Beglar D., Murray N. Inside Track to Writing Dissertations and Theses

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Sometimes, the conclusion of one chapter ends with an indication of what

will be discussed in the next chapter. The writer of the text in the conclusion 3

example could, for instance, have added an additional sentence such as:

‘Chapter 5 will look at a number of these factors as they have been articu-

lated in the literature, in particular that of individual learner differences.’

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Finally, a conclusion will frequently echo the introduction to the particular chapter

that it’s concluding, often by answering a question raised in the introduction, either

explicitly or implicitly. This notion again evokes the idea of resolution as by doing

so the conclusion brings the discussion full circle. Consider this example:

This chapter set out to evaluate a relationship-based and reflective model of

social work practice in terms of its ability to address contemporary challenges.

On the basis of the evidence presented, it would seem that the model has

considerable potential in this regard and that there is, therefore, a strong argu-

ment for promoting it in professional practice.

THE MECHANICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING

Capitalisation and punctuation

Most students, both native speakers of English and non-native speakers, have

some difficulty with certain aspects of capitalisation and/or punctuation. Although

it’s certainly not intended as a comprehensive guide – that would take a book in

itself – this section has been written to provide you with an easy-reference guide to

some of the main rules governing the use of capitals and punctuation in English.

Punctuation is not an exact science and two people may well punctuate exactly the

same text slightly differently. The key to using punctuation well is, first, knowing the

basic rules of punctuation, and secondly, always having your reader’s comprehen-

sion in mind. Punctuation exists to make what you write clear to your reader; so

always try to ask yourself the question, ‘Can I make this clearer to my reader by

punctuating it differently?’

Using capital letters

There are three main situations in which capital letters are required:

1 After a full stop and at the start of new sentence.

Just as tribes are mobile in different ways, so are we. Our kinds of mobility are

vastly various. The upward and outward movement of the young executive who

leaves his local suburb and travels in ever-widening circles on international

airlines is utterly different from the rootless and unattached mobility of the

urban proletariat.

(Douglas, 1975: 80)

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Context is essential to understanding meaning. Malinowski recognised this

early in the twentieth century when he observed that only by looking at lan-

guage in its ‘context of situation’ could we understand the functions served by

particular grammatical structures.

2 At the beginning of all words that are proper nouns (or names), as well as their

abbreviated forms.

Proper nouns may refer to individuals, institutions and organisations, places,

titles of books, articles or films, names of theories, international treaties, govern-

mental bills, competitions, etc.

the United States of America

(or the USA)

the Golden Gate Bridge

the Houses of Parliament

Professor Hilda Flissert

the British Government

the British Broadcasting

Association (or the BBC)

The Origin of Species

the Terrorism Act

Clare College Cambridge

Harvard University

The Cooperative Principle

Abraham Maslow

The Warsaw Pact

The Kyoto Protocol

The World Cup

Social Comparison Theory

the Treaty of Versailles

Operation Barbarossa

3 At the beginning of content words in titles.

An Investigation into Gender Differences in Management Style within Multi-

national Organisations

Pragmatics, Awareness-Raising and the Cooperative Principle

A Brief History of Time

A Tale of Two Cities

Words such as government, bridge, university and treaty do not need

to be capitalised if they are referring to governments, bridges, universities or

treaties in general (i.e. generically), rather than specific ones. Look at the follow-

ing examples:

The primary job of a university is to educate, not to make profit.

It should be mandatory for all governments to fulfil their pledge.

A new bridge has been proposed that will span the River Avon.

It is expected that the talks will result in the signing of a treaty.

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Content words are usually keywords and consist mainly of nouns and

adjectives. Articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, etc.) and prepositions (in,

of, by, for, into, within, etc.) are not normally capitalised in titles.

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Using commas

Use a comma to separate a series of items that exceeds two in number:

Each subject was required to maintain a diary, complete a questionnaire, and

take part in a 15-minute interview.

A dissertation should include an abstract, an introduction, a literature review, a

methodology section, a results section, a discussion section and a conclusion.

