Writing a research thesis

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Writing a research thesis

• Engineering Geomatics
• Presented by
• Pamela Champion
• Learning Skills Unit
• Equity and Learning Programs
• University of Melbourne

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Role of the Learning Skills Unit

• Specific workshops
• Print information (hard /soft copies)
• Individual appointments
• 723 Swanston Street
• Ph 83440930
• www.services.unimelb.edu.au/lsu/

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Issues for research students

• Organisation
• Structuring the content
• Academic writing
• Writing a literature review
• Editing and thesis presentation
• Time management
• Motivation and procrastination

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GETTING ORGANISED
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What to organise

• Create a working timetable (work backwards from
  the due date)
• A study area
• Develop a regular work routine
• Create an outline of thesis chapters (structure)
• Construct a thesis template (formatting)
• Your supervisor

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Preparation

• Read other theses in your field to determine
  academic standards expected
• Know the academic requirements
• Become familiar with a word processing package
  (check out the IT courses)
• Create an outline of your thesis chapters
• Use a thesis journal and to write down ideas
• Use a log book of all the meetings, e-mails and
  discussions that you have with your supervisor
• Start writing ASAP!!

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Referencing

• Know which referencing style is required
• Understand how to use it
• Keep a record of all references used
• Use an organised system to store bibliographic
  records and literature
• eg. Endnote /cross referenced /alphabetical

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Structuring the content
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See the big picture

• When planning - visualise the project as a whole
• Make links between the literature and your
  research/project or discussion
• Write first - edit last

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Tentative structuring process

• Have a thesis (main aim)
• Write down all the things you've discovered since
  you started your thesis, insights, ideas, etc
• Organise these into groups of associated ideas
• Give a heading and sub-headings to each group of
  ideas
• Ideas should be linked and develop logically

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Thesis Format

• Preliminaries
• Introduction
• Background / Literature review
• Your work (methodology, results)
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices

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Thesis format

• The preliminaries
• Title page abstract
• Declaration
• Acknowledgments
• Table of contents
• List of tables
• List of figures or illustrations

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Thesis format cont...

• Introduction (rationale, hypothesis, context,
  methodological approach, research aims, thesis
  outline)
• Main body
• Background Literature review (what is already
  known/unknown, review of current knowledge,
  context for your research)
• Methodology(what you did )
• Results (What you found)

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Thesis format cont...

• Discussion - Analysis discussion of results
• What happened? Why? How does it relate to past
  knowledge
• Conclusion - Brief review of content. What does
  it mean? Significance. Where to from here?)
• Conclusions drawn from the discussion and
  respond to respond to aim/s in the first chapter
• Conclusions should be crisp and concise with no
  new information

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Thesis format cont...

• The reference material
• References
• Appendix or appendices
• Index (if any)

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• Academic Writing

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All writing needs a thesis!

• What is a thesis ???
• The physical thing itself (minor or major)
• The main point / argument / position
• Argument and sub-hypotheses
• Links all information in the writing
• All information must be related to this thesis

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Focussing your research question

• Research is not a completely rational process
  (Evans 199570)
• Consider the scope of the topic and the task
• Investigate available resources support
• Make decisions, but be flexible
• Even a PhD has limits
• Separate yourself from the thesis

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Writing strategies and techniques

• Begin writing as soon as possible
• Start anywhere - with questions,
  ideas,inspirations
• Develop an overall plan / structure
• Write, dont edit
• Control reading / working before you write
• Keep reading / thinking / working / writing
• Seek feedback
• Set writing deadlines

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Academic writing style

• Clear - short clearly structured sentences
• Appropriate and specific vocabulary
• No repetition, but ideas linked
• Observes academic discourse - rules for each
  academic discipline
• Is formal - no contractions, slang,
  colloquialisms etc
• Impersonal -usually third person

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Checklist good scientific writing

• Objectiveevidence driven
• Accurate style, referencing, data,
• Concisenot wordy, balanced, within word limit
• Clear point evident
• Consistentexpression, spelling, grammar
• Convincing argument and language
• Reader friendly

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Be objective

• Information supported by evidence
• Avoid personal pronouns-third person
• Convince your reader with logic and evidence, not
  emotive language
• Where appropriate show more than one perspective
• Avoid personalised evaluation of authors
• Jones argues not Jones thinks/feels

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Be accurate

• Use evidence from reliable sources
• Check your facts and figures
• Be consistent in your use of numbers
• Use appendices to provide more detail where
  appropriate
• Use departmental style conventions for
  referencing and illustrations

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Be clear and concise

• Use short words and accurate terms
• Use technical language only where necessary eg
  precipitation is for geography essays,
  otherwise write rain.
• Use short and straightforward sentences
• Ensure pronouns and conjunctions are consistent
• If it can be cut out, cut it out

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Some common problems...

