Thesis Writing: Prof. Abd Karim Alias

THESIS WRITING
PROF. ABD KARIM ALIAS
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]
What is a Thesis?
A written work resulting from original research, especially one submitted for higher degree in a university
Why write a thesis?

Science aims to find pattern, trends, and structure in the experiment Good scientific writing aims to bring forward in the text structure organization of scientific knowledge
Whats in the thesis?

Addresses a problem or series of problems Describes what was known about the problem(s) What you did to solve the problems
Whats in the thesis?

What you think the results means How further progress can be made
Structure of a Thesis
Getting started 1. Prepare a thesis outline
Break the thesis into chapters; list the major sections in each
2. Discuss with your supervisor 3. Prepare a chapter outline
Assemble all the data, tables, figures Organise them into a sensible sequence
Getting started (cont) 4. Write

Do a section at a time Start with something easy
Thesis title
Title reflects content of the thesis Use concise but informative title
Example
Physicochemical and Functional Properties of Ozone-Oxidized Starch
Thesis title
Be specific & accurate Avoid phrases such as A study of..., An investigation of... Avoid jargon and acronym
Chapter 1 - Introduction
"The purpose of the Introduction should be to supply sufficient background information to allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results of the present study without needing to refer to previous publications on the topic. The Introduction should also provide the rationale for the present study. Choose references carefully to provide the most salient background rather than an exhaustive review of the topic." (R.A. DAY)
Chapter 1 - Introduction
A description of the general problem followed by a statement of the specific problem and the motivation for the study
What to write in the Introduction?

What do we know about the topic?
Provide comprehensive & critical review of the major findings in the area
What we dont know (gap in knowledge)

Identifying what the gaps in our current understanding of the field are, and why it is important that these gaps be closed
What we are now showing

A clear statement summarizing whats known, what needs to be learned, and what your paper aims to accomplish
Writing Good Introduction
The first paragraph should provide a brief background in present tense to establish context, relevance, or nature of the problem, question, or purpose (what is known) The second paragraph may include the importance of the problem and unclear issues (what is un-known) The last paragraph should state the rationale, hypothesis, main objective, or purpose (why the study was done).

Start by giving a general background
... Alkalising agents are important in the preparation of many traditional starch-based food products. Examples include the use of lime in the production of tortillas and kansui (a mixture of sodium and potassium carbonate) in the preparation of Chinese wheat noodles and waxy rice dumplings

Rational & problem statement
.Despite the age-old usage of alkalising agents, there is still much which is not known concerning the e!ects of these reagents on starch properties. Although the ability of aqueous alkali in inducing starch swelling is common knowledge, most of the work has been centred on NaOH in systems containing relatively low starch concentrations (<25%, w/w) .

Connecting the problem statement to the objective (reason for undertaking the study)
.. The inuence of alkalising agents (especially kansui) on the thermal properties of starches has yet to be studied in any great detail. Therefore, the specic objectives of the present study were:
To di!erentiate the e!ects of sodium carbonate

on the thermal proles associated with gelatinisation of starch;
To quantify... To characterize...
What is literature review?

a systematicmethod for identifying, evaluating and interpreting thework produced by researchers, scholars and practitioners.

Literature is about telling a storykind of a chain story where each writer starts with a partial story created previously by others and expand on itthe existing literature is the story so far

Literature review is
an interpretation and synthesis of published work
- Merriam (1988:6)
See the wood for the trees
Filtering & sorting the essentials from the irrelevant

5 Image source: http:// sciencebhakta.wordpress.com Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]
Skills for digesting the literature

ANALYSIS
Select, differentiate, break up Integrate, combine, formulate, reorganize Understand, distinguish, explain Define, classify, describe Dissecting data into their constituent part. Rearranging the elements derived from analysis to identify relationship. Interpreting & distinguishing between different types of data , theory & argument to describe the substance of an idea Describing the principles, uses, & function of rules, method, etc.
SYNTHESIS
COMPREHENSION
KNOWLEDGE
Adapted from Hart, 1998
Any critical review should incorporate

