I think I am finally starting to understand the basis of my dissertation. Chapter 11 of the Planning Your Dissertation book (see previous blog post) showed me how to truly read papers. Before this chapter I fear I was wasting time and not being efficient with my reading. The reading allows me to comprehend the bigger picture behind my dissertation but also let my mind wander into questions and ideas that can supplement my work. As I read I find interesting sentences and tend to highlight but when I’m reading numerous papers am I really going to remember my highlights? The answer is very unlikely. To be efficient as possible I made an excel sheet. Chapter 11 helped me with this, it gave me a structure for me excel sheet.
Full reference:
Brief summary: main points
Evaluation: strengths and limitations
Reflection: how might you use it?
This structure allowed me to compartmentalise my reading making it less mundane. It helped me refine my reading for maximum time efficiency. For instance, I was able to instantly discard papers that focused on donor derived S. stercoralis infections. I feel when it comes to overall write up of my dissertation this database will be very useful and I am glad I have started it early. Would have been ideal if I started the database since my literature review but alas I had not then purchased the Planning Your Dissertation book yet. At this moment I feel more confident about my understanding of the topic before I meet with my supervisor.
Global Health Challenges 