Most Common Undergraduate Dissertation Problems: How To Deal With Them
BY SEBASTIAN MILLER
Ordinary homework and essays are difficult for an undergraduate. When the stakes are rising even higher with a dissertation, the challenge becomes more intense. Thus, experts have identified common dissertation writing mistakes and challenges that every undergraduate student should anticipate and find a way of overcoming.
- Not Understanding Or Getting Your Title/Research Question/Hypothesis/Aim Accurately
Starting off a paper is always a huge challenge for students. You have no idea whether the title is accurate, or whether you’ve chosen a thesis statement that will give you the results you desire. Some students will choose research questions that are ambiguous or a hypothesis that is erroneous. In other cases, translating the idea into a research question becomes a problem. That may delay the commencement of your paper to a great extent.
Avoid wasting time or starting off on the wrong foot by consulting your supervisor or teacher. The teacher will provide guidance on how to select a strong title, formulate the research question, and keep your work within researchable limits. Use proofread samples and examples to guide you when crafting these important sections of your paper. Discuss the examples with your teacher or supervisor to ensure that they meet the standards required.
- Managing Time and Meeting Deadlines
The deadline for submitting your dissertation appears to approach faster than you can complete the paper. It causes most students to rush through the paper at the last minute. The last-minute rush affects the quality of your paper and leaves you extremely stressed. It appears as though you do not have the time to handle your academics or enjoy a social life. Such lack of time will give you a terrible school experience.
Since time is limited, every student should invest in a homework planner. A planner is a notebook or application where you will enter all your assignments, their intensity or quantity, and due date. A homework planner helps you to keep track of all the work you are supposed to complete and, therefore, avoid missing the deadlines. Homework planner apps are among the helpful resources for students to make your school work easier. It will send you an alert when your paper is due to enable you to work faster or avoid missing the deadline.
- Getting Quality Reference Materials For Your Project
A dissertation is an academic paper that is supposed to show your thoughts about a particular subject. It has a chapter on literature review where you are supposed to present what other authors have said about the topic. You must also read sufficient, high-quality, and relevant materials on the subject to inform discussions on your paper. The use of poor quality reference materials will affect the strength of your ideas.
Consult your teacher to recommend high-quality reference materials. Your supervisor has come across different databases and will guide you on the best source of quality articles, books, and such other reference materials. You will never get it wrong when you get guidance from your teacher or supervisor.
- Citations And Referencing
Academic writing requires a student to acknowledge the source of his ideas. Each discipline has strict rules on how to cite your sources and make references to these sources. The rules can be confusing and also take a lot of time to execute. Unfortunately, failure to follow the rules attracts punitive penalties. The solution is to use citation and reference apps. The apps provide room to enter the details of these sources and with the click of a button, generate a citation, or reference. Use apps and platforms that are accurate.
- Straying From Your Purpose
A topic mutates in the course of research and drafting, almost pushing you to a different conclusion. Academic writing rules require consistency from the topic to the introduction, body, and conclusion of your paper. You should avoid straying from your main topic by developing an outline. The outline indicates your ideas from the introduction to the body and conclusion. Such a plan gives you a general view of your paper before you even commence drafting. Regularly consult your supervisor or teacher who will help you maintain focus on your main topic.
Each student will experience a unique challenge based on the topic and academic prowess. Consult your supervisor regularly and use the resources available to make academic writing easy. Such measures will make the completion of your dissertation easy and satisfying.
Author Bio
Sebastian Miller is a former Calling Lake School science teacher. After four years of teaching, he decided to become a freelance writer. In Sebastian’s opinion, math is the core of all science, and his goal is to enlighten as many scholars as possible through writing.
