THINKING THREAD FOR A PHD STUDENT

Chapter 1 1. What is the topic i'm investigating? What's the bigger area? eg : Group discussion in Second Language Acquisition 2. Why did i choose this topic? Any personal experience / stance that is relevant to me? 3. Why do i want to investigate this topic? Any particular reason - latest government policy, debates from the literature, some unsolved problems, or giving another perspective to the topic. What does the current literature say about this topic? Any debates? Any point of view i want to contest? What is the current theoretical framework available? Should I add another perspective, or challenge its current stance? 4. What did i want to find out? The Research Questions Summary of chapter and signposting Chapter 2 Past Studies and Theoretical Framework What has past studies say about this topic? What are the current theories available? am i adding a new dimension to there theories? will my study contribute to the local and global context? summary of chapter - synthesise Chapter 3 5. What would be my context / sampling / respondents and why did I choose this particular context? 6.How will I investigate this topic the methodology. Quantitative / qualitative / mixed methods Why do I want to use this method? What are the advantages / limitations? And what is my epistemological and ontological stance/ my own assumptions about this topic? That will tie in with the methodological choice. 7. Some other issues to think about ethics, access, pilot studies summary Chapter 4 and next ( your discussion chapters) 8.After data collection how will I analyse my data? Any software to use?Nvivo, Atlanti,Dedoose What is my conceptual framework? Can I relate it to my RQs? Added by Sabrina Rashid: to have a storyline (metaphor, diagram) to relate/present/gather all themes (qualitative) or findings ... from the starting point. to what happen next, and how would you wanna conclude it while answering all ur RQ. What is my contribution to knowledge in this area? Taking it Further - how will my findings be useful / practical in the real world? any suggestions / further research to be done

Putting it together 9. Writing up how will I put together all my thoughts? What is the best way to write? Academic writing + personal stance + reflexivity Any software / templates to use? End note referencing The V-Day 10. Viva! Some viva questions to help me prepare ( i will link this to the previous doc created earlier - viva questions)