How to Write a Thesis
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How to Write a Thesis A Handbook for Postgaduae Medical Stdes
How to Write a Thesis A Hndbook for Postgrdute Medicl Students
Bangabandhu Sheik Mujb Medical University, Dhaka Banglades January 2008
How to Write a Thesis A Hndbook for Postgrdute Medicl Students
Bangabandhu Sheik Mujb Medical University, Dhaka Banglades January 2008
ISBN: 984-300-002519 984-300-0025191 1 Publishng Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Cover desig Dr. Md. Mzanur Rahman
Al rghts reseve by BSMMU Frst Editon: January, 2008
©
Price T.
300.00
Prnted Zama Pntes & Packagig 62, Khilgaon Hazpr, Rampura D.LT Rad Dhaka-119 Phone: 9356977
The Committee and Contributors of the Hadbook 1
Professor Md. Salehuddin Chairman, Departmen o Ophalmology BSMMU, Daka
Charman
2
Professor Syed Professor S yed Atiqu Hoque Deament o Medicne o Medicne BSMMU Daka
Membe
3.
Professor M Mesbauddin Chairman Departmen o Phamacology BSMMU Daka
Membe
4
Professor Kondaer Manzer-EShamim Chairman, Departmen o Anatomy BSMMU, Daka
Membe
5
Dr Hossan Imam AHad Associae Pofessor of Otoaryngoogy Deament o ENT, BSMMU Daka
Membe
6
Dr Md Mizanr Raman Assocae Professor Biosatistics Deparmen of Biosaisics NPSOM Daka
Membe
7
Poessor Md. Shaidula Professor of Biosatsics BSMMU Daa
Member-Secretary
PREFACE After the establishment of the Institute of Post-graduate Medicine and Research (PGM&R) in 65 the Medical Education in Banglades has expanded manyfolds in various dimensions and students of M. Phil & FCPS in PGM&R would write dissertation and thesis as an integral part of their postgraduate program The students of various postgraduate institutions ie ICVD IDCH, RIHD, NIPSOM and others also have postgraduate education program of wich dissertaton / thesis is an integral part With the establishment of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical Universty in 1998, the necessity was fet for a thess guideline for the students and teachers of all medical institutons n Bangladesh With the passage of time soe governmet medical coleges in Bangadesh also started Postgraduate corses i medcal sciences As a part of the curcula each and evey studen is required to submit a thesis to obtain a Masters or Ph D Degree. For the preparation of a standard thesis adequate nowledge on iostatistics and other basic medical science is a prerequiste Many of our teachers and students lack suicient knowledge in biostatistcs and research methodology A standard book as a guidelne is now the demand of the time. It is expected a standard book n this regard wll equally benet both the teachers and the students who are invoved in research This handbook will be reviewed and updated periodically to accommodate new knowedge and experience Constructve criticisms and useful suggestons for improving the quality and contents of this handboo from al quarers are welcome. thank the charman and the members of the committee and contributors for their endeavor wthout which this publication would not have been possible
(Professo Md. Tahi)
Vce Chancellor
Table of Contents
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2.
3.
4.
Topics Chapter : Overview of he Thess 1 Wha s thesis? An oveiew of the hess structure 12 121 Thesis e page able o cones 22 Ceticate of gude/superviso 2 Decaao of authorshp 24 125 Ls of tabes and gues Ackowedgemets 126 Dedicaton 27 Abstac I 28 Key pons in hess Wriig 129 Chaper 2 Witng he Thess Itoduction and Backgroud 2 Introduco he ucios of the hesis iroducto 22 Deveopg the thesis raioale 2.3 24 hs s somethig we do o kow aeady 25 Other peope hik his probem as impotat The poem I am sudyng affecs a o of peope in a 26 paticuary uforunae way ad/or costs a o of moey 2.7 Sovig his pobem has mpicatios fo ohe probems he eseach s heoeticaly importa ad eesig 28 29 It wil enable us o do i beer he hess objectives, hypotheses o eseach quesons 10 2 Key pons in wtng toduction he hesis Chaper 3 Witng he hess eaure Review How to wre eaue eview 2 Seecio of teatue fo incusion n he ieraure eview Keep your leaue search unde coto 1 Compuer-asssed lieraure seachg 2 Seaches of colected prined absacs Maual seachng of liteaues 4 Consulng expets he eld 5 Oder o dffeet ypes of searches 6 Oganizao and g of ieature materias he scope o eraure coectios Bbographc sowae 8 4 Key poits i wiig iteraue evew he hess Cocudig comme 3.5 Chape 4 : Wig the hesis Maeias and Mehods Iroductio 41 42 Research parcipans/subecs 4 Research ools 44 Proocols and procedures 45 Mehodologica defese 46 Deense of sampe size 4 Satistica powe 4.8 Defense of paicipa selecion mehod
Page no 9-11 9 9 10 0 0 10 10 10 0 16 1 1 4 14 14 15 15 5 6 6 119 17
17 17 1 1 18 8 8 8 8 19 19 19 228 21 21 22 22 2 2 2 24
Topics
5
6
7.
8
4. Deense o the researc desgn 4.0 Expemental designs 4 Survey esearc 42 Defese of daa colection meods 42 Direc pysica measremen 422 Clcal observatio 4.23 Se-repored measres and quesionares 424 Ievews Secoday daa coection rom docmens and databases 425 Key poins to remember in wg tess mehodology 43 Caper 5: Wrig e Tesis Reslts toducon 5 5.2 e orgazao of e preseation of ress capers 53 Preseatio desg pricples for e resul section of heses Welpresened ables ad ges 531 532 Carity o pesetaon of sale rests Repog o aiative sdies 533 Good layo 534 A ogical deveopmen of te ndigs 5.4 55 Key pons o remember in wriing abes ad raps Caper 6 Witig the hesis Discssion 6 Introduco 62 Eements o discssio wrig 62 mpoa Eemens Detaied Analysis 622 Hypoess tesg 623 Sources of erors Aeraive modes 624 625 Te fuure 63 Key os o remember in dscussion wrtng Cape 7 Writing te Tess Conclsions and Recommendations 7 Itoducon 72 Summay o e ocomes o te lierate review 73 Major ndgs o te tess and ow tey itegrae wit previos work 74 Srengs and miaos of e researc 7.5 Fuure avees of researc 76 Te process of wiig te cocldig capter 77 Key ponts to remember i wng tess cocsions ad recommedatios Cape 8 : Wig e esis Reeence or Bibography What is tess refeece o bbliogapy? 8 I Reeecing ad bibograpc ctation 82 he Harvad Sysem (Ato Dae Method) 8.3 83 Ciation e ex4 References a e ed of e wor 832 84 American sychoogica Association (AS Syle Ctaion in te text 84 842 Reeeces at e end o e wok Reeence Ls Vancouver Syle 8.5 85 Ciation the ext References a the ed of e work 8.52 Bibiogapy Appendages Tess Formatting and Sbmssion Sampe Thesis Fomat Sample Bibiograpy
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27 27 28 29-34 29
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3740 37 37 38 38 38 39 40 464 4 4 41 41 43
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CHAPTER 1 Overview of the hess .1 What is thesis?
