Constructing research findings: a tool for teaching doctoral writing

Making a contribution to knowledge is a cornerstone requirement of the PhD. It requires candidates to provide new understandings about a phenomenon to push the boundaries of an intellectual field. To achieve this ‘boundary pushing’, the findings offered in the research must have relevance for contexts beyond the site of study. In effect, the knowledge generated in one context needs to be transferable to other contexts. This aspect of research writing is broadly acknowledged; however, learning how to implement it in practice is less widely understood. Drawing on the concept of semantic gravity from Legitimation Code Theory, this paper offers a conceptual account of knowledge and an associated set of practical writing strategies for weaving different forms of knowledge together. The paper offers a writing tool which can be used by supervisors in the humanities and social sciences to make writing expectations clear and as a metalanguage for feedback practices.