• repetition
• repeating words or ideas
• vagueness and verbosity
• using over-long sentences
• using imprecise terms
• lack of analysis
• too much description
• no clear plan
• lack of clarity
• assumption of knowledge

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Writing a literature review
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What is the lit review?

• Its the first part of the real thesis
• title, abstract, acknowledgments, contents,
  statement of authorship, glossary are all
  preliminaries
• It lets the readers involve themselves in your
  research focus
• explains what research has preceded yours
• shows where your research questions arise
• Allows readers to understand your work
• has all the information needed to understand your
  research

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A literature review.

• Provides a structured account of theory current
  at the time you did your own work
• Shows how your study links to other work in the
  field
• Provides comparisons for your findings
• Indicates studies you consider to be the best in
  the field

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How does the lit review work?

• gains readers attention
• uses scientific style accessibly
• is evaluative/critical of other work
• provides reasons for reading on
• raises questions AND proposes answers
• explains the context of the research
• provides background from the literature
• analyses the problem/s
• outlines process

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When to write the lit review?

• as early as you can
• for your supervisor and yourself
• write as you read and research
• impose limits on reading time
• draft, leave for a while, then redraft OR
• when youve completed the research
• you know more about the conclusion
• youve done more reading and research
• youll have further works to include

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How do I write my lit review?

• mostly present tense
• discussing the present problem and the current
  state of knowledge
• explaining what your research does
• some past tense
• reviewing former work
• discussing earlier theories

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Organising information

• Chronological
• By author
• By method
• By theoretical perspective

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How can I improve my writing?

• better writers read more
• better writers write more
• seek feedback from trusted readers
• test alternative versions from different
  perspectives
• build up editing skills
• write before you edit
• ask so what? whats the point?

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Editing
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Writing and editing are two separate processes

• Develop the necessary skills to edit for
• academic style clarity, simplicity, objectivity,
  accuracy, brevity
• Have an overall framework
• Note paragraph structure
• Learn to proof read

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General editing tips

• Give yourself time between edits
• Do several edits, each with a specific purpose
• Try to write more before you go back and
  criticise what you did yesterday
• Dont trash anything immediately, wait at least a
  couple of weeks
• Get a second opinion

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Internal structure checklist

• Is the argument consistent across sections?
• Are the sections clearly connected? How?
• Is anything missing? redundant?
• Is the discussion balanced? too much or too
  little of anything?
• Do the examples and illustrations complement,
  enhance, explain - or just repeat and distract?

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Editing scientific writing

• accuracy
• data, results, interpretations of other works,
  proposal
• spelling, numbers, symbols and abbreviations
• attention to tenses
• past, present, future
• balance of simplicity and brevity
• most easily understood version
• check for objectivity and emotion

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Structural cues headings /subheadings

• Systematic organisation of content
• gain readers attention
• explicit flow
• focus the flow of interest
• Provides clear connections
• raise questions in the reader
• easy as A, B, C or decimal?

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Flow within the text

• linking words
• additive
• contradictory
• expansive
• other linking devices
• linking sentences
• mini intros and conclusions
• internal references

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Editing with technology

• Re-read carefully where you have been cutting
  and pasting
• Print it out to read it, then annotate the hard
  copy
• Use spelling checkers carefully
• Be aware of what grammarcheckers require of you
• Make use of the Revisions function

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Using spell checkers

• Word processing programs have a dictionary
  installed
• Check that you have the Australian version (not
  American, eg. -ise vs -ize
• Spell checkers check every word that you type,
  but beware they dont distinguish homophones or
  documents and, document sand !
• Use the auto-correct facility!

