Writing a PhD Thesis

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Writing a PhD Thesis

• Dr Sara Shinton
• www.shintonconsulting.com

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Objectives

• Identify and address concerns
• Improve your understanding of what makes a good
  thesis
• Provide advice on planning, writing and surviving
  your thesis
• Input from experts
• a supervisors perspective
• recent PhD graduates
• the examiners role
• Further Help

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Those are my objectives.

• What are your concerns?
• Why have you come to this session?
• What do you want to know about thesis writing?

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When you are about to begin, writing a thesis
seems a long and difficult task..

• That is because it is a long and difficult task.

Joe Wolfe, University of New South Wales
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What is a thesis ?

• Your thesis is a research report. The report
  concerns a problem or series of problems in an
  area of your subject and it should describe what
  was known about it previously, what you did
  towards solving it, what you think your results
  mean, and where or how further progress in the
  field can be made.

Joe Wolfe, University of New South Wales
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Our definitions

• Edinburgh
• Heriot-Watt
• St Andrews
• Well look at some excerpts - you need to read
  your own regs CAREFULLY

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Edinburgh

• Examiners are asked to confirm whether the thesis
  is an original work making a significant
  contribution to knowledge in or understanding of
  the field of study it contains material worthy
  of publication it shows adequate knowledge of
  the field of study and relevant literature it
  shows the exercise of critical judgement with
  regard to both the candidates work and that of
  other scholars in the same general field it
  contains material which presents a unified body
  of work such as could reasonably be achieved on
  the basis of three years postgraduate study and
  research and is satisfactory in its literary
  presentation, gives full and adequate references
  and has a coherent structure understandable to a
  scholar in the same general field with regard to
  intentions, background, methods and conclusions.

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Heriot-Watt

• The standard of the Degree of Doctor of
  Philosophy (or equivalent) shall be that expected
  of a good Honours graduate who has satisfactorily
  completed a research course and has investigated
  and evaluated or critically studied an
  appropriate topic over not less than 24 months of
  full-time study, or equivalent, resulting in a
  significant original contribution to knowledge,
  and has presented a satisfactory thesis. In
  addition, a candidate for the award of PhD must
  be able to demonstrate a full and proper
  understanding of the research methods appropriate
  to the field of study concerned.

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St Andrews

• The thesis or portfolio shall constitute a
  significant and original contribution to
  knowledge or understanding consistent with what
  may reasonably be expected of a diligent student
  after three years of full-time study (in the case
  of the PhD), four years of full-time special
  study and research (in the case of the EngD) or
  two years of full-time research (in the case of
  the MD). Submissions should be clearly written,
  well argued and should indicate a satisfactory
  knowledge of the field of study. Submissions
  should contain material worthy of publication in
  some form.

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So, what are the BIG ideas?

• New Knowledge
• Significant contribution to your field
• Critical judgement
• Testing ideas
• Worthy of publication
• Well look at these over the course of today

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Our first expert

• Professor Steve Chapman
• The supervisors perspective
• Questions welcome

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Big Idea 1

• New Knowledge

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Originality

• Pair up with someone from another institution
• Discuss with your partner
• The ways in which your work WILL be original
• Then
• The ways in which your work WONT be original

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Originality

• New work
• New interpretation
• New application
• New way of testing knowledge
• New connections

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Big Idea 2

• Judging the context of your work

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Context

• A chance to do some writing!
• Write so someone outside your field will
  understand
• Keep your ideas simple and clear

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In 100 words summarise what work has been done in
your research area

• Then give to your partner to read

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In 50 words, state your research aim

• Then give to your partner to read

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Context

• Why do we critique literature?
• Think about the contribution published work has
  made to your research

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We critique literature

• To learn about our field
• To reveal areas which invite development
• To work out where our ideas come from

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How do you link your work to your field?

• Be clear about how your work builds on existing
  research
• Are you contesting a view?
• Are you making existing theories more robust with
  additional perspectives?
• Are you filling a gap?
• How are you adding value to your field?

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In 50 words, explain how your research will
contribute to your field

• Then give to your partner to read

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Big Idea 3

• Critical Judgement and testing your ideas

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Critical judgement

• Refer to the key papers
• Identify the value of others work
• Compare researchers approaches and conclusions
• Avoid plagiarism

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Testing your own work

• Why did you use this method/approach
• Be clear on its advantages and limitations
• Is your interpretation the only possible
  explanation?
• Support from literature
• Confirmation from further work
• Anticipate the debate!

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Test your work

• How will you demonstrate that your experiment
  design or methodological approach is rigorous,
  valid and relevant to your research?

