Authoring a PhD Thesis How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Dissertation by Patrick Dunleavy

you should keep your original literature review down to just
a single chapter, ideally one that is framed quite closely around
your central research question from the start. Do not raise a lot
of broader issues that you will never discuss again or where you
have little or no value-added contribution to make. Instead try
to focus on materials that readers ‘need to know’ to appreci-
ate your research contribution, and no more. Next try to keep
any set-up or background or methods materials down to just
one further chapter, again following a strict judgement about
what readers ‘need to know’ and avoiding long descriptive
digressions. You should consider carefully whether you need
to include a separate chapter on methodology in the main
sequence of your argument at all. It is often best to write a spe-
cial ‘Research Methods Appendix’ to come afterthe main set of
chapters. It can be written as a reference material annex, which
allows you to include very detailed information for examiners
and fellow researchers, but without disrupting the development
of your main argument.
Taking these steps should ensure that readers come into con-
tact with your original research materials within (say) 50 or 60
pages of the start of your thesis. They are given an appropriate
amount of time to ‘warm up’ on your themes and questions,
and they get a very synoptic treatment of any background or
set-up material that they really need to master. But readers no
longer have to page through wads of filler material before

PLANNING AN INTEGRATED THESIS◆ 61

Analysis

Discussion

CORE

Focused

literature review

Sequence of chapters

Breadth of coverage

Figure 3.4 The compromise model