Preparing Precise Notes During Research for Your Dissertation

Writing the final dissertation encompasses critical thinking, deep research, and a devastating amount of relevant information. However, to handle the huge amount of information effectively, you need to take organised and precise notes during the dissertation research.

Poor note-taking may lead to missing arguments, plagiarism, and misplaced resources. Therefore, preparing precise notes during research for your dissertation is essential for you.

In this blog post, we will let you know how you can make precise notes during your dissertation research. It will help you make the best and most detailed dissertation.

How To Make Precise Notes for Your Dissertation Research?

If you have the ability to make notes efficiently, you can save time and avoid frustration when writing your dissertation. However, making detailed notes during your research is a crucial step in making your dissertation the best one.

Now we will discuss the best ways from which you can make precise notes more competently. It will help you save a lot of time in writing your dissertation.

1. Understand What Type of Ideas You Need to Record

Before getting into the detailed research, concentrating on your approach to a specific dissertation topic is necessary. You can start by understanding the common facts about your topic and getting familiar with plenty of opinions on it.

Choose a part of the topic that fascinates you, particularly one that is currently getting provocative. Create study questions that enable realistic and informational collecting. For example, assessing the validity of early sentimental introductions to proto-Iroquoians.

These questions might help you determine what information to seek during your research. It should focus on data, hypotheses, and other people’s perspectives on potential answers.

You can ask yourself questions, such as:

• What is the main answer my dissertation intends to cover?
• What kinds of resources should I arrange (case studies, books, interviews, and journals)?
• What are the relevant sub-topics and themes to my research?

2. Skim

Skimming refers to reading speedily to get a general overview of the content material.

Before you make precise notes, it is better to skim the study speedily. Ideally, you can skim your study in 10 minutes or less, including the introduction, table & figures, and conclusion. Thereafter, in your research notes, write down from your own memory in your own words on how the source will help you.

Skimming takes less time than you think. This is where you should also start being critical regarding what you are reading and considering what to make notes on.

2. Avoid Writing Too Much Down

Your dissertation must reflect your own thoughts rather than a patchwork of borrowed concepts. So, focus on your deep research exertions on integrating and grasping sources into your thinking. Remember that your notes must only reflect the main topic of your research.

You may consider copying identical phrases for future citations of your dissertation research when you come across distinctly expressed ideas. It is not a good idea to paraphrase word by word as it will waste your time.

3. Summarise Your Data

When preparing precise notes during research for your dissertation, it is annoying and tempting to copy huge chunks of text. However, this will surely lead to data overloading. Moreover, it will become difficult to arrange your arguments later.

Instead, the AI summariser can help you condense your large amount of research information. The tool detects your data and then extracts all the important points from it in the form of a sweet and concise summary. However, it shortens your data but never loses the main focus of the topic.

After summarising your data, you can get the core concept of your research. It will help you prepare your notes better and more precisely.

4. Utilise Abbreviation and Colours

Produce a system of using abbreviations and colours in your notes during the research of your dissertation. This will surely help you identify the text or paragraph quickly that you are looking for. Abbreviations or short texts are very helpful to save your time while making precise notes for your dissertation.

5. Preserve Track of Citations and References

It becomes more frustrating when you lose track of a source. However, you must note the following full citation and reference details to save both time and energy:

• Title of the work
• Author(s)
• Website URL
• Publisher
• Year of the publication
• Page number (if appropriate)

6. Always keep a Dissertation Journal

A dissertation journal is a location where you can freely explore ideas and plan the course of your research. Dating every statement demonstrates the development of your thoughts, which is useful in meetings with your supervisor and during your viva.

Maintain a reflective journal at least once a week in a notebook or word processing document. Include thoughts while reading, links to other ideas, and study implications.

7. Label Your Research Notes Intelligently

Whether you employ cards or pages to take notes, it is critical to record them in a way that enables it for your future reference. Make it a habit to keep a master list of bibliographic information for each source you use, including publication and journal information on photocopies.

When referring to sources in your dissertation, use this approach to swiftly identify each note using the author’s name and page number.

Write notes on separate cards or pages to stay focused and make it easier to group and produce thoughts later on.

Make sure you have plenty of room in your notes to write down your comments and reactions as you read, such as questions, clarifications, and cross-references, which could serve as a virtual first draft of your paper.

Final Words

Preparing precise notes is an important step in generating well-structured dissertation. This is because it helps read all the essential information analytically, and critically, increasing the chances of coming up with a well-written write-up.

Any mistake in making notes may mislead you from the actual topic. Therefore, it is always suggested to follow the best approach for note-taking. In this blog post, we have mentioned the best steps which you should follow to keep the track of your dissertation.

Frequently Asked Questions