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Our next experts

• Dr Paul Murray
• Dr Francesca Fabbiani
• Recent survivors
• Advice on how to write effectively
• What to expect
• The viva experience

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Our final expert

• Professor Bob Baxter
• The examiners perspective
• An unusual opportunity - you ask HIM questions

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Planning and writing

• Practical tips and advice

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Expert Advice

• Read existing theses from your group
• Summarise these into 3-4 pages
• Use this as a basis for your thesis plan
• This helped me think about how I would do my
  thesis I could see the big picture
• Dr Keith Morgan, Chemistry,
• Heriot-Watt University

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Thinking holistically
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Where to start - Chapter One ?

• Start with the most comfortable chapter
  (previously published paper, clearest results)
• Lay out all results or figures and tell the
  story in note form
• review other theses - look for good practice
• refer back to your plan frequently

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Thinking holistically
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Thinking holistically
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If you like mind mapping

• Freemind
• http//freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Mai
  n_Page
• Warning excellent displacement activity!

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Getting Started Thesis Plan

• introduction
• literature review
• core chapters
• materials and methods
• theory
• results and discussion
• final chapter
• conclusions and suggestions for further work
• references
• appendices

http//www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/thesis.html
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The results chapters

• Introduce chapter
• Data or figures
• Describe these
• Identify themes
• Observations
• Common features
• Expected or unexpected results
• Why?
• Literature
• Relate to aims

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Nows your chance

• Produce an outline thesis plan
• Your real plan should take hours to produce
  this is just a sample!

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Organisation

• Develop a filing system
• computer based and physical
• BACK UP EVERYDAY
• Copy your lab book
• Check University regulations
• SMART Objectives

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Supervisor management

• Establish the ground rules
• Minute your meetings
• Be realistic about their commitments
• Some cannot tackle English and Science
  simultaneously
• They cannot judge the work unless it is presented
  completely (i.e. including figures, tables etc.)
•  Give them a neat, complete version of each
  chapter (proof-read thoroughly and spell
  checked.)

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Effective writing

• 1. Establish a routine, dont be distracted, take
  breaks
• 2. Who are you writing for ?
• 3. Set clear goals for each week/day/hour
• 4. Use your outline be organised
• 5. Dont stall on details, walk away (for a SHORT
  while!)
• 6. Short and simple phrases
• 7. Clear English and good grammar
• 8. Seek help from the experts - supervisor,
  library, faculty training programmes

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Practical Issues

• Draft versions - coloured paper or headers
• Its not a work of art - beware displacement
  activity
• Use key words - dont worry about constant
  repetition of terminology
• Use a thesaurus for non-technical words
• Make sure figures and tables are introduced and
  referred to - or omit them
• Health and Safety - be comfortable

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Formatting my thesis

• Chapter Headings 18pt Bold
• Main Headings 14 pt Bold
• Subheadings 14pt
• Text 12pt
• Bullets ?
• Margins Left 40
• Right 25
•  
• Font Times New Roman

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Formatting right first time

• Decide on rules for all features
• e.g. Figure 4.2ii
• Where annotation of a figure goes below the
  figure
• e.g. Table 4.2a
• Where annotation of tables goes above the table
• References what is the standard?

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What do you have left to do between now and ..?
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A Dictionary of Useful Research Phrases

• Research Phrase
• It has long been known
• A definite trend is evident
• Of great theoretical
• and practical importance...
• While it has not been possible to provide
  definite answers to these questions

• Translation
• I didn't look up the original reference.
• These data are are practically meaningless.
• Interesting to me
• An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to
  get it published

http//www.best.com/smurman/soga/misc/research.ht
ml
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• Three of the sample were chosen for detailed
  study...
• Typical results are shown
• The most reliable results are those obtained by
  Jones...
• It is believed that
• It is generally believed that

• The results of the others didn't make any sense
• The best results are shown.
• My superviser owes him a favour.
• I think.
• A couple of other people think so too.

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Expert Advice

• Practice writing
• Practise reading PhD theses (not least so you
  know what being the audience for a thesis is
  like)
• Practise reviewing / reshaping the essential
  logical skeleton or argument of your own thesis
  or research
• Steve Draper, Psychology, Glasgow University

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External Examiners checklist

• Research aims clear?
• Literature reviewed/critiqued?
• Key papers included?
• Theoretical basis sound?
• Conjectures consistent with theory?
• Appropriate methodology?

• Evidence collected ethically?
• Sufficient evidence?
• Convinced of reliability and validity?
• Findings assessed against literature?
• Findings make significant contribution to the
  field?
• Any inconsistencies?
• Conclusions?

IS THIS PERSON AN EXPERT?
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Useful websites

• www.grad.ac.uk/writingup
• http//www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/thesis.html

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How to write a thesisRowena MurrayISBN
0-335-20719-9

• Highly recommended