What is a thesis? - RMIT Universitymams.rmit.edu.au/cu5rn47mmwpy.pdf · The big book is your ‘traditional’ thesis model which Judy will ... The exegesis carried the idea of creative

What is a thesis?

Dr Judy Maxwell

Study and Learning Centre

Why are you here?

Think about what you want to know.

Write down 3 questions you have about:

• thesis writing and/or

• structuring your literature review.

RMIT University©2012 3

Presentation outline

• The general idea of a thesis

• Academic identity

• Structuring your thesis

• Signposting the structure

• The story line of your thesis.


RMIT University©2008 Study and Learning Centre 4

The work of the scholar

‘becomes consequential

only as it is understood by

others’

Boyer, E.L. (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princeton: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, p.23.

RMIT University©2012 4Study and Learning Centre


What does the word ‘thesis’ mean?

• Thesis: from ancient Greek originally meant ‘laying down’

• In modern usage this ‘laying down’ has become a ‘fixing in place’

• Therefore to have a thesis means taking a position: putting something forward.

• A thesis can be thought of as a single encompassing idea.


Presenter

Presentation Notes

‘Thesis’ in ancient Greek originally meant ‘laying down’ or putting forth – in the sense that someone puts up a statue in a public place This picture of Luther nailing his theses to the church door captures the current meaning – it is meant to be a persuasive written argument There is some wriggle room however – in creative disciplines for example, the old idea of putting forward a proposition rather than arguing might have more currency However you play it, the thesis should be able to be articulated as a single encompassing idea and it should pervade the whole of your research documentation.


What does RMIT say a thesis is?

• All HDR candidates from RMIT should be able to demonstrate competence in:

– reviewing the literature relevant to the thesis– designing an investigation, and gathering and analysing information – presenting information in a manner consistent with publication in the

relevant discipline – critical appraisal of his/her own work relative to that of others– the ability to carry out supervised research in the field.

PhD candidates also need to demonstrate:– a significant and original contribution to knowledge of fact and/or

theory – independent and critical thought

– the capacity to work independently of supervision


Presenter

Presentation Notes

So let’s turn now to how this institution thinks about a thesis By working backwards from what competencies they expect you to have from doing one: Your final documents / presentation should show that you understand the disciplinary field you are playing in and have formed considered opinions on the previous players You need to show you can ask the right questions (42), cognisant that your work takes place in an ‘attention economy’ You need to show you understand how knowledge is transmitted in your field (text, images, data etc) You should be able to demonstrate facility with the methods in your field, including in many cases the theoretical implications of the methods What I mean by theory of methods is obviously different in different disciplinary contexts (say science vs design) You should know the strengths and weaknesses of your work and approach: more to the point you need to have a rationale for the weaknesses and omissions In a PhD (and to be honest, in a masters too) originality is a key component. We will look at this in a minute


Thesis types

Broadly speaking there are three types of thesis produced at RMIT:

The “Big Book” model: usually an extended written argument with supporting evidence.

The “Bunch of papers” model: a collection of articles which are tied together by a set of interlacing problems or themes.

The “Creative Exegesis”: a written / aural / visual / tactile accompaniment to a set of creative works.


Presenter

Presentation Notes

The big book is your ‘traditional’ thesis model which Judy will discuss in more detail The Bunch of papers is a model increasingly popular in the sciences. The papers deal with a set of interrelated problems and should make sense as a whole – this can be difficult to manage The creative exegesis is probably the most difficult type. Again the individual parts should make sense as a whole. However what this ‘sense’ is only comes into focus as the candidate progresses and knowing where to go next is rarely clear. There are epistemological assumptions and conventions underlying each of these types: The big book comes model evolved from the interpretive traditions, like history, where an author sets out to examine what is usually a relatively well mapped territory and add their voice The bunch of papers form is at home in the sciences where the emphasis is on discovery and building a cumulative base of knowledge The exegesis carried the idea of creative ‘coherence’ over from artistic practice. The various ‘bits’ should resonate together; there may not be straightforward relationships between the parts It should be remembered that the exegesis as a form is still in flux as creative practitioners try to establish what research means in their field


Doing Academic Identity Work

• You don’t start out being an expert – you become one. Expertise is informed by:

–Various social and material practices of scholarship–Disciplinary modes of knowing (and knowledge production)

• Most of ‘academic identity’ work happens through writing but also in professional gatherings and day to day work.


