Effective Thesis Writing

1
Effective Thesis Writing

• Jo-Anne Andre Audrey Habke
• University of Calgary
• Faculty Technology Days
• May 6, 2009

Effective Writing Program http//efwr.ucalgary.c
a
2
Overview

• Common problems in theses
• Getting started your writing process
• Conceptualizing your audience
• Structuring your thesis -- The abstract
• The introduction
• The literature review
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusion
• End matter References Appendices

3
Common Problems in Theses

• From an informal survey of U of C CPSC professors
  
• Conceptualization of research into thesis
  structure
• Conceptualization of audience
• Structuring the thesis
• Coherence paragraph structure
• Development of strong arguments
• Definitions use of specialized terminology
• Clarity and precision in sentences grammar
• Presenting math effectively
• Editing - spelling, punctuation, word use,
  citations

4
Getting Started

• Familiarize yourself with requirements
  resources
• Effective Writing resources for grad students
  http//efwr.ucalgary.ca/gradstudents
• Thesis template ( guidelines)
  http//www.ucalgary.ca/it/mswordthesisstylefiles/
• Review several theses in your field
• For U of C theses, see https//dspace.ucalgary.ca/
  handle/1880/281
• For Canadian theses, see http//www.collectionscan
  ada.gc.ca/thesescanada/index-e.html
• Find other theses online or in specialized
  databases. See the UofC library website.
• Some theses may be freely available online.
  E.g, from computer science
• Brygg Ullmer dissertation (MIT)
  http//alumni.media.mit.edu/ullmer/dissertation/
  
• George Fitzmaurice dissertation (U of T)
  http//www.dgp.toronto.edu/gf/papers/PhD20-20G
  raspable20UIs/Thesis.gf.html
• Cory Kidd thesis (MIT) http//web.media.mit.edu/
  coryk/papers/Kidd_MS_thesis.pdf

5
THE WRITING PROCESS
6
Writing Process

• Work from an outline
• Expect to do multiple drafts
• Write first, edit later edit in waves(move from
  large issues to small issues)
• Consider the layered approach to draftinga lit
  review (Thomas, 2000, p. 21)
• 1. Focus on factual information
• 2. Add evaluative and critical material
• 3. Write integrative material (section
  previews, comparisons of studies, summaries)
• Get feedback on your drafts

7
Conceptualizing Your Audience
You, your supervisor, and researchers focusing on
topics similar to yours
Specialists in your field working on other
topics
Professionals in related fields, who might
have an interest in your research. ? TARGET THIS
RING
8
Basic Structuring Strategies
Background ? Claim

• General(link to familiar information, context)

Evidence Support e.g., data, technical
information,equations, examples, reasoning

• Provide section overviews / previews closing
  summaries
• Provide background for readers
• Start paragraphs with topic sentences
• Provide context for your work and for formulas,
  examples, etc.
• Use visuals to show the scope of your research

9
Example opening overview
From Ullmer, B. A. (2002). MIT. Dissertation
2 Conceptual foundations Humans are clearly no
newcomers to interaction with the physical world,
or to the process of associating symbolic
functions and relationships with physical
artifacts. This chapter considers the broad
conceptual background underlying tangible
interfaces. The chapter begins by considering
several historical examples that have been
inspirations for this thesisthe abacus, board
games, and early token-based accounting systems.
Next, an overview will be provided for related
areas of study from the social sciences . . . .
Several per-spectives from the design community
will also be considered. The chapter then turns
to the discipline of human-computer interaction,
reviewing several principles and models that
broadly relate totangible interface design.
Finally, the chapter discusses several models
that are specific to graspable and tangible
interfaces, . . . .
10
Example paragraph structure
There are two representative ways to form a
passivation layer, namely, vacuum deposition
79 and solution deposition 10,11. To date,
vacuum deposition processes, such as atomic layer
deposition 7 and chemical vapor deposition
8,9, have been predominantly used to produce
passivation layers. However, these processes have
many drawbacks, including long processing times
and high costs. Solution-deposition processes, by
contrast, have the advantages of allowing simple
and low-cost processing in short times. Example
from Nam et al. (2009)
General point
supporting discussion
11
Structuring your Thesis Traditional

• Front matter Title page, approval page,
  abstract, acknowledgements, table of contents,
  list of tables, list of figures, list of
  abbreviations
• Ch. 1 Introduction
• Ch. 2 Conceptual Foundations
• Ch. 3 Related Research (Literature Review)
• Ch. 3 Methods
• Ch. 4 Results
• Ch. 5 Discussion
• Ch. 6 Conclusion
• End matter References, appendices