An assessment of the strengths & weaknesses
of some of the theories A clear understanding of the topic A citing of all key studies in the subject territory A clear indication of how the review links to your research questions
Any critical review should incorporate

A definition of the boundaries of your
research A selection & synthesis of existing arguments to form a new perspective Through gradual refinement, a clear demarcation of the research problem
Scope & length of lit. review

Be selective State the current state of the theory How far back?(Masters ~10 years; PhD
further back) Avoid verbosity Demonstrate ability to synthesise the body of literature brief but focused.
Components of lit. review

Background information Introduce topic Describe scope & organization Review past & present literature Clarify purpose

Theory All research has a precedent Integrate key points & make appropriate
inferences Be aware of relationship to your topic

Critical appraisal/synthesis Not jus a list of the work of others Identify issues highlighted Highlight differences & similarities Identify consensus
Materials & Methods section

Provide detailed methodology used to conduct the experiment Provide sufficient details but it is not expected to be written like a laboratory manual! Describe control used Highlight critical steps or precaution
Results section
It contains all of the data to support (or

refute) the hypothesis that was proposed in the introduction section It serves to weave a coherent story and must communicate the findings to the reader in a logical, transparent manner.
Results section
Data presentation - Graph or Table?
Tables can be used to display

precise numeric values
Figures are better for conveying

trends or proportions
Results section
Data presentation
Clear, succinct graphs, charts, photographs, and drawings can quickly convey the primary findings of research
Results section
Data presentation
The figure legends should provide a
detailed description of the corresponding figure Explain each symbol in the figure (typically arrow heads, arrows, asterisks) Label should be clear (e.g., scale bar on SEM)
Results section
Data presentation
Tables shoud be self-explanatory Textual description should summarise

& highlight table content (not to repeat)
Results section
Data presentation
Arrange data in logical manner (in table) Cross-check reference to figures/tables
in the text Give proper credit to figures/tables taken from other sources All statistical analyses, where appropriate, should be described
Describe results succintly

Describe specic trends, signicant effect, similarity/contrast, exception, limitation, etc.
...In higher moisture (1:4) systems, the presence of Na2CO3 appeared to signicantly (p<0.05 or better) decrease "HG of all of the starches studied (with the exception of wheat and waxy rice starches, which showed no signicant change in "HG), while NaOH had no e!ect on "HG of most of the starches studied. However, in the less hydrated (2:3) systems, Na2CO3 did not signicantly (p >0.05) a!ect "HG except, ...
Results section - Common pitfalls
The same data are presented in figure

(graph) and table Data presented in the table are simply stated (without describing the trend, making comparison, highlighting anomaly, etc.) Unusual trend in data is ignored (not highlighted)
Discussion section
To communicate the significance of

your findings
To indicate how they support (or To describe how these results

advance the field of study
refute) the experimental hypothesis
How to Discuss?
How thorough is your discussion & interpretation?
Have the main point to emerge from the

results been picked for discussion?
Are there links made to the literature? Is there enough evidence in your data to
attempt at theory building or reconceptualization of the problems?
How to Discuss?
How thorough is your discussion & interpretation?
Are there speculations? Are they well
grounded (can be substantiated with your own data)?
Discuss results succintly

. The signicant increases in gelatinisation transition temperatures in the presence of Na2CO3 or NaOH (Table 1 and Table 2) suggest an enhancement of starch granule stability, probably through electrostatic interactions between Na+ ions and hydroxyl groups of starch...

Give supporting evidence/information from previous works
. The signicant increases in gelatinisation transition temperatures in the presence of Na2CO3 or NaOH (Table 1 and Table 2) suggest an enhancement of starch granule stability, probably through electrostatic interactions between Na+ ions and hydroxyl groups of starch...

