How-to-Write-a-Better-Thesis

22 3 Mechanics of Writing
I recommend that you find good models and imitate them. Remember too that
tables are sometimes copied and used out of context—in slides, lecture notes, and
so on—so they should be reasonably independent of the text. That is, take the effort
to create captions and headings that make them at least somewhat comprehensible
on their own.
Similar comments apply to figures, that is, graphs and artwork. (Illustrations are
discussed further in Chap. 8.) If your word-processing package has a reasonably
sophisticated graphics or line art system, you might consider using it to draw your
figures. This method has the advantage that you can edit the figures at a later date in
the light of rewriting or alteration of the text. However, you will have to accept the
limitations of the inbuilt graphics system, which may be significant. Alternatively,
you can draw all your figures using a separate specialized graphics package, and
import them electronically into your text. You can’t edit them while they are in
your word processor, but you can delete them, go back to the original version in the
graphics package, edit that, then re-import.
If you are using charts generated by a spreadsheet program or a statistical package,
these too can be imported into your text. If you want to plot your data, enter it 2
into such a package rather than attempting to create a graph with a line art tool—
such plots are amateurish at best—and take advantage of the facilities that these
packages provide for displaying data in a variety of useful formats and perspectives.
Don’t assume that the standard layout provided by the software is going to be best
for your data; you may want to use colours, different kinds of labelling, different
kinds of ways of representing quantities, and so on.
Whichever method you use, ensure consistency of style within the figures, especially
if there is written material actually on the figures themselves, such as labels
on the axes of graphs. You should produce the captions of all your figures, together
with any explanatory material and references to sources, in a consistent style, using
your word-processing package. Note that it is customary to put the caption to a table
above the table, but to put the caption to a figure below it.
There are numerous texts on how to present figures and diagrams; Edward
Tufte’s books are exemplary. There are also good online resources. For line art,
there seems to be a widespread attitude that quick enough is good enough. Where
once the diligent researcher had to rely on the skills of a graphic artist to produce
suitable illustrations, now anyone, including small children, can access simple line
art tools. Used carelessly, the result does indeed often look like the work of children,
from cute 3 use of inappropriate clipart to lack of logical organization. It is like people
believing they are producing works of art because they take family snapshots
with expensive cameras.
Your tables and figures are intended to convey the key messages of your thesis,
so give them the time and care that such messages require. I continue to be astonished,
and not in a good way, by the fact that students who labour for months or
2
Yes, data is an ‘it’—not a ‘them’—in this context, because I am not referring to a numerable
quantity, or a set made up in a meaningful way of individual datums [sic], but to a form of information.
Pedantry may be with ‘them’, but usage isn’t.
3
Here I use ‘cute’ in the sense that is closer to nauseating than to sweet. Please take the hint.