Technical Thesis Writing for Postgraduates by Azlan Iqbal, Ph.D.

Technical Thesis Writing for Postgraduates by Azlan Iqbal, Ph.D. College of IT Universiti Tenaga Nasional Putrajaya Campus Personal Enrichment and Empowerment Programme (PEEP) Workshop 4th March 2011

Introduction Thesis writing is perhaps the most important aspect of your postgraduate degree. A thesis is basically a research report that is proof of your ability to carry out a research project. Producing a good one requires a synthesis of high-level, sought-after skills in a particular area or domain of knowledge. It is tangible evidence and serves as a lasting demonstration of your intelligence in the area, and as an independent worker. In general, a thesis should describe your research problem, the solution, interpretation of results and future work.

Introduction A thesis is not simply an answer to an assignment. It is not something that can or should be cobbled together quickly, ‘outsourced’, or even ‘mass-produced’. It is supposed to be of archival value and will be resting on university shelves for ages. Given its academic nature and the information age, copies will continue to exist for centuries. At the master level, a thesis can be about how existing knowledge has been successfully applied to a new domain. At the Ph.D. level, it is usually about an original (i.e. new) and significant contribution to human knowledge. In principle, the thesis structures of both are the same.

General Structure of a Technical Thesis Each university usually has its own guidelines about the general format you should follow for your thesis. However, a thesis in the sciences typically contains the following chapters or sections: – – – – – – – – Introduction Literature Review Methodology Experimental Results Discussion Conclusion References Appendix

The Introduction Explain what your topic is about and why it is important. (Your readers need to be ‘seduced’, especially if the topic is probably uninteresting to most people.) Go to the library (or online resources) and read several thesis introductions. Which made you want to read on? Which ones were boring? Why were they boring? State the problem(s) you are tackling in as simple terms as possible. How does it fit in with existing work? Do not overestimate the reader's familiarity with your topic. Assume they are intelligent but do not know much about the details of your particular topic.

The Introduction It may be a good idea to ask someone who is not a specialist to read the introduction and to comment. For instance, is it easy to follow? Does it even make sense? Ensure even at this stage, of course, that your writing is already in its most perfect form in terms of spelling, grammar and facts. There is nothing more discouraging than if the reader has to struggle just to understand your sentences. Get a proofreader. Pay someone to do it, if necessary. Some people write the introduction last. This is fine. The introduction may have to be revised many times. This is also normal.

The Literature Review Where are you picking up from? What is known about this problem you are trying to solve? What have others tried? Why were they unsuccessful or can their works be improved upon? Keeping up with the literature in your area over the years makes writing this part of your thesis easier. You should have made important notes and summaries of related documents all along the way (and kept them organized). You may write summaries of relevant and previous work in chronological order (e.g. 1980, 1985, 1990, 2007, 2011) or reverse chronological order. You may also do so in order of relevance (a bit more difficult).

The Literature Review Each ‘review’ of a previous work (e.g. in a subsection of the chapter) should consist of a BRIEF explanation about what it was about, and a SHORT discussion of, for example, the advantages and disadvantages of that approach. How it relates to what you are doing is also useful. Follow the same pattern for the others. Cite the material you review properly. And only the material you, personally, have actually reviewed. If you have read only the abstract, cite only that. This should only be for cases where you could not obtain the full article. It’s not the quantity of references that count, but the ‘quality’.

The Methodology The ‘methodology’ is usually distinct from the ‘method’. For example, your research 'method' may be to conduct an online survey (as opposed to another 'method' e.g. an offline survey), but the 'methodology' of using a survey – a fundamental assumption of data gathering in your research – remains the same in both cases. A computer simulation, for example, may be an alternate or additional methodology for gathering data in your research. Basically, you should be clear about the fundamental assumptions in your research work (e.g. 'creativity' is empirical, after all) and have some good ideas about how your data should be collected and analyzed.

The Methodology This chapter – or (these) chapters – explain the assumptions you make in your research. The theories and fundamentals of your actual work. For example, if you have developed mathematical formalizations (i.e. formulas or equations) that purport to capture some aspect of human perception, you would use this chapter to explain the logic behind their designs. Use standard, accepted mathematical notation (read up on it!). You might also want to explain whether your research methodology is quantitative, qualitative or a combination – and why.

The Experimental Results If your research involves experiments (and it should if it is scientific or technical), you have the choice of explaining your experiments in the ‘methodology’ chapter, but you can also do so in a separate one. Sometimes, your methodology is distinct enough from the experimental component. The ‘experimental results’ usually consists of the experimental setup (instruments, measurements etc.) and the results (i.e. data) obtained.

The Experimental Results It is important to be very precise and clear about these things because other researchers may want to replicate your results. A good idea therefore is to ‘pretend’ writing this chapter in the early stages of your research to properly organize your ideas and to be sure of how you want to test your hypotheses. You may find flaws or weaknesses in your experimental setup that will be difficult to ‘work around’ once they have already been performed and the data collected.

The Discussion This chapter typically contains the analyses and interpretations of the data presented in the ‘experimental results’ chapter. The two are sometimes combined. Here is where you are required to demonstrate your critical thinking skills and ‘powers of persuasion’. Does your interpretation of the experimental data make sense? Do your claims follow systematically and logically without committing logical fallacies and ‘jumps’? It helps to have had discussions about your experimental results with colleagues, other researchers, or even in a graduate student presentation.

