PhD Topic - PhD Thesis Writers

PhD Topic Ideas: A 10 point rule book to develop your original yet viable PhD topic

January 24, 2017 Kapila Comments 3 comments

If you the one reading this blog, it is likely that you are wanting to enroll for a PhD programme but still struggling with the topic selection for your PhD thesis. It isn’t as straightforward to find the most appropriate topic for your research as you may perceive it to be. But if you have the right attitude and the required patience, then surely you would be successful.

There are a certain set of rules that you must follow if you want to ensure that you choose the right research topic.

Before making the final decision, you must read a lot of dissertations that are linked to your subject or your key interest areas. It would familiarise you with different ideas and research styles. It would not only help you to zero down on a topic but also give you a multidimensional outlook and later help you to devise your research style.
Make sure you look for a topic that interests. Listen to the advice of your professors but go with the choice that is entirely yours.
Get back to old ideas. Check old resources you might have used any time in your graduation years and try to see if some evolution could be done on them.
Consider several ideas rather than looking for that one perfect idea. At the initial stage, you must have a welcoming approach to even the craziest ideas. Think of as many ideas as you can. It would eventually bring you closer the topic you have been looking for your research.
Before finalising on a topic, ensure that nobody has completed a similar research. Collect supporting arguments why your research matters. It would help to keep you convinced and at the same time to convince your supervisor and examiners at the later stages.
Assess the need for resources and information for the research. Make sure you have done a thorough analysis of the needed resources and information for the entire research to be conducted and surety that you have access to all of that.
Have a precise and succinct topic. Usually, researchers who begin their PhDs with over ambitious projects struggle at the latter stages.
Have a flexible perspective to your main research question as it may change during the course. Be flexible as you can so that you can quickly adapt to new evidence.
Take expert opinion with your supervisor while you are deciding as they can give you a practical perspective to the obstacles and challenges that may come at the subsequent stages, which you may not be able to anticipate.
Listen to your heart and be ready to fall in love with your topic.

Always know that, even after having decided the topic very cautiously, there would be moments when there would be a feeling of saturation and exhaustion with your topic. Do not feel dejected and know that it is common and part of the process.

Literature Review vs. Systematic Review

July 26, 2016 Shobhit Malik Comments 0 Comment

The literature existing for a specific topic can be summarized in either a systematic review or literature review. So, both these topics are easily confused, until one delves into the dynamics of both these systems. Even though they are used to fulfil a similar requirement, a literature review is significantly different from a systematic review.

A literature review involves the qualitative summarization of a topic, typically using informal or subjective methods to collate and interpret data. On the other hand, a systematic review involves high-level study of the primary research using a focused approach toward identification, selection, synthesis, and appraisal of all relevant questions involved in the research. From the definition itself, it is evident that the latter review format is more comprehensive as compared to the former.

Both these review systems are inherently different and require specific requirements for their appropriate use. Inappropriate use of either of them can defeat the purpose of the review system.

A systematic review system is appropriate in cases when a focused question requires a pertinent answer. This system is primarily used to remove any bias from the review. Such a review system can be used to answer a clearly defined clinical question. The components of a systematic review include a pre-specified eligibility criterion, systematic search strategy, assessment of the findings’ validity, interpretation and presentation of the results, and a reference list. The number of authors needs to be three or more. An average time required to complete a systematic review is 18 months, on average. The timeline usually goes into months and sometimes, into years. From the above, it is understandable that a thorough knowledge of the topic is required, and a comprehensive statistical analysis of the resources is needed to be done. Such a review system supports the techniques of evidence-based practice.

On the other hand, a literature review is fairly basic in comparison to a systematic review. It is basically a qualitative summary of evidences on a particular topic using informal/subjective methods of collation of data. It can be used to provide a summary or overview of a particular topic; the topic can be generic in nature or a specific query. The principal components of this review system are introduction, methods, discussion, conclusion, and bibliography. The number of authors can be one, or even more. Since it is not comprehensive in nature as compared to a systematic review, the timeline required to finish this review ranges in weeks to months. A comprehensive understanding of the topic under review is not required.

Writing a PhD Thesis Every Guide Wants to Read

June 17, 2016 Ananda Comments 0 Comment

Most PhD students spend years of hard work in preparing and researching for their selected PhD project. Most of them also fall short when it comes to presenting the project thesis that can convey the depth of their research and their individual contribution to the solution of the original problem.

