tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post3323145364103837771..comments2023-10-30T12:26:15.822+01:00Comments on Research as a Second Language: 256 ClaimsThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-91530422472417407312010-05-04T21:26:25.906+02:002010-05-04T21:26:25.906+02:00I think we agree there. The point is that there...I think we agree there. The point is that there's going to be about 220-250 paragraphs of "supporting" prose in your dissertation, and then another 25-50 paragraphs that guide those basic blocks of fact into an approximately pyramidical or icebergacious shape.<br /><br />The supporting prose is interesting because it's presenting knowledge at the most detailed, most explicated level. It does not matter whether its in your theory section or in your analysis section. There's a level of detail that your claims, so to speak, "bottom out in".<br /><br />I'm thinking about this in relation to your ideas about the <a href="http://prosedoctor.blogspot.com/2010/05/mastery-of-detail.html" rel="nofollow">capillary level</a>. You said this should happen as a rare "show of strength". Probably true in a paper, and perhaps in general discourse (a lecture or teaching). But in a dissertation there's got to be capillaries, fibres, "meat", in bulk. Don't there?Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-1262136640062466512010-05-04T16:39:16.386+02:002010-05-04T16:39:16.386+02:00I prefer to think of these claims in hierarchical ...I prefer to think of these claims in hierarchical fashion. <br /><br />There will be one central claim in your dissertation: the thesis of your thesis. Each chapter will have a central claim of its own, so 4 subtheses, say. <br /><br />Within each chapter, there will be three or four main points, so we're up to about 1 + 4 + 16. <br /><br />Now each of these 16 subpoints will require about 15 paragraphs of support. Now we are talking about your 250-300 individual claims. Visualize them as a pyramid.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.com