Traditionally, a comma was seen as unnecessary before the ‘and’ that pre-

cedes the final item of the series (the technical term is a serial comma). However,

the absence of a comma can mean that the two last items in the series get

‘lumped’ together and this can be confusing for the reader, particularly in long,

more complex lists. So use your commonsense to decide if it is needed. (You will

always see the serial comma used in US-style texts.)

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Use a comma and a co-ordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so) to

separate two independent clauses. An independent clause is a clause that can

stand by itself as a separate sentence:

Many people believe in the death penalty, but the government is adamant in its

refusal to pass legislation that will permit its implementation.

The second sentence could be written as two independent clauses:

(1) Many people believe in the death penalty.

(2) The government is adamant in its refusal to pass legislation that will permit

its implementation.

Here are two further examples:

He knew that Operation Barbarossa would mean a war on two fronts, yet Hitler

went ahead and ordered the invasion of Russia regardless.

The party would not elect a new leader, nor would it change its policy on what

would become a key electoral issue and one of critical national importance.

If the two independent clauses are both short and make for a fairly simple

sentence, then the comma can be omitted, for example:

He liked the idea but chose not to adopt it.

However, the safest option is to always include a comma.

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Use a comma to separate, or ‘set off’ introductory information. That information

may ‘frame’ what follows it in the sentence and/or it may help link the current sen-

tence to the preceding one:

Although the majority of citizens support the idea of surveillance as a means of

increasing their personal security, civil liberties organisations are increasingly

concerned that it is whittling away the individual’s right to privacy.

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Where the title comes first, as in the following sentence, commas are

unnecessary:

Professor Gavin Hessler gave his seminal paper later that year.

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Despite these efforts, millions died of starvation.

In 2008, the Bush presidency finally came to an end.

Much to the dismay of the environmental lobby, Gore was beaten to the presi-

dency in highly controversial circumstances.

Seeing as pragmatics is inextricably linked to context, that is where our discus-

sion will begin.

The kind of ‘introductory information’ that appears in these examples is

sometimes technically referred to as a subordinate clause. Some of the words

and phrases that introduce subordinate clauses and therefore help identify them

are: because, although, providing, despite, unless, since, before, while, when,

after, if and whenever.

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Use a comma to separate neighbouring adjectives:

The delicate, orange, miniature species tends to live longer, despite looking

more fragile.

The subjects selected were fair, male and Caucasian.

Use a comma to highlight contrast or reservation:

It was for financial reasons that they chose not to pursue their studies, not aca-

demic ones.

The results were comprehensive, but disappointing.

The majority of subjects expressed pleasure and surprise, not disappointment,

when they viewed their reactions on videotape.

Use a comma between cities and countries, counties or states and countries, a

date and the year, and a name and a title:

He began his career in Oxford, England.

Constable’s most famous works were painted in Suffolk, England.

Her first play first showed in London’s Drury Lane on October 5, 1953.

Gavin Hessler, Professor of Economics, gave his seminal paper later that year.

Freda Walker, Assistant Director of the Research Centre, voted against the move

to merge the two Schools.

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Use a comma to set off parenthetical (added) information:

The housing market, which had been buoyant for ten years, was about to

collapse.

Mount Etna, an active volcano on the Eastern coast of Sicily, last erupted in

May 2007.

Roosevelt, a cripple confined to a wheelchair, successfully hid his disability from

view during his political career.

Jackson, a merchant banker by trade, was to become a figure of disgrace.

There are, needless to say, other perspectives on the issue.

There is little evidence to support the claim, in Grappler’s view.

Notice how, in the above examples, the added information can be omitted with-

out changing its basic meaning or making it ungrammatical – just like in this

sentence! Also notice how the added information often describes a noun that

precedes it.

Use a comma after connectives such as however, nevertheless, moreover,

furthermore, consequently, for this reason, as a result, on the contrary.

Numerous studies have sought to shed light on this issue; however, it is gener-

ally accepted that the majority of them are methodologically flawed.

