Transcript Writing your dissertation 1

Writing your dissertation
Overview
• Dissertation structure and
components
• Writing
• Software assistance
• A look at past dissertations
Structure: research dissertation (1)
• Introduction
– gives aims of dissertation, research
question(s), overview of approach,
outline of structure of dissertation
(~1,000 words)
• Chapter 1
– reviews previous work in the area of
interest, identifies gap in knowledge
or contribution you can make (~ 3,000
words)
• Chapter 2
– sets up the theoretical framework,
defining concepts, looking at
typologies, evaluating previous
research (~ 3,000 words)
Note: Structure and word lengths will vary from dissertation to dissertation, depending on topic.
Structure: research dissertation (2)
• Chapter 3
– presents methodology, i.e. details
of data collection/selection and
methods of analysis (~ 2,000 words)
• Chapter 4
– presents data analysis in detail and
discusses results of analysis (~ 4,000
words)
• Conclusion
– states what dissertation has done,
discusses main findings, suggests
areas for further research (~ 2,000
words)
Note: Structure and word lengths will vary from dissertation to dissertation, depending on topic.
Structure: transl. commentary (1)
• Introduction
– what is source text, where published,
for whom, etc., hypothetical/real
translation situation, translation brief,
outline content of remainder of
commentary (~ 1,000 words)
• Chapter 1
– area of focus 1: define phenomenon,
review previous work in area, identify
issues in your text, categorise where
appropriate, describe and discuss
examples (~ 3,000 words)
Note: Structure and word lengths will vary from dissertation to dissertation, depending on topic.
Structure: transl. commentary (2)
• Chapter 2
– area of focus 2
• define, review, categorise,
describe, discuss, as for
Chapter 1 (~ 3,000 words)
• Conclusion
– mention other aspects of
interest, outline what
commentary has achieved
(~ 500 words)
Note: Structure and word lengths will vary from dissertation to dissertation, depending on topic.
Other elements
• ST and TT side by side
• Abstract
– short summary of dissertation (300 wds)
• Table of contents
– give page numbers for the different
chapters/sections
• Bibliography
– list ALL works that you have referred to
in text, and ONLY these works
– no bullet points, list alphabetically
• Appendix/Appendices
– numbered, for other data
• Footnotes
– use sparingly, often not necessary
• CD-ROM for subtitles, speech
ST
TT
Working with online resources
• Reference in text where required
• List in bibliography,
alphabetically by author or
organisation or website title
• Give ‘last accessed on
DD/MM/YY’
• List with printed material or
separately
• As with printed material, don’t
rely too heavily on one source
• As with printed material, read
critically
Writing conventions
• Follow usual conventions for
academic writing, in particular
– avoid sweeping generalisations and
absolute claims
– use appropriate technical
terminology
– reference and quote appropriately
• In commentary, resist temptation
to be too informal, anecdotal
– it may help to use first person
narration sparingly; alternate with
passive constructions, ‘the
translator’, etc.
Examples, text excerpts
• not necessary to list/analyse all
instances of phenomenon
• categorise and give representative
examples of category
• give back translations of examples so
that non-speakers of language can
follow discussion
• number examples consecutively and
refer to them by number
• give additional data in appendix, if
relevant, but do not put material in
appendix if it is central to discussion
• may help to add line numbers to ST and
TT, for referencing purposes
Software assistance: Word (1)
• Define styles
– decide on formatting for Heading
1, Heading 2, body text, footnote
text, etc., then click Format in
menu bar, then Style, then Modify
– then access styles from menu bar
and use consistently
• Use outline numbering, e.g.
Chapter 2 (Heading 1)
2.1 ABC XYZ (Heading 2)
2.2 ABC XYX (Heading 2)
2.2.1 ABC XYZ (Heading 3)
2.2.2 ABC XYZ (Heading 3)
2.3 ABC XYZ (Heading 2)
Software assistance: Word (2)
• Table of contents
– use Headings styles in text
– from menu bar, click Insert, then
Table of Contents
• Tables, graphs, figures
– number each one and refer to
Table 1, Figure 3 etc. in text
– Insert then Caption to have
automatic numbering; Insert, then
Table of Figures to have automatic
listing of all tables, figures
• Pagination
– avoid widows and orphans: Insert,
then Page break to force text to
next page
Software assistance: Word (3)
• To make global changes
– Edit, then Find and Replace
– also possible to find and replace
specific formatting or patterns
• To assist with long, frequent
formulations
– Tools, then Autocorrect
– give abbreviation and long
version, e.g. jspn could
automatically produce Journal for
Specialists in Pediatric Nursing
• To add line numbers
– Page setup, then Layout; choose
frequency of numbering
Other tools (1)
• Terminology management
– MultiTerm
• Translation memory
– Translator’s Workbench, Wordfast
• Corpus analysis
– Wordsmith Tools
•
•
•
•
concordances (KWIC)
alphabetical word lists
frequency lists
collocations
– British National Corpus
Other tools (2)
• Web editing
– NVU
• Subtitling software
• Bibliography management
– Endnote
• Online survey software
– http://ict.humanities.manchester.ac.uk
/web/communications/onlinesurvey/
• Index Translationum:
– http://portal.unesco.org/culture/
then click on Databases
Task
Examine a dissertation and consider the
following:
• Do you think the abstract and/or
introduction informs you adequately
about the content of the dissertation?
• Is the structure of the dissertation
transparent and meaningful?
• Read a section of text and evaluate how
well it adheres to academic writing
conventions.
• Comment on the quality of presentation
and formatting of the dissertation.
• In your opinion, does the final
section/chapter conclude the dissertation
convincingly?