My Dissertation is available online

After four years of study and immersion in Boys' Love culture, I wrote and defended my dissertation in May 2025. It's a work on a genre that was once homoerotic literature and film and now engages debates on gendered representation and inclusion.

You can access it through these links:

The official storage is at the National Chengchi Library - 

Link

Just type ethnography on the search bar. Mine is the only dissertation, and the only material in the library's great holding that uses that keyword.

I would appreciate it if you download it from here to add to the download count at my PhD alma mater.

But It's also available in the following research storage sites for your convenience:

ResearchGate -

Link

Academia.edu -

Link

NCCU's Toga Supplier

 Add them through Line to order one.

https://www.048345996.com.tw/about-us.html

Of quotes, paraphrases, and reports

Journals don't usually require a certain number of words; they have a maximum allowed number. However, within the community, a write-up of around 6,000 words is a recognized minimum. When I used to debate, the standard speech was 7 minutes, give or take 15 seconds. The Grand Chancellor of our debate explained during training that anything more can get boring. Anything less is insubstantial.

There are reasons why there's the expected number of words. However, you don't just write anything you want or get snippets of quotes to fill those numbers up.

Another phenomenon in writing is the idea of originality, achieved by ensuring you cite a lot. This can get quite paradoxical and confusing if one does not know the process. If you cite, the material isn't yours, even if you put the in-text and the bibliographic reference. So how is it original? Let's go through understanding the strategies in writing to address these principles.

Structure

As discussed in the previous posts, your writing should always have a thesis. The entire manuscript, your paper, has one. The main argument. It doesn't end there. When you outline, you establish sub-thesis, sub-arguments, or sub-topics supporting the central argument. These then become the sections of your paper. Within each section, each paragraph should support the sub-thesis, sub-argument, or sub-topic of that section. The structure of each paragraph has a central topic. The topic sentence. Anything else within that paragraph should either support or explain the topic sentence. It is from here that you generate your citations.

When you illustrate a point or prove that the point is real, you use examples. You can use hypotheticals - imaginary scenarios. That's okay, but if you use hypotheticals throughout the paper, this isn't research anymore; it is a writer imagining things. You use examples from the world of experience. Either your collected data or the data from analyzed, collected, or reported data by other published works. So, you cite. When you need to explain, you narrow down (deduct) or work up your ideas (induct) one sentence at a time. The deductive process means breaking down a generalized idea and relaying the component parts. Inductive is a reverse. You bring specific ideas, leading to a generalized one.

Take, for example, you are writing about how internet trolls are muddying the Duterte-ICC discourse. That's the central topic of the paragraph. You then explain different ways that a discourse can get muddied. Take note, I use the word explain. That means that you are defining or walking the reader through the process. Using examples is a different case. You can mix those up. 

That one was deductive. How about an inductive one? Let's say you argue in the paragraph that the sovereignty issue in the Duterte-ICC discourse is one of the factors in the muddied discourse. That's something specific. You can then proceed to explain the essence of sovereignty. Then, explain the issue at the ICC. Then, relate the troll narratives. Then, synthesize how each of these elements leads toward a muddied discourse.

You cite each piece of evidence you use to support your argument. For each explanation, you might have to refer to ideas from reputable references, so you also cite them. In the previous sample, in explaining the issue of the ICC, unless you were there hearing what happened, you will have to cite the news or, better yet, a press release from ICC (the difference would be that the news is a secondary source while the press release can be primary). If you were there in the field, you mention it, thus proving your point.

Matter

The evidence you use can take the common form of quotes and paraphrases. Some forget to report. Some forget what a precis is. Let's learn how to use them.

Quotes

We use quotes to preserve the essence of what the original author said and to engage with their ideas within our text. When you write, begin with a budget on quotes in mind and use technical terms that may be original to the author. Nowadays, originality is measured through similarity match percentage using text-computing software on plagiarism; the most popular is TurnITIn. Even without such software, professional readers will notice that a 10-page paper is half quotes and half the writer's text. Sometimes, it's obviously even more. So, you minimize the quotes and reserve them for essential statements. Then, if you use a lot of technical words that the writer uses, this will reduce your quote budget. Always remember that a direct quote will require not just the author and date for the in-text citation but you will also need to mention the page number/s. I.e. (Castillo, 2023, p. 8).