A thess s he wrien document tha esuls fom a perod o supervised research a the Universiy. Theses are geneally equed or 'rst Masers degees, and always o he highe degees - Master of Philosophy or Doco of Philosophy For some s Masters degees a ess comprehensve piece o esearch may be euired These are efered o as dsseraos Ay thess o mae what the disciplie attemps o make a new claim Is purpose is to shed new ight on somehig or to ook a somehg a ovel way This s ue whehe the hess s wtten in the medical sciences, he social sciences o the humanities The role o the thesis n Academa is o contribute to knowledge, Ths means hat you, the eseacher, ae conributng to he kowedge base we cureny have aout he wod we live n You have the poetal to nstgae ew reseach change curen pracices ad even chage peopes belies Because o his, your hess is judged agans sc cera I mus eec he expeced sadards of uversity scholashp A thesis eports on ew digs ad mplicatons of eseach udertake, set in he coext o he earlier wok o ohers and makig appropriae efeece to hose pevious sdes and results hat have ifuenced the conduct of the work The hess s also assessed y scholars exteal o the ivesiy After successfu examnaio of the hesis s odged n he versiy Lay boh had copy ad so copy Theses ae genealy avaiabe or perusal by students ad sa of this and ohe uverstes Frequety pas o a hesiso indeed eve the whole thesisae subseuety published ether as journal arcles or as books 1.2 An overview of the thess stucture
The health sciences thesis ypcaly oows a wedesigned ovea sucture I may cotai the folowig eemens: Thess te page i, ii Tale of conets 11 , Certicate o guide/Supervsor Iv Decaraon o authorship v, Ls o ables V List of gures VII Ackowledgemens Vlt Dedcaton (opoal) X Asract Inroducio I Lierature review Materias and methods Xlll Resuls XV Discusso xv Concusons ad ecommedatos VI RefeencesBiogaphy V Appendces ·
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·
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• •
•
Hw t Wie a ess
10
The substance of te thesis appears in the absact, inrodction and iteate eview metods and mateials, rests and dscsson conclusons and ecommendaions chapes. Howeve the podcton of a reseac tess is not simply a wiing task. is he clminaton of an often adous and engthy sequence of tasks perfomed in academic, clncal and community contexts Many peope are invoved in hese asks. is teaise reecs bo a focs on he wtng tasks and reseach context n whic ese ae writen 2. Th l pag
Ts page incldes ttle of the esis (includng subtte) auto's name, instituional aliation name of respecive deparmen monh and yea of submssion. .22 Tabl cnn
The tabe of conens should ist a the major sectons of the thesis docment and all their page ranges The skeleton o he table of contens can and shold be produced in daft but i can only be nalized wit e acual page nmbes when the est of the thess as been prined n nal form. 2.3 Cc gud/upv A ceticate is to be issued by the speviso of te hesis at e student conceed has competed te esis nde his cose supervison wt s ull saisfaction. .2.4 Dclaan auhhp •
Te declaation is sgned by the studen and it is genealy caimed tat the thesis s one own work all soces ave been coectly atibed and that the hesis s presented in accoce wit the univesitys guidelines and eguaions fo te degee. 25 L abl nd gu
The s of tabes and ges shows the exac tiles as they appea in te ext of al ble ges nclded n the thess It is bete to c and paste the ites fom the acual e gres o ense ta hey match exacty You shold include thei page nmbes to indice he ceent in he text 26 cknldgmn
e acknowledgements section has no sbstantve mpact pon the eception of the ei t i olite to ank hose who have subsantially assisted you either echnicaly intellec or cialy drng your eseach work he s paagaph s for the supeviso and c ur e econd paagap is fo any peson, oganiaon o instte wo suppoed the eseac for ncing and e hird and e nal paagaph is fo any oter peson(s colleages) wo sbstan ed you n e completon of e tesis wok. A maximum of one page is earmaked for te acowegements -
.
2.7 Ddcan
his is an opona page in wch you can pledge yo ndying devoton to you god. t is okay n books bt not mandaoy in hesis.
How to Wre a Thesis
1.2.8 Abac
An abstract should be viewed as a min verson of the thei. The abstract shoud provide a bref smmary of each of the main sectons of the thei: Introdcton, matera and methods ret and discsson. So an abtract can be dened as a ummary of the infomaton n a docment A we prepared abtract enabes readers to dentify the bac content of a docment quickly and accurately to determine ts reevance to ther interet, and th to decde whether they need to read the the in it' entirety The abtract n thes hold not exceed two page of dobe spaced text and hod be designed to defne ceary what i dealt with n the thesis Abtract preferably be tructred and hold () state the princpa objectve and cope of the nvetgation; ) decribe the methodoogy employed; iii) smmarze the reslt; and iv) tate the principa concusion Mot or the entre abtract hod be written in the past tense becaue t refers to work done The abtract houd never gve any informaton or concsion that not stated in the thesis Reerences to the iterature mst not be cited in the abstract The followings are the ey points to keep n mind A good abstract tels n one ine why the thei important. A good abstract i concie, readable and quantitative. Informaton in tite houd not be repeated Ill, Be expcit 1 V. Anwers to the folowng qeston hod be fond n the abtract a What did yo do? b. Why dd yu do t? What qeton were yo trying to anwer? c. How did you do t? State method. What dd yo learn? State major ndngs. d. e Why doe it matter? Pont out at leat one signcant mplicaton 1.2.9 Ky pn n ng
Frst and foremot, a a p f n A great deal of emphasis s paced on your writng abty and yor grade wll depend on how efectvely yo communcate your deas t s mportant to deveop a good cear conce writng style •
am for smpcty rather than compex sentence stctre be clear abot the point you are trying to make be concie and drect rather than excevey wordy make mportant ponts trongy
Second your thes hod contan a cear poiton or argument Yor writng need to use the approprate language and writing conventions that reect ths •
e approprate headngs and sub-headng each paragraph shoud have a cear pont topic sentence each point houd be concded before moving on to the next se appropriate dscorse markers ideas shoud be nked appropratey
Chapter 2 Wiing Tsis Inoducion nd Bckgound 2.1 Introductio You cannot write a good intoduction unil you know what he body of the hesis is. Be sure o ncude a hook at the beginnng of he inroducion Ths s a saement of somethng sufcienly nterestng o motivate you reader o ead the hes, s an importan scienic prolem ha your thesi eithe soves or addeses You shoud daw the reader in and make them wan to ead he res o he theis The nroducoy chapter should incude raionae for he hess the pevious reevan eseaches done n ths aea I should cie hose who had he idea o ideas s and houd also cite hose who have done he mos ecen work You should then go on o explain why it was necessary (your work o couse) Wha else belong n the intoducoy section(s) of you hesis? a. A statement o he goa of the thess: why he study was underaken o why he hesis was witen Do no epea absac. b Sucien akgound inormaton o a110w the eade to undesand he conet and sign cance of the quesion you ae tying to addess. c Poper acknowedgement o the pevous wok on which you are uiding Sucient reerences uch that a eade coud y going to the lbay achieve a sophisicated understanding o he contex and gnicance o he question. d. Epan he scope o you work wha wi and wha w no e incuded Remembe hat hs s not a review pape We are ooking or origna wok and interpeaton and analysis by you Break up the intoducion secton no logical segments y using subheads
2.2 The fuctons of the hess introduction Essenia1y he intoduction o a heah sciences thesis ought o perfom the folowng functions n he thesis document a ovde a rationae fo the hess reseach Review current knowedge in he ed relevan to your thesis hrough he performance of a iteratue review and analyss c Culminate in he saemen of reseach hypoheses or eseach uestons to be answered y the work in th thesis.