Climate change is melting the Arctic ice shelf; as a result, polar bears are some-

times having to swim up to sixty miles across open sea to find food, and many

drown in the process.

Unless it appears at the beginning of a clause or sentence, for example is also set

between commas:

Man’s destruction of wildlife habitats that sustain different species has led to an

increased incidence of contact between certain of those species and human

settlements. Bears, for example, can frequently be found scavenging in certain

towns in Alaska.

Using colons

Colons normally precede a list or an explanation (development or amplification).

They also follow a clause that can exist grammatically by itself:

Inequality can occur in a variety of areas:

– physical and mental characteristics – this is a basic fact of human existence;

– social status and prestige;

– wealth;

– power;

– laws, rights and rules – ‘privileges’ are private laws.

Inequality in these areas need not go together: social inequality is multidimen-

sional (Runciman, 1969).

(Adapted from Hofstede, 1984: 67)

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A good way to think about the colon is as an invitation to go on. The part after the

colon often indicates a step forward, for example, from cause to effect. If you put a

colon into words, it would mean something like ‘And here it is . . .’, ‘as follows’, ‘Let

me explain’, or ‘Here’s what I mean’. Here are some further examples:

The results showed a distinct gender difference: while men cited work reasons

for their decisions, women tended to cite family responsibilities.

An ‘activity’ is a segment of classroom life that can be separated from others

in terms of four features: temporal boundaries, physical milieux, program of

action, and content (Burnett, 1973).

(Crookes, 2003: 144)

According to Millward, Brown, Optimar, in 2007 Google was the highest valued

world brand: $66,434 m.

(Adapted from McLaney and Atrill, 1999: 59)

The definition of a child in need is:

(a) he is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have the opportunity of achieving

or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without

appropriate provision for him of services by a local authority under

this Part;

(b) his health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, without the

provision for him or her of services by a local authority under this Part; or

(Adapted from Wilson et al., 2008: 227)

He suggested that these receptors were sensitive to three of the colours that

people perceive as ‘pure’: blue, green and red.

(Martin et al., 2000: 187)

Sometimes a colon is used with words and phrases such as thus and as follows,

rather than simply substituting for them:

Based on historic costs, direct material costs were computed as follows:

Paper grade 1 1,200

Paper grade 2 2,000

Card (zenith grade) 500

Inks and other miscellaneous items 300

4,000

(McLaney and Atrill, 1999: 369)

Colons are sometimes used to ‘introduce’ a long quotation that is set off from the

rest of the paragraph by a blank line before and after it, and by a left indentation

(

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see p. 90):

Douglas describes this aspect of Hindu society in the following terms:

There are two essential characteristics of Hindu society: first, status is

determined by principles independent of the distribution of authority; and

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second, the idiom in which higher or lower status is expressed is the idiom

of purity.

(Douglas, 1975: 185)

She goes on to state that the first of these two principles is the most fundamental.

As we have seen, shorter quotations can be included in the main body of the text

and don’t need to be set off in the same way as longer quotations. Normally, if a

quotation is included in the main body of the text, a comma is used to introduce it

rather than a colon. Look at the following example:

According to Douglas, ‘status is determined by principles independent of the

distribution of authority’ (1975: 185). This is an intriguing idea in that . . .

Using semicolons

Use semicolons (not commas) in a list that appears as part of a sentence and in

which each of the items is long:

The methodology consisted of a 20-item questionnaire that all subjects were

required to complete; a series of in-depth interviews each of which was subject

to protocol analysis; and an analysis of subjects’ personal reflections, as evi-

denced in diaries maintained on a daily basis.

The working party comprised Mr Sidney Rockport, MP for Dothbury; Professor

Sharon Read, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Readham University;

Dr Khasi Lemons, Minister for Industrial Relations; and Lord Crookshank.

Notice how, in the second example above, the semicolon also helps to distinguish

each item, on the one hand, from the person and their title, which are separated by a

comma. If a comma had been used in every case, the text would have been slightly

more confusing to read.