In addition to its details, the PhD thesis must be able to state the problem with clarity, review the existing solutions to the problem, provide a critical analysis of the same, and finally detail the proposed solution to the problem.

Listed below are some tips on writing the ideal PhD thesis that every guide would want to read and publish:

Structuring the thesis

Your thesis must have a structure and flow similar to any research paper. Although the exact structure can vary depending on your subject, the outline structure of your thesis can include an introduction, related work, experiments, and conclusions.

Is your thesis publishable?

A publishable thesis can be the delight of any guide. To achieve this, you will need to plan for this from the time of subject selection. Question yourself if your conducted experiments are extensive to survive any independent scientific scrutiny, or if the data used for the research is valid.

The importance of headings

As an alternative to generic headlines in your thesis, provide headings that provide a glimpse of what your content can be. Regarding use of sub-headings, use appropriate section numbering and do not exceed more than 3 levels.

The title of your thesis

In addition to the use of headings, the title of your thesis is vital to convey the extent of your research. Avoid using very short titles (for example, “Music Information Retrieval”), which sounds generic and does not convey much information of your research. Use appropriately long titles that indicate the scope of your research work.

Taking help from professionals

When it comes to effective writing, it is best to take the help of academic writing professionals who have the relevant skills and experience in preparing a complete thesis. An academic writer will be able to convey the depth of your research clearly using text and formatting.

Preparing for the viva

Review the quality of your thesis, which is likely to be examined by the panel of experts in the viva discussion. These experts will examine your thesis to check for completeness and overall quality, and to determine if presented data and analysis support the final conclusion.

Writing a HYPOTHESIS of the Research

December 15, 2015 Varun Comments 0 Comment

Being a PhD thesis writer, creating a hypothesis for your research study could be a bit tricky part. The hypothesis of the research can also be considered as a statement of predicting the results of the study.

Thus, when you frame a hypothesis always bear in mind that the statement should be

Objective
Testable
Linked with the variables of the study

Here, you should also remember that when you frame a hypothesis there are two statements which are framed simultaneously, in terms of Null hypothesis (symbolized as H₀) and Alternate hypothesis (symbolized as H₁).

In general terms, the Null hypothesis is a statement which is supposed to be ACCEPTED by the researcher and which is deemed to be the cause of the research. Whereas, the alternate hypothesis is the antithesis of the Null hypothesis (i.e. supposed to be REJECTED)!

For an instance, your study focuses on the subject of employee retention in an organization. In this study you are focusing on various factors which are responsible for retaining the employees in an organization. Thus, when you try to frame the hypothesis statement, you need to concretely define the variables of the study first.

By variables we mean that the variables have various categories such as: dependent variables; independent variables and control variables. The independent variable is the one which influences the dependent variable. The control variables are the ones which determine the conditions in which the dependent and independent variables interact with each other.

Continuing with the example mentioned above, here the independent variables would be the factors which influence the employee retention. Let’s say in your study, you chose these variables as:

Source of recruitment
Skills and job profile match and
Experience of the employee

Note of caution: Now understand that the variable Source of recruitment is also broadly defined. There could be numerous ways of recruiting the employee. Hence, you need to focus on this part as well because the influence of each source of recruitment in retention of employee may vary.

Sources of recruitment could be

campus placement;
online job portal;
recruitment agencies, and
advertisement in newspapers

Figure: Framework of Variables of the Research

Note of caution: Categorisi ng the broad variables into specific variables is crucial as the impact of distinct sources of recruitment could vary on the employee retention. If these sources would not be categorized then the research seems generalized and would loose on providing specific insights to the academicians and industry people.

After identifying and categorising the variables you can easily define the hypothesis statement which can be tested as well. The hypothesis statement would follow as:

Ha₀: Sources of recruitment impact the retention of employee in an organisation

Ha₁: Sources of recruitment does not impact the retention of employee in an organisation

The sub-hypothesis of the main hypothesis are:

Hb₀: Employees chosen through campus placement tend to stay for long duration in an organisation

Hb₁: Employees chosen through campus placement do not stay for long durations in an organisation

Hc₀: Employees chosen through online portals tend to stay for long duration in an organisation

Hc₁: Employees chosen through online portals do not stay for long duration in an organisation

Similarly you can frame the hypothesis for the other two variables in the similar manner…

Framing a hypothesis for your dissertation would become a cakewalk if you would follow these steps. Just like the other chapters and sections of your dissertation, the hypothesis statement acts as pillars for drawing conclusion.

