Writing Archives - Enhancing Postgraduate Environments

What is a research question and how do I write one?

PostGrad — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 12:04:58 +0000

Research Questions guide many aspects of our work. They can help us to decide what literature to read, what data to collect and what kinds of theories to draw on to inform our understandings. Getting them right is therefore an important part of the research journey. Research questions emerge from the research problem we want to address and so they can only be crafted when we have a pretty thorough understanding of the phenomenon we want to study. This video takes a look at a few issues to consider when writing research questions – as well as a few pitfalls to avoid. 8-minute animated video

This video was produced by Sherran Clarence, Neil Kramm, Nontokozo Mchunu, & Sioux McKenna, Rhodes University

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Who might find this useful?

This video is made for postgraduate scholars and supervisors but might be useful for undergraduates too.

The post What is a research question and how do I write one? appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Reading for a PhD

PostGrad — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:06:34 +0000

Postgraduate students often ask How much reading they should be doing. There is no one answer but this brief audio recording offers a few ideas as to what is a suitable length. Importantly, it argues that you cannot make a contribution through your research if you don’t know about the current debates in the literature.

This audio and transcript offer a means of assessing how much reading is enough for postgraduate studies. It looks at the hours that should be spent reading and the purpose of reading. The transcript also offers links to a number of other resources.

https://postgradenvironments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/65A-Reading-for-a-PhD.m4a

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes University. Download the transcript here.

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I strongly recommend watching the video on how to keep reading journal to help you with this process.
Writing resources book – see especially the section on keeping a reading map
Two minute tips – these short videos outline how your relationship to the literature changes at postgraduate level:
Just Write video – this video shows the indivisible link between reading and writing at postgraduate level (Remember the mantra: “For every reading there must be a writing.”)

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Thesis Statement

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 10:12:08 +0000

Every thesis has to make a contribution – it has to have a central argument that it offers to the field of study. It is often difficult to figure out what your exact thesis statement is but once you do so, you can get a clear sense of what smaller arguments will need to be built up through chains of evidence in order for the reader to be convinced of the thesis statement. This video uses an example from Education and so it will probably be of use to students from across the Humanities and Social Sciences. For those in the Natural Sciences, the building of an argument is generally (but not always) in a more linear fashion. But regardless of your field, you will have to make some contribution to the field and it is worth trying to sum this up in just one clearly constructed sentence.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University.

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Who might find this useful?

This video would make a useful resource for a writing workshop. It is primarily aimed at the kinds of argument building and thesis statement construction found in the Humanities and Social Sciences – but it might help those in the Natural Sciences too to construct in just one clearly crafted sentence what it is that their study offers the field.

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2 minute tip #3: Direct and Indirect Quotes

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:56:49 +0000

Two-minute tips provide short suggestions on how to improve your research. This two-minute tip looks at when it is appropriate to use a direct quote from the literature or when it is better to paraphrase and share the literature in your own words.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University, ably supported by the wonderful graphics of Leo Baasch, leobaasch@gmail.com.

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Who might find this useful?

The two-minute tips might be useful for any supervisors or students who would like a bit of inspiration. They also make quick additions to a workshop.

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2-minute tip #2: Relationship to texts

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:44:14 +0000

Two-minute tips provide short suggestions on how to improve your research. This two-minute tip looks at how there is a shift in relationship to texts from undergraduate to postgraduate level. At undergraduate level, students are often expected to be ‘knowledge tellers’ who have to demonstrate that they have read and understood the literature. Many novice researchers continue to engage with the literature in this way at postgraduate level and this is problematic. What we need is a more authorative stance where the researcher sees herself as a (novice) member of the field. In this way she draws on literature to make her own contribution.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University, ably supported by the wonderful graphics of Leo Baasch, leobaasch@gmail.com.

Explore these additional resources

Who might find this useful?

The two-minute tips might be useful for any supervisors or students who would like a bit of inspiration. They also make quick additions to a workshop.

The post 2-minute tip #2: Relationship to texts appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

2-minute tip #1: Joining the conversation

PostGrad — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:19:38 +0000

Two-minute tips provide short suggestions on how to improve your research. This two-minute tip looks at how writing is about contributing to a field. The tip argues that because academic knowledge is a contribution to an existing conversation, we need to have read widely and deeply to find out what has come before us. Rushing to collect data or to comment on our views without first engaging in the deliberations in the field is problematic.

Developed by Sioux McKenna, Director of Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University, ably supported by the wonderful graphics of Leo Baasch, leobaasch@gmail.com.