Paraphrase

A paraphrase is a rephrasing of the original statement while retaining its essence. It is the number one method of avoiding plagiarism. Some people paraphrase everything, which can get clunky. But it's safe. A vast vocabulary is useful. A thesaurus can also be helpful. Another thing you need to remember is the perspective or the mode of how to say the original statement. Depending on the writing style (APA, Chicago, etc.). You should also mention the page number in the in-text citation.

Precis

A precis is a summary of the idea expressed through a rephrased statement. You won't need to mention the page number, primarily if the precis refers to an entire book or article. If you are referring to a section, mention the page number/s. 

Reports

Sometimes, you will see that the reference you are referring to is also referring to another work. It's best to include the reference of both works if you refer to such. For example, Castillo (2023) referred to Knight (1603) in defining the idea of misogyny. Why not just refer to Knight? In this case, there's more than one reason. The primary is that you might not have known about Knight without Castillo. Practice ethics! Second, Knight's reference is too old; Castillo adds a certain degree of dated relevance.  What if Knight was only one or a couple of years back? Refer to the first reason.

This is not the only way to report. You can use a precis to report not just the author's idea but also what the author did. Castillo (2023) content-analyzed film. In Castillo's (2023) content analysis of Harry Potter, he found that... 

Another thing to report is conversations. When authors cite, they engage with other writers. Sometimes, not just one. So you can report that. Castillo (2023) arrived at an understanding of misogyny through a review of works such as those of Knight (1603), Bishop (1888), and Pawn (2022). Note the difference between simply paraphrasing and lining them up in sequence. A report is yours, not anybody else's. That adds both originality and style to your writing.

No need to fill in numbers

Given these guidelines, you won't have to worry about filling in the numbers. You may have to trim your writing because of the breadth of what you wrote. It will also help both you and your reader because you will have expressed what you need to express, hopefully, in a clear way.

Just a short note: What to think about when writing a proposal

Title

Hook

Puzzle

Research Questions

Thesis statement

RRL

Method

Structure your process

Maximize your word processor

I haven't had the time to blog for quite some time since it's all-hands-on-deck for me to finalized my dissertation. Now that I've completed my manuscript, here's some important reminders for anyone who is writing.

Methodical steps in writing often get things done smoothly and right. I hate wasting time and effort only to have to redo things. What can we do to organize our writing? Please note that what I share in this blog post is on using Microsoft Word. Other word processing software may have different processes.

Using automated cross-references 

First off is captioning your figures. I hope you already uses the automated numbering of captions for figures. This is especially helpful if you have a large number of figures or if you figures across different chapters or sections of your manuscript. 

But what if you have to add a new figure between two already existing figures in separate pages? For example, your page 10 has Figure 1 and your page 15 has Figure two and you need to add a new one on page 11? Or you have Figure 3 on page 16 and would like to move it to page 11? Just click the inserted figure, then choose INSERT CAPTION. Sometimes the Figure numbers will automatically adjust, if they don't then just RIGHT-CLICK on the figure number and choose UPDATE FIELD. Just repeat these on the affected ones as necessary.

But why use this when you can just type the words Figure and the corresponding number? These automated devices through the word processor can help with other parts of your writing. One is through cross-references. When you need to refer to such automated sets of items in your manuscript, what you need to do is insert a cross reference. 

Example, you have Figure 1. Then you are writing and your refer to it, such as saying "Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework." Or the conceptual framework (Figure 1)..." 

Don't type the text "Figure 1" !!!!!

Rather use the cross-reference feature of MS Word. There are two locations where the cross-reference button is located (see the photos below).