Body chapters may vary depending on the thesis
e.g., chapters may present new work or report on
testing or case studies. In some cases, body
chapters will resemble research articles.
12
Structuring your Thesis Compilation

• Front Matter (as with the traditional style
  theses)
• Ch. 1 Introduction
• Ch. 2 Study 1
• Ch. 3 Study 2
• Ch. 4 Study 3
• Ch. 5 Integrated discussion
• Ch. 6 Conclusion
• End Matter (as with traditional style theses)

13
Structuring Sections
Table of Contents Approval Page...............
..................................................
......................... ii
Abstract..........................................
..................................................
....... iii Acknowledgements..................
..................................................
............. iv Table of Contents............
..................................................
........................v CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION......................................
.......................1 1.1 Research
Objectives........................................
..............................1 1.2
Background........................................
............................................2 1.2.
1 The Oil and Gas Economy .......................
..........................2 1.2.2 Environmental
Legislation ......................................
..........3 1.2.3 Environmental Impact of Salts
.........................................4 1.2.4
Salt Remediation ................................
..............................5 1.2.5 Tile
Drainage Systems..................................
.....................7 1.2.6 Solute Transport
..................................................
.............7 CHAPTER TWO STUDY
AREA..............................................
...................9 2.1 Site
Description.......................................
.......................................9 2.2
Previous Site Investigations......................
.....................................9 2.3
Regional Setting..................................
.........................................11
2.3.1 Physiography and Climate..................
.............................11 2.3.2 Geology
..................................................
.........................13 2.3.2.1 Tectonic
Setting and Bedrock..............................1
3 2.3.2.2 Surficial Sediments and Soils
..............................15
Use informative ( grammatically parallel)
subheadings
Restrict the number of heading levelsto 3 or 4
14
FRONT MATTER
15
Writing the Abstract

• A brief summary of your project
• One or more paragraphs
• Masters thesis 150 words max.
• Doctoral dissertation 350 words max.
• Abstract should be informative

Example showing kinds of information to include
16
Example
Global gene expression of cellsattached to a
tissue engineering scaffold Klapperich, C. M.
Bertozzi, C. in Biomaterials Nov2004, Vol. 25
Issue 25, p5631- A goal of tissue
engineering is to produce a scaffold material
that will guide cells to differentiate and
regenerate functional replacement tissue at the
site of injury. Little is known about how cells
respond on a molecular level to tissue
engineering scaffold materials. In this work we
used oligonucleotide micro-arrays to interrogate
gene expression profiles associated with
cellbiomaterial interactions. We seeded
collagenglycosa-minoglycan meshes, a widely used
tissue engineering scaffold material, with human
IMR-90 fibroblasts and compared transcript levels
with control cells grown on tissue culture
polystyrene. Genes involved in cell signaling,
extracellular matrix remodeling, inflammation,
angiogenesis and hypoxia were all activated in
cells on the collagenGAG mesh. Understanding the
impact of a scaffold on attached cells will
facilitate the design of improved tissue
engineering materials. 128 words
Context / problem
Purpose / focus of study
Method
Consider how the opening sentences help to make
the abstract clear and readable
Findings
Significance
17
THE INTRODUCTION
18
Writing the Introduction (Ch. 1)

• Introduce the broad research area topic
• State the research problem or question
• Establish its significance
• Mention existing solutions their limitations
• Outline the proposed new solution
• Indicate the purpose and objectives of the study
  (e.g. to identify to determine to measure
  to evaluate to develop)
• Include hypotheses (if applicable)
• Indicate the studys scope and limitations

19
Example Objectives
Peate, I. U. (2003). Phd Thesis. U of London

• 1.4.1 Objectives of this study
• The main focus of this study is to
  examine the volcanic stratigraphy and lateral
  distribution, eruption and emplacement
  mechanisms, and petrogenetic evolution of
  large-volume silicic eruptions associated with
  Oligocene flood volcanism in Yemen. . . . goes
  on to present the rationale for the location,
  Yemen, and approach. This study seeks to
  establish a volcanic stratigraphy, and a
  chrono-logical and geochemical database for
  Cenozoic silicic flood volcanism in Afro-Arabia.
  The results of this are used to
• 1. Construct a regional stratigraphy of
  Yemen silicic flood volcanic products and
  examine eruption and emplacement mechanisms
  of silicic pyroclastic volcanism.
• 2. Compare and contrast the chrono- and
  volcano-stratigraphies of Yemen and Ethiopia in
  an attempt to link the conjugate rifted margins,
  and to evaluate any spatial variation in
  timing of volcanic activity across the
  Afro-Arabian flood volcanic province.
• 3. Evaluate the origin and evolution of
  silicic volcanism in Yemen and its genetic
  relationship to basaltic flood volcanism.
• 4. Evaluate the impact of silicic flood
  volcanism on global climate change, specifically
  the Oi2 global cooling event, by examining the
  relationship between Indian Ocean tephras and
  Afro-Arabian silicic pyroclastic eruptions.

