. e hypothesis underpins the thesis.. A thesis is a written record of the work that has been undertaken by a candidate.. e thesis is therefore not merely a record of technical work
Trang 1How to Write a esis:
A Working Guide
R (Chandra) ChandrasekharM, Centre for Intelligent Information Processing Systems (CIIPS)School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
e University of Western Australia
Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA , AUSTRALIA
chandra@ee.uwa.edu.auFirst Written: February
Last Revised: January
Trang 2Pleaseemail meyour comments and corrections.
© R (Chandra) Chandrasekhar, –
Trang 3. What is a thesis and why write one?
. Differences between the undergraduate and postgraduate theses
Structure . esis structure at UWA
. Rationale for structure
. e hypothesis underpins the thesis
. Does an engineering thesis need a hypothesis?
Substance . Begin at the beginning: keep records
. Write with the reader in mind
. ink, plan, write, revise
. Attikiouzel’s aphorisms
. Lindsay’s laws
. Hartmann’s hints
. Cobbling together your first dra
. e Experimental Chapters
. e Literature Review
. e Introduction and Conclusions
. Linking your chapters
. e Summary or Abstract
. Writing other parts of your thesis
. Polishing up your thesis
. e time element
. Do’s and Don’ts in Science and Engineering
Style: Language . e cra of writing good English
. Ambiguity and clarity
. Precision
. Brevity
. Examples of what to avoid
. Punctuation
. e I/We Active/Passive controversy
. Examples of good writing
. Spelling and grammar
Style: Layout . Format
. Word Processor vs Markup Language
. Diagrams, Graphs and Tables
. Table of Contents, Bibliography and Index
Trang 4Quick Reference Guide
Trang 5is is a short guide on how to write a thesis at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels It is aimed
at students of Engineering and Science A thesis may be analyzed into three S’s:structure, substanceandstyle.Structure confers logical coherence; substance, significance and depth; and style, elegance and appeal.State your hypothesis clearly, ensuring that it is both reasonable and testable Keep meticulous recordsand write up rough dras of your work as you go along Begin writing your thesis proper with the exper-imental chapters Progress to the literature review, introduction, and conclusions Write the summary orabstract last,aerwriting the conclusions
Write clearly and directly, with the reader’s expectations always in mind Lead the reader from theknown to the unknown Write clearly, precisely, and briefly ink, plan, write, and revise Follow layoutguidelines and check spelling and grammar Re-read, seek criticism, and revise Submit your best effort asyour completed thesis
Trang 6 Introduction
is is a working guide on writing a thesis It is intended to assist final year and postgraduate students inElectrical/Electronic/Computer Engineering at the Centre for Intelligent Information Processing Systems(CIIPS) at e University of Western Australia (UWA) e guide is divided into three main parts:
by the student Style has two components: language and layout e former deals with the usage of English
as a medium of sound technical communication; the latter with the physical presentation of the thesis onpaper, according to the requirements laid out by UWA All three components—structure, substance andstyle—influence one another A good thesis will not be found wanting in any of these three¹
. What is a thesis and why write one?
thesis/ˈθi:sɪs/n a proposition to be maintained or proved a dissertation esp by a candidate for a
de-gree [Middle English via Late Latin from Greek = putting, placing, a proposition, etc.] []
hypothesis/hʌɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/n a proposition made as a basis for reasoning without the assumption of its truth
a supposition made as a starting point for further investigation from known facts [Late Latin from Greek
hypothesis‘foundation’; Greekhypo‘under’] []
One might infer from the etymology above that a thesis is an (obligatory) offeringplacedat the desk ofthe examiner by a candidate who wishes to get a degree is is the most common, and oen only, reasonwhy a thesis is written But thereareother reasons for writing a thesis
A thesis is a written record of the work that has been undertaken by a candidate It constitutes objective
evidenceof the author’sknowledgeandcapabilitiesin the field of interest and is therefore a fair means to
gaugethem Although thesis writing may be viewed as an unpleasant obligation on the road to a degree,thedisciplineit induces may have lifelong benefits
Most of all, a thesis is an attempt tocommunicate Science begins with curiosity, follows on with periment and analysis, and leads to findings which are then shared with the larger community of scientistsand perhaps even the public e thesis is therefore not merely a record of technical work, but is also anattempt to communicate it to a larger audience
ex-. Differences between the undergraduate and postgraduate theses
e differences between the undergraduate and postgraduate theses is one ofdegree²rather thankind eyshare a common structure and need for logical rigour It is only in the substance and the emphasis placed
on it that the differences arise Specifically, UWA requires that:
A PhD thesis shall be a substantial and original contribution to scholarship, for example, through the discovery of knowledge, the formulation of theories or the innovative re-interpretation of known data and established ideas [].