Use phrases such as...
. One possible interpretation of the results shown in Figure...include the possibility that... ...The results shown in Figure 5 are in contradiction to the work of Karim et al. (2000)... These data suggest that... In contrast, Williams et al. (1998) reported that...
How to write a conclusion? Should include the followings:
What is the strongest and most important
statement that you can make from your observations? Refer back to problem posed, and describe the conclusions that you reached from carrying out this investigation Summarize new observations, new interpretations, and new insights that have resulted from the present work.
How to write a conclusion? Should include the followings:

What are the contributions of new
knowledge that your thesis makes Does your work suggest any interesting further avenues? Are there ways in which your work could be improved by future researchers? What are the practical (broader) implications of your work?
How to write a conclusion? Example:

In conclusion, gaseous ozone successfully oxidized the three types of starches studied, but the oxidation mechanism appeared to di!er from that of chemical oxidation. Ozone oxidation introduced more carbonyl groups than carboxyl groups in the starch granules. Under identical conditions, the extent of starch oxidation varied among di!erent types of starch...
How to write a conclusion? Example:

Using ozone as an oxidizing agent o!ers several advantages over hypochlorite. During ozone oxidation, starch is oxidized in a dry state and in the as is moisture content condition, whereas hypochlorite oxidation requires use of organic solvents. The dry oxidation process using ozone is simpler than the hypochlorite oxidation process, and it o!ers 100% product recovery compared to hypochlorite oxidation.
Writing and effective abstract

Identify the major objectives and conclusions Identify phrases with keywords in the methods section Identify the major results from the discussion or results section Assemble the above information into a single paragraph

State your hypothesis or method used in
the first sentence Omit background information, literature review, and detailed description of methods Remove extra words and phrases Revise the paragraph so that the abstract conveys only the essential information

Check to see if it meets the
guidelines Make sure no grammar or spelling errors! Give the abstract to a colleague (preferably one who is not familiar with your work) and ask him/her whether it makes sense

Start out the Abstract by telling exactly! what you did and how you did it. Focus on the rationale and ideas of the study and why it's important in the first two sentences
Example:
The effects of oxidation by ozone gas on some physicochemical and functional properties of starch (corn, sago, and tapioca) were investigated. Starch in dry powder form was exposed to ozone for 10 min at different ozone generation times (OGTs).

In the next few lines, focus on the materials and methods, and the data generated from the study (results). Tell the reader how the data were collected, compiled, and state statistical significance(s).
Example:
Carboxyl and carbonyl contents increased markedly in all starches with increasing OGT. Oxidation significantly decreased the swelling power of oxidized sago and tapioca starches but increased that of oxidized corn starch.

The end of the Abstract is just as important as the beginning! State the implications of your studies to the field of scholarship in which you are working.
Some examples:
These results show that under similar conditions of ozone treatment, the extent of starch oxidation varies among different types of starch.

State the implications of your studies...
Some examples:
!Binding of water to starch films influences their thermo-mechanical properties !In general, tortillas prepared with hydrocolloids had a lower tendency for retrogradation than control tortillas; it is important to consider this to obtain tortillas with better texture and lower RS content.

Thesis Writing: Prof. Abd Karim Alias

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THESIS WRITING

PROF. ABD KARIM ALIAS

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Why write a thesis?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Whats in the thesis?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Whats in the thesis?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Getting started 1. Prepare a thesis outline

2. Discuss with your supervisor 3. Prepare a chapter outline

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Getting started (cont) 4. Write

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

What to write in the Introduction?

What we dont know (gap in knowledge)

What we are now showing

Writing Good Introduction

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Writing Good Introduction

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Writing Good Introduction

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Writing Good Introduction

To di!erentiate the e!ects of sodium carbonate

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

What is literature review?

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

What is literature review?

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

What is literature review?

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

See the wood for the trees

Filtering & sorting the essentials from the irrelevant

Skills for digesting the literature

Adapted from Hart, 1998

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

Any critical review should incorporate

Any critical review should incorporate

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

Scope & length of lit. review

Components of lit. review

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

Components of lit. review

inferences Be aware of relationship to your topic

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

Components of lit. review

Abd Karim Alias@2010 [akarim@usm.my]

Materials & Methods section

It contains all of the data to support (or

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Tables can be used to display

Figures are better for conveying

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011