Originality of a Dissertation

The primary purpose of writing a dissertation is to learn more about a particular topic. Although your work must be original, it’s not possible to specify exactly what that means, as everyone’s work relies tremendously on previous research and the ideas of other writers. However, you can demonstrate your originality in a number of ways. First, you can show originality in your understanding of past literature. Here you can show previously unidentified gaps and/or inconsistencies in the literature, or conversely, you might identify patterns that had not been mentioned by previous writers as you carefully synthesize the ideas or results of previous studies. In both of these cases, the key is to apply independent, critical thinking when reading previous literature. In this case, critical thinking involves analyzing an issue by looking at it from various angles, judging the evidence that has been presented by previous writers with a degree of skepticism, and examining the appropriateness of the inferences and conclusions that they make. Because no researcher can provide more than a part of the ‘truth’, and the history of science shows that we often understand an issue partially or incorrectly, adopting a questioning attitude is prudent. A second way that you can demonstrate your understanding of an area is through your conceptualization of the problem that you study. This might involve using a previously untried theoretical approach to investigate the problem. You might also bring in a concept or theory from another academic field. This strategy has been used successfully a great many times in some branches of the social sciences, such as in the field of education. You might also synthesize ideas from two or more writers to create a new idea that has not been explored previously. A third way that you can show your originality is by adopting a new approach to the problem you are investigating. You might do this in your research design or your choice of analytical tools. For instance, some areas are primarily studied using cross-sectional experimental designs in which data are only collected at one point in time. The use of a longitudinal design i n which you collect data over a period of several weeks or months would probably provide new and interesting information about the phenomenon. Alternatively, in areas in which either a quantitative or qualitative approach has been used predominantly, you could take ‘the road less travelled’. Ultimately, you can show convincingly the value of your study and the originality of your work by providing new findings about the issue that you are investigating; no one will argue that your study is not sufficiently original if you have results that make a real contribution to your field of study. An additional – and very important part of your efforts to produce an original piece of work – is to develop a distinctive and personalized view of the field and the issues you are studying. In other words, you need to develop a sense of ownership over the knowledge that you are developing.

(Inside Track to Writing Dissertation and Thesis)