¹is guide does not cover the earlier phases, such as selecting a supervisor and research topic, doing a literature search etc., nor does it give advice on how to do research, except as it pertains to writing a thesis.
²Pun unintended!
Trang 7An undergraduate thesis is, at present, graded on thequality of research, thesignificance of the tionsand thestyle of presentation.
contribu-us, the undergraduate thesis is judged on a similar basis to the postgraduate one Indeed, the threemost commonly cited qualities that earn an undergraduate thesis the first class grade areoriginality,inde- pendence, andmastery[]
Candidates writing a higher degree thesis—and the PhD thesis in particular—are required to presenttheir research in the context of existing knowledge is means athoroughandcritical review of the lit-erature, not necessarily limited to the narrow topic of research, but covering the general area e PhDcandidate should also show clearly whatoriginal contributionsshe or he has made [] Although neither
of these requirements applies strictly to undergraduate work, the candidate should demonstrate familiaritywith previous relevant work in his or her thesis
In short, a thesis—whether undergraduate or postgraduate—is evidence of the candidate’s capacity tocarry out independent research under the guidance of a supervisor, and to analyze and communicate thesignificant results of that work e candidate for higher degrees must demonstrate, in addition, mastery
of the literature and indicate clearly which is his or her original work, and why it is significant³
Structure
. esis structure at UWA
e UWA PhD regulations [] give the following format for the doctoral thesis:
Title page: gives the title of the thesis in full, the candidate’s names and degrees, a statement of presentation in the form ‘is thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Western Australia’, the department and year of submission.
Summary or Abstract—of approximately words (It should not exceed words.) e Abstract or mary should summarize the appropriate headings, aims, scope and conclusion of the thesis.
(a) Chapter : Introduction
(b) Chapter : Review of the Literature
(c) Chapter : Materials and Methods
(d) Chapters to n: Experimental Chapters
(e) Chapter (n + 1): General Discussion or Conclusions
If we now zoomed in on any Experimental Chapter (labelled (d) above), we should expect to see []:
³Contrary to custom elsewhere in the world, the candidate for a master’s or doctoral degree at UWA is generally not required to make an oral presentation and defence of her or his work By contrast, the final-year Electrical/Electronic/Computer Engineering student is required to make an oral presentation that contributes a small percentage to the total marks for the thesis.
Trang 8Introduction/Aim What did you do and why?
Materials and Methods How did you do it?
Observations/Results What did you find?
Discussion What do your results mean to you and why?
Conclusions What new knowledge have you extracted
from your experiment?
T : is table shows the relationship between the structure of an experimental chapter in a thesis, and its underlying logic.
. Rationale for structure
e rationale for the structure in section.is simply thata thesis must tell a story clearly and convincingly
e components of the structure impart logical continuity to the thesis in much the same way that links in
a chain confer on it integrity and strength ere is a flow in the logic, as shown in Table, which is adaptedfrom Barrass [, p ]:
Any flaw in the reasoning or gap in the logic will be easily spotted if this structure is strictly followed
us, the structure of the thesis is designed to enforce logical and scientific rigour and make it easy to read.Followthe structure and you can be sure that you are telling your story in the right order But what exactlyisyourstory?