23 Developing the thesis rationae An mpotan function of the introducton is to provde a aionae fo the thesis research. he thesis atonae i concerned wih answeng the question 'Why does hs work need o e done? While you mght be convnced that your theis topic is of ovous and ntinsic merit t i the views of he examines that coun! Theefoe it is impotant hat you ae abe to communicate efectively o them a pausble and convincing ationae fo the wok you have peormed and whch you ae attemping to repo in the thesis
ow to Wrt a Thesis
The rationale fo the thesis is not conned to any one section of the thess, bt it ought to e partclly concentate thoghout the intouctory chapte. It needs to e oven closely into the fac of the ntouction an teratue revew A nme of stanad aguments can be sed to defend the esearch wok nclude n yor thesis an can be sed in the eveopment of your ationale These arguments are dscssed eow n plan angage 2.4 mng d n kn alady
The most basic rationale fo stuyng something is that we do not know about t aeay f we d know aleady then why wod we bothe to research it? f we wish to se a bt of jargon we cold say the thesis ntoucton has to entify clearly the 'knowedge gaps that nee to e fuled The knowege gap ationale s a bt weak on its own (ie we o not know this so we should) t t is a basc requste for the other possible agments in the atonae to be mae The knowedge gap agument s a kin of Sir Edmnd Hlay 'ecause it is there explanaton of why we nee to know An exampe of some text that expesses ths type of agument follows: Thus, the literature review has reeaed that the state of knowedge in the iterature ;s unsatis factor cOceing whether ong-term suriors of HV (as dened by 10 ears foowing nec tion without progression to AIDS) have psychoogca characteristics that are dferent from those who have 10t surived. According, the research program was designed to examine this position
25 O pp nk pbm a mpan
A second line of gument fo a thesis progam atonale is that other people think the pobem s mpoant too Ths elies on ning people who have said that you geneal research agenda o approach s worth prsing Once again this is not a patculary compellng stan-aone ationale as t is a sort of appea to authoity o adherence to acaemc group noms A the ncowd wear dngaees an hang aound at the oca coffee shop so we shou do ths as well On {he basis of these resuls, Teoshok (1988) aseed a 'a bo-psychosoal appoa o A[DS reear is eessary ad . may provide criical ormaio or deradig ad reai ADS'
The aove quotation s an excerpt fom a paper that the reseache wote recently concerning the psychologca charactistics of people wth HV who have svved the illness fo a ong time The researche was aging as a psychologist that psychoogical constucts had not been incude in the stues of ongtem survval ecase the medica reseachers had advocated totally iomedical celua level explanatons fo health hariness The eseacher went on to cite evidence fo the exstence of direct nks etween psychoogy states and mmne competence in humans One of hs aguments along the way was that peope lke Temoshok wee supportng the approach he was avocating Thus he was usng Temoshok as an appeal to authority stication for stdyng what he was studyng ie we wee wearing the same color dungarees 6 pbm I am udyng affc a pp n a paculay unfuna ay and/ c a f mny
Now we ae taking! This aspect of the ationale s oen faly easy to deveop in health sciences
How O
Write a Thesis
15
theses If you are studying peole wth a parcla obem, ten a esentaion o the epdemoogy o that olem s de igeur Even bete costs the community a lot of money. You can ncude statements aot te ablos cost o e condton and ow you eseac bears hi faos cos cod be redced. The olowng excet rom one of s paers on ack pan does e trc: For some time. back injuries have ated onsiderable researh aenio aross a ide rage of COUries / Seden Anderon ) repoed that 'ak kness aounted or on aerae % of he days los due to oupational injr among Swedish orkers. n the UK, nderson ) estimated tha 3% of the toal sik das ere de 0 lo bak pain, representin a loss o / million ork das per ann David ( /J, hoeer repoed that sprains ad sais o the bak a ork i the UK, ao!ed Jor an aerae o /4% o all ork absenees oer 3 das Jor the eriod to 0, representin approximal 0000 ases for eah ear Be1 & Wood ) esimated that 3000000 isits per (I o eneral pitioners i he UK ere assoiaed i! lo bak pblems ad that there ere 6000 10\ bak operaios eah ear
So why are yo no ot ee sdyng ack njures? e on was estashng was that hs s a g-evaence cosly condon that reqes stdy because o e ssues Laer on n is ae e wen nto how it all coss is is no a patculary academcaly espectabe argumen ut certanly gets te commnty's atenton Most theses can sand a dose of ts sor of epdemologca contexaizaon of the wok eorted within 2.7 Solvng poblm a mplcaon fo o poblm
t can be agued ta soutons to problems whn a partcla eld may ave wde mplicaions Fo exampe the dscovery of a vaccine or a acla vrus may ead to the se o sma tecnqes or ote vrses e wee pefomng a stdy of te eah prolems o nses aisng rom swiftwok e migh fee moved to wre sometng le ths While the prtiulr ouption goup hosen for nclsion withn the pesent reearh ws nurses, there is no reon to uppose tht the inding would not be generlisble to ll helth worers involved in egulr wit-work.