CROSS-REFERENCE button through the REFERENCE tab

CROSS-REFERENCE button through the INSERT tab

Instead of writing "Figure 1" you should place the cursor on the location in the document then click the cross-reference button. This will open the window below.

CROSS-REFERENCE window

The three important parts of this window are REFERENCE TYPE, FOR WHICH NUMBERED ITEM, and INSERT REFERENCE TO.

There are several reference types. Since y ou are writing about a figure, choose FIGURE for REFERENCE TYPE. The under FOR WHICH NUMBERED ITEM will change into the list of your existing figures. Click the figure you want to refer to, then for INSERT REFERENCE TO, choose ONLY LABEL AND NUMBER. The label and number are the text Figure and the corresponding number. Once done, click the INSERT button below the window. This will result into an automated text that will read "Figure x" depending on the number of the figure you are referring to. Because the text is cross-reference to the actual figure, then any changes in numbering that may happen, whether while you are writing or if you require revision, then the text can easily be adjust to match the changes. Just like with the caption, if you need to adjust the numbers, just RIGHT-CLICK on the figure number in the paragraph and choose UPDATE FIELD.

Anotrher useful part of cross-reference is the capacity to have auto-updating references to parts of your manuscript. Top tier journals have tables of compliance for revisions. This makes the revisions easier to track. I applied this to my own dissertation so that the comments during my proposal are summed up in a table that I placed in the appendix. A part of this table is a column of the comunts, a column for the name/s of commiittee/panel members who gave the comment, then a column of what I did in response, and a third column pointing towards the page where the revision is. This makes your work clean and professional. But what if a change in the manuscript adjusts the page numbers? Would you have to recheck each page number that you wrote? 

Well, that's sloppy. What you should be doing is use cross-reference. Regarding this, you are referring to page numbers and not to figure numbers. So, for REFERENCE TYPE, choose NUMBERED ITEM. The list on FOR WHICH NUMBERED ITEM will be similar to the ones listed above the headings (more on these later) you used. Choose which part you need to refer to (such as your framework, or literature review). For INSERT REFERENCE TO, just choose PAGE NUMBER. Clicking  INSERT will insert the page number that even hyperlinks to the specific page. And just like any of the cross-references, RIGHT-CLICK on the number and choose UPDATE FIELD. to allow it to automatically adjust if ever the pages in your manuscript has changed.

BOOKMARK button through the INSERT tab

Sometimes, you have to refer to a page containing a specific paragraph. If your manuscript uses paragraph numbers, then you can use that. But that's seldom used. What you can do is go to the paragraph, highlight it, then click BOOKMARK (see the photo above). This will record the paragraph as a specific item of bookmark. In fact, when you click the BOOKMARK button, you will be prompted to name the bookmark. One you have done all the bookmarks you need. You can select bookmark as REFERENCE TYPE. The list on FOR WHICH NUMBERED ITEM will now change to the list of bookmark names you made. Choose the one you need to refer to and choose PAGE NUMBER for INSERT REFERENCE TO. 

Using the automated table of contents and automated list of figures

Writing the table of contents can be tedious and making sure that the page numbers do refer to the correct page locations. It's again a sloppy work if you do this manually. All you need to do is click the corresponding button to insert an automated table of contents. You can also do the same for your list of figures.

Everytime you need to make sure that these two tables are correct, just RIGHT-CLICK and choose UPDATE FIELD.

TABLE OF CONTENTS button through the REFERENCES tab

TABLE OF FIGURES button through the REFERENCES tab

It is important to know that these buttons will yield black results if you did not use automated captions for figures and if you did not use the STYLE system for your headings.

The STYLE button is located in the HOME tab. You can format each of the styles of headings here depending on the writing style that you are using, whether APA or Chicago, or MLA. The formatting however is manual. You will have to assign the format for each heading number in the system with the appropriate elements such as bodlface, italics, But after you've done this, simply clicking on the STYLE button and  and selecting the appropriate style will automatically do two things. 

