Title: Writing a PhD Thesis
1Writing a PhD Thesis
- Dr Sara Shinton
- www.shintonconsulting.com
2Objectives
- 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
3Those are my objectives.
- What are your concerns?
- Why have you come to this session?
- What do you want to know about thesis writing?
4When 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
5What 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
6Our definitions
- Edinburgh
- Heriot-Watt
- St Andrews
- Well look at some excerpts - you need to read
your own regs CAREFULLY
7Edinburgh
- 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.
8Heriot-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.
9St 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.
10So, 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
11Our first expert
- Professor Steve Chapman
- The supervisors perspective
- Questions welcome
12Big Idea 1
13Originality
- 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
14Originality
- New work
- New interpretation
- New application
- New way of testing knowledge
- New connections
15Big Idea 2
- Judging the context of your work
16Context
- A chance to do some writing!
- Write so someone outside your field will
understand - Keep your ideas simple and clear
17In 100 words summarise what work has been done in
your research area
- Then give to your partner to read
18In 50 words, state your research aim
- Then give to your partner to read
19Context
- Why do we critique literature?
- Think about the contribution published work has
made to your research
20We critique literature
- To learn about our field
- To reveal areas which invite development
- To work out where our ideas come from
21How 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?
22In 50 words, explain how your research will
contribute to your field
- Then give to your partner to read
23Big Idea 3
- Critical Judgement and testing your ideas
24Critical judgement
- Refer to the key papers
- Identify the value of others work
- Compare researchers approaches and conclusions
- Avoid plagiarism
25Testing 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!
26Test your work
- How will you demonstrate that your experiment
design or methodological approach is rigorous,
valid and relevant to your research?
27Our next experts
- Dr Paul Murray
- Dr Francesca Fabbiani
- Recent survivors
- Advice on how to write effectively
- What to expect
- The viva experience
28Our final expert
- Professor Bob Baxter
- The examiners perspective
- An unusual opportunity - you ask HIM questions
29Planning and writing
- Practical tips and advice
30Expert 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
31Thinking holistically
32Where 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
33Thinking holistically
34Thinking holistically
35If you like mind mapping
- Freemind
- http//freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Mai
n_Page - Warning excellent displacement activity!
36Getting 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
37The results chapters
- Introduce chapter
- Data or figures
- Describe these
- Identify themes
- Observations
- Common features
- Expected or unexpected results
- Why?
- Literature
- Relate to aims
38Nows your chance
- Produce an outline thesis plan
- Your real plan should take hours to produce
this is just a sample!
39Organisation
- Develop a filing system
- computer based and physical
- BACK UP EVERYDAY
- Copy your lab book
- Check University regulations
- SMART Objectives
40Supervisor 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.)
41Effective 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
42Practical 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
43Formatting 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
44Formatting 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?
45What do you have left to do between now and ..?
46A 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
47- 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.
48Expert 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
49External 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?
50Useful websites
- www.grad.ac.uk/writingup
- http//www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/thesis.html
51How to write a thesisRowena MurrayISBN
0-335-20719-9