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

primary dimension is the analytic one, and the argumenta-
tive dimension is secondary. Exploiting the two-dimensional
space of a blank matrix like this means that you will often be
able to pull together more strands of your thinking than can be
accommodated in the more usual simple, linear approach.
Either way Figure 3.6 would generate enough boxes to arrange
the core chapters of a thesis in a strong and robust pattern.
Add a lead-in chapter at the beginning and a lead-out chapter
at the end to this core and you would have an effective eight-
chapter PhD.

74 ◆AUTHORING A PHD

Liberal

view

Marxist

view

economic aspects

political aspects

cultural aspects

Argumentative dimension

Analytic dimension

(a)

Liberal

view

Marxist

view

economic aspects

political aspects

cultural aspects

Argumentative dimension

Analytic dimension

(b)

Figure 3.6 Examples of a matrix structure:
(a) the argumentative dimension is primary;
(b) the analytic dimension is primary