Note of caution: If you would make incorrect assumptions (i.e. the predicting statement) then the aims, objectives and all your efforts being invested would go in vain.

Follow these steps to form an appropriate hypothesis for your dear dissertation.

Emerging Research Areas in Energy Economics

September 19, 2014 Ananda Comments 1 comment

Emerging Research Areas in Energy Economics If the areas in the domain of applied economics are being looked at, then it can be experienced that out of all the areas, energy economics is the area, which is the most coveted of them all, owing to its multidisciplinary nature. The importance of this area lies in its scope, as this area focuses on the aspects of economic growth and development, linked with the problems regarding natural resources and energy pricing. Given its multidisciplinary nature and mounting amount of importance in the word of business and society, several research areas are emerging out of this particular domain of applied economics.

Within the scope of energy economics, there are several research areas, which are gradually turning out to be popular and significant among the researchers across the world. Signal ProcessingYou can also take help of scholarly writers to choose a good topic to begin your research study. Some of those areas are as per the following:

Rebound analysis: With the growth in industrialization across nations, demand of energy is on the rise, and due to several factors, usage of energy is not able to attain its optimum level. The association between expected usage of energy and the actual usage of energy is being tested by researchers by means of rebound analysis. This area is gradually turning out to be popular since last two to three years.
Efficiency analysis: Apart from the rebound analysis, efficiency analysis of energy generated from various sources are carried out based on several parameters, like energy price, energy demand, energy supply, number of transmission channels etc.
Environmental analysis: During the course of energy generation and consumption, several types of fossil fuels are used, and as a consequence of that, several kinds of environmental degradations, in terms of air, water, soil pollution etc. take place. Analysis of environmental impacts of the energy generation and consumption processes is gradually gaining importance among researchers.

For more information about the emerging and popular research areas in energy economics, kindly browse through the pages of www.phdthesiswriters.com.

Guidelines to Write a Good Thesis Proposal

July 24, 2014 Neeja Comments 0 Comment

Thesis proposals are generally written in present as well as future tense. After selecting a topic for your thesis, the step is to give a striking introduction. This can be attempted last after completing the remaining sections of the thesis proposal. After this you can prepare a research question and convert it into a statement so as to make a proper work plan. The undesirable consequences of the problem should be noted. Now you can convince the reader about the importance of the problem with regard to yourself and the society.

Now you can state the purpose of the study – whether it is done to interpret, analyse, or change the problem. The next section is mentioning the significance or the advantages of the study conducted. For this you can answer questions concerning the importance of the study, the people targeted, and the consequences which can happen to the society, program, or theory if the research is performed or not performed.

The next section covers the methodology followed in the research where you can state the research perspective and your viewpoint. You can provide at least three methodologies which could be feasible and choose the most appropriate one. Now provide instances of theories or studies which support as well as oppose the approach to the given problem. It is also better to include the methodologies used by others who have dealt with the problem before. After this is done, you can provide the expected results of the research carried out. The terms used to state the problem, methodology, and purpose should be well-defined. Also, provide various assumptions concerned with the study like world views, basic values, beliefs, etc. The reader should be aware of your attitude towards the problem as well.

Limitations concerning the methodologies and concepts related to the study should be revealed. Now the procedure used to carry out the study can be provided in detail. Finally, you can think about the long range consequences if the study is done or not done.

Design of Research Questions

May 23, 2014 Kapila Comments 0 Comment

Devoid of coming up with concrete research question(s), any research based study can never be started. Based on observational phenomenology, a broad research objective is formed, and then through epistemology and construct building, the research objective is boiled down to concrete research question(s). Unless those research questions are not specific and measurable, the research work can never be effective in all aspects. Specificity of the research question is required in order to keep the study focused. There are several organizations, which assist researchers in designing research questions for their studies. For more information about designing research questions, kindly go through the pages of www.phdthesiswriters.com.

Learning the Turabian Style

April 21, 2014 Ananda Comments 0 Comment

There are many styles of writing that are used for preparing academic articles. One of the most popular styles of writing is the Turabian style. It was founded by Kate Turabian, an editor at the University of Chicago. It is a rather simple citation guide and students would be well advised to learn this guide. There are many institutions who want their students to prepare their content using this style of writing. Details about this style of writing can easily be gained online on the many writing labs that are available on the Internet as well as several books that have been written on the subject.