Bedtime Reading For People Who Do Not Have Time To Sleep part 2

What One Should Learn From The Exercise:


1. All scientists need to communicate discoveries; the PhD dissertation provides training for communication with other scientists.

2. Writing a dissertation requires a student to think deeply, to organize technical discussion, to muster arguments that will convince other scientists, and to follow rules for rigorous, formal presentation of the arguments and discussion.


A Rule Of Thumb:


Good writing is essential in a dissertation. However, good writing cannot compensate for a paucity of ideas or concepts. Quite the contrary, a clear presentation always exposes weaknesses.


Definitions And Terminology:

1. Each technical term used in a dissertation must be defined either by a reference to a previously published definition (for standard terms with their usual meaning) or by a precise, unambiguous definition that appears before the term is used (for a new term or a standard term used in an unusual way).

2. Each term should be used in one and only one way throughout the dissertation.

3. The easiest way to avoid a long series of definitions is to include a statement: ``the terminology used throughout this document follows that given in [CITATION].'' Then, only define exceptions.

4. The introductory chapter can give the intuition (i.e., informal definitions) of terms provided they are defined more precisely later.