results
At the end of this step, you usually know if you will turn to qualitative analysis instruments (interviews, observations, …) and / or quantitative (questionnaires, surveys …).
- The theoretical and empirical parts: the research work
You analyze the theoretical data acquired: synthesis writing, publications on the subject …
This is also the time to do your bibliography!
You have to organize for the empirical part:
- Confronting theory and reality
- Make an attack plan for research
You have different options for empirical research:
- Qualitative survey
- Quantitative survey
- Manipulation in the laboratory
- Participating observation
- Intervention in organization …
- Data analysis
Tips for the methodology:
- To have rigor
- Pre-test your methodology
- Have verified the feasibility
- Identify obstacles
Remember that in this part, you must also code the results:
- Transcribe the interviews
- Enter the questionnaires
- Code video tapes
Latest tips:
- Check your data before analyzing them
- Perform statistical or analytical work
- Complementary work
This is a phase of deepening statistical or interpretative studies.
You certify your results by complementary analyzes (extension of statistical analyzes, theoretical comparisons, interpretations …).
As for the bibliography, you compare your study with other studies conducted on the subject.
At this stage, you will be able to write your final problem and start a writing plan for the results, theoretical and methodological contributions.
- Writing
You will gather all the bibliographic documentation, the general summary of the results, the global analysis of the work and the final interpretation for the writing and the public defense of the thesis.
CAUTION: Avoid plagiarism!
For the writing, you will follow a specific plan established with your research director.
- Layout of the manuscript of the doctoral dissertation
You can follow a specific guide that you have been advised by your supervisor.
- Presentation of the thesis, proofreading and correction
You must present your thesis to different people before submitting it. The goal is to increase the consistency of your work by eliminating mistakes, looking after the details and adjusting the reasoning to better support your demonstrations.
It is possible to have your doctoral thesis corrected and proofread by academic professionals.
As a result of this step, you must take the corrections of the proofreaders and integrate them. Pay careful attention to the clarity of your style and the structure of the different parts. You can do a final replay aloud.
- Defense
It’s an oral test that lasts about 45 minutes. You present, in the form of a slide show, the main theoretical and experimental aspects of your work.
Then there are 1-2 hours of questions from the jury.
Here are the steps of the defense of a doctoral thesis:
- Announcement of the defense and sending invitations
- Public defense
- Jury of 3 people
- Defense of the thesis
- The jury deliberates
- You can even get a mention
The post-doctoral
The thesis is the first step in a researcher’s life.
You must prepare the post-doctoral thesis: a post-doctorate abroad, publications, a professional life, research… Or simply visit https://www.amblesideprimary.com/thesis-writing-help and order your thesis there.