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Research Questions

Your research question needs to be carefully thought through. You need an open-ended question / sub-questions which allow for discursive lines of inquiry. 

Introductions

Your introduction will be a work-in-progress throughout your research writing journey, being adjusted as you write and tighten your chapters. In the end it will give the reader an overview of your questions, aims and methods of inquiry and why you decided to undertake your research. 

Literature Reviews

Your Literature review will cover the key concepts, theories and theorists in your field and will show how they are relevant to your particular study. It will also point to the gaps in the literature and thus what your study hopes

to address. 

Methodologies

The methodology chapter outlines the design of your research and carefully details the type of research you are doing and the methods you have used to carry out your research; to collect, store and analyse your data, as well

as the ethical considerations adhered to. 

Findings & Discussions

It is usually easier to separate the findings of your data, where you may present tables, graphs and other findings, and your discussion of your findings – what your findings tell you and what the implications of them are.

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Conclusions

Your conclusion will round of this part of your research journey. It will revisit your initial hypothesis and research questions and will sum up the findings and implications as well as indicate what further research could be done as a result of your findings. And importantly it highlights the value of your research and the contributions it has made

to the field. 

Abstracts

Although the abstract is a tiny text, its purpose is large. It gives the nutshell story of your research: the what, the why and the how, and the outcome. It is a selling point – determining whether the reader will read on, and how intently they will do so. 

Writing Resources

Doctoral Writing; Practices, Processes and Pleasures

Helping to say things in writing:

Types of research papers and writing a research paper:

Using the Greek Drama approach to your academic writing:

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