In anma wo the anthropomophic agument is a fom of is agmen The liver untion o the pig h been ound to e priJly useul model o hmn liver n tion in th
28 a ocally mpoan and nng
f the reseac involves e test o a arclar theoetical aroac o ndersandng e researc problem ten t can be argued tha e wor as mpotan teoetcal mlications Alough the ote argmens esented above ae se argments o ncde n a dscussion o thess topc raionae te eoetcally imporan ne o agument s poably e most academcally esectae Some wods a migt expess ths ne o argment olow Thus the proposed eserh wi provide direL tet o the ross·lturl vlidty o the Helth Belie Mode in explining helth re erve tiiztion y peope rom Austrin Gree nd Ausrlin AngloCelt bgronds The vlidiy o the mode h importn mplitions or the predition nd understnding o the tilition o ervies
2.9 I wll nabl u o do b
Heat sciensts oten ave a srongy alied orentation and eeore wam to the dscsson of ractice mplications of any reseac Claims and nteventons may e eter tageed moe eecve
How to Wrie
16
a
Thesis
more efcient. cost ess, etc as a resu o the reseach, are aso ceran o p a partial smie on he exaners' aces This s because the eseache has taken he eort to connect hs or he wok o the contex n which it is perfoed as we as pehaps, striven o make the word a sighy better pace Thee ae o course, any oher possibe ines o aguen ha can be advanced to sppo the condc o a eseach pogam However he aove nes o agent ae equenty empoyed in he consrucon of the aionae fo reseach heses and a ought e consideed or ncson n he ationae 2.0
The thesis objectives, hypothee or reearch questions
t has been prevosy noed ha one of he functions o the introdcton o the thess s o cumnae n the saemen o he eseach quesions o be answeed y he woke n the hess and ha he iteare review shoud denify any gap n knowedge pertnen to the eseach qesions to e addessed y he hess The eature review needs to concude wh an expcit sry satement o wha we know and what we do not' n order tha the esearch qestons can be deveoped rom the eview s mperatve hat he hesis has cea and unamigous esearch objecives, hypotheses o esearch quesons These quesons need to e deveoped ogicay o iteare review and be supported y the eseach raonae The esearch qesons ae noray staed a concusion of he inroduction and hey ae used over and over houghou he hess They for he asis o methodoogy They are he basis pon whch he esuts are pesened Snce the obecives o the thess are o pose and answe the esearch qestons he discssion and concusion sections necessay focus on the If they are no we deveoped then the thesis qaty can be seveey compromsed n erms o he reaionship beween reseach questons and hypoheses, consder he foowng exampe or a hypoheca qanative sudy: The objetives o thi eeach wa to d) the lationhi beween age ad diion makzg rfo l The eseah queio addeed by Study I was: 'I thee an aoiation btwn age and diio g pomane oh ik o'iy mas odd b th gamblig task? t wa hotheied ,ha thee woud be a gatie aoiation bw atician ag and propni oe died om h gambling tak omleted b th atician. 2
Key point in writing introduction in the hesis In te itoducio, you sould intodce yo reades o the nate of yo eseac and wy e s sgnicant: Reevant backod ifomatio is appopiate hee;
clde as mc detail i te todctio as possibe it wil el yo eades to ne e dcsos yo ave made
•
Be se to incde t eseac ojecties eseac qesios o yoteses in e poem steme and ty to anticipae d nswe y esto(s) yo ede my as
e se o dee all tems d symbols tat may be own to yo eades i yo ae cea abot wete to dee it. dee i
Chapter 3 Wiing Tsis Liu Rviw 3.1 How to write literature review
One of the areas o the thesis in which many students struggle is the wtng of the iteature review. A lteratue evew has severa unctons The most mportant o these ae:
a b
c d e
Revew curent knowledge in the ed eevant to the thesis Descibe the characteristcs of prevous sudies n the area including who conducted them, where they were conducted, who were the patcpants what protocos were oowed and what were the ndings and conclusions Compare and contast reevant studes and ndngs Comment on the stengths and mtatons of the reevant studies and ndings Identfy any gp n nowedge petinent to the reseach questons to be addressed by you thess
A iteature evew shoud be informative evaluatve and integrative These attbutes coespond to the thee stages n the constucton of a iterature review t s suggested that the students rst wite the informative detai o the studies to be reviewed in a neutra way then add crtical (ths does not aways mean negative) anaysis o the iterature they have just descibed They should then ntegrate the various studes to compare and contrast the ndngs 32 Selection of literature for inclusion in the literature review
Part o the skil in constructng a iteature review is the abity to make connectons between elevant mateias and to choose which inomaton to ncude and whch nomation to omit Reading othe iteratue evews in the same area is a useful gude to these decisons The thoroughness wth whch the teature reseaching process is peromed s the best nsurance o ensuing that al pevious wors reevant to your thess are ound. 33 Keep your literature search under control
There are several basic strategies and pocedures o ocatng the teratue that s pertnent to your seach topc These incude compute-asssted searches using eectronc databases or the intenet more generally searches usng printed coected abstracts, manua iteatue seaching and consultations with expets n the ed 33 Computer-assisted literature searching
Most unvesty ibrares mantan varous computerbased iteature databases often stored using CDROM technoogy The user conducts a search by st accessing the elevant databases Then the user keys n a combnation o subject eywods and also the names of key authos in the ed in oder to ocate a the wos they have witten at least those that appea n the database) Computezed iteature databases ae a supeb too but ony f used skiuy 3,32 Searches of colected printed abstracts
n the eference section o the libay you wll nd shevesull o boos o abstacts wth associated author and subject ndces to guide you aound them t s aso possble to subscribe to some specalied
How to Wrie a Thess
8
abstractng sevces that povde regular pdates to ndividual users sng search parametes dened by the sbscbe 3.3.3 Manual acng f lau
Ths pocess invoves hittng the bray shelves If yo ae early n yor teratre search poces, t is usef to nd some text-books and read ther reviews of the iteratre pertnent to yo topc. in ode to dscover key works n the field The basc strategy fo a manual search s smple Most lbaes maintain sepaate lists of ther jornal subscptions Inspect ist wth a ew to possbe nteest fo your research topic and ocate the ournals of pomse 3.3.4 Cnulng xp n ld A ther source of key refeences s other academcans f you know of any academcan n the eld who s accessbe in person o by teephone or by email, ca him or her p or emal and ask, f he/she cod point you to his/her recent wok 335 Od f dffn yp f ac
n terms of the order of seqence of seachng, one may puse the folowing seqence: a Locate integratve evews in texts b Condct an eectonic seach usng the keywords and authors ocated in (a) above Perhaps now speak to you spevsor(s for advce c Conduct a manal seach of relevant onas d Usng the keywords and athos found condct another electronc seach e Start reading on a gla bass the jounas whee you have ocated most mateals of eevance to yo Since your canddare n the case of a highe degree, may last a few yeas yo need to monto regaly the iterature and keep up to date In fact at the ast moment before the sbmsson of the thess it is ecommended to the stdents that they repeat their eectonc seach using ther sua search parametes to check that nothing new and vta has appeaed 336 Oganzan and lng f lau maal
Organizaton of the lterature mateals, f done well, can save yo an en0 amount of tme and conversey, f done badly can waste an enomos amount of tme When yo have decided that a efeence s to be ncluded n the database have a physcal copy of t Then the selected atcles ae to be led in alphabetcal ode 3.3.7 cp f lau cllcn
Typca thess (whatever it is contans a fair st of reference citatons A Masters and hD theses mght contain over 100 citations Yo artcle brary may contain eferences that yo do not end up ctng in yor thesis Yo teatre colecton needs to be focused and selectve It s a means to an end bt not an end n itsef The eamines wil never hea of the hge amount of tme and money you wasted n collectng hundreds of extra refeences that you dd not use n your thess!
