THESIS WRITING AND PRESENTATION:Sections of a Thesis (Format)

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Lesson 43

THESIS WRITING AND PRESENTATION

Follow these guidelines while searching for a subject topic

Understand the distinction between the subject and a topic that can help you to plan your

research paper effectively.

Within a broader research subject decide about the topic that is more focused and worth an

investigation.

Consider your subject or topic and answer the questions who, what, when, where, why, and

how.

Draw a short and possible list of topics and settle for the one that interests you and is worth

investigating.

Explore your own understanding of the topic, as there's always a temptation to select a

topic before a thorough ground work, resist the temptation.

Be sure that the topic meets the requirements of your research assignment, audience's

needs, and expectations

A topic should be should be

Single -don't try too much

Significant -is your topic important to you and your reader?

Specific -limit your topic to narrow, specific points higher failure...

Supportive -is there enough evidence to support, defend yout topic?

Avoid dead end topics those unsuitable for your interest or resources.

Avoid scattered, superficial research topics.

Avoid topics that are too beaten and narrow and has nothing new to offer.

Pick a topic that shows your individuality, ability and interests.

Continue refining and narrowing it to make it significantly specific

ensure that there: are sufficient resources available on your selected topic because without a

worthwhile literature

REVIEW THE THESIS WILL BE WORTHLESS.

Sections of a Thesis (Format)

The following are sections that most theses should contain

Introduction

An introduction to the topic and the subject.

Describes the background to the research, particularly the major ideas (or theoretical perspective)

from which the research is derived.

Explains the reasons for doing the research,

Indicates why the research is important valuable or significant.

Outlines the contribution that the research will make to knowledge.

Also outlines the aims of the research by presenting research questions or hypotheses.

Be sure to include in it a clear statement of your hypothesis How you are going to address it

Use citations from the research literature to support your study.

Citations should include but not be limited to research presented in the Literature

Review following are suggested topics that are usually covered in the introduction.

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First grab the attention and interest of your readers; Secondly introduce the problem to be studied. All

assertions of feet must be documented. Be careful of any generalizations that you make. A social science

research paper is not an editorial

Statement of the Problem.

Clearly state the problem that your thesis is going to address.

Present relevant information about why this is an important problem.

Describe what precisely you intend to show/argue and why (i.e., address the ever-lurking "So What?"

question).

Is your research problem addressing a significant social problem, or is it testing some theoretical hypothesis,

The issues raised ideally are timely, relevant to the problems or trends of the present time, and have

broad applicability.

Good questions are those allowing theories to be tested or, as when two theories make opposing

predictions, be compared.

Background and Need. You should present relevant literature that supports the need for your project.

Research articles, books, educational and government statistics are just a few sources that should be

used here.

This section can include brief overviews of articles covered in the literature review that support the

need for your project.

Rationale: The rationale should define the larger problem being investigated, summarize what is known

about the problem, define the gap(s) in the knowledge, and state what needs to be done to address the

gap(s).

Purpose of the Project: Based on the above background information, explain the purpose of the study.

Explain what you hope the study will accomplish and why you chose to do this particular study.

This should be supported with citations and specific information related to the study,

Research Questions/Hypotheses. Given the background above, you carefully state the hypothesis (ses)

that will be tested in your thesis.

The hypothesis is the central question being researched. It should be expressed in straight-forward

terms. A good hypothesis is comparative, measurable, and falsifiable.

Hypotheses are usually defined in "cause -effect" relationships. Any corollary hypotheses or secondary

research questions should also be stated. Any supplemental definitions or discussion necessary to explain

the hypothesis should be offered.

The thesis statement is usually considered the most important sentence and the main point of your essay/

report or research paper because it out lines the central purpose of your essay.

A thesis, statement is one of the greatest unifying aspects of a paper. It should act as mortar, holding

together the various bricks of a paper, summarizing the main point of the paper "in a nutshell" and heralds

the development of the paper.

A thesis statement is what you'll PROVE, it is the ARGUMENT. If is the SCOPE, it is the MAIN IDEA

and the PURPOSE of your paper and that you intend to develop, prove, defend or explore with evidence

and therefore has an argumentative or informational edge and must not state the obvious.

A thesis statement is a sentence that clearly and concisely indicates the

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Subject of your paper, the main points you will discuss, and the order in which you will discuss them.

Hypothesis is a guide or a sign post to the researcher that keeps one on the track.

The researcher tests the initial presupposition or hypothesis as works along.

Hypothesis is formulated in such a way that it enables the researcher to test it.

Hypothesis depicts and describes the method that follows during the study.

Hypothesis is; a kind of hunch that the researcher has about the topic.

Hypothesis establishes the precise focus of the research study.

Hypothesis helps decide the aims and objectives of the study.

Hypothesis is of speculative nature, an imaginative preconception of"what might be true".

Hypothesis is a welt established research question that can be in form of a descriptive statement or

a question.

A thesis statement establishes the writer's point of view, set the, stage or mood of the paper and

prepare, the readers what to expect.

A thesis statement is important for the writer, because it gives the structure to the paper and .is equally

important for the readers, because it guides them as what to expect.

It is precise. It is not something that one has trouble understanding and should be specific enough to give

your reader a clear sense of what your entire essay is going to discuss.

It should not be too general or so specific, that it fails to represent any strong position

Often, the thesis is stated clearly in one or two sentences at the end of, the essay's introduction. There

are exceptions to almost every rule of writing, including this one. Ideally, the position of the thesis

statement needs to be at the end of the introductory paragraph so that readers know the topic of the

papers.

Underlying every theory is the issue of causality. What exactly does it mean to say that poverty "causes"

crime, that cultural materialism "causes" moral decay, or that religiosity "causes*1 one's euthanasia attitudes?