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Using grammar checkers

• Grammar checkers look at every sentence for
• verbs
• sentence length and complexity
• verb subject agreement
• passive vs active verbs
• use of idiomatic phrases, eg, kick the bucket,
  part and parcel
• sentence length

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Best practice text

• use serif font and sentence case
• 9-12 point size depending on font
• 50 of page should be white space
• check visual appeal page layout
• justified (or ragged right)
• L and R margins beware binding
• paper weight and colour
• dont overdo any feature

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Illustrations 3 main types

• Tables
• Figures (anything not a table or a plate)
• graphs
• flow charts
• Organisational charts
• organisational charts
• pictograms
• Plates

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Illustrations

• Is it the best way to present information?
• Strong trends are better seen in graphs
• Precise numbers are better seen in tables
• line drawings better for minute details
• Plates can be essential - or a waste of money -
  watch the quality

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Illustrations - Best practice

• Note style conventions - captions, keys and
  legends, numbering, capitalisation and
  punctuation, acknowledgements and referencing
• Text reference as close as possible

• Layout maximise visual impact - white space,
  surrounds, shading, font, complexity, colours
• Relevance purpose, accuracy, saliency

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Tables

• for organised data - arranged in columns and rows
• Useful for precise numerical data
• text must refer to / discuss table
• important data must appear in a salient manner

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Best practice tables

• present only significant numbers
• number tables sequentially
• place close to mention in text
• use symbols
• avoid broadside presentation
• title above - not usually a sentence
• notes and acknowledgements below

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Figures

• Are anything that is not a table or a plate!
• e.g. graph, pie chart, bar graph, flow chart,
  map, organisational chart, pictogram, photo, line
  drawing...

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Best practice figures

• simplicity rules
• check scale
• minimum clutter
• keys/legends inside graph boundaries
• caption (legend) below
• notes below caption

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Best practice pictograms

• use easily recognised symbols to convey
  quantities
• make attractive copy
• BUT can be inaccurate and/or misleading

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Best practice plates

• top quality image
• top quality printing and copying
• careful cropping
• avoid broadside presentation
• important focus salient
• caption (legend) below, and notes below caption,
  OR both on preceding page

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Best practice graphics

• attention to white space
• no more than 2 fonts
• sans serif fonts, sentence case
• use bold or italics for emphasis
• limit colours to 4 or fewer
• check what it looks like in BW
• test it on a friend - what hits you?

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Time management
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Time traps to avoid

• saying yes when you dont have the time.
• not delegating
• pushing yourself too far
• working in a distracting location
• not thinking ahead
• spending hours on phone calls, email, meetings,
  trivial interruptions....
• frenetic business instead of quality time

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Use deadlines

• Deadlines create necessary tension between doing
  original work and reporting its progress, either
  orally or writing
• eg I work better under pressure
• Deadlines met and left behind provide an
  indication of how realistic longer term goals are
• Distant deadlines become short term goals
• Pseudo-deadlines
• Regular reporting meetings

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What if Im procrastinating?

• Remedies
• DIN (Do It Now)
• rational self talk
• dont catastrophe
• design realistic clear goals
• prioritise, use lists
• get organised
• break tasks down
• try 10 minute con job
• build in rewards

• Reasons
• discomfort
• perfectionism

inadequacy
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More procrastination strategies...

• use the salami technique
• get started the next step is...
• dont wait for the right mood - the best
  antidotes is to begin writing (even if it is just
  rewriting your principle aim, the process of
  writing itself is helpful)
• anticipate task-diverting interruptions
• choose the best time of day for type of work
• commit to a deadline

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Stress

• Try to remember that there is more to life than
  your thesis. Give yourself permission to forget
  about your work sometimes try putting aside
  particular times for relaxation when you know you
  dont need to feel guilty about not working.
• Student

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Further reading

• Barrass, R. 1978. Scientists Must Write. Chapman
  and Hall, London.
• Bowden, J. 1991. How to Write a Report. How To
  Books, Plymouth, UK.
• Day, R.A. 1991. How to Write Publish a
  Scientific Paper. Cambridge University Press,
  Cambridge.
• Elphinstone, L. and Schweitzer, R. 1998. How to
  get a research degree a survival guide. Allen
  Unwin, Sydney.
• Evans, D. 1995. How to Write a Better Thesis or
  Report. MUP.
• Sides, C. 1991. How to Write Present Technical
  Information. Oryx Press, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.