20
Considering the Significanceof your Thesis
Research(Friedland Folt, 2000)
Methodological/technological contributions
How others mightuse your research
Empiricalcontributions(information)
Potentialsignificance ofthe research
Consider elementsseparately
Theoreticalcontributions(understanding)
Consideranalogoussystems
Contributionsto other fields
Educational orsocietal benefits
Short- vs long-term importance
21
THE LITERATURE REVIEW (REVIEW OF RESEARCH)
22
Reviewing the Literature What

• A literature review situates your research
  intothe larger research context by
• Reviewing previous research
• Synthesizing it into a summary of what is and
  isnt known
• Relating it to your research question
• Identifying points of controversy
• Suggesting questions for further research
  (Taylor, 2008, p. 1)

23
Level of Detail
(Hart,1998)
24
Common Criticisms of Lit Reviews

• The review is a chronology of work done in the
  area the writer has not organized the review
  thematically
• The writer separates research from different
  disciplines, rather than reviewing across
  disciplines
• Some sections sound too much like the original
  author
• The writer accurately summarizes the research,
  but fails to take a stand on the research or come
  to conclusions about the contributions and
  limitations of the research
• The writer fails to shape the lit review to
  demonstrate the need for his or her research

(adapted from Swales Feak, 2000, p.149)
25
Reviewing the Literature How

• Organize your review thematically
• look at key concepts in your research
• use subsections with informative headings
• group related pieces of research
• Move from broad to highly relevant work, from
  theoretical to empirical, from known to unknown
  (Tornquist, 1986)
• Describe highly relevant work in more detail

26
Literature Review planning

• Try mapping your key concepts bodies of
  research
• e.g., study on gender differences in online
  learning for students enrolled in a distance
  nursing program
• Develop an outline
• Write first, edit later

Define concepts
27
Literature Review notetaking

• Use charts to help synthesize information while
  note-taking

28
Use Appropriate Tenses

• Researcher actions - past tense
• Smith (2003) studied Pell (2004) found
• Research in general present perfect
• Research has shownhas been studied
• Conclusions drawn - present tense
• Response time depends on(Pell, 2004)

29
Using Sources Effectively

• Dont paraphrase by using the original sentence
  structure and changing words here and there
  that is plagiarism even if you cite the source
• Use quotation marks around wording taken from a
  source
• Quote only when the original wordingnot just
  the idea is important
• Use sources to support your pointsnot to make
  them
• Whether you paraphrase or quote, always cite
  the source

30
Paraphrasing too Closely (Example from Zobel,
2004, p. 217-218)

• Original (Barlman Trey, 2001) The impact of
  viruses has become a major issue in many large
  organizations, but most still rely on individual
  users maintaining virus definitions, with no
  internal firewalls to protect one user from
  another.
• Unacceptable paraphraseViruses have become a
  major issue in many large organizations, but most
  organizations still rely on users maintaining
  virus definitions on their individual computers,
  with no internal firewalls to protect one
  computer from another (Barlman Trey, 2001).

31
METHODS(EXPERIMENTAL)

• A methodology is not just a list of research
  tasks but an argument as to why these tasks add
  up to the best attack on the problem
  (Przeworski Salomon, 2004, p. 1)

32
Writing the Methods Section

• Overall purpose to argue that your chosen
  methodology was the best approach to your
  particular research question.

The methodology section serves to convince the
examiner that you really knew what you were doing
and that you knew how to do it properly (Parsons
Knight, 2005, p.128).
33
Describing Methods What

• Summarize the research design
• Approach, research questions hypotheses
• Link to background, review of literature
• Explain philosophical basis for your approach
• Describe the research setting sample
• Population, sampling method, sample size, ethics
  considerations
• Explain ( justify) the intervention, procedures
  and tools for data collection and analysis
• Address variables, measurement, sources of bias,
  etc.
• Establish scope and limitations

34
Describing Methods How

• Use headings to organize information
• Be as specific as possible provide enough detail
  to allow replication
• For novel approaches, justify methods in detail
• Include references

35
Language and Presentation

• Verbs
• Use past tense for research actions (occasionally
  shifting to present tense for other purposes)
• Use active when possible, switching to passive
  voice to downplay researcher role as required
• Aim for precision
• Visual design
• Use informative headings
• Include useful visuals (e.g., photos or
  illustrations of samples, equipment and
  procedures)