Not all lists appear as part of a sentence, but semicolons may still be used. Look, for

example, at the quotations from Hofstede and from Wilson et al., used in the previ-

ous sub-section on colons.

Use semicolons to indicate a close connection between two ideas:

Lack of memory for an event does not mean that it never happened; it only

means that there is no permanent record accessible to conscious thought during

wakefulness.

(Martin et al., 2000: 304)

Many soap operas appeal to universal human instincts and emotions; that is

why many are so successful worldwide.

This can be achieved by having less current in the circuit; in this way, there is

less voltage drop.

Heavy borrowing can be a major financial burden; it can increase the risk of

businesses becoming insolvent.

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Some models do not rely on management judgement; instead they use quantita-

tive techniques to determine an optimal cash policy.

Use semicolons before connectors that join two ideas that are so closely linked

that a full stop is not necessary. Such connectors include however, nevertheless,

moreover, furthermore, consequently, for this reason, as a result, and on the

contrary.

The data were limited; nevertheless, it was revealing.

The verbal reports contained numerous inaccuracies; furthermore, a series of

inconsistencies became apparent once the reports were transcribed.

Using exclamation marks

There’s a very simple rule that applies to exclamation marks in academic writing,

and that is don’t use them! Except in very exceptional circumstances, it is almost

never appropriate to use an exclamation mark in your thesis or dissertation; it feels

casual and emotive. As we’ve seen, these are not considered positive traits in aca-

demic writing in general, and in research in particular.

Using question marks

As with exclamation marks, the use of questions – and hence question marks – is

not considered appropriate in dissertations and theses, although you may occasion-

ally find one in other forms of academic writing such as journal articles (e.g. ‘So,

what are the alternatives?’). The only time a dissertation or thesis would contain a

question mark might be in the context of a questionnaire or an interview that has

been transcribed.

Using hyphens

Use hyphens to form compound words, particularly compound words that imme-

diately precede nouns:

She was soon to become a best-selling author of children’s fiction.

Her out-of-date proposals were not well received.

But:

Her proposals were out of date and poorly received, as a result.

The study involved an investigation into the dietary habits of nine-year-old chil-

dren from poor socio-economic backgrounds.

The doctors showed great concern for the patients’ well-being.

One sibling was over-compensating for the shortcomings of the other.

Micro-organisms display similar kinds of behaviour patterns.

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Use hyphens to indicate a word-break at the end of a line.

Although word-processing programmes tend to take care of this situation for you,

if you do need to break up a word, where possible try to do so after prefixes and

before suffixes:

pre- . . . sentation govern- . . . ment sub- . . . sidiary

fore- . . . ground high- . . . lights un- . . . certainty

assign- . . . ment ir- . . . relevant method- . . . ology

ideal- . . . ism indefens- . . . ible success- ...ful

Try to avoid breaking up words if at all possible.

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Using dashes

Dashes are longer than hyphens (– as opposed to - ) and are used to identify or ‘set

off’ parenthetical information that is incidental or additional to the main idea of the

sentence. Look at these examples:

The methodology – used only once before by a team of Australian researchers –

proved a great success.

Each of the research teams – the Oxford team led by Hack and Lindt and the

Harvard team by Graham and Frege – completed their investigations within a

month of each other.

Dashes can be preferable over commas when the incidental information they

enclose contains its own internal punctuation, as in the following example:

For each of these two-year periods – 1945–47, 1967–69, 1988–90, and 2006–08 – spend-

ing was shown to be almost identical once adjustments were made for inflation.

Notice how, by using dashes, the sentence becomes easier to read and understand for

the reader. Notice also the different uses of the hyphen and the dash in the example.

Using parentheses

Use parentheses to enclose information that is slightly peripheral, but not irrelevant

to the main point of the sentence, and that does not fit into the flow of that sentence:

The final agreement (there were three intermediary ones that preceded it) was

signed in July 2007.

George Bush Jr. (a president many regard as the worst in US history) finally left

office at the start of 2009.

Use parentheses to enclose citations within a text (

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