How to
Write a Thess
19
3.3.8 Bblogapc fwa There a ange of exceent produc that are available to ait wh he mantenance of lieaue citaion and eference lit in a compute databae. Proably he mot popuar wihn the heah and medcal science etting ae End-Noe, roCite and Refeence Manager Bblogaphc too like the ue of he intenet can ave you a lot f te and dever a hgher quality outcome than manual method You need to nvet ime to be ained in their ue and applcation Attend any coure you can and get out thee and play
3,4 Ky pon n wng lau vw n In fac you ae enterng a cholaly conveaton aready in proge he teature revew how hat you've een itenng and hat you have omething vauale to ay After aeng he ieature n you ed you houd be able to anwer the followng queion: Where dd the problem come from? Wha aeady nown aout thi poem? Wha other method have een ed to olve it? Mae ue that you do not omit relevant pape See an eample Other tude alo upport he concuion that taditonal teaching method hinder learnng cacuu Seden Seden and Maon conclude that ioated tival probem the norm in many claoom nibit tudent fom acuiing te abiity to generalize caculu poblemolvng kill (Seden Seden and Maon 1994) Simlar reult are epoted by Norman and Pichad (994) They demonrate that many learner can not interpre the tructure of a pobem eyond uaceeve ymbol They how tha novce have naccurate ntuion about prolem which ead them to atempt ncoect oution traeges (Noman and rchad 994) Becaue hey cannot ee beyond higheve feaue they can not deveop corec nuion On he othe hand ucceful problem over categorie math prolem baed upon underlying tructura milaitie and fundamenal principe (Slver 979 (Shoenfeld and Herman 1982 Thee caegorie ae often grouped baed upon olution mode whch the epet ue to generate a forwad working tategy (Owen and Sweller 99) Souce
acceed 6/092007
35 Cncludng cmmn By the end of your Literatue Review your reader houd be able o nd hat The cope of you evew approprate for your degree You have revewed the ource reevant to your eearch topc • There ha been ful critica engagement with the liteaure t i clear how your eearch objectve/quetion/hypohee t in wth pevou cholaly wok
Chapter 4 Wg T Ml M .1
Inoducion
This chaper s ntended o assst he suden wih he reporng of he hess mehodology. Methodology s an imporant aspect of knowedge generaton In the teraure revew it s mporant o narrae he methodologcal sances taken by prevous researchers and that ther respecive strengths and weaknesses are discussed when evaating the presented work he methodoogcal themes rased n he introducton shod connec wh hose discssed in the thesis mehodoogy secton. he structre o he indvidua hesis deermnes where he mehod secton(s) are to be placed In a snge sdy research program, the methodoogy woud normaly precede he (rst resuls chaper and wod normally be a separae chapter or secton albe one hat s mch shorer than, for example he inroducory chapter(s It
should be noted tha he mehod secion in journa arcle is qe dferent n scope from a methodoogy secon in a heath sences thesis n a orna arcle becase of space consrans, there s suay no defense of the mehodology excep perhaps n some obique reerences to he strengths and imaions o the work he mehod secion n a journa arcle conains amost no explanaon or raonale for he methodologica choces made his s no an adeqae srategy for the heth scences thesis he methodoogca decisons aken need o be discussed and defended in sysemac and robs manner. he researcher advocates the use of a sandard mehod secon sructre and a mehodoogcal defense rrespectve of whether the research has a quntatve or qaiave focus Both approaches invove knowledge gathering and generation based on procedres and assumpons that need o be expcaed he examners need to be convnced that he suden has an expert ndersanding of the strengths and weaknesses o he echniques chosen and heir heoretca nderpnnngs he specc methodoogic approach chosen, n no way exemps he stdent from this obigation Furher, n mos heah scences theses irrespecive of methodological orenation here are hman paricipants who need o be descrbed, toos ha were sed n the research and protocols in he daa gahering and anayss ha were ollowed I s also advocated the addion of a section enitled 'Mehodology defense and raionale in which he sden deends and provides a raionale or he proocos and procedres employed in hs or her work Le us examine he conten o each componen o he mehod secion in a healh sciences thess
Rsc icins/subjcs
his is ypcally a very bre section perhaps a hal-spaced page o a page I should descrbe the number of particpants n he research and their basc arbtes incding age sex and diagnostic groupngs appropriae Describe he inclsion (and exclson criteria or ther particpation in he research t s sometimes use o nclde a abe smmarzng he partcpans demographic attrbues a hs pont n the thesis An exampe o he sort o dea requred s as follows: volunteers paricipted n the prese reseach There were men nd 0 women with men ge f 53 yers he paricipnts' dem gr phic chrcerisics re smmrized i ble J (no shown)
Prcipns were ll curren rheumod rhrs pties he Rheumlgy Institute who ttended n he mO/th f FebLr. 999 f the 60 peple pproched fr recrumen nto the sdy, 42 agreed ieldg a respose e of 70%
2
How to Wrie a Thss
[t s compulsory that age and sex characteiscs of the eseach parcipans ae descibed. It is also essena that the resonse rae e, he percentage of people who wee aoached o aricae the study ad who actay partcated s dscosed Ths s a essentia ece of iformaton I reqes that good recods ae ke concenng who was aoached and who nay arcpated If hs nfomaon s no povded the the eade has no idcation of how repesentaie e paciats mgh e of those who cod have pacpated n the stdy. 4.3 Rac l
his secon should descrie he use of any esearch nsrmet or oo empoyed by e esearche n the condcton of his o her reseach laboatoy eseach hs secton is labeed'Aparas s these reseach toos ae odced, they shold be eviewed and defended Tha is o ony shod the ools sed be descred t aso the easons fo the seecton Ths secion cod for seveal pages i a highe degee hess Whee he tools are ot sandadzed ando we know hen they need to be desc in deta so that the eade nderstands exacty what has occed s mportan hat he eade has a cea dea of exacly what was doe In he case f qesoaires i is o usal to ncde the fl ext of he questionaie in he main ody of the tess i e methods ecto Nomay the qestonaie is incuded as an apendx Whe esenting eecy ales of esoses to quesons fom a questonnaie t s heful to nclde he exact wodig o e queso n some nstances as ar of the ess ale n a qatatve eseach roject involving ntevews, t s hghy appopae o descrbe he nterview schedule the case of a scured ineview or focs gop ad/o the temes coveed n an nsrced ntevew n example foows: Each of the focus goups was esented wth the same set of dscussio qestons by he reseacher These icude Wha would you say s he ma hing yo fee aot eng HIV osve? How have your friends eacted o yor HIV-osiive stas? How has yo famly eacted o yor HIVostive stas? How do yo explan that yo have srvved yo llness fo the ime hat yo have? Why do you thnk other peole have no suvived as ong? The examier should be no dout abot how the informatio was coleced and wy his method was chosen 44 Pcl and pcdu
