ThesisWriting
Thishandoutconsistsoftwosetsofresources:oneonthesisstructureandoneonstyle.Thefirstsetprovidesanoverviewofthestructuralcharacteristicsofdifferentthesistypes.Thisoverviewissupplementedwithexamplesfromthesischaptersinarangeofdisciplines.Thesecondsetprovidesanoverviewofstyleandlanguagecharacteristicsofthese.
Thefunctionoftheresourcesistoassistpostgraduateresearchstudentswiththetaskofwritingathesisby
Makingexplicitthecharacteristicsoftypicalthesesand
Byprovidingdirectinstructionaboutachievingsomeofthosecharacteristics.
Commonthesisstructures
Abstract
Introduction
ReviewingtheLiterature
MaterialsandMethodsSections
ResultsandDiscussionSections
DiscussionChapters
Conclusions
StyleinThesisWriting
Formal
Impersonal
Concise
Technical
Logical
Cohesive
Abstract
Theroleoftheabstractistotellreaders:
·WHATtheresearchis-whatquestiontheresearchisattemptingtoanswer·WHYtheresearchwasdone·HOWtheresearchwasdone-whatmethodologywasused·WHATtheresultsoftheresearchare·WhattheresultsMEAN.
Ineffect,theabstractsumsuptheresearchandsummarisestheseparatesectionsofthethesis:theintroduction,themethodssection,theresultssectionandthediscussionandconclusionsections.
Introduction
Introductions
Introductionsintroducetheresearchindetailandestablishthevalidityoftheresearchbyshowingthatthepreviousresearchinthefieldcontainssomekindof''gap''inknowledgethatwillbefilledbythisresearch.
·Establishingthefield·Summarisingpreviousresearch·Preparingforpresentresearch-showingthegap·Introducingpresentresearch·Overviewofthesischapters
LiteratureReview
Theroleoftheliteraturereviewinthesesistoprovideacriticalreviewandanalysisoftheliteraturerelevanttoyourparticulartopic.Thepurposeofaliteraturereviewcanbeto:
·summariseandevaluatepastresearch·showsimilaritiesanddifferencesinpreviousresearch·giveanoverviewofcontroversiesinpastresearch·placeone''sownresearchintocontext·showagapinresearch·justifyyourownresearch·generatenewresearchhypotheses.
MaterialsandMethodsSectionsThisisthesectionthattellsyourreader''how''youcarriedoutthetestingorexperimentsthatwerepartofyourresearch.Itmayhavesectionsthatexplain:
·WHENthestudywascarriedout·WHEREthestudycarriedout·whatMATERIALSwereusedinthestudy,and·HOWthestudywascarriedout/WHATprocedureswereused.
Thislastpointmightincludeissuessuchasthestatisticsthatwereusedtoanalysedata.Rememberthatamaterialsandmethodssectionshouldnotpresentanyotherinformation:itshouldnothaveresultsordiscussionelementsmixedinwiththedescriptionofmaterialsandmethods.
Results
ResultsandDiscussionSections
Theresults,discussionandconclusionsectionsofathesismayappearasseparatechaptersormaybecombinedindifferentways.Threemodelsbelowshowthepossiblecombinations.
Model1 Model2 Model3 Results Results&Discussion Results Discussion Discussion&Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion ThesemodelsaretakenfromMurrison,E,&Webb,C.(1991)Writingaresearchpaper.Fromtheseries:WritingPracticeforUniversityStudents
Youmayalsohaveminiresults,discussionandconclusionsectionsoccurringwithinchaptersifthereisnoseparateresultssectionorchapter.
Discussion
DiscussionChapters
Thefunctionofadiscussionsectionisto:
·interprettheresultspresentedintheresultssection;and·discusstheminrelationtoyourresearchquestionandtotheresultsofpreviousresearchinthefield.
Ofcourse,topresentanydiscussionaboutresultsfrompreviousresearch,youmustalreadyhaveintroducedthisresearchinyourliteraturereview.Discussionchaptersalsooftenincludesub-sectionsonissuesarisingfromthestudy,orthatdetailtheimplicationsoftheresearch.
BodyChapter
Conclusion
Theroleoftheconclusionistosummariseforthereader:
·WHATaimstheresearchfulfilled·WHATtheresultsoftheresearchwere·WhattheresultsMEANT·Theoverallimportanceoftheresearch.
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