How-to-Write-a-Better-Thesis

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Quantitative or Qualitative, Revisited 105 • Development of a proposition or initial hypothesis, which is used to shape the gathering of some observations. • Formation of a definite hypothesis. • Building of tools and use of them to gather measurements to be used as evidence. • Construction of an argument that uses the evidence to give a case for or against the hypothesis. • Conclusion by developing a new theory or framework. (As an aside, too many students—and some supervisors!—confuse theories and hypotheses. Theories are the outcomes of research. They represent our most certain comprehension of the universe: the theory of relativity, the theory of evolution, and so on. They are the things in which we have the greatest confidence. 4 A hypothesis is an unconfirmed supposition. Another, arguably worse, confusion is between theory and speculation; some people think they are theorizing when they propose new untested ideas, but from a more formal perspective they may be doing little more than guessing. While such sloppiness is fine in conversation, it has no place in a research thesis). The HEAT analysis of the research process points towards what you should include in the results chapter and what you should leave out. Raw measurements do not convey knowledge unless you explain or display them in a suitable way, and should be left out or just possibly relegated to appendices. Results displayed in the form of tables or figures that enables you and the reader to make sense of it becomes information, and should be included. Having presented the information, and explained how it is linked to the initial hypotheses, you can draw some inferences from an examination of the information. This will include considering the individual sub-hypotheses that you put forward, and proceed to interactions between the variables that you may not have expected and, if you are lucky, to some totally unexpected results. You and the reader now know something that you did not know before you carried out your own work—you have transformed information into knowledge. At this point, stop. Keep your theorizing about this for your ‘Discussion’ chapter, for it is there that you advance from knowledge to wisdom. It is the implications of the conclusions you draw from your results that become wisdom: new insights, theory, paradigms. Quantitative or Qualitative, Revisited In this chapter I’ve suggested a framework for an effective presentation of results. This broad framework was used by the four students discussed at the start of this chapter, whose stories I now complete. 4 In some attacks on science, certain kinds of knowledge are condemned as ‘only a theory’. People who use such arguments have failed to realize that the mathematical constructs that are used to design planes or transmit electricity are, also, ‘only theories’. We may not be certain of their truth, but they are the knowledge for which we have the most consistent evidence.
106 8 Outcomes and Results Jorge’s case was relatively straightforward. He had a lot of data, and the tools to build a variety of graphs and tables that interpreted the data in useful ways, including statistical summaries, trends, and behaviour as different variables, were tuned. Having spent months investigating the data, drawing preliminary conclusions, and then seeking confirmation (or confounds), he could then choose typical examples to illustrate his argument. He first listed the data sets and the analyses applied to set context for these examples, and in some cases could then just summarize the outcome of the analysis. By having reasonably objective criteria for choosing what to present, he was able to build a persuasive qualitative description of the work he had undertaken, and how it supported his original hypothesis. Dai’s results chapter was, in the end, similar. He had to be exploratory to find ways to consistently describe the issues encountered by the different scientists he studied, including assigning issues to scores in the range − 3 to + 3 to quantify their severity, and, separately, carefully explaining how he had decided which problems were more important or less important. Once he had identified common themes, and thus a categorization of the cases, the presentation was straightforward. That is, he could consolidate his results into tables, and used them as the basis of a discussion showing how they confirmed his initial hypothesis. Jackie’s problem was that, fundamentally, she didn’t trust some of the data, and needed to build her arguments with unusual care. The approach we took was to build the presentation from small units, each of which represented a single logical step and which, we felt, could be defended by a simple, unarguable case. We began, not by looking at the data, but by going back to basics and setting out criteria that a trustworthy data set should satisfy. In particular, we identified potential sources of bias or distortion in the data sets, and also tabulated the kinds of factors that might lead to the results observed in each case. For example, poor academic results might be a consequence of poor diet—but it might be that poor results lead to depression, which then leads to poor diet. Some studies attempted to control for such factors to try and distinguish between these alternatives; other studies were less well designed. One particularly good study noted which students were siblings, so that, for example, by working from the assumption that siblings usually have similar diet then it is possible to explore the degree to which differences in performance are due to other factors. This foundational analysis allowed Jackie to organize the studies by their strengths and defects, and undertake meta-analysis (that is, combined analysis of a group of studies) on the basis of which criteria each study met. She then worked through the studies re-analyzing the conclusions that had been reached, and showed that some of these conclusions could be refuted. With the field of explanations greatly reduced, she could then examine where in the data her own hypothesis was and wasn’t supported, and ultimately was able to reach nuanced conclusions. In contrast to the sometimes dogmatic assertions made in earlier work, her results were thoughtful and reasoned, and she avoided the mistake of making overly strong claims. For Don, the initial hurdle was that he had not appreciated that he was trying to present what were essentially quantitative results; the approach he had taken earlier
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How to Write a Better Thesis
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David Evans † University of Melbo
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Preface to the Third Edition When I
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Introduction Thesis writing can be
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Contents 1 What Is a Thesis? ......