Just because two events historically occur simultaneously does not necessarily mean that one is influencing

the other.

A thesis statement must emphasize Intention. So use a clause that will put your answer into the future, such

as: I will... I hope to ... I plan to .... I intend to ... prove that, refute that... argue that... show that...

establish that.... Demonstrate.

A good writer can assert the main ideas in a short

Revise your thesis statement as your develop your paper

Few writers finish writing about the exact topic they begin with

It is ok to start with a vague or tentative thesis statement in your first draft.

Remember the less complicated and verbose you are in writing your statement the more readers will follow

you.

Examples of General to Specific Thesis Statements:

Notice the transition...from General to Specific

Men and women are different.

Men and women communicate differently.

Men and women communicate differently. Men tend to focus on the literal aspect of what is being said in a

conversation, women often "read between the lines* and focus more on intonation and body language.

Men and women communicate differently. Whereas men tend to focus on the literal aspect of what is being

said in a conversation, women often "read between the lines" and focus more on intonation and body

language; this phenomenon may significantly contribute to the high divorce rate among many couples.

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Hawthorn discusses evilness in Young Goodman Brown.

In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorn discusses evilness through symbols.

In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorn uses light and darkness to emphasize good and evil in the world

Limitations, Provide a background for any limitations to this study. Be very specific for example

the population to which your findings will be limited.

Literature Review

The literature review should discuss all of the research that has been done on the subject, since the

purpose of the literature review is to concisely demonstrate your level of understanding of the research

related to your project. You should not discuss all of the literature in-depth. Rather you should group your

literature according to some general topics and only discuss specific studies if they are "landmark" studies

for your area of research (there should be 6-10 of these). How you group the discussion will depend on

your project but be sure to come up with a logical organization before you begin writing. How many studies

should be included will depend on the topic, but a general baseline in 75 to 100 references (although many

topics will appropriately have many more than this). The literature review should end with a discussion of

how the literature relates to your study. What have others found regarding your research question? From

their findings, coupled with your theory, develop a logical argument that leads to the statement of your

hypothesis (this is your theoretical hypothesis expressed in terms of concepts). Your hypothesis/hypotheses should be the

conclusion of this "Review" section.

What have others found regarding your research question? From their findings, coupled with your theory,

develop a logical argument that leads to the statement of your hypothesis (this is your theoretical hypothesis

expressed in terms of concepts). Your hypothesis/hypotheses should be the conclusion of this "Review"

section.(methodology)

Methodology

Methods which will be used

Describe data collection procedure to be used whether they be experiment, survey, questionnaires,

observations, participatory methods, case studies document collection or other method.

The method must reliable that can be repeated same time and internally and externally valid Describe the

sample employed and the variable used to test your hypothesis. One should give just enough information

here so that

Methodology

External validity means that the results are general sable to a wide range of situations. It if often necessary

to present evidence in this section that they study is actually achievable. This section or a separate section

should also describe the data analysis methods to be used. As with the data collection methods, the analysis

methods should be justified by reference to the relevant literature. A methodology section can contain a

flow chart which summarises the way in which the various processes involved in the project fit together.

Describe the sample employed and the variable used to test your hypothesis. One should give just

enough information here so that

others can replicate your procedures (and hopefully come up with the same findings and conclusion as you

did).

A general guideline is that you should discuss your methods in sufficient detail that another

researcher could take your data and duplicate your results. One of the expectations of performing original

research is that someone in the future will do further research on this topic. Such a researcher should be

able to use your methodology without having to consult any other source. If you are using statistical

analyses, explain the statistical methods. What do they mean? How are they used? Why are they more

applicable here than other similar methods?

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Data collection and Analysis Plan

It is not uncommon for novice researchers to collect a considerable amount of data and then

realize that they don't know what to do with it. Design the data collection process to make it easy to collect,

code, manage, and analyze. Describe what the physical procedures will be for managing this data. Will you

use tables, spreadsheets or data bases to aggregate and analyze the data? Will computers be used to store,

manipulate or evaluate it? How will this to done? Who will do it? How long will it take? Will it require

special hardware, software, budge accounts, or personnel (such as technical assistant)? What kinds of

analysis will be done? How will it be accomplished? How will the findings be presented for interpretation?

Discussion

This chapter should begin with a concise restatement of your study's purpose along with any

needed background information. You should restate each of your hypotheses. Now that you have presented

the results in the previous section, discuss them in this section. What, specifically, do the results mean? How

can they be interpreted? Can they be interpreted in multiple ways? What do the findings tell you about your

hypothesis? Do not claim more for your results than the data really shows. Avoid speculation.

Conclusions

This should summarize your results and discussion. You should include a list of the most important

findings of your study in descending order of important. You should also provide a statement about the

possibility of future study. What needs to be done and what does this study contribute? Since this is too

often the only part of a paper that some individuals read it is important to reiterate what you intended to

discover and what, in fact, you fond.

Bibliography

All pieces of literature referred to should be listed at the end of the proposal using the referencing

style appropriate to the department. Before you begin compiling this section, find out what style you are

expected to use. Carefully adhere to it or you will raise the ire of your committee. It is important to ensure

that all the key journals and books in the field have been referred to in the proposal. This demonstrates that

the proposal has been developed from a thorough understanding of the important theoretical perspectives

and research findings in the literature.

Appendices

If you have material that is too long to include in a table (raw data, field notes, etc.) or not

appropriate to a particular section it should be included as an appendix.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should appear in the text after they are first mentioned. Appending them at the

end of the thesis is a very awkward arrangement and makes the thesis difficult to read. Materials presented

in tables and figures should not be duplicated in the text.

Raw Data

Your raw data should always appear as part of the thesis. This should appear as an appendix at the

end of your thesis. Another research should be able to duplicate your work with no other documents at

their disposal.

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