. e hypothesis underpins the thesis
ehypothesisis all important It is the foundation of your thesis. It gives coherence and purpose to yourthesis Go back to section.to review the meaning and etymology of this word If it is hard to grasp whathypothesis means, these explanations might help:
• e hypothesis defines the aim or objective of an experiment, that if some likely but unproven sition were indeed true, we would expect to make certain observations or measurements
propo-• A hypothesis is an imaginative preconception ofwhat might be truein the form of a declaration withverifiable deductive consequences [, p ]
Trang 9• Hypotheses are the larval forms of theories [, p ].
• ‘In every useful experiment, there must be some point in view, some anticipation of a principle to beestablished or rejected’;such anticipations are hypotheses[, John Gregory quoted by Medawar, p ].Indeed, the great French physiologist, Claude Bernard, has written:
A hypothesis is …the obligatory starting point of all experimental reasoning Without it, noinvestigation would be possible, and one would learn nothing: one could only pile up barrenobservations To experiment without preconceived ideas is to wander aimlessly [, p ]
Yourhypothesismustfit the known facts⁴andbe testable To comply with the first, you must have read theliterature To comply with the second, you must do the experiment is is why the hypothesis is central toscientific investigation []
If you find time, read an account of the famous Michelson-Morley experiment [] to understand that
if hypothesis and experiment are in conflict, it is experiment that prevails and hypothesis that falls If anexperiment shows that a hypothesis is incorrect, then that hypothesis must be erroneous, no matter howattractive Moreover, failure of a hypothesis may lead to a re-examination of assumptions, refutation ofshaky theories, and ultimately to new knowledge, as happened in this case
. Does an engineering thesis need a hypothesis?
Hypotheses may be relevant to science theses, but are they relevant to engineering theses? Because neersinventrather thandiscover, does an engineering thesis need a hypothesis?
engi-Yes, all the more so, because invention is a more tightlydirectedactivity than discovery; and the twoare not mutually exclusive anyway! I prefer the word hypothesis: that which underlies a thesis; you may bemore familiar or comfortable withaimsorobjectives e hypothesis is theelectromotive forceoremf foryour thesis
Suppose your project involves using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), in conjunction with priate hardware, to sort good apples from bad e hypothesis for this project may be, ‘It is possible tosort good apples from bad using ANNs and suitable hardware’ Note that implicit in your hypothesis is adefinition of acceptable levels of accuracy (how do youquantifythe words ‘possible’, ‘good’, and ‘bad’?).Suppose that on completing your project, you discovered that the system you had devised works wellwith green apples, but not with red ones You would havediscovered new knowledgeand would be able tosuggest arevised hypothesisas the starting point for further investigation Your own project would havedemonstrated⁵the correctness of a hypothesis like ‘It is possible to sort good green apples from bad greenapples, with an accuracy of better than , using ANNs and suitable hardware’
appro-Never forget that underlying every thesis, there must be a hypothesis. It is what your story is all about Ifyou keep your hypothesis in view, you will never stray into irrelevance when writing your thesis, which iswhat we look at next
Substance
. Begin at the beginning⁶: keep records
e content of your thesis is being continuously gathered throughout the period of your project/research.Remember this and keep clear, well-annotated records in your “CIIPS Research Record Book” You can
⁴But you should not be afraid to explore the unknown If the “known fact” that “atoms are indivisible” had not been challenged,
we would not have known of electrons, let alone quarks.
⁵Philosophers of science contend [] that a hypothesis cannot be proved conclusively, but only falsified We will steer clear of this controversy here.
⁶“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll [, p ]
Trang 10afford to be wordy and repetitive here, because you do not want to be lost when you refer to it later on cause it is a running record of experiment and observation, its only requirement is fidelity; not subsequentcorrectness.
Be-Michael Faraday was an experimental scientist par excellence His diary of his researches can serve verywell as a model of how your own research record book should be like For example, in one volume of hisdiaries [], he has recorded the following:
• freehand drawings of experimental setups [pp –] You should do the same; your diagrams inyour record book need not be works of art: save that for the thesis!
