abd_angst
New member
Posts: 19
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« on: July 15, 2009, 04:07:38 PM » |
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Hi,
I am finishing a dissertation chapter in lit. It is 14,000 words long and has 53 references. Is that too many references? I think they are all useful, but that seems like a lot to me.
What do you guys thinks?
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« Last Edit: July 15, 2009, 04:07:56 PM by abd_angst »
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gennimom
Somewhat Southern (Have I really posted that much?)
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 16,983
Let's get summer over with! Me want snow!
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« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2009, 04:12:27 PM » |
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I'm not in lit, but I had ~78 references in all, the majority of which were used in the lit review. As I was told, it takes what it takes.
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wet_blanket
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« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2009, 06:15:40 PM » |
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I don't see how you can change the number of references you use. If you take them out, how do you avoid plagiarism and/or reducing the legitimacy of what you've written? Gennimom is right: it takes what it takes.
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Wet Blanket will find success. The spreadsheet is the way...
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moonstone
Junior member
Posts: 67
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« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2009, 06:15:52 PM » |
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Hi,
I am finishing a dissertation chapter in lit. It is 14,000 words long and has 53 references. Is that too many references? I think they are all useful, but that seems like a lot to me.
What do you guys thinks?
Which style guide do you use? If Chicago - even 100 references is ok. In fact, I have a paper of about 25 pages with more than 100 references. I am in history though. |
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glowdart
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« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2009, 08:55:00 PM » |
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I had hundreds. Have as many as you need. If someone thinks there are too many, then you could group them by paragraph perhaps. (Personally, I hate that method, but it does cut down on the number of footnotes at least.)
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grasshopper
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« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2009, 09:18:26 PM » |
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This is dependent on so many variables. For instance, is this a lit review chapter? What is the standard in your field, in your department, in the dissertations written by your advisor's other students? More importantly, what does your advisor say? That will matter more than what we think.
I do think a 70 page chapter is pushing it. But I guess that probably varies, too.
But no, for me, anyway, 53 separate footnotes wouldn't be too many. It would be a lot. But not too many. This is a technical document. Not a book. The book comes later.
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watermarkup
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« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2009, 10:29:15 PM » |
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Only 53 footnotes for 14,000 words seems pretty thin to me. You would have to triple that before you are really in the ballpark for late-stage dissertation neurosis.
(Chapter 2 of my dissertation, MLA discipline: 12,000 words, 162 footnotes.)
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pink_
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« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2009, 10:36:45 PM » |
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I had 72, 81, and 84 notes in chapters of a similar length.
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Horses don't have seatbelts. Listen to Pink, she's smart.
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wet_blanket
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« Reply #8 on: July 16, 2009, 01:49:24 AM » |
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Only 53 footnotes for 14,000 words seems pretty thin to me. You would have to triple that before you are really in the ballpark for late-stage dissertation neurosis.
(Chapter 2 of my dissertation, MLA discipline: 12,000 words, 162 footnotes.)
See, I read the 53 references as being sources, with each likely to be cited multiple times. If they are citations, then OP is far from excassive. 53/14000 is 263, or one per page. |
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Wet Blanket will find success. The spreadsheet is the way...
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hyperbole
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« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2009, 07:08:57 AM » |
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What's really excassive is worrying over the number of references rather than matters of content. Of course, our threads here rarely allow for specific postings about dissertation or research content, which perhaps leads to a post brimming with anxiety over excassive referentiality.
So, to OP, is there another suspected problem lurking behind your suspicion about the references?
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« Last Edit: July 16, 2009, 07:09:54 AM by hyperbole »
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abd_angst
New member
Posts: 19
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« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2009, 08:26:09 AM » |
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What's really excassive is worrying over the number of references rather than matters of content. Of course, our threads here rarely allow for specific postings about dissertation or research content, which perhaps leads to a post brimming with anxiety over excassive referentiality.
So, to OP, is there another suspected problem lurking behind your suspicion about the references?
Just general abd angst - nothing more. Thank you for your advice. I am the only PhD student in my discipline at my uni, so there is not a library full of previously defended dissertations. Your comments here show that I am generally within striking range for my MLA field. FWIW, my total dissertation will be roughly 80 - 90k words. |
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