Organization Of the whole thesis Within the thesis Writing style and form Resources

1. How to Write a Thesis??
Dr Amit Agrawal
Department of Neurosurgery
Narayana Medical College and Hospital
Nellore-524003

2. ● Organization
● Of the whole thesis
● Within the thesis
● Writing style and form
● Resources
Present discussion

3. Planning and time line
B

4. How to Organize a Thesis?
How to Write a Thesis??

5. Outline
● Title Page
● Abstract
● Dedication
● Acknowledgements
● Table of Contents
● List of Figures
● List of Tables
● List of Appendices
● List of Abbreviations
● Introduction
● Materials and
Methods
● Literature review
● Results
● Discussion
● References
● Glossary
● Appendices

6. ● It should contain concise and clear description of the
content using informative keywords.
● Contains short, descriptive title of the proposed
thesis project (should be fairly self-explanatory) and
author, institution, department, research mentor,
mentor's institution, and date of delivery
Title page

7. ● The title should be succinct, focused and objective,
giving, if possible, the scope of the thesis.
Title

8. ● A brief ‘thank you’
● It should be given to whom the researcher is
indebted in connection with his/her work.
● It is given for guidance, technical help, financial
support, physical facilities and so on.
● It may not be given for small help.
● It should be confined, generally, in a page.
Acknowledgements

9. ● Write this LAST!
● Abstracts should be 1-2 pages and should be self-contained
● Model after a paper in your field
● Written to attract readers to your article or thesis, gives a
good initial impression
● Summary of the contents of the thesis
● The abstract is a brief summary of your thesis proposal
● Brief but contains sufficient detail
● Motivation for the work
● Project objectives
● techniques employed
● Main results and conclusions
Abstract

10. ● Table of Contents
● List of Figures
● List of Tables
● List of Appendices
● List of Abbreviations

11. ● Introduce the subject area (Overview and
definition) and explain the research topic.
● Keep introduction shorts and focused
● A summary of existing evidence that motivated
the proposed work.
● A general introduction to what the thesis is all
about - not just a description of the contents of
each section
● Write this second to last!
Introduction

12. ● State your research question(s) or research
objective(s).
Aims and objectives

13. ● It is a review of what has been published on that topic so
we do not duplicate someone else’s work.
● Make sure that you have read and understood cited work
● Organize your content according to ideas instead of
individual publications.
● Do not simply quote or paraphrase the contents of
published articles.
Review of literature

14. ● Conduct a thorough literature search before designing your
methodology and collecting your data.
● The literature review should provide context and clarify the
relationship between your topic and previous work in that
area.
● When writing the literature review, present major themes,
theories, and ideas that have been published in the area, and
the findings of related studies.
● Conclude the review of the literature with a short section that
describes your topic, highlighting why it is important to
address the problem you have investigated.
Review of literature

15. ● Contains an overall description of your approach,
materials, and procedures
● Explains your research design
● What was done, how, and why?
● What methods were used?
● How were data collected and analyzed?
● What materials will be used?
● Citations should be limited to data sources and more
complete descriptions of procedures
Materials and methods

16. ● The methods should have clear connections to the
hypotheses.
● Ensure proper quality control and statistical
planning and analysis.
● Describe sufficient detail of the method so that the
work can be reproduced.
● Do not include results and discussion of results here
Materials and methods

17. ● Well- known operations should not be described in
detail. List special reagents and apparatus essential
for the work with their sources (producer, place).
● Do not describe reagents and apparatus or
equipment that are normally found in a laboratory
and used in the normal way.
● If recent article has described the methodology in
detail, better cite the article.
Materials and methods

18. ● The objective is to present a simple, clear and
complete account of the results of your research.
● Describe what you found in your research, without
discussion, interpretation or reference to the
literature.
● Describe the results concisely and clearly in the form
of tables, figures or plates.
● Discuss how they fit in the framework of your thesis
Results

19. ● Draft your figures first (A picture is worth a thousand
words)
● Make captions stand alone
● Use enough figures to present the data that justifies
your interpretations and conclusions.
● Write your text around your figures
Data presentation

20. ● Discuss the main points?
● Relate your findings to your original statement of the
problem and your literature review.
● Begin by briefly summarizing the previous chapters,
then discuss what you found.
● Ask yourself why the results were what they were,
and then try to provide meaningful answers to the
question.
Discussion

21. ● Discuss the limits of the research?
● Feel free to interpret objectively and subjectively and
to make references to what others have said on the
subject.
● Make sure that every conclusion you draw is
defensible and not just your own personal opinion.
Discussion

22. ● References should be listed numerically depending
on the conventions adopted by your department.
● Double check that you have listed all the works you
have used in the text.
● Use ENDNOTE program
List of references

36. ● What new knowledge will the proposed project produce that we
do not already know?
● Make recommendations for areas that require further study.
● Make recommendations relating to the problem that you
investigated, for example by making practical suggestions on how
to improve the situation in the organization in which your
research took place.
Recommendations

37. ● Not a rambling summary of the thesis
● Short, concise statements of the inferences that have
been made
● Short numbered paragraphs, ordered from most to least
important
● Should be directly related to the research question stated
● No new facts and references in conclusion
Conclusion