[n this secon the reseache descies exacty how the reseach was codcted In a hgher degee thess hs secton could r to a coule of pages I s usua to commence wih a bie descrion of you ethcs approva rocedues foowed by us ad bots of the atcipan ecrime ocedure How wee eole contacted? How dd yo kow where o d them? How was access oaed? Fo example ehica ceaance to condct he esearch was soght and otained fom Ehica Revew Committee (EC) ad foowed the natona ethcal gudeine
How to Wi a Thesi
23
The pates wo aended e Rheumaology Isue du e mo of Febay. 1999, wee appoached y th nstte's ecepton sta when hey peseed fo e appoment at e nses cnc ecepon The paens wee handed a ee om te reeache tha coaned an nvaon o pacpae he eseac Te paens who wshed o papae, he eseache eeponed he unvesy o dcae he nees n pacpao n he eseac poam e eeache hen aanged o mee a a muuay coveen me wh e eseach pacpans A s mee oown sgnaue o e nomed consen om he pacpa was hen nevewed usng he nevew scedue
Whie t s a commendble ws to spare he reade the guesome details, is mpon h the work s descrbed to te eve h it would be eproducle by someone else. Unke in joun ricle tere is penty of space avalbe in a esis Do no sint on he deal o how he sudy ws conducted Te exmines wll expec a ful accoun of ow he eseac ws caed ou. 4.5 Mdlgcal dfn
Ths secon contains a deted deense of te meodologic ppoaches empoyed y he studen in his or her eseac It s va component o e fc nd ppeance o hg-quy resec pogam and ess This hs poven o e a dcul secion o his gudeline o we ecuse cn not pesume o predct the ne deti of he mehodology o every hesis Neverheless here e outine ssues ssocied wh vious ypes o mehodoogcal pproches nd problems The rs re tat needs consideaon in he deense evoves around te generalizion o he resuls obaned by te procedues ools and pcipns nvoved n he eseach 4.6 Dfn f amp z
Ou of l e peope who could have prcped in e reserch te esercher has genealy seleced smll number This numer as to e used. One uscaon is he ogistic defense Tis uns aong te nes of 'I woud lie o ve more but ey we l have to sop some pon. In academc sense hs could ranslate nto some phrases le he foowng: e ecme o acpants o he pesen eseach poved o e dcu as s oe he case wh cca popuaos o cease he sample sze was o possbe w he esouces avaae
Ths s magnally bette tn no defense a A much eter deense n uanitaive study is stastca one ased on he statistica powe o te nyss nd te equired sampe sie yo ae reporting an intervenion study or one n whc group mens ae compaed fo exmpe involving nalyss of vrance hen in ge degree tess some atenon o powe is reuired If you do no now what satsca power s en you need o ead the folowng secton and some associaed reerences ecuse s very mpotn tha you undestand wh is aou I you e perfoming a uve study hen sp this secon 4.7 Sacal pr
In sudy wee here e ess of goup men dierences (hs includes mos inevenion nd expement studies), s essenal ht te ssue of siscal powe is canvassed in te weup Redes w recl om tei basic sastcal trnng ta wen a eseace ppies a stasca tes in addiion o correc reecion of he null ypohess and coect ccepance o te nu hypohess here are two ypes of eros t can be made These are he incoec acceptnce of te nu ypotesis Type I ero o miss nd n ncorect reecton of the nu hypotesis Type I error o fase aarm
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How to Write a Thesi
Th power i a study the pobabiiy of correcly) rejecig h u hypothi whe the alterativ hypohss i coc It 1 � Typ II o. Cohn ha arged tha a accptab val for powe is 080 i any stdy That s, wh th u hypohei hod b reced (th a eec) t s rectd on 80% occaion Or on th oher had, on 20% of occaio wh he a eal efc it is misd. -
Th concept of powe i qit dife from level uually at 0.05 n which h ache ca adust he accpanc a of fa aam . correct rction of h l hypoth 00 prsnts a a of fae aam 00 I prss a I% ate The ad wi call that redcing h fals alarm i makig th a lvl mor rgoro by adsg i fo xapl from 00 10 00 I. simpy mas ha or Typ II rror mss wll b mad Now-adays may ga applicaos eqi a discsson of siica powr i he applcatio Kppe 991 ha noed the pow of a deig i deered by h faco: th gcanc lv (a) chose by h eearcher almot alway 00; the eec iz (th ot coollabl by h sach; and the apl I is aly only he ampe ie ha i ameable to admet by he reeache So f yo choe a nappopatey low sampl z and hc ow-powd tudy you may b pnihd by a xam f yo do ot dicu th u yo analyes and he itrptato patcarly f yo haV ul eul ded if yo hav rl no difc decd o goup c dected hn o dscuing he tastica power of he analyi s a risky bsiess 8 Dn pacpan lcn md Wh h ampl siz dfe mor a fae of he qatav tha h qaaive reach proc he eleco of dy participa i impota i boh Mo hah scieces sdies mpoy ncidta ahr than adom samping pocd I has aady b otd tha a ky fa of th potg of patcipa is h rpos a, i h popoo of pop appoached to paicipa i h ach who actally did o If it vy low, ay 10% e th ndig wil and oght to b ipeed vry dfenty fro whn he repoe ate wa ay 80%
Th ky ss i paticipa scon he epeeav of h partcpa wh pec o he popatio fro which thy were draw One way of demontratig hi i o collect formaton abou he prtcipas ad h compa his infomaon wih kow chaaceiics of he wider popuaio f, fo exape you ar sdyg athl bt yor grop old tha th gal poplaio of athts, his mgh hav moat impicatos for ipaion of you t Rcovry ims fom iry mght b a ipota fac of you dy Yo eed to demrae o h xaer ha yo hav condeed thes ius. 49 n ac dgn
I a aitav dy h itprve method choe ad he theoetcal tace of the eseach d to be defded ncidealy dfn do o man a poal atac on the popoet of h other mhod! Th ad ed to ow the tanc that yo have cho ad why yo have choen The defee of alitaiv ptmology and thodology i ore taxig than in a quatatv cotxt bca th s fa l ageemen abou what appoache hod be akn At la the quatav each ha a o abl ba on which to bud an ageement L exame om of th oe como reearch dig and how hy mgh b appoached
How to Wre
a
Thesi
25
4.10 Experimental designs •
An experiment s a study where a sample of participants is randomy assigned to groups and then the groups receve diferet treatments. The goa of the experment is to attribute the dfferences n the groups foowing the interventons, to the nterventions themselves If this can e done then the experment s considered to be normaly vaid Poar & Thomas 1995). There are many reasons why an experiment may not achieve nternal valdity As otined n Poar & Thomas Cook and Campel (7 dened a numer of such threats incuding: a. b c.