The Discussion Make it a point to ‘translate’ the complicated diagrams and gobbledygook in the previous chapter into simple English (such that even a child could understand). Do not try to cover the limitations or oversights (if you could not address them). All is to be bared. Doing so implies you are honest (valued in academia) and will make your thesis reviewers less inclined to point out the (many) flaws in your work. Make this chapter, especially, a satisfying one for the reader.

The Conclusion The reader, upon opening this chapter thinks: “So what, exactly, is it you are trying to say? Give it to me in a nutshell.” For this ‘final’ chapter, assume the reader has not read anything and would like to know the gist of your research. Imagine ‘summarizing’ everything, kind of like how a newspaper or magazine article would for the layman. What was the problem? What did you try? How did it go? What did the results mean? What are the implications? Typically, some thoughts on future or further work are also included here.

The Conclusion Future work means exactly that. Where are we supposed to go from here? Where has your research put us? There may be many directions to be further explored; but be careful not to leave too many interesting things to future work. Your thesis, for instance, could (should!) have been a future work direction of someone else’s thesis or research article. In science, we tend to like there being more and more interesting questions to explore (new, important questions we might not even have thought of). It is not the destination that matters, but the journey.

The References You will have many of these. (The actual quantity is not very important). Minimize the use of ‘Web’ references. Most will likely be in your literature review chapter but, in principle, they are expected throughout your thesis. Proper referencing is important. Be sure to follow the citation style prescribed by your institution in their thesis writing guidelines (yes, you really need to get a copy of this and read it! Ask the graduate school). Examples include MLA, APA, Harvard. You would also have noticed that conferences and journal publications – to which you may already have submitted papers and got them published – use a variety of styles.

The References The reason we have references in a thesis is so that we can inform the reader (who may be interested to confirm facts or claims) where we got a certain piece of information from. The reader may also simply be interested to know more about a particular aspect of our research. Use quotation marks (“ ”) when quoting someone verbatim. As far as possible, give the reader some idea about what they are likely to find in a reference. Don’t just put them in your text at the end of every other sentence. Explain a bit. You don’t have to provide a reference if the ‘material’ is your own (e.g. the interpretation of your experimental results).

The Appendix The appendix (or appendices) contain additional information you think is necessary but is not suitable within the main body of the text. For example, this may be pseudo-code, actual code, newspaper clippings, actual survey data, full interview transcripts, additional equations and additional photographs. Most universities do not consider the appendix to be part of the word count of your thesis (e.g. 30,000 words for master’s and 100,000 words for Ph.D.). An appendix is technically not even necessary (especially in a master’s degree).

The Appendix Include what you think is necessary for the benefit of the reader (not just to thicken your thesis). You might want to break the appendix into several sections, e.g. Appendix A: Pseudo-code, Appendix B: Glossary of Terms, Appendix C: Survey Data The appendices ‘complete’ your thesis.

Common Mistakes/Misconceptions in Thesis Writing Copying and pasting text (plagiarism!). Not checking and re-checking all your facts, calculations and claims (beware of logical fallacies!). Not properly organizing your thesis (inconsistencies). Not properly proofreading it (or not having/paying someone to do it for you). Assuming having just any book-like object to submit will earn you your degree (if you cannot be genuinely proud of it, it is not worthy of the degree).

Some Tips Remember that, ultimately, your thesis is about addressing a research problem as genuinely as possible. This is a problem you really wanted to solve, have (in principle) solved, and want to explain exactly how you did it so that others may easily apply the solution and/or take it further. With this in mind, the thesis structure should come easily to you. Do not plagiarize content. If you have taken anything from anywhere, cite it. Rephrasing sentences will not absolve you of the crime. At worst, you can be stripped of your degree and be fired from your current job. It has been known to happen to people years or even decades later. The university must act on this. Plagiarism can come back to haunt you.

Some Tips Write the thesis in the language you are most proficient in. Many universities have some flexibility in this. Otherwise, hire a good translator/proofreader. Often, your thesis is unintelligible because of the language barrier, and unfortunately, does not reflect your actual intelligence. Do not try to hide things or cover your tracks. Own up to your mistakes and oversights – use the opportunity to demonstrate your intellectual honesty and desire to improve/progress. If you feel you should change your topic, do so as soon as possible. You will likely spend years on this work – let it at least be a worthwhile experience and a genuine contribution. It will provide satisfaction for years to come.

Conclusion Writing a technical thesis at the postgraduate level is an important aspect of the degree. It is a straightforward yet cumbersome process; one that requires a synthesis of high-level skills. Language proficiency and domain knowledge give you a distinct advantage here, in that you are able to articulate your thoughts and ideas more clearly. The general structure across disciplines (and even between the master and Ph.D. level) is similar, but may vary between individual projects. If your work is thorough and genuine, you will know when your thesis structure is in good form. This is because it will be easy to read and understand.

References Ahmad, K. (2007). PhD: The Pursuit of Excellence, 1st Edition. Cengage Learning Asia, Singapore. ISBN: 9812656162. Iqbal, A. (2010). Embarking on a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Veritas, Issue 8: Jan-Dec 2009, College of Information Technology, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, pp. 30-32, ISSN 1985-0492. Available at: http://metalab.uniten.edu.my/ azlan/Research/pdfs/epcs azlan.pdf (Retrieved on 1 March 2011) Levine, J. S. (2007). Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation. Available at: http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/ (Retrieved on 1 March 2011) Wolfe, J. (2006). How to Write a PhD Thesis. Available at: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/ jw/thesis.html (Retrieved on 1 March 2011)

Thank You Interactive Session: YOUR THESIS WRITING PROBLEMS