Explore these additional resources

Who might find this useful?

The two-minute tips might be useful for any supervisors or students who would like a bit of inspiration. They also make quick additions to a workshop.

The post 2-minute tip #1: Joining the conversation appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

The misuses of Turnitin and other text-matching software

PostGrad — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 14:57:29 +0000

Turnitin, and other text-matching software, is often used by postgraduate scholars and supervisors to check their work. This is very useful because the software can illustrate an over dependence on other people’s words and can help to ensure consistent referencing is applied. However, there is an increasing understanding that these programs check for plagiarism and that the percentage on the similarity index indicates levels of plagiarism. This 10-minute video shows why this is not the case. It clearly shows how the software can be used to great effect by scholars and supervisors to improve their writing but it is of only limited use to ensure that plagiarism is avoided.

Developed by Sioux McKenna – Rhodes University. Thanks to the postgraduate scholars whose work is used in this video.

Who might find this useful?

This video is an important resource for all supervisors and postgraduate scholars and should be viewed relatively early in the journey to ensure that it is understood that Turnitin and similar software provides very useful writing development opportunities. It will also be of use to those who draft academic integrity policies or who sit on plagiarism committees.

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Turnitin has lots of uses in developing postgraduate writing.

You can look through some of their videos on YouTube on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TurnitinAcademy

Two excellent books on this issue are:

Sutherland-Smith, W. (2008) Plagiarism, the Internet and Student Learning: Improving Academic Integrity. New York: Routledge
Angélil-Carter, S. (2000) Stolen language? Plagiarism in writing. Harlow, UK: Longman.

All supervisors are encouraged to read these.

Mphahlele, A and McKenna, S (2015) ‘Policing plagiarism could make universities miss the real problem’ The Conversation https://theconversation.com/policing-plagiarism-could-make-universities-miss-the-real-problems-45172
Are You Plagiarizing Without Knowing It? https://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2017/09/05/unintentional-plagiarism/
Ultimate Guide to Copyright for Students https://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/student-copyright/#page-2

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The Thesis as Argument

PostGrad — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 11:22:36 +0000

The thesis is the most common mode of knowledge presentation used at Postgraduate level. In this video, we suggest that the thesis is first and foremost an argument. The contribution it gives to the field is to add a particular argument – a position that is taken on the phenomenon being studied. There is a need for coherence across the thesis to ensure that this argument is built in ways that are credible, valid and aligned to the norms of knowledge construction demanded by the discipline. This demands a chain of smaller arguments, each substantiated by evidence, slowly building the thesis as a whole. This video discussed what forms of evidence these might take.

Developed by Sioux McKenna and Lynn Quinn, Rhodes University. Thanks to Sabela Cuba for filming and Dinah Arnott for production and editing.

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Thesis as argument worksheet

You may also find these blogs useful in developing a strong argument in your writing:

Aitchison, C. (2016) ‘Has this thesis got anything to say?’, Doctoral Writing SIG

Thomson, P. (2013) ‘Writing the thesis abstract’, Patter

Who might find this useful?

This video would be useful for supervisors and postgraduate scholars. It can also form part of a workshop on thesis structure or academic writing. There is a useful worksheet which can be used in conjunction with the video to help postgraduate scholars develop their thesis statement. You can download it here.

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Just Write

PostGrad — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 14:59:02 +0000

The key to strong academic writing is to write for yourself first and often. You need to have a good sense of your own position in relation to what you’re writing about before you try to craft a piece for a reader. Supervisors and PhD scholars share writing advice in this video and focus on the need to ‘Just Write’!

Developed by Sioux McKenna – Rhodes University. Thanks to Dinah Arnott for video editing, Sabela Cuba for filming, and all the supervisors and PhD scholars who contributed to this video.

Explore these additional resources

The Rhodes University Postgraduate Writing Sourcebook has loads of useful tips and tasks to enhance your writing
The University of Witwatersrand guidelines for writing reading responses
The Doctoral Writing Blog includes lots of useful advice on academic writing
The Thesis Whisperer has lots of useful advice on academic writing

Who might find this useful?

This video is suitable for anyone interested in academic writing. It would make a good addition to a writing workshop.

Supervisors who want to find out more about how to support their students’ writing development are encouraged to read ‘Risk in Academic Writing’ by Lucia Thesen and Linda Cooper (2013). This highly recommended text brings together the voices of postgraduate supervisors and students as they discuss the making of knowledge in writing.

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