38. ● Appendix may be placed after references.
● Material which casts light on the work done but which
would impede the clear delivery of ideas
● Program listings
● Huge tables of data
● Prforma
Appendix

39. ● Make scientific drawings
● A well chosen and well labeled figure can reduce text
length, and improve proposal clarity.
● It clarifies thinking
● Incorporate graphs in the text or on separated sheets
inserted in the thesis
Figures and tables

40. ● Plagiarism means using other writers’ ideas,
words or frameworks without acknowledgement.
● It means that we are falsely claiming that the work
is your own.
● This can range from deliberate plagiarism such
copying whole papers, paragraphs, sentences or
phrases without acknowledgement to splicing
phrases from other writers into your work without
acknowledgement.
B
Plagiarism

41. ● Writing resources
● Library
● Google
● Pubmed
● Spreadsheets, analysis tools
● Plotting programs
● Graphics programs
● ENDNOTE
● Start learning these before you collect the data (e.g.,
during the thesis proposal process)
Tools

42. Nested hourglass model
● The whole thesis
● Each section,
subsection
● Most paragraphs
● Broad focus at
beginning, end;
specifics/narrow
focus in middle

43. ● Prepare an extended outline.
● List each section and subsection
● For each section and subsection, write a brief
point-form description of the contents.
Getting Started

44. ● Review with your advisor.
● Look for
● Unnecessary material? Remove it.
● Missing material? Add it
● It is much less painful and more time-efficient to
make such decisions early, during the outline
phase, rather than after you've already done a lot
of writing which has to be thrown away.
Getting Started

45. ● Content
● The message given
● Style
● The way that message is presented (structure, language,
and illustration)
● Form
● The appearance of the message (grammar, punctuation,
usage, spelling, and format).
Hierarchy of importance

46. ● Framing text
● Use the MS Word outline tool
● Keep going back to “outline view” throughout the
various drafts of your writing
● Short headings (punchy, 4-8 words)
Framework

47. ● Outline broader issues
● Each paragraph needs a topic sentence
● Contents of paragraph should only relate to that
topic
Framework

48. ● Good structure
● Logical
● Paragraphs single units of thought
● Readability
● Straightforward language
● Simple grammar
● Managing readers’ expectations
● Relevancy / need to know basis
A
Write Clearly

49. ● Start by writing down the single most important
concept.
● Outline the critical observations and reasoning that
support that concept
● Test your organization by careful evaluation of the
outline
● Expand the outline to greater detail, then test it again
Organization

50. ● Write the body of the text : methods first, observations
next, interpretations last.
● Write the contextual elements: conclusion first,
introduction next, abstract last.
● Insert carefully composed transitional sections,
paragraphs, and sentences.
Organization

51. ● Vital part of writing
● Consult supervisor
● Ask for clarification
A
Editing

52. ● Is the chapter structure good?
● Are the subheadings appropriate?
● Is the argument clear and logical?
● Are your paragraphs linked to each other?
● Does each sentence say what you want it to?
● Are there any sentences out of place?
● Is the language appropriate?
A
Editing

53. ● Different levels
● Word level
● Misspellings, grammar mistakes, repetition of
words
● Paragraph level
● How different sections link to each other
● Chapter level
● Can your argument be strengthened?
● Can your links to previous research be
strengthened?
Editing

54. ● Poor grammar and spelling distract from the content
of the proposal
● Simple wording is generally better
● Explain abbreviations, unusual terms
Editing

55. ● Facilitate the writing process and make your
dissertation readable.
● Select documentation style and apply it
consistently and carefully throughout your
dissertation.
Style and Structure

56. ● The dissertation must not exceed 15,000 words
(excluding tables, figures and appendices).
● Most dissertations are between 40 and 80 pages.
● Format
● Typography, layout
● Justify all your text in the dissertation body.
Font, Spacing and Length

57. ● Spacing and fonts
● The preferred typeface is Times Roman (11 or 12
points).
● Use 1.5 or double-line spacing for the dissertation text.
● Page setup
● Top = 3 cm; bottom = 2.5 cm; left = 3 cm; right = 2.5 cm.
● Pagination
● Put the page number at the center of page 1.5 cm from
the bottom edge.
● Don't show page umber on the first page.
Font, Spacing and Length

58. ● Figures inserted in the dissertation should appear
close to where they are referenced in the text.
● The usual convention of the figure followed by the
figure title shall be followed.
● Use the Chapter/Figure number convention to label
the figures in the dissertation.
● For example, Figure 1.2 refers to the second figure of
chapter 1.
● A List of Figures and Tables must be included after the
content page of dissertation
Font, Spacing and Length

59. ● Start writing today (never tomorrow)
● Use a clear structure
● Takes more time than you may think
● Read the whole thesis to pick up repetition.
● It should be well-written
● Organized, with a logical flow
● Concise, but also complete
● Good grammar
Summary

60. ● A thesis is not a story. It’s a formal document designed to
answer only a few major questions.
● A research paper (or thesis) is an attempt to persuade.
● The key to persuasion is organization.
● A picture is worth a thousand words.
● Don't use a thousand words where five hundred will do.
● If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try,
again.
Conclusions

61. Good Luck!