1、How to Write a DissertationIn English Introduction6.1The thesis statement6.2The research question6.3The research method6.4Chapter 6Prewriting(3):Thesis Formulation andResearch QuestionsSummary6.5Exercises6.66.1 IntroductionHow to write a dissertation in English This chapter will deal with the idea o
2、f thesis formulation and its relationship with the research question(s)underlying the research.The choice of research method will also be discussed.Note that the meaning of the word thesis in thesis formulation or thesis statement is different from the meaning of the word when it is used as a synony
3、m of dissertation or paper(see Section 1.2 in Chapter 1).In the former case,as is defined by the Cobuild English-Chinese Dictionary(p.2034),“a thesis is an idea or theory that is expressed as a statement and is discussed in a logical way”.By contrast,in the latter case,a thesis is“a long piece of wr
4、iting,based on your own ideas and research that you do as part of a university degree”.So the Chinese translation of thesis in thesis formulation or thesis statement is“论点”,while the Chinese translation in the latter case is“论文”.Thesis formulation and thesis statement are“论点形成”and“论点陈述”in Chinese re
5、spectively.6.16.26.36.46.56.66.2 The thesis statementHow to write a dissertation in English In Chapter 5,we talked about the reading of the relevant literature and the methods of getting information related to your research.We also advised you about how to read the literature and how to discover que
6、stions and problems.The preliminary reading of the information,the examination of the sources where you have obtained useful information,your attempts to narrow down your research topic,and your discussion with your tutor will now enable you to formulate a thesis statement.A thesis statement,also ca
7、lled the statement of the problem,or the thesis sentence,usually states or suggests the research subject or the main topic.Making the thesis statement will help you to focus on the research topic and to avoid reading unrelated materials and writings that are of little or no relevance to your researc
8、h topic.Formulating and writing your thesis statement will force you to clarify your thinking and understanding of your research focus.In many cases,a thesis statement is also stated in6.16.26.36.46.56.66.2 The thesis statementHow to write a dissertation in Englishthe form of a problem that you atte
9、mpt to solve in your research,in which case the thesis statement is a statement of solution to the problem.Recall that in Chapter 5 we were talking about dealing with the verb forms in the asif clause.Here is a suitable subject and some possible subtopics:Suitable subject:Tenses in the as if clauseP
10、ossible subtopics:indicative moodsubjunctive moodsimple present tensesimple past tensesimple future tensepresent progressive tensepast progressive tense6.16.26.36.46.56.66.2 The thesis statementHow to write a dissertation in Englishpresent perfect tensepast perfect tensehypothetical meaningfactual m
11、eaning We may have the following sentence as the thesis statement for this study:Different verb forms in the as if clause are used to express different meanings.Here different verb forms in the“as if clause”implies that we are dealing with different tenses in this particular type of adverbial clause
12、,and to express different meanings echoes with different verb forms in the“as if clause”.Furthermore,are used implies that we are interested in the relationship between form and use.This thesis statement is in fact the answer to the question with which our research is concerned.Note that as your res
13、earch outline evolves and your research progresses,your thesis6.16.26.36.46.56.66.2 The thesis statementHow to write a dissertation in Englishstatement may change;it can be modified in one way or another because you may find,at a later stage,that your research topic needs to be narrowed down or broa
14、dened.6.16.26.36.46.56.66.3 The research questionHow to write a dissertation in English In trying to formulate your thesis statement,researchers usually have one or more research questions in mind.The answer(s)to the question(s)are related to the aim and objectives as well as the overall research to
15、pic.By asking a research question,the researcher knows that he needs to find an answer to the question,or find a solution to the problem.Usually the research topic can be stated as a question or as a hypothesis,and the choice between the two depends on the nature of the subject area.Stating the rese
16、arch topic as a question often helps to stimulate exploratory research,while formulating a topic as a hypothesis suggests that the research focus is on a tentative explanation or argument that your research attempts to test.With our proposed research topic of the verb forms in the as if clause,we ca
17、n have either a question or a hypothesis.Let us look at the question first:6.16.26.36.46.56.66.3 The research questionHow to write a dissertation in EnglishTopic stated as question:(1)To what extent can we say that one verb form expresses one kind of meaning?(2)What are the different meanings expres
18、sed by different verb forms?(3)Why do form and meaning not match in the as if clause?(4)Do the present and past tenses express more or less the same meaning?These different questions will in fact lead us to different research directions and focuses.With Question(1),we are interested in the relations