1. It will format the text based on the chosen style.
2. It will refer to that text based on the chosen style.

STYLE button through the HOME tab

The standard style options in MS Word

Part of writing style is the used of headings. Those are the titles of the different sections and subsections of your manuscript. For example, "Chapter 1" can be considered as Heading 1. "Introduction" and "Statement of the Problem" can be considered as Heading 2 texts. Any other sub-sections under a Heading 2 can be Heading 3 as needed. For example, "Background of the Study" can be a Heading 2. If you have 3 topics for the background, then the titles for each will be Heading 3.

These the titles that you used for each headings will be recorded in your documents system. When you generate the automated table of contents, it will list these headings and their corresponding pages. These headings will also become part of the navigation pane. Pressing CTRL+F will open the navigation pane and display each heading. You can click each heading if you want to automatically teleport to that section of your manuscript. Headings also function as REFERENCE TYPE in cross-references.

If you convert your MS Word document into a PDF, these cross-references and automated elements can function as hyperlinks so that clicking them can automatically open the page that you need. The navigation pane will also appear in the PDF and will serve as a useful tool in reaching specific sections of the document.

So, I hope you can use these helpful tools. I wrote this blog also thinking that whoever reads this at least knows how to go about MS Word even if not knowing all the special powers of this software. Please comment if there's anything that needs clarification. Also remember, these tools are meant to help make life easy. Avoid sloppy work, use the tools. We still, however need to guide the intelligence of the software i.e. updating fields whenever you know you've made significant changes.

Writing in Style

The stress of data gathering and navigating your way around the substance of your argument can sometimes impact your writing style, especially when you are not a writer. Here are essential things to remember when writing research, especially one's thesis or dissertation. This is also important when writing CVs and resumes. 

If it's a school thesis or class paper, make sure to format the manuscript according to the prescribed format. What's the paper size? In Taiwan, it's customary to use A4. In the Philippines, it's Letter size. How about the font style and size? When there's no prescribed font, my go-to is Palatino Linotype 11. Should the paragraphs be aligned left or justified? 

Those are basic, but it's important to know them because it's part of the institutional signature. Now for a bit of advanced style. What's the prescribed referencing and writing style? And by that, we mean APA, Chicago, MLA, and other schools of style. Those are not just for citations. If your university or class does not have prescriptions for headings and subheadings, captioning figures, and titles on tables, those have them. So, if your references follow APA 7th, they follow the same on your headings, subheadings, captions, and table titles. 

Let's get more professional. Mastering the data means you know how to report the data. You don't just write down your qualitative and quantitative results. There are styles for reporting evidentiary data in your results and discussion depending on the data type. More often, you follow the same school as the citation, for example, on how to report different statistical data and on how to report interview quotes. A deeper difference is on block texts.  You move away from the paragraph and start a block text if the quote is more than 40 words in APA; in Chicago, you do so if the quote is more than 100 words. Any quote with less remains within the regular paragraph text.

These make your manuscript acceptable for publication in a journal at first glance. Of course, what will finally get you final approval is the content. But you need to first do the secret handshake. This is the secret handshake. The editors and writers see style, and they recognize that someone who submitted is part of the club when they see the style of the manuscript.

Lastly, if you are writing a thesis or dissertation. These all go into the section on Notes on Style. If your university has no prescription and is flexible on the parts of the manuscript, you can also add it.

The Notes on Style reports the style that you followed.

I am doing this on my dissertation as a reminder for myself and as a shortcut for panel/committee members. This helps them to easily identify the style used and be in compliance with any prescribed styles.

Applying for Scholarship in Taiwan

Taiwan offers several scholarship opportunities for Filipinos intending to pursue higher education. Here's Scholarship 101: Taiwan based on my experience and updated based on current developments since my own admission for PhD.

Information Sources:

As a student, the best place to go in person for scholarships is your school's Student Guidance and/or Career Office. The staff in those offices are always nice and helpful in any school, so don't hesitate to go.

