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How to Write Your Research Dissertation

Dr C. P. Jobling (C.P.Jobling@Swansea.ac.uk)

Abstract

This presentation describes the standard structure of your research dissertation and suggests a methodology for its successful production using modern word processing tools.

Introduction

• How to write your research dissertation

• The physical layout of the dissertation

• The standard sections: Abstract Introduction Theoretical development/Analysis Design Materials and Methods Results Discussion Conclusions

Introduction (Content)

• What’s in a dissertation

• Types of dissertation

• Writing a dissertation in MS Word Signposting and captioning

• References provided

Introduction (Contents)

• Theoretical development/Analysis

• Design, Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References

Introduction (Contents)

• Theoretical development/Analysis

• Design, Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References

Theoretical development/Analysis

• Theory theory

• Physical restrictions

• Generic structure of a dissertation

• Variations on the theme

• The literature review section

Theory theory

• A Dissertation is a kind of Technical Report

• Technical reports have a standard structure

• Technical reports may not be read “cover to cover”

• Different readers have different needs.

• (some) Repetition and signposting is good.

• Section labelling, figure and table captioning, equations, references and citations are standardized.

[Bonet and Towers]

The Physical Layout

• Physical constraints: A4 paper 12 point serif font (Times New Roman or similar) 1” margin all round (1.25” for bound [left] side) Template will be provided

• Main body (from page 1 or chapter 1 to last page of references) 50 pages maximum.

• Up to 10 pages of appendices allowed.

The Submission

• Submitted to School reception by 4.30 pm, Monday 27th April.

• Must include: Title page, front matter, body and appendices. Plus 2 Page extended abstract (conference

paper style, like the handout). Plus unaltered copies of the project plan and the

progress report. May include additional, non-assessed materials

but these should be clearly marked as such.

• All bound together with ring binding

Deadlines are deadlines!

• Zero tolerance policy if the dissertation is not submitted by deadline, it

will not be marked!

Generic Parts of a Dissertation

• Abstract

• Introduction

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References

• Appendices (optional)

The Abstract

• Part of the “front matter” of the dissertation

• Purpose, approach, main findings in brief (½ – 1 page)

• Not a chapter!

• Summarizing the abstract The whole dissertation in 1 page or less

Chapter 1: Introduction

• Is an introduction to the dissertation itself

• Describes: Purpose of study Methodology Results Main findings & conclusions

• Summary: Introduce the dissertation as well as the subject

of the dissertation.

Chapter 6: Conclusions

• Conclusion of the dissertation

• Contains Reiteration of the purpose of study Summary of the methodology and results Defines the main findings & conclusions Gives suggestions for further work

References

• Not a Chapter

• Part of the “End Matter” of the dissertation

• All the sources used and cited in the body of the report.

• Evidence of breadth of your reading and depth of your understanding.

Appendices

• Supplementary or more detailed information that supports or expands the report (possibly for reference).

• Formatted as optional extra chapters but using Appendix A, Appendix B, etc rather than Chapter 1, Chapter 2.

Front and End Matter

• Give signposting information to the dissertation

• Should be automatically generated whenever possible

• Front matter is not included in page count

• End matter is!

Front matter

• Abstract

• Table of Contents

• Table of Figures

• Table of Tables [if tables have been used]

• [optional] List of Abbreviations, and/or Formulae and/or Glossary of terms used. Should be provided if it will help the reader

• Acknowledgments

End matter

• References

• Appendices

• In published books there may be an index

Supplementary Materials

• Additional material that you or your supervisor wants to have included in the dissertation

• E.g. Copies of datasheets Code listings Detailed design drawings CD-Roms

• Will not be assessed.

Variations on a Theme

• Different types of dissertation will have different structures: Experimental project Literature review Design and implementation project Software development project

• The extended abstract is a different format again.