d. e 1
g
History. refe o unplanned even a occur a e ame me a e nevenon Fo exampe n an exerce
udy, ome of e pacpan may become w nenza aecng e re Matuation efe o e penomenon of naual cange n e pacpan ove me In a udy o njued peope e njue may ponaneouly leen owng o naual ecpeaon Testing ree o e penomenon were e e procee mg ae e pacpan Fo example a ee of exece e may ave e own ne bene que apar fom e nervenon Istrmentatin e meauremen ool o appaau may cange durng e coue of e dy gvng meadng el Regessio to the mean n penomenon people wo are coen for eecon no e udy on e a of exreme coe mg 'ponaneouly mprove or declne becae o a meaemen aefac Selectio f assigmet eros n penomenon e goup owng o auly agnmen o gop may be dfferen a e oue u gvng e o e arefacal appeaance of po-nervenon dfference Mortaity yo ave a lage ropou rae n your dy may noduce gop n-eqvaence mla o agnmen ero
Experments can aso e prone to varios expectancy and socia faciitation eects incding Rosenthal and Hawthorne effects f hman observaton s nvoved. The Rosentha effect refers to the phenomenon where researchers may inadvertently alter their reslts to comply wth their expectatons The Hawthorne effect refers to the phenomenon where research partcipants may ater their ehavor as a rest of the knowedge that they re being observed This is why singe nding (the participants do not know the research hypothess) and doube-blindng neither the partcpants nor the person admnisterng the protoco know the research hypotheses applyng to that partcuar partcipant are employed in some experimenta research projects. Many of these threats to nteal validity in eperments can be assessed throgh the use of pretestJ posttest design where the groups ae assessed before and after the interventions).f these threats coud appy to yor eperimental design then yo shod specicay menton them in yor methodoogca defense as we as n the resuts discusson and the concsions n its imtations and strengths of the present study section It hould e noted that a design invoving the comparison of groups need not be an expermenta desgn For eampe studes investigating health diferences in smokers and nonsmokers where group membership has not been determined by the researcher are not experimenta by denition Such desgns are natural comparison or qasiepermental desgns. The asic weakness of such designs is group n-eqivaence on variabes other than the gropng variable chosen y the researcher Ths can be addressed to a certain extent by the nteligent applicaton of multivarate statstica technqes. 4 Suvey eseach
A survey invoves the colection of data about the characteristics of a singe grop of peope his is
How to Wrie a Thess
26
often folowed by an exporaion of the assocations beween varales wthn the sudy. Suc associations ae sensve o e repesentaveness of the seleced sample Tha s, if he sampe s chosen n a ased fashion, te patterns o assocatons wthn tha sample deteced y te esearcer may be at consdeable variance wth hose o e fond in a repesentaive sampe. It is possible to employ a srvey design to compae e chaacteiscs o poplatons This is one of e advanages o using standardzed ests A conventonal approach to testing whether for example carers o ode people wee ess anxios an people with e same caraceisics wo wee not cares wod be to take two sma grops adminiser the est and compae them on te anxiety mease his is acaly a weak design becase, wih he sma sampe sze, e power wll e ow An aernative appoach wod be to pt a e data coection resorces into one baske (the caer baske) and o se stadadied meases or wc popaon or very arge sampe caracterstcs ae kow It is advised on this mater concenig how to wrte p this sse appears beow: The present study involed the study of a single group of carers I is useful to consider e methodoogical strengths and weakesses of the design appah One alternative wa of conduting he study woud hae been to include some sort of matched comparison group (not involed i are-giving) i order fa ompare the responss of the two groups. This approah, however has some aws in compariso 10 the use of stadardized items and ests as employed in he present study In the instance where two small samples of participats are ompared high samping ariability issue is present in both samples hus it is dult o rejet the u hpothesis because of both the high withingroup variability and also the high between-group ariabili aused b small I samplig onditions The use of standardied tests and items from preiously peormed arge-scae studies drastically redues the sampling ariatio in one of the 'samples This permits muh more sai:[aCo est o/the ul hothesis and between-group comparisons than the sometimes onentiona small comparson group design
4.1 Dfn f daa clcn md
Tee s a rich varety of daa coecton methods availale to the ealth sciences esearcher incldig diec pysca measuement, clinical obsevaion e se o sel-repoed qesonnaies and venoies, neviews incdng ocs grops, and seconday data collecion from docmens and dataases 411 Dc pycal maumn
Te calaton of e tools sed in e measrements needs to be caefy performed and descred Mos physical measemen tools have plised data concernng ei eliabiiy and vaidy Ts mst be incded in the meodoogy and discssed n he deense Below appears some discssio o sses at cold be nclded in he defense of some of te major data colection mehods empoyed n eal scences researc. 4.1. Cncal bvan
I te osevaion is peromed soley by te reseacher who aso knows e eseach ypoteses and ojecives then e meodologst's waing bels wold be inging oudly here sold be some atempts to stdy the eialty and validity o he observaions, pobably by a asc test-retest and inte-ater reliablity study invoving at leat one other clnician.
How to Wrile a Thss
27
In his sudy, the thigs o be obseved ad rated wold be observed ad ndependenty rated by at east wo osevers ad, if practcabe, the same cases shod be raed wce to es reiabiiy. Othewise he examne may say that yo are stdyig yose ad your outcome expecaces athe ha ea pheomena
4.13 Sf-pd mau and qunna One o the majo proems assocated wh srvey desgs is he extesive se o home-grown' qestionares with unknow propetes I thee s a exsng pshed iveory that deas with the same subec mater as he research quesios with which the research project is cocened the is bete o empoy these veores wheever possibe (provded, o corse that it has satsactory popetes) I shoud aso be ememered that n selrepoed iventoes peope ca e erocousy about hemseves I wing up esus om se-epoed measures, it is useu to be careu in you use o aguage Fo exampe, he pacpats caimed to have o repoed that ot merely had
4,4 Inv A intevew s a convesatio eween he reseacher and he reseach particpat ay itervew her is the ecuet probem o esearches imposig ther ageda and perhaps ther views po he paticpats
45 Scnday daa ccn fm dcumn and daaba The mai isse assocaed wth ths mehod o data coecton is data qaity How can the eseache e cerain hat the formaton coected is vad? hs needs to be addressed the deese Finy when witig the deense i s portant not to adopt a overy apoogetc toe i s resentaio he pon o the exercse is to demostrate tha yo are aware that yor eseach has mitatons ad ht you peromed a thoough schoary ob of evauaig these imations
How to Wrt a Tesis
Key points to remember n writing thesis methodology
Folowing checklist appeared to be important for writing thess materials and methods:
Quesons
Componens n research methods
1
What approaches were followed?
Wrte about the study and its desgn
2
What tools were used for research?
Write about selection and development of data collection tools and techniques
3
How many subjects were included in the sudy and how they were selected?
Write cearly about the sampng techniue including sample size. subject selection procedure
4
When and how the data collection was done?
Write about data colecton plan and procedures
5.
What was done for colected data?
Write about data analysis plan and techniques including type of tests and software used
6
What was done to prevent harming the research subjects?
Wrte about ethical issues you consdered durng research incuding subjects selecton, interview and medical interventions etc
7
Whether pre-testing was done before nalzaton of research instruments?
Write details about pretesting about the research insruments
8
What duraton you spent for the research and the place where research was conducted?