Aside from that, for specific Taiwan scholarships offered to Pinoys, you can check out:

• roc-taiwan.org -  the official site of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines. This will be your go-to aside from information. You will be going here for your education documents authentication, scholarship application, and VISA. 
• Taiwan Scholarships in the Philippines - FB page run by TECO education division, a good spot to follow for announcements.
• Taiwan in the Philippines - the TECO general FB page.
• Manila Economic and Cultural Office - FFB page of the Philippine equivalent of TECO.

Time Management:

Be sure to take note of dates, times, periods, or seasons. Here are important tips:

• Make sure that you have ample time to process your documents. For example, do you already have your transcript? Is it already internationally authenticated? 
• The two main semesters are the Fall and Spring seasons. make sure to check announcements during this time for calls for admissions and the opening of scholarship applications.

Documents to Prepare:

Each scholarship has its own requirements list, but I'll be taking note here of significant items that one needs to know as one applies to study abroad. Also, these documents are used when you apply for school admissions, which is usually before the scholarship application process.

• Authenticated Transcript and Diploma: Since you'll be studying in another jurisdiction, you need to have your education documents authenticated. The process goes as follows:

1. Make a request through your school.
2. Get the authentication from CHED Philippines.
3. Get the authentication from the Department of Foreign Affairs Philippines.
4. Get the authentication from TECO.

Note: TECO has had a requirement of using A4, so make sure that your documents are in A4, also photocopies should be colored. Just make sure to double check at the TECO website.

• English Language Competency: usually TOEFL or IELTS, or if your school uses English as an official mode of instruction, you can just request this from your register.
• Make sure to check out the international admissions office website and social media of the school you are applying to. Schools do not process the scholarship, but they provide updates, announcements, forms, and info sessions that can be of great help.

THE SCHOLARSHIPS:

I'm reposting the exact wording from TECO's website. These are details for scholarship applications 2024. Please note that some logistic details change per year, i.e. the time period of applications. It's always best to check the updated list at the website. I'm just reposting here so that you have a general idea.

Begin Repost

1.Ministry of Education (MOE) Scholarship : Grants a 4-year scholarship for undergraduate studies, a 2-year scholarship for Master's, and a grant of up to 4 years for Doctoral Degree. The MOE will shoulder up to 40,000 NTD each semester for the corresponding tuition and miscellaneous expenses. The remaining costs will be shouldered by the scholarship recipient. An additional 15,000 NTD will be given to recipients undertaking university undergraduate studies, 20, 000 NTD for those pursuing their Master's and Ph.D. as the monthly stipend. 

The application is from February 1 to April 30, 2024. 

Website:  https://edu.law.moe.gov.tw/EngLawContent.aspx?lan=E&id=250

2. Huayu (Mandarin) Enrichment Scholarship : Allows applicants to choose to pursue either 3 or 6 months of Mandarin courses, subject to TECO's approval. The grant provides a monthly stipend of 25,000 NTD to cover all the expenses (tuition, miscellaneous, etc.) 

The application is from February 1 to March 31, 2024. 

Website:  https://edu.law.moe.gov.tw/EngLawContent.aspx?lan=E&id=70

3. International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF): The grant covers the full tuition fee, living expenses, economy class airfare tickets, and textbook costs. Scholars pursuing Master's will receive a monthly stipend of 18, 000 NTD and 20, 000 NTD for those pursuing Doctoral degrees.  

The application is from December 1, 2023 to March 15, 2024. 

Website: https://www.icdf.org.tw/wSite/np?ctNode=31561&mp=2

Each applicant can only apply for one scholarship program among these offerings and must process first their university admission to their preferred university in Taiwan. They also have to comply with and submit necessary scholarship requirements to Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines for review and recommendation based on the indicated deadlines of each program. It is important to note that it is ineligible to apply if the applicant currently has enrolled in another program in Taiwan .

End Repost

Source: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ph_en/post/5713.html

Here's to a successful scholarship application! May you graduate and enter history.

Photo Credit: https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=79179