• Refer to references for general guidelines

• Follow your publisher’s or institution’s guidelines for specific cases

Experimental Project

• Generic parts + Theory chapter Method or experimental procedure chapter Results chapter Discussion of results chapter

Literature review

• Generic parts + Research method and sources The literature review itself Discussion and suggestions for further enquiry Very detailed references with evidence of wide

reading

Design and development project

• Generic parts + Background Analysis Design Implementation Testing

Software development project

• Generic parts + Background Analysis High-level design Low level design Implementation Acceptance test results

Literature Review

• Purpose is to define what was known about the subject covered in the report before the work was done

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

[Newton, 1675]

Chapter 2: Literature Review

• Assumptions

• Basic “textbook” knowledge of the field

• State of the art prior to the work

• Detailed discussion of the available technical literature text books journal articles conference proceedings web sites

• More on citing in the next briefing

Theory (Review)

• Theory theory

• Physical restrictions

• Generic structure of a dissertation

• Variations on the theme

• The literature review section

Introduction (Contents)

• Theoretical development/Analysis

• Design, Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References

Chapter 3: Design, Materials and Methods

• Method of writing a report

• Repetition is good! How to repeat yourself Signposting

• Numbering

• Using your word processor

• Writing the “methods” chapter

• Citations and references [next briefing]

How to write a dissertation• Start in the middle

You have done the work so you know what your approach was.

You have the results so you just have to write them up! Ensure that you understand the background, write it up

and use it to evaluate the results. Gather your references and ensure that they are cited in

the background sections and other sections as appropriate.

Write the conclusions and the introduction (in that order) Write the summary Summarise the whole dissertation in the extended

abstract

Repetition is Good!

• Form of technical report has developed to allow different classes of readers to make use of the materials in different ways: Only summary may be read by a researcher looking

for information or a manager seeking an “executive summary”.

Only conclusions or introduction may be read by someone interested in the subject but only wanting to adopt the main findings.

The whole document may be read by someone wishing to follow-up on the work published.

• It is important that each part tells the same story at the appropriate level of detail.

• Repetition and signposts help the reader who is not reading the document sequentially.

How to Repeat Yourself

• Say what you will say (in brief) in the Abstract

• Say what you will say (in more detail) in the introduction

• Say what you have to say (in full in the body) with signposting

• Say what you have said (in the conclusions)

• Emphasise the good bits in the extended abstract

How to Signpost

• Open each section with a statement of context: In the [last section] we …. In [this section] we now …

• Close each section with a statement of context: In this [section] we …. In the [next section] we will …

• Provide cross references As we saw in [a previous section] … As we will show in [a later section] …

Numbering

• Numbering important parts of the report helps with signposting

• “Figure 2 shows” …. is better than “the figure on page 3 shows”

Things that should usually be numbered

• Parts, Chapters, Sections, Subsections, Appendices

• Pages

• Figures and Tables

• Equations

Things that can be numbered

• Citations

Things that aren’t usually numbered

• Sub-sub-sections 1.1.2.3 is ugly rearrange to avoid deep nesting of sections

• Front and end matter sections (exception appendices) Note appendices normally numbered A, B, C

rather than 1, 2, 3

Number Sections

• It is easier to use signposting if you label your sections and subsections.

• Dissertation or larger document Chapter 1.

• 1.1– 1.1.1

• Extended abstract 1

• 1.1– 1.1.1

• Local rules often override general guidelines

Page Numbering

• Front matter use Roman: i, ii, iii, iv

• Main body use Arabic: 1, 2, 3, 4

• Continue page numbering in end matter

• Note page limits. Start on page one of the main body (that is

Chapter 1) End on last page of appendices.

Use Your Word Processor (WP)

• Use the outliner to define and manipulate the structure of your document.

• Use style settings to make section numbering automatic

• Use the cross-referencing tools for signposting.

• Let your word processor do the numbering for you!

• Use section breaks in your word processor to change numbering style

Most WPs provide these features. Learn how to use them!

Figures

• Give all figures a numbered caption

• Refer to figure in text. “Figure 1 shows a document.”

• WP tip: Use auto-captioning and cross-referencing.