• his accurate description of what hebelievedhe wasperceiving:“It stillsmelt strongly of Electricity” [p
] e italics are his Today we may hide a smirk if anyone talks about smelling electricity; butremember that these are the observations of a scientific pioneer Do not be afraid to record your
perceptions accurately
• his own questions to himself: “Can induction through air take place in curves or round a corner?” [p
] Such questions serve to clarify your own thoughts and to steer further work
In summary, your record book is where yourecord your thoughts, perceptions and measurements, using words, numbers and pictures, as and when they are still fresh in your mind.
Plan your experiments so that one experiment has only one hypothesis Many experiments may gether shed light on a larger, unifying hypothesis
to-Assuming that your experimental work is going well, the spectre of writing it up, so that it looks like athesis, still looms ahead How do you do that?
In the following sections, we take a look at some guidelines on how to write well is is followed byadvice from some experienced UWA professors on how to write a good thesis e material that follows isthe core of this working guide: so pay attention to it and try to understand it thoroughly
. Write with the reader in mind
All communication involves two parties: the sender of the message and the receiver; in written nication, they are the writer and the reader If youwrite with the reader in mind you are more likely tocommunicate successfully To fix this concept in your mind, I will introduce two analogies from electricalengineering with which youmustbe familiar:
commu- the maximum power transfer theorem: [, p ] e transfer of power from a source to a load ismaximum if the load impedance is the complex conjugate of the source impedance (see Figure)
e matching ofsourceandloadimpedances formaximum powertransfer to occur is analogous tomatching thewriter’s techniqueto thereader’s expectationsformaximum communicationto occur
there are no reflectionson an ideal, lossless transmission line if it is terminated with a load that isequal to thecharacteristic impedanceof the transmission line [, p ] ereflectionsat the end
of a transmission line are like the reader’sconfusion at what the writer intended to convey; suchconfusion is minimized again bymatching what the reader expects with what the writer provides.Gopen and Swan []⁷have written an excellent article introducing scientific method into scientificwriting ey claim that readers have certain implicit expectations aboutwhat to encounterandwhen, eachtime they read a sentence If the writer matches these expectations, communication takes place easily;otherwise confusion or misinterpretation results ey exhort the writerto write so as to match the reader’s expectations e reader should not waste the effort that would go intounderstanding the substanceof thewriting, in trying toguesswhat the writerintended to mean Although they warn that “there can be no fixedalgorithm for good writing”, they give seven sound generic guidelines that are worth re-stating here []:
Follow a grammatical subject with its verb, as soon as possible
⁷I am indebted to Prof David Lindsay for introducing me to this article.
Trang 11+ -
ZLV
S
S
F :Maximum power is transferred from the source V S if the load impedance Z Lis the complex conjugate of
the source impedance Z S , i.e., if Z L = Z ∗
S[, p ].
Place in the position of importance (stress position) the “new information” you want the reader toemphasize in his or her mind
Place the person or thing whose story is being told at the beginning of a sentence in the topic position
Place appropriate “old information” (material discussed earlier) in the topic position to provide agewith what has gone before andcontextfor what is to come later
link- Make clear the action of every clause or sentence in its verb
Provide context for your reader before asking him or her to consider anything new
Match the emphasis conveyed by thesubstancewith the emphasis anticipated by the reader from the
structure
In summary, match the reader’s expectations by constructing sentences skilfully Lead the reader from the known to the unknown.Write with the reader in mind: this is usually the examiner, but do not forget thepoor student who gets to continue your project the next year If your thesis is not clear enough, he/she may
be condemned to repeat your work before making further progress, losing valuable time in the process
. ink, plan, write, revise
ink Plan Write Revise is is the cycle advocated by Barrass [] in his short but very useful book
on scientific writing Messy thinking leads to messy writing: cluttered, obscure and uninviting ink andplan before you write and revise
Writing is not a linear process but a cyclic one What appears first may be written last, with the benefit
of hindsight and a unified perspective But, where does one start; how does one revise, and how manytimes? As an entrée, let us listen to those with experience
. Attikiouzel’s aphorisms []
Start writing early. Do not delay writing until you have finished your project or research Writecomplete and concise “Technical Reports”as and whenyou finisheach nuggetof work is way, youwill remember everything you did and document it accurately, when the work is still fresh in yourmind is is especially so if your work involves programming
Spot errors early.A well-written “Technical Report” will force you to think about what you have done,
beforeyou move on to something else If anything is amiss, you will detect it at once and can easilycorrect it, rather than have to re-visit the work later, when you may be pressured for time and havelost touch with it
Write your thesis from the inside out. Begin with the chapters on your own experimental work Youwill develop confidence in writing them because you know your own work better than anyone else.Once you have overcome the initial inertia, move on to the other chapters
Trang 12 End with a bang, not a whimper.First things first, and save the best for last First and last impressionspersist Arrange your chapters so that your first and last experimental chapters are sound and solid.
