5 tried and tested hacks to pen down the data analysis chapter in your PHD thesis

A flawless thesis is a stepping stone to a successful PhD. But writing a perfect thesis, especially at advanced levels is, even more, a challenging task; writing in a language that you aren’t well-versed is nothing but a nightmare come true for an ESL student. Lack of knowledge about rules of English, inability to incorporate guidelines set by the University, emotional factors and many more affect the writing ability of an ESL student. 

Writing a chapter without any numbers, graphs, etc. seems so hard. In such a scenario, crafting chapters that include numbers, tables, graphs, logically arranging them and interpreting them is a tough row to hoe. To help ESL students cope up with such situations, with the help of PhD thesis editors at Sydney, we have shortlisted some tricks that can ease the life of ESL students. 

  1. Include an introductory paragraph - One shouldn’t directly include the figures or data right at the beginning of the chapter. Include a brief and precise paragraph about the main themes in your data analysis. Tell your readers the basis for your investigation, how you shaped it and what are the outcomes of your data analysis.

  2. Include critical view of results - Data does not just speak for itself. Analyse all the essential data you intend to use to support your study. Give your point of view or critical judgement about the outcome of the analysis that was thrown at you. It is also vital to acknowledge the limitations as well as the strength of your data.

  3. Find a story in your data - The way you present the data analysis and interpret can itself be considered as a story. The two popular types of framework mentioned by PhD thesis editors at Sydney are hypothesis (state & test the hypothesis) and analytical ( shed light on your key findings) frameworks. However, interpretation cannot be done until the data has been collected and analysed. If the data already exists then this makes your interpretation work easier. 

  4. Report conventions - Next, report your findings. Use tables, charts, figures, etc  relevant to your findings. These can support your writing in an apt manner. 

  5. Cross-reference - As per the PhD thesis editors at Sydney, towards the end of the data analysis chapter, it is always better to have a cross-reference. This will help you relate the common points that you have come up between the analysis and literature review chapter. 

If you have messed up with this chapter and need some helping hand to make it look perfect , consider taking help from editors before it's too late!

Category : Data analysis
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