36
Example (modified from Belcher, 2005, p.94)
5.1 Multi-Method Charcoal Analysis In order to
maximise the amount of information gained from
the charcoal record, three separate methods of
preparation have been used 1) polished blocks
were collected, 2) demineralised sediment samples
were captured, and 3) these sediment samples were
sieved into two separate fraction sizes,
macroscopic and microscopic. Studying charcoal in
polished blocks is essential in order to
establish the exact stratigraphic location of any
charcoal. They will, however, only represent a
"snapshot" of the sections charcoal content.
Residues from demineralised sediment have a lower
spatial resolution but will reveal the sizes and
shapes of particles and the overall charcoal
content of each horizon (e.g. particles of
charcoal per gram of sediment).
generalto specificdescription
Justification of method
37
Example (Hunton Rose, 2005)
Participants completed a 30-minute driving
course, where they drove around a simulated city.
The course was designed at a 90 degree of
difficulty in order to assure that the driving
task was physically and cognitively demanding.
The degree of difficulty of the selected driving
course was determined by the simulator software
based on various programmed factors, such as the
amount of congestion, movement of surrounding
vehicles, number of obstacles, behaviour of
pedestrians, and complexity of intersections. To
determine driving performance, we measured the
number of incidents (e.g., speeding, running a
stop sign, failing to yield, and following too
close) and number of crashes (i.e., circumstances
where the car hits a person, object, or
automobile).
Link methods to research purpose
38
RESULTS
39
Presenting the Results

• Separate results from methods and discussion
• Summarize the research, reminding readers of key
  aspects describe the sample
• Present the results first and analyze them later
  in the chapter (or section)
• Provide detailed data in labelled tables /
  figures use appendices if necessary for raw data
  or detailed results
• Refer to visuals and appendices explicitly (e.g.,
  Figure 2 Appendix A) where appropriate in the
  discussion.
• Provide conceptual links between results and the
  research design connect findings to your
  research question, objectives, hypotheses, and
  methods

40
Example
4.2.2 Major Element Geochemistry 4.2.2.1
Classification Three tuffs were sampled from the
area and analysed for their geochemistry. Based
on their silica contents (62.54-74.39 wt SiO2)
they are evolved andesites to rhyolites and have
lower K2O contents (0.9-1.73 wt) than similarly
evolved Cenozoic igneous rocks from elsewhere in
Sabah (Fig. 4.3). 4.2.2.2 Major Elements The
major element concentrations of the samples from
Sandakan are listed in Table 4.1, and plotted on
Fig. 4.4 where they are compared with those from
SE Sabah (Tawau I and Tawau II). As only 3
samples were analysed, the data are insufficient
to interpret clear correlations in some of the
Harker plots e.g. Al2O3 (13-15.9 wt) and Fe2O3
(3.9-7.2 wt). Some major elements show no
correlation with increasing SiO2 content e.g.
TiO2 (0.403-0.721wt ), MgO (0.71-2.65), Na2O
(1.8-4.7 wt) and MnO (0.155-0.2.73 wt). A
positive trend exists for K2O (0.9-1.73 wt) with
negative trends for P2O5 (0.097-0.291 wt ) and
CaO (0.92-6.3 wt ) versus silica. Compared with
the Tawau I samples with similar SiO2 contents,
the Sandakan rocks have lower Al2O3, MgO and K2O
and higher TiO2, Fe2O3, Na2O, CaO, MnO and P2O5.
The three samples have high LOI from 7.41-9.32
wt. (Chiang, 2002, p.205)
Link to research design
41
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
42
Discussing Results Inductive Logic

• Developing a new claim (Evidence? Claim)
• Presenting contested claims
• Justifying decisions discussing weaknesses

Evidence building toward your claim
Claim
43
Example (Romer, 2005, p107)
It is a common belief that in general women are
more polite than men and that female language
contains more hedges than male language (see for
instance Holmes, 1995). For the present
analysis, this would mean that the percentages of
hedged negative evaluative statements should be
significantly higher in Book Review in
Linguistics Corpus (BRILC) female than in BRILC
male. However, if we determine the shares of
hedging in the subcorpora of BRILC, we do not
find any significant differences between the
numbers of hedge negative adjective
combinations in reviews written by women and men,
but almost equal percentages. In BRILC female,
hedging devices (like rather, somewhat, it seems,
I think) were found in 83 out of 150 examined
concordance lines (53.3). With 53.7 (79 out of
147 instances), the relative number of hedged
critical state-ments in texts written by male
reviewers is only slightly lower.Thus,
concerning the shares of hedging of all analysed
adjectives as a group, no significant
gender-related differences were found.
44
Discussing Results Concluding

