Get that PhD thesis finished | |
How to write health sciences papers, dissertations, and theses. Shane A Thomas. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2000 (140 pp). ISBN: 0 443 06283 8. |
The title of this book is misleading. Its primary purpose is actually stated as "to help health sciences research students and their supervisors to complete the task of the production of the research thesis", whether it is for an Honours, Masters or PhD degree. In this context, the book is well written in a down-to-earth style and clearly arranged. It is peppered with personal and practical examples and the occasional humorous barb, which arise from Professor Thomas's wealth of experience. He has supervised 24 doctoral and masters and about 100 honours students to successful completion of their degrees. I found the most interesting part of the book to be Chapter 2, "Supervision and the chances for success". An analysis of the 1992 enrolment cohort for Australian universities found that only 38% of students had completed their Masters or PhD degrees after six years. "What a waste of human potential!" he rightly says. Successful completion of a thesis seems to depend largely on choosing the right supervisor. To avoid ending up with a "dud", he recommends finding out what the completion rate is for a preferred supervisor and his or her department. Generally, the more research students enrolled in a department, the higher the student completion rates. The book continues with a chapter on writing techniques and how to write up each section from the abstract, through the dreaded literature review to the conclusion. It also discusses public dissemination of the results via conferences, journal articles and general media. At the back, there is a helpful thesis preparation checklist. The emotional journey of writing a thesis is barely discussed. Such aspects are covered in the popular text How to get a PhD (Bristol: Open University Press, 1994) by Estelle Phillips and Derek Pugh. Certainly, Professor Thomas's book complements this text. At $43 I thought the book was a little pricey. However, anyone embarking on a health sciences research dissertation or thesis would benefit from reading this practical book, which can be read over a couple of nights. Eugen Mattes
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