Write about the pace and duration of research
Chapter 5 Wiing Tsis Rsuls 5.1 Introduction
Th rsults consti h major par of h origna work tha is prsnd in th thss. Ths ar vry iportan componns of th hss This chaptr commncs with a discussion o th dsgn o h strcur of h rsls sctions wihin th rsarch thss Th organizaton of th prsnation o rss whn th thss rqurs fndamntal and importan dsgn dcsons o b ad prior o h concnt o wrng A thod o organizaon that ovrcoms so of h dmmas as o whr prcisy crain dscusson poins shoud b ad is prsnd within hs chapr 52 The organization of the presentation of esults haptes
Th locaton o rsults wthn h hsis otn prsnts aor diicutis o th rsarch sudn Hav you vr had the xprnc whr yo hav shown your work to somon, prhaps your suprvisor and thn h or sh has asd you about isss tha yo hav dscssd n ohr pars o h thss? Prhaps yo spcula that hs rcts t lklhood o shor-trm mory loss rsting rom xcssiv imbbng o h dparmntal port? Or prhaps i conrms your suspicons concrning th cabr of th prson who has had h tmrty no o 'g t dspit your forts Thn again may b that th strcur o h prsntaon dd no mt h radrs nds May b hings wr no locad whr h radr xpcd hm o b and h or sh could not nd thm convnonal rsus scon or chaptr involvs th prsntaon o th rsuls o th daa cotion withot xnsiv commnary or ngraion wth ohr ndings or wor This nvovs a rahr bar bons dscripion of h oucoms o th study or suds It atmpts to wgh up th vdnc supporng th answrs o th rsarch sons posd whin th hss.
Thr ar ssnially wo an ways of organizng h rsls sctons or chaprs n a hsis; thr by data collcon or by rsarch qustion Th dcsion as to how to bst organiz hs atria is nncd by h numbr of suds hat ar o b rpord in h thss f thr is ony on sudy, hn mattrs ar smplid Th prsntaton o th rsus scion or chapr would thn normaly b foowd by a discussion o th rss t s convnonal practc o prsn th rsarch sudy rsuls undr h hadngs of th varous data cocions Thus for xap i you had condctd a survy it woud b typcal to rport h rsuts o hat sdy as a whol in on ocaion (norally a sparat chaptr) within h hsis Thus th organzng prncp or hs typ o prsnaon is h acvs prord by h rsarch sdnt Each daa collction acviy or sudy s rportd sparatly, prhaps in a sparat chapr Howvr whil it maks sns o prsnt dscr acvitis n ths ashion hr s aso th obctv o drcly answring th rsarch ustons hat you hav posd arlr in yor thsis t mght b that varos daa cocons or vdnc tha yo hav assbld or h thss pact on mor han on of your rsarch qustons? Should no thrfor, h rsuts o h hss b organizd undr h rspctiv rsarch ustons? But woud his not ad o a fragntd prsnaton Ths ar undanta docmn dsign issus ha nd to b rsolvd n any hss prior to th concn o aor wriing acivity in ths sctons
30
How o Write a Thesi
5. Pnan dgn pnpl f ul c f
Successfl theses sare a nmber of design attibtes. These nclde: a wel-pesened abes and gues carty of pesenaton of saien reslts
5.1 ll-pnd abl and gu
Mos eses wheer qanitaive or qualitave o mixed n oenaon, ncde ables and ges/graps These need to be well pesened. Bt wha does 'we-presented mean mean? he st feaue of 'wel-pesented s a you have a specic sye guide o whch te tesis pesenation is to adee ten use and sck to lie glue The Amecan Psycologica Assocaton Style Gide s sed wdely thogho he hea scences (Amecan Psychoogical Associaon 1994). I as hndeds of pages in whc everying you may wat to know (and moe) abot wee to p your ndenes and commas s outlned n gm deai Some examnes ealy care ao is suf so yo need o sow them tha yo cae oo f you pay you cads rg yo can spend days of avoidng witing y doing is sot of hing Anoe feaue of 'wepesented is undestandabe on is own We thnk that evey singe gap and tabe in a thess soud ave a ite and axes aeled so at if i s removed fom the hess and sow to a nelgen peso on te stee, he undesands Fa too many ables ad gaphs pesented in heses are pooy labeled and obscuey pesened to e eten that ntellgen eamnes wonder wha on eat the message behnd a particula graph o ge may be Rememe at mos eaminers wll descend and ascend fom yo hess docmen n a easonaly chaotic way geneay balancng s task wth many otes ceny on tei dess Wha may seem logca and cea wen te thess is read lineary fom begnning o end in one sittng may no seem o be when the docment s ead in ts and sas needs to e dead ovios and cear even wen randomly accesed iges and taes daw e attenton of the eade and hence must e te sowpeces of your eposion and convey a message on the own o te peenaion o esponses to mlple quesons in one ae pehaps someing i te oma sed in the foowng tale example coud e used A frthe feaue o 'well-presented s elegant simplcity Do no ty o nclde too mch nomaton n oe tabe o ge o te exen ta e cay o the message s inended o convey s compomsed
3I
How to Wrie a Thsis
Tabe 1 Frequency of problem gamblng service cent responses to estion 'please indcate the impact the conselng hs had for yo n each o the ollowing es (n=200)
Rpn
Pblm aa G
N cg
v cg
(%)
(%)
(%
Gmblng ctvty
8.0
30
890
Fnnc sses
4.0
6.0
820
Fmly sses
5.0
0.0
850
Reltonshp sses
10
40
840
Employment
1 1 .0 .0
260
630
Physical health
3.0
.0
860
Lesre se
40
30
830
egal sses
00
00
900
The presentton of gphs is so n re tht reres some desgn ski It hs been seen tht gaphs where there are so many variales re redced to abot 1 mm n wdth n order to t them n one pge. It s sggested tt n graphcal presenttion a mxmm of two varbles be presented in one grph. f n dobt, try the lterntves nd maet test them on some of yo esearch bddes If yo need to provde an exended explnton o what hey are ooking t yo lredy hve yor nswe bot whether it needs chngng Smpfy it! The gre on next page s an exmpe of simpe gre tht s esiy ndestood. Mny thosands of theses and ppes hve been written wthot the need fo mUlti-pge tbles MUlti-pge tables re genery hrd to foow. Well-presented n the context of gres and tales mens dherng to the style gde aeed so tht t cod be seprted from the thess and stl nderstood nd simple nd elegnt Once gin it is sggested that yo look throgh the theses and jornals in yo rea nd imtate getness
Hw t Write a Thesis
9 8 7 6 %
4 o
Health scences
Psychlgy
Soiology
Medical sienes
Dspe
Fgre 1. Percentage of PhD Stdents enoed at Myical Unversiy n 1981 o 1986 wo had completed wtin 0 years o eir initial enroment 532 Clay f pnan aln ul
Te resus sections o many eses sfer rom a lack of carty. This s frequently a reslt o a lack of cariy in the mind of the ahor as o wha he or se is attempting o convey Tis is why it s strongy advocated to se wriing plans n al sections of e tess, incudng the rests and discssion secions Te presenaon o gures and graphs n resus secions in eses olow a sandard roine Tables and gres shold e as simpe as possie and e se of very complcaed grapcs or oscre coour combinai combinaions ons avoded te examiner will not tan yo The table or gre sold no repeat inormaion covered in the main ext, i sould agmen Every table and gre shod ave a tile that is a concse explanaon of wat is eng presented; f abbreviations are sed is mportan ha ey are expained fy Tales where p-vales are qoted sold gve e acta p vale rather han p
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