• Summarize major findings
• Connect findings to your research questions,
  objectives, and hypotheses
• Highlight the meaning of the findings andrelate
  the findings to the literature
• Do they support previous research or theory?
• Discuss limitations of the research
• Discuss contributions to knowledge in your field,
  applications to theory development, and
  implications for practice
• Indicate directions for future research

45
END MATTER
46
References Citation Resources

• UofC Effective Writing Program writing
  resourceshttp//efwr.ucalgary.ca/citationstyles
• Resources for
• APA
• Chicago
• CSE
• Harvard
• IEEE
• MLA
• Vancouver

47
Appendices

• Use appendices for detailed information related
  to research methods or results
• Label as Appendix A, B, C, title each
• List by name in your Table of Contents

48
References Resources

• Friedland, A. J., Folt, C. L. (2000). Writing
  successful science proposals. New Haven CT Yale
  UP.
• Hart, C. (1998.) Doing a literature review.
  Thousand Oaks CA Sage.
• Matthews, J. R., Bowen, J. M., Matthews, R. W.
  (2000). Successful scientific writing. Cambridge
  Cambridge UP.
• North Dakota State University. (n.d.) Guidelines
  for M.S. Thesis/PhD Research Proposal. Retrieved
  May 3, 2005, from http//www.ndsu.nodak.edu/HNES/G
  raduate20Stuff/ms.thesis.guid
• Parsons A.J., Knight, P.G. (2005). How to do
  your dissertation in geography and related
  disciplines (2nd ed.). London Routledge.  
• Przeworski, A., Salomon F. (2004). The art of
  writing proposals Some candid suggestions for
  applicants to Social Science Research Council
  competitions. Retrieved April 10, 2004, from
  http//www.ssrc.org/ publications/for-fellows/art_
  of_writing_proposals.page.
• Swales, J.M. Feak, C.B. (2007). Academic
  writing for graduate students Essential tasks
  and skills. Second edition. Ann ArborU of
  Michigan P.
• Taylor, D., Proctor M. (2008). The literature
  review. Retrieved May 01, 2009 from
  http//www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html
• Thomas, S. A. (2000). How to write health
  sciences papers, dissertations and theses.
  Edinburgh Churchill Livingstone.
• Tornquist, E. M. (1986). From proposal to
  publication An informal guide to writing about
  nursing research. Menlo Park CA Addison-Wesley.
• Verhoef, M.J., Hilsden, R.J. (2004). Writing an
  effective research proposal. Retrieved March 10,
  2009, from http//www.clinicaltrials.ualberta.ca/d
  ownloads/protocol_writing_handout_2004.pdf
• Zobel, J. (2004). Writing for computer science.
  London Springer.

49
References (Samples)

• Belcher, C. (2005). Assessing the evidence for
  extensive wildfires at the Cretaceous-Tertiary
  boundary. PhD dissertation Department of
  Geology, Royal Holloway University of London.
• Chiang, K.K., (2002). Geochemistry of the
  Cenozoic igneous rocks of Borneo and tectonic
  implications. PhD dissertation Department of
  Geology, Royal Holloway University of London.
• Hunton, J. , Rose, J. (2005) Cellular telephones
  and driving performance The effects of
  attentional demands on motor vehicle crash risk.
  Risk Analysis, 25, No. 4, 855-866.
• Klapperich, C. M. Bertozzi. (2004) Global gene
  expression of cells attached to a tissue
  engineering scaffold, C. Biomaterials, 25, No.
  25, p5631.
• Nam, S. et al. (2009). An inkjet-printed
  passivization layer based on a photocrosslinkable
  polymer for long-term stable pentacene
  field-effect transistors. Organic Chemistry. 10,
  6772.
• Peat, I. U. (2003). Volcanostratigraphy,
  geochronology and geochemistry of silicic
  volcanism in the Afro-Arabian flood volcanic
  province (Yemen and Ethiopia). PhD Thesis.
  University of London.
• Romer, U. (2005). This seems somewhat
  counterintuitive, though... Negative evaluation
  in book reviews by male and female authors. In
  Tognini-Bonelli, E. Camiciotti, G. (eds.)
  Strategies in academic discourse. Amsterdam
  John Benjamins Publishing.
• Ullmer, B. A. (2002). Tangible interfaces for
  manipulating aggregates of digital information.
  Retrieved September 14, 2007, from
  http//alumni.media.mit.edu/ullmer/dissertation/