How to Write a Better Thesis

Index 161

inclusion criteria, 100
incomplete, 18
inferences from, 99
looking at other theses, 4
organizing, 44
qualitative, 98, 99
quantitative, 98, 99
reasoning from, 104, 105
unreliable, 92
Data analysis
confirmation bias, 103
contradictory data, 98
meta-analysis, 106
reinterpreting data of others, 99
results and their implications, 103
Database of references, 37
Data see also Discussion, Presentation
of data, 21
Declaration, 131
Deep reading, 53
Defensive writing, 77
Definition of terms, 117
Design chapter
describing research procedure, 48
reporting preliminary work, 79
Discussion chapter, 14
Discussion (interpretation) chapter
arriving at conclusion, 114
expansion or contraction of key factors, 117
limitations of Study’ section, 117
linking research framework to your
study, 117
linking to conclusions, 1 1
not always need for separate chapter, 121
place for theorizing, 105
placing thesis in context of the field, 117
responding to the aim, 115
starting to write, 114
task of chapter, 142
writing creatively, 116
Disseminating research, 138–142
Doctor of Philosophy see PhD, 4
Document labelling, 13, 22
Document management, 23, 36
Drafts
naming, 37
storing, 23
Drawing and graphing tools, 36

E
Editing by someone else, 25
Edward, T., 22
Email as ‘relevant literature’, 48

Endmatter, final checklist, 130

End-of-chapter summaries, 121

Examination

criteria for, 1, 2, 4–6

Examination board

familiarity with field of thesis, 77

judging critical thought, 77

Exclamations (punctuation), 31

Existing theory

critical review of, 42, 74, 75

Experiments

and hypotheses formation, 79

crucial, 10, 70

Exploratory reading, 108

F

Feedback on research, 149

Field work, 53

Figures and tables

bad, 21, 49

captions, 19, 22, 111, 125

checklist, 130, 133

consistency, 22, 125

good examples, 111

headings, 22

in appendix, 109

in Table of Contents, 130, 136

Financial assistance, acknowledging, 131

First person plural writing, 28

First person writing, 28, 29

Footnotes, 20

Format

avoiding complexity, 19

checklist, 133

consistency of style, 18, 125

looking at other theses, 4, 5

reference citation, 18

templates, 19

Future tense, 30

G

Gateways (in literature), 52

Glossary, 136

Grammar-checker, 20

Graphics packages, 22

Graphs and charts

badly prepared, 110

checklist, 134

extraneous variable, 109

hand-plotting, 104

tools, 110

Guidelines for examiners, 2–4