19、hip between different forms and their different meanings.With Question(2),we are interested in the different meanings that are expressed by different forms.With Question(3),we want to investigate the mismatch between form and meaning.Finally with Question(4),we want to challenge the assumption that
20、different forms may have the same meaning.6.16.26.36.46.56.66.3 The research questionHow to write a dissertation in English If we state our topic as in Question(1),we want to investigate the different meanings of He treats me as if Im a stranger.and He treats me as if I were a stranger.and our assum
21、ption is that Quirk et al.s(1972:755)statement that“the use of the hypothetical past makes little difference here”should be challenged.If we state our topic as in Question(2),we are more interested in the difference between He treats me as if Im a stranger.and He treats me as if I were a stranger.an
22、d our assumption is that different forms express different meanings.In fact,although these two research questions look different,they are essentially more or less the same in looking for the answer to the same question.If we state our topic as in Question(3),we focus our attention on examples such a
23、s I feel as if Im here,inside the computer.and Do stop behaving as if you are God,Professor Dawkins.and our assumption is that with the as if clause the simple present6.16.26.36.46.56.66.3 The research questionHow to write a dissertation in Englishtense may not express factual meaning.With Question(
24、4),we are interested in the assumption made by Quirk et al.(1972:755)that He treats me as if Im a stranger.and He treats me as if I were a stranger.make little difference in expressing the unreal meaning and in the meaning(s)expressed by I feel as if Im here,inside the computer.and I feel as if I we
25、re here,inside the computer.The discussion of the differences between the four questions suggests that the same topic can be examined from different perspectives and that it can be stated as different questions.From the forms of the questions we can see that it can be a wh-question(as in Questions 1
26、,2,&3)or a yes-no question(as in Question 4).Let us now turn to topic stated as hypothesis:6.16.26.36.46.56.66.3 The research questionHow to write a dissertation in EnglishTopic stated as hypothesis:(1)One verb form expresses one kind of meaning.(2)If there are different verb forms,there are differe
27、nt meanings.(3)There must be reasons for the mismatch between form and meaning in the as if clause.(4)The present and past tenses express more or less the same meaning.Obviously,Hypothesis(1)and Hypothesis(2)are essentially the same and Hypothesis(3)and Hypothesis(4)are similar although they are not
28、 as closely related as(1)and(2).Since the topic is stated as a hypothesis,this hypothesis can either be confirmed or rejected.Usually the answer to the question or the hypothesis itself is the thesis statement.Thus,apart from the thesis statement suggested in the previous section,i.e.Different6.16.2
29、6.36.46.56.66.3 The research questionHow to write a dissertation in Englishverb forms in the“as if”clause are used to express different meanings.,the answers to the four questions and the four hypotheses can also be the thesis statements of the proposed study.6.16.26.36.46.56.66.4 The research metho
30、dHow to write a dissertation in English In Chapter 3 we talked about the different research paradigms and different types of research.The research method is usually associated with the aim and objectives of the researcher,the nature of the subject,and the thesis statement or hypothesis,amongother th
31、ings.For the proposed study of the tense forms in the as if clause,the best way to obtain the data is by observation,that is,searching the existing corpora available to collect examples of language use.The examples will then be analysed and interpreted according to the context of situation,i.e.situa
32、tional context and context of co-text,i.e.linguistic context.The research paradigm is therefore exploratory-interpretive and it employs a non-experimental method and yields qualitative data and results.The analysis will be an interpretive one.In describing the research method,one can say that it is
33、data-driven or data-based6.16.26.36.46.56.66.4 The research methodHow to write a dissertation in Englishand the method can be qualitative rather than quantitative or qualitative and quantitative,depending on how the data is collected and analysed.6.16.26.36.46.56.66.5 SummaryHow to write a dissertat
34、ion in English The focus of this chapter has been on thesis formulation and its relationship with the research question(s)underlying the research.It has been pointed out that the research topic can be stated as a question(or a number of questions)or a hypothesis(or a number of hypotheses).The answer
35、 to the question or the hypothesis itself is in fact the thesis statement.In this chapter we have also briefly discussed the issue of research method,which is closely related to the aim of the research,the nature of the subject,and the thesis statement or hypothesis,among other things.6.16.26.36.46.