Figure 1: A Document

Tables

• Give all tables a caption.

• Caption goes above table.

Table 1: Fee fie fo fum

• Refer to table in text. “Table 1 enumerates useful words beginning with ‘f.’”

• WP tip: Use auto-captioning and cross-referencing.

Fee Fie

Fo Fum

Equations

• Give all equations a label

• Refer to equation in text. “Equation (1) shows the formula for a quadratic.”

• Use your WP’s equation editor to get auto-captioning and cross-referencing.

a

acbb

2

42 (1)

Writing the “Design, Materials and

Methods” chapter

• Simply report what you did!

• How you: Designed an experiment, carried out the

measurements, recorded the results. Chose a research methodology, performed your

literature search, selected your sources, summarised your findings.

Analysed the problem, designed a solution, implemented the solution, tested the solution.

• As you are reporting what you did use the past tense!

Passive Voice?

• Some publishers prefer an objective tone and “passive voice” “Measurements were taken of x and the

results were recorded in a lab book”

• You and your readers may find this a bit awkward.

• But use it if you have to.

Design, Materials and Methods (Review)

• Method of writing a report

• Repetition is good!

• Numbering

• Using your word processor

• Writing the “methods” chapter

• Citations and references [next briefing]

Introduction (Contents)

• Theoretical development/Analysis

• Design, Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References

Chapter 4: Results

• Results section presents your findings.

• Use tables, figures and equations as appropriate.

• Textual commentary is needed to tie results to method.

• Provide explanation if necessary.

• Usually easiest section to write (if you recorded the results carefully!)

Introduction (Contents)

• Theoretical development/Analysis

• Design, Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References

Chapter 5: Discussion

• Compare results to expected results

• Account for any differences Experimental procedure wrong Accuracy of measurements Limitations of your implementation approach or tools

• Differences may point to inaccuracies in the background section and may point to future work. “This result can be explained by experimental error” is

not an explanation as you should be able to quantify the experimental error!

• Be honest, a result that does not match the expected outcome is itself a useful result!

Introduction (Contents)

• Theoretical development/Analysis

• Design, Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References

Chapter 6: Conclusions etc.• Remind the reader of what you were trying to

achieve.

• Outline the theory, method, results and discussion

• Attempt to tie together the theory, results and discussion. Highlight the places where the theory was correct Highlight the places where the theory was incorrect

• Make suggestions for further work.

• Ensure that the conclusions stands alone because it may be the only part to be read!

Conclusions and further work

In this presentation we have:

• Described the structure of a dissertation

• Presented the main sections of a dissertation

• Provided a methodology for approaching the writing of a dissertation

• Given guidelines on topics such as numbering, sign posting, and use of the word processor.

• In the next briefing we will cover referencing, quoting and citing.

Introduction (Contents)

• Theory

• Method

• Results

• Discussion of Results

• Conclusions

• References

References

Bonet, J. and M.S. Towers, Layout and Structure of an Honours Project Thesis, School of Engineering, Swansea University. Available on the Blackboard module site.

Newton, Sir Isaac, 1675. Letter to Robert Hooke, February 5. As quoted online at URL: http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Isaac_Newton/ (The Quotationspage.com)

Wikipedia, “Isaac Newton”, URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton, last updated 28 Feb. 2009.

Further ReadingBonet, J. and M.S. Towers, Writing an Honours Thesis,

School of Engineering, Swansea University. Available on the Blackboard module site.

Barrass, Robert 2002. Scientists Must Write: A Guide to Better Writing for Scientists and Engineers. Routlege Study Guides, Routledge Falmer. ISBN: 0415269962 . [In the Library T11>Bar]

Rosenberg, Barry 2005. Spring into Writing for Engineers and Scientists, Addison Wesley.ISBN: 0131498630.

Technical Writing, Library Call Number T11.

University of Wales Swansea, Student Support Services Web Site, Study Skills Resources.

Summary

• Theoretical development/Analysis

• Design, Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusions and suggestions for further work

• References