USEFUL TIPS WHEN WRITING A DISSERTATION
(Compiled by Prof J Badenhorst)
Qualitative research objectives
Describe, explore, explain, elucidate, contextualize, understand, Identify, Clarify, etc
In order to make your essay less repetitive, consider the following options in addition to the
common states and suggests. Always use your own judgement, when a phrase feels
overused. By suggesting that repetition may leave a less than ideal impression, it’s not
argued that this is an area of essay writing worth spending hours on. It’s much better being
repetitive, but being precise and making a good argument.
Instead of “said or says” use :
Emphasise
Highlight
Point out/pointed out
Recall an incident
Feels that/ Felt/was (is) of the opinion
Suggests/ed
According to
Mentioned
Summaried/summarises/motivates… his views as follows
Reveal
Other alternatives you might consider are saying that somebody:
Added, affirmed, argued, asked, asserted, assumed,
Believed,
Challenged, claimed, concluded, considered, contradicted,
Demonstrated, described, determined, disagreed, discussed, disputed
Emphasized, explained,
Found,
Hypothesized
1|Page
,Implied, inferred,
Maintained,
Observed,
Pointed out, postulated,
Questioned,
Recommended, refuted, regarded, rejected, reported,
Said, stated, stipulated, suggested
Viewed (something).
Crouch (1977) argues that …
Daniels (2004) sees the problem as resulting from …
Elton (1848) identifies the problem as consisting of …
Ferro (1997) is of the opinion that …
Gallagher (2003) defends the view that …
Hall (1998) notes that the problem originates from …
Inglehart (2000) considers that …
Jackson (1984) views the issue as caused by …
Kanter (1970) maintains that …
Lewis (2002) concurs with Mann (2000) that …
Nixon (1955) supports the view that …
Orwell (1999) holds the view that …
Perry (2005) agrees that …
Quart (2001) denies that …
Phrases to use or start a sentence
o Accordingly, Smith (2015) spoke out strongly against ……
o Similarly….
o Likewise…
o In contrast… (a different view/finding)
o Importantly, …..
o Significantly, ……
2|Page
, o In accordance with the advice of Mc Millan……
o In keeping with Atkinsons theory……
o Research findings indicate that…..
In the methodology chapter
o The views expressed by the interviewees …….
During the discussion it was revealed that . . .
Or
it transpired that . . .
it emerged that…
o Ed 1 + Ed 3 stressed the importance of. . .
Or
serious impact of . . .
o Teacher 2 contended that . . .
o The data from the interview transcripts confirmed that . . . (summary)
Or
o …………. was highlighted by E3
o Teachers were all in agreement that . . .
o Data from the interviews strongly suggested that . . .
o This researcher holds the firm believe that . . .
o In addition, E2 from S3 also suggests / highlighted that . . .
o It follows that . . .
o In the same vain
o In turn, P2 expanded on this by mentioning . . .
o . . . . . . . was / were raised by E4
o The above findings concur with . . . (some theory) . . . as discussed in chapter 3/2
o ...
o A similar view was expressed by . . .
3|Page
(Compiled by Prof J Badenhorst)
Qualitative research objectives
Describe, explore, explain, elucidate, contextualize, understand, Identify, Clarify, etc
In order to make your essay less repetitive, consider the following options in addition to the
common states and suggests. Always use your own judgement, when a phrase feels
overused. By suggesting that repetition may leave a less than ideal impression, it’s not
argued that this is an area of essay writing worth spending hours on. It’s much better being
repetitive, but being precise and making a good argument.
Instead of “said or says” use :
Emphasise
Highlight
Point out/pointed out
Recall an incident
Feels that/ Felt/was (is) of the opinion
Suggests/ed
According to
Mentioned
Summaried/summarises/motivates… his views as follows
Reveal
Other alternatives you might consider are saying that somebody:
Added, affirmed, argued, asked, asserted, assumed,
Believed,
Challenged, claimed, concluded, considered, contradicted,
Demonstrated, described, determined, disagreed, discussed, disputed
Emphasized, explained,
Found,
Hypothesized
1|Page
,Implied, inferred,
Maintained,
Observed,
Pointed out, postulated,
Questioned,
Recommended, refuted, regarded, rejected, reported,
Said, stated, stipulated, suggested
Viewed (something).
Crouch (1977) argues that …
Daniels (2004) sees the problem as resulting from …
Elton (1848) identifies the problem as consisting of …
Ferro (1997) is of the opinion that …
Gallagher (2003) defends the view that …
Hall (1998) notes that the problem originates from …
Inglehart (2000) considers that …
Jackson (1984) views the issue as caused by …
Kanter (1970) maintains that …
Lewis (2002) concurs with Mann (2000) that …
Nixon (1955) supports the view that …
Orwell (1999) holds the view that …
Perry (2005) agrees that …
Quart (2001) denies that …
Phrases to use or start a sentence
o Accordingly, Smith (2015) spoke out strongly against ……
o Similarly….
o Likewise…
o In contrast… (a different view/finding)
o Importantly, …..
o Significantly, ……
2|Page
, o In accordance with the advice of Mc Millan……
o In keeping with Atkinsons theory……
o Research findings indicate that…..
In the methodology chapter
o The views expressed by the interviewees …….
During the discussion it was revealed that . . .
Or
it transpired that . . .
it emerged that…
o Ed 1 + Ed 3 stressed the importance of. . .
Or
serious impact of . . .
o Teacher 2 contended that . . .
o The data from the interview transcripts confirmed that . . . (summary)
Or
o …………. was highlighted by E3
o Teachers were all in agreement that . . .
o Data from the interviews strongly suggested that . . .
o This researcher holds the firm believe that . . .
o In addition, E2 from S3 also suggests / highlighted that . . .
o It follows that . . .
o In the same vain
o In turn, P2 expanded on this by mentioning . . .
o . . . . . . . was / were raised by E4
o The above findings concur with . . . (some theory) . . . as discussed in chapter 3/2
o ...
o A similar view was expressed by . . .
3|Page
