Customer Reviews

How to Write a Thesis

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If you want to know the structure of a purpose statement or research questions, or formats for a desertation, this is NOT the book for you. This is a pep talk on how swell it would be to write one, time management (which you should ALREADY be into) and cute and witty goody nice stuff. I was looking for examples and structure and theory. I can get all the time mgt stuff from my mentor. If you need a book to boost your morale, this could be the book for you. If you're looking for a book on the mechanics of writing a thesis this book is NOT for you. I wish I could get a refund. This book is that bad.

It's NOT well written and if you are already into this, you'll find the writing style too soft and yucky, like a coffee shop discussion; nice and cute converations, but no real substance.

I work in universities and specialize in supporting academic staff/professors to improve the quality and productivity of their academic writing. I've been doing this work for just under 10 years. Rowena Murray's work has fast become a classic in the area called "writing practice", which is about how you approach writing; what techniques to use to be a productive and successful writer; how to think about the act of writing. At my university, we have adapted much of what Murray has written here about the thesis to apply generally to academic writing.

This isn't the traditional thesis book of... here's what a lit search looks like... here's what a problem statement is... here's how to write up your methodology. But you've got those books already, right?

Instead, Murray talks about what to do/how to actually write. It's a must for all graduate students and their supervisors. Mine is highlighted, dog-eared and sticky-noted.