36、56.6The following abstract is taken from the Conference Handbook of the First International Conference on English,Discourse and Intercultural Communication(Macao and Urumqi,July 8th 14th 2007).Try to write two research questionsbased on the following abstract:6.6 ExercisesHow to write a dissertation
37、 in English Cultural negotiation about doing researchLinell DAVIS When participants in different cultures come together they create dynamic sites of exchange and negotiation.These contact zones,interstitial spaces or third spaces are problematic but creative places where meanings are created and rec
38、reated through discourse.In this paper the third space created in a post-graduate research writing class 16.16.26.36.46.56.66.6 ExercisesHow to write a dissertation in Englishis investigated as a site where various beliefs about how to do research are negotiated.The participants,an American teacher
39、and Chinese students,bring understandings of what research is and how to do it that they have gleaned from their prior educational experiences,academic disciplines,generational cohorts,and other social resources.Using data from student writing,class discussions and informal interviews,the author att
40、empts to identify the multiple cultural influences on student beliefs and to show how differences are negotiated.The author hopes that exploring this topic will provide a useful model for carrying out cross-cultural research and will make a contribution to clarifying issues related to research parad
41、igms in use in China today.6.16.26.36.46.56.66.6 ExercisesHow to write a dissertation in English6.16.26.36.46.56.6 If you want to compare,in terms of foreignisation,the different translatedversions of Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre,rendered by Chinese translators,what are the possible thesis statements
42、,research questions or hypothesesThat you think should be formulated?2KeysSuggested Answers to the ExercisesHow to write a dissertation in English6.16.26.36.46.56.6 1.With only the abstract as a basis,it may be difficult to write very good research questions.However,the abstract does provide the rea
43、der with key words and key issues to be investigated,and this will help us to think of possible research questions associated with the abstract(and the paper).The following are some possible research questions:(1)How is cultural negotiation about doing research conducted in a post-graduate research
44、writing class?(2)What are the multiple cultural influences on Chinese students beliefs on doing research?(3)How are cultural differences negotiated between Chinese students and American teachers in a post-graduate research writing class?(4)How different are Chinese students from their American teach
45、ers in their understandings of what research is and how it is done?Suggested Answers to the ExercisesHow to write a dissertation in English6.16.26.36.46.56.6(5)To what extent are Chinese students influenced by their prior educational experiences,academic disciplines,generational cohorts,and other so
46、cial resources with regard to their understandings of doing research?(6)What should a model for carrying out cross-cultural research be like with regard to cultural negotiation about doing research between Chinese students and American teachers?Suggested Answers to the ExercisesHow to write a disser
47、tation in Englishback6.16.26.36.46.56.6 2.Here are the possible thesis statements,research questions and hypotheses:Thesis statements:(1)Different translated versions have their stylistic variations in terms of foreignization.(2)Some translated versions are more foreignized than others in expressing
48、 the cultural meanings.Research questions:(1)How foreignization is reflected in the different translated versions?(2)What are the factors in translated works that serve the foreignization function?Hypotheses:(1)Foreignization is the essence of translation.(2)There are degrees of foreignization in translated works.
