Social representations regarding the academic writing process: the case of the thesis for the bachelor's degree in history

Abstract

The study of the writing process, especially in the academic field, has become a recurring subject of research in recent decades. In this sense, our interest focuses on the conceptions that professors have about the process of writing a bachelor's thesis. The aim of this research is to account for the social representations manifested by a group of professors from an undergraduate History program at a Traditional Chilean University. To fulfill this purpose, we used the methodology of the Grounded Theory (GT). This theory allows deepening into the data collected through interviews, starting from a theoretical sampling. The data were submitted to all levels of coding, and were synthesized in an emerging theory whose axis are, first, the dialogue between the actors of the process of writing a thesis (academic adviser / dissertator student) and, secondly, the resourcefulness in the gestation of this genre throughout the various stages of development of the same, as reflected in the review and monitoring of the process. Finally, the thesis genre in this context is allocated at the end of the initial academic training. It is a part of the itinerary that leads the student to postgraduate studies, where he or she is expected to fit in with greater property into the specialized discourse community.