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Contents xiii 8 Outcomes and Result
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Chapter 1 What Is a Thesis? Simply
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Types of Thesis 3 These questions
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Examiners’ Reports 5 layout. See
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Summary of Chapter 1: What Is a The
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10 2 Thesis Structure Research is u
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12 2 Thesis Structure Some of these
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14 2 Thesis Structure are ‘finish
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16 2 Thesis Structure 2. Background
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18 3 Mechanics of Writing that even
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20 3 Mechanics of Writing have oddi
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22 3 Mechanics of Writing I recomme
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24 3 Mechanics of Writing • Frequ
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26 3 Mechanics of Writing There is
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28 3 Mechanics of Writing The agric
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30 3 Mechanics of Writing wrong. Th
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32 3 Mechanics of Writing • Long
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34 3 Mechanics of Writing might giv
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36 3 Mechanics of Writing thesis. Y
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Chapter 4 Making a Strong Start In
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Creating a Structure 41 are trying
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Initial Efforts 43 of it in detail
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Starting, and Starting Again 45 ad
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The Creative Process 47 you must a
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Writing an Individual Chapter 49 H
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Literature 51 From ‘Chapter Five
Page 64 and 65: Styles of Working 53 And don’t f
Page 66 and 67: Working with Your Supervisor 55 Th
Page 68 and 69: Working with Your Supervisor 57 pa
Page 70 and 71: Summary of Chapter 4: Making a Stro
Page 72 and 73: 62 5 The Introductory Chapter at th
Page 74 and 75: 64 5 The Introductory Chapter curre
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Page 82 and 83: 72 5 The Introductory Chapter 3. Ai
Page 84 and 85: 74 6 Background Chapters Developing
Page 86 and 87: 76 6 Background Chapters Establishi
Page 88 and 89: 78 6 Background Chapters Throughout
Page 90 and 91: 80 6 Background Chapters • You un
Page 92 and 93: 82 6 Background Chapters • In som
Page 94 and 95: 84 7 Establishing Your Contribution
Page 106 and 107: Chapter 8 Outcomes and Results In a
Page 108 and 109: From Data to Results 99 Jackie’s
Page 110 and 111: Presentation 101 Presentation In t
Page 112 and 113: Analysis 103 haste, and overconfid
Page 116 and 117: Reflection 107 in his thesis, wher
Page 118 and 119: Illustrations 109 interpreted, and
Page 120 and 121: Illustrations 111 they can read an
Page 122 and 123: Chapter 9 The Discussion or Interpr
Page 124 and 125: Structuring the Discussion 115 can
Page 126 and 127: Writing with Authority 117 criteri
Page 128 and 129: Summary of Chapter 9: The Discussio
Page 130 and 131: 122 10 The Conclusion One way that
Page 132 and 133: Chapter 11 Before You Submit You ha
Page 134 and 135: From First to Second Draft 127 abo
Page 136 and 137: Dotting the ‘i’s and Crossing t
Page 144 and 145: Chapter 12 Beyond the Thesis Studen
Page 146 and 147: Kinds of Dissemination 139 Feedbac
Page 148 and 149: Dissemination Plans 141 • Primar
Page 150 and 151: Seminar and Conference Presentation
Page 152 and 153: Being a Graduate Student 145 more
Page 154 and 155: The Arc of a Research Degree 147 t
Page 156 and 157: Summary of Chapter 12: Beyond the T
Page 158 and 159: Appendix Afterword The creation of
Page 160 and 161: Appendix 153 Appendix: Analysis of
Page 162 and 163: Appendix 155 • The text is unnece
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158 Notes on Further Resources Phil
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160 Index Books, writing, 25 Bracke
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162 Index H Harvard reference syste
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164 Index Proper names, 20 Punctuat
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166 Index discussion of results, 12
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