Write the Introductionaerwriting the Conclusions. e examiner will read the Introduction first,and then the Conclusions, to see if the promises made in the former are indeed fulfilled in the latter.Ensure that your Introduction and Conclusions match
“No man is an Island”⁸.e critical review of the literature places your work in context Usually, onethird of the PhD thesis is about others’ work; two thirds, what you have done yourself Aer a thor-ough and critical literature review, the PhD candidate must be able to identify the major researchers
in the field and make a sound proposal for doctoral research
Estimate the time to write your thesis and then multiply it by three to get the correct estimate.Writing atone stretch is very demanding and it is all too easy to underestimate the time required for it; inflatingyour first estimate by a factor of three is more realistic
. Lindsay’s laws [, ]
Research is finished only aer it is written up What you write mustcommunicateandpersuade
e hallmarks of scientific writing areprecision, clarityandbrevity, in that order
Try to write as if you were speaking to someone: “see a face” is way you get to say it directly andclearly
Write (your chapters) infour dras:
(a) first: putting the facts together
(b) second: checking for coherence and fluency of ideas
(c) third: readability
(d) fourth: editing
Full details are given in Lindsay’s book [, chapters to ]
e Introduction should embody the (unified) hypothesis e reader finds in a clearly expressedhypothesis the skeleton of the thesis on which hangs all of the skin and meat that will be presentedlater
e scope and emphasis of the Literature Review must be directly relevant to the subject of the thesis
Include a common chapter that presents in one place all the experimental details common to allyour experimental chapters is avoids boring repetition and clears the way for a more fluent pre-sentation of experimental results in different chapters without the intervening distraction of tediousmethodology
Experiments and results must be set out in careful detail in individual chapters Seei toiv on page
for the structure of each experimental chapter Where several related experiments are grouped into
a single chapter, it is preferable to present this sequence individually for each experiment but toconclude withoneDiscussion is will meld the experiments together and unify the chapter
e General Discussion or Conclusions integrate the whole thesis and present its main points at oneplace is should be done in the context of the unifying hypothesis of the thesis e Introductionand this chapter along with the Summary or Abstract are the most important parts of the thesis
⁸No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.—John Donne (–),Meditation XVII
Trang 13. Hartmann’s hints []
Listed below are hints on writing thePhD thesis, gleaned from a seminar at UWA [], with points madelargely by the first speaker during split group discussion, and subsequently by all three speakers at a paneldiscussion Undergraduate students may optionally skip this section
Title.e title should be succinct, focused and objective, giving, if possible, the scope of the thesis
Abstract or Summary. Examiners will look here to find out whether it is new knowledge; and if sowhat
Introduction.Remember that the introductory pages are important because they create the first, andperhaps lasting, impression on the examiner Use flow diagrams, headings, sub-headings etc., tocreate and sustain interest
Literature Review.is should be acritical synthesisof the state of the knowledge Especially importantare the areas needing further investigation: what has not been done, as well as what has been done,but for which there is a conflict in the literature e examiner finds outhow the candidate thinks
from reading this section
Hypothesis Testing.e hypothesis must be framed carefully and experiments designed thoughtfully
to test it
Materials and Methods. Ensure proper quality control and statistical planning and analysis Retainenough details to allow repetition of experiments for up to seven () years, as legally required
General Discussion or Conclusions.You may afford to be speculative here
Examiners ask the following questions when reading a thesis:
• Has the student read all the references?
• What questions does this thesis raise?
• What richness does it contain that can spawn other work?
• What is the quality of flow of ideas?
Keep in mind that examiners read a thesis in instalments and display anatural benevolence,i.e., they
do not set out to read a thesis with the aim of failing the student
Read thewholethesis to pick up repetition
Read your thesis forideasand read it again forediting(see pointin section.)
. Cobbling together your first dra
According to Newton’s first law,starting something newis difficult because inertia must be overcome⁹ ing a thesis from scratch is no exception is is why I suggested that you start writing your thesisbefore
Writ-you know Writ-you are writing it: by keeping complete notes in Writ-your “CIIPS Research Record Book” and bywriting “Technical Reports” as and when you complete each module of work
Use whatever writing techniques you are familiar and comfortable with If, for example, you like tojot down “bullet points” before you formally commit your thoughts to writing, do so by all means If youhave used “mind-maps” [] in your study technique, you may wish to apply them to write your thesis too.Marshall whatever resource or technique that has worked for you, and use it to help you write your thesis.You are now familiar with the structure of the entire thesis and also with that of each experimentalchapter (see section.) You have also benefited from the counsel of several experienced UWA professors.Let us now tackle the nitty-gritty of actually writing the thesis, more or less in the order you should go aboutit
⁹I have taken pedagogic licence here by extrapolating Newton’s laws from the physical to the mental.
Trang 14. e Experimental Chapters
Each of these should preferably be self-contained and clearly focused ink of the story you want to tell
Choose and present only those results that are relevant to your hypothesis. A morass of experimental resultsun-illuminated by a hypothesis and unembellished by a discussion is insulting and confusing to your reader
e sections in your chapter should follow the experimental schema set out in Figure State yourhypothesis clearly Indicate all assumptions Include enough information about materials and methods toenable another suitably qualified person to repeat your experiments Relegate tedious but necessary details
to an Appendix, so that there are no breaks in the flow of ideas in your presentation
If you chose some “magic numbers” for your programs, or some specific conditions for your experimentthat may not be readily apparent to your reader,explainthe reasons for your choice here
Do not mix Materials and Methods with Results []; they are quite distinct in Figure It is customary
to describe your Methods before the Materials For example, you would describe your algorithm beforegiving details about the dataset on which you developed and tested it Use informative headings If you areusing a method that has already been documented in the literature, do not describe it in full; describe itbriefly or not at all, and give a reference citation []
When to present your results in a table and when to show them in a graph is discussed in section.
If your results convey no sense of the new or the unexpected, you must ask yourself whether they arethe right results to present, and also whether your hypothesis was well-framed in the first place If yourresults are insipid, if they say nothing new, shed no light on what was unknown, and generally convey nosense of excitement or new knowledge, you should sit down and think carefully about everything you havedone A discussion with your supervisor may also be in order
Do not present results chronologically; present them logically.
Adopt a standard nomenclature for all your chapters and introduce this in one place, preferably in achapter preceding your experimental work, and entitled “Common Materials and Methods”, or “Experi-mental Framework and Notation”, or something similar Do not change your symbols and their meanings
as you go along: this will irritate your reader no end
Check all facts and results at least once, twice if possible
Use SI units and the preferred abbreviations It is unprofessional to write mhz when you mean
MHz Leave a blank space between the number and the SI unit and do not put a full stop aer theabbreviation, unless it is at the end of the sentence
Try to present your Results separately from your Discussion ere is a temptation to commingle factand opinion, but resist it Your work will be easier to understand if your results (measurements, observa-tions, perceptions) are separated from your discussion (inferences, opinions, even conjectures)
e Discussion section of your experimental chapter is where you add value to your work. is is whereyou comment on your results Why are they what they are? What meaning can you wrest from them? Arethey in accord with accepted theory? What do they mean with respect to your hypothesis? Do your resultsuphold your assumptions? How do you treat unexpected or inconsistent results? Can you account forthem? Do your results suggest that you need to revise your experiments or repeat them? Do they indicate
a revised hypothesis? What are the limitations in your methodology? How do your results fit in with thework of others in the field? What additional work can you suggest?