Presenter

Presentation Notes

If the medieval education aimed to cultivate the whole body of the scholar in modern times it has become a written display of academic identity A PhD is not a purely instrumental or problem solving exercise – it’s a display of certain scholarly skills and abilities Your study takes place within complex arrangements of social practices At the same time as you research your topic you are adopting academic modes of practice and participating in globalised scholarly communities. And immersing yourself in disciplinary modes of knowing – encountering the kinds of books, experiments, ideas which have currency in your particular academic life world If doing research towards a thesis is scholarly identity work succeeding is not simply a task or a matter of following rules. You need to engage in scholarship as a practice, a process, an activity which produces new practices, new ways of being and of understanding. A lot of this identity work happens through writing, but also through working with others, presenting at conferences, moving through professional networks and so on.


Constraint is the mother of invention….

• A PhD (or Masters degree) is both bigger and smaller than you would think

• Getting the scale of the endeavour right takes time

• There may well be an obvious ‘gap’ – but it might be there for a reason

• A thesis has to have a spark of creativity, some element of ‘charisma’, to have purchase in the ‘attention economy’ of academia

• Ask yourself: what is your thesis not going to do?


Presenter

Presentation Notes

Beginning students often over estimate the scope of the task and think they need to handle the biggest and most difficult problems in their field Another problem might be limiting the scope to the point where the research is boring to do and seemingly a little pointless… Most researchers produce more than they intended One of the hardest areas to manage is scope: what stays in and what gets left behind And the rationale for these choices You may think you have to deal with the big problems, often because this is the way the field is presented in the literature However you are usually a solo researcher on no budget and have limited experience. It is better to set your sights at more modest targets, however - You need to beware of the other extreme where you carve out a small niche and do research that is really not engaging with the intellectual problems in your field Dunleavy recommends ‘guesstimating’ the results and outcomes at the same time that you formulate a topic – many of you may find this difficult and do this work in the period before your confirmation You should consider building in some ‘insurance’ – what if your experiment fails or your interviews do not support your suppositions? Careful phrasing of the questions and placing of constraints can help you to salvage a project from these disasters. Good questions tend to start with ‘how’ or ‘why’ It can help to approach it in the reverse – what is it not?


Independent and critical thought

A thesis is a demonstration of yourself as a potential colleague.

Whether or not you come across as the ‘right sort’ depends to a large extent on your authorial ‘voice’.

The problems you choose say something about you as a researcher.

As well as being critical of others, you need to be critical of yourself and challenge your assumptions.

Research thinking involves creativity as much as criticality.


Presenter

Presentation Notes

Getting the right scholarly tone is a knack that only arrives through practice Can you entertain – seriously – that you might be wrong? Challenge yourself constantly and ask: how do I know this is true?

Broad thesis structure

RMIT University©2008 Study and Learning Centre 11RMIT University©2012 11Study and Learning Centre

I think perhaps a raincoat won't go amiss. I think perhaps a raincoat won't go amiss.

Say everything three times (x 3):

The thesis as a Within each Within each whole: chapter or section: paragraph:

RMIT University©2011 Study and Learning Centre

What the thesis will say (Introduction)

Details of the research(Body)

What the thesis said(Conclusion)

What this Chapter/Section says(Introduction/Signposting)

Details(Body)

What the Chapter/Section said(Summary)

One idea linked from previous sentence (Topic sentence)

Further information, evidence, examples, etc(Supporting sentences)

Conclusion to the idea (sometimes)(linking to next sentence)

12

Macro-, middle- and micro-structures:

Macro Middle Micro(Chapters) (Headings/Subheadings) (Topic sentences of

paragraphs)

These provide the conceptual framework



Your thesis tells the story of your research

What questions do you need to answer in order to tell your research story?

What is the research about?What is already known?How did I go about my research?

What did I find?What do the results/findings mean?So What!! What is the significance

and what are the contributions?What should happen now?

Introduction

Literature review

Research design/methodology

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Recommendations



Does this mean that theses should be structured in this way?

ie:

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Recommendations



No, but... ...your thesis must have unity

– an overall integrity:

What’s already known about an issue determines your research question or problem.

Your research question or problem determines your methodology.

Your methodology determines the data and results.

Your results define what you can discuss.

Your discussion determines your conclusion and recommendations .


Identify some possible variations in the way these elements could be combined:

RMIT University©2012 Study and Learning Centre 17Study and Learning Centre

Now identify each of these elements in each sample thesis contents page:

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

RecommendationsDiscuss:

What are some variations?Why are there variations? (eg Why not just the ‘traditional’ thesis?)

RMIT University©2008 Study and Learning Centre 18RMIT University©2012 18Study and Learning Centre

Signposting the structure:

Reader directions (metadiscourse)

- Forecastingeg: In this chapter, the results from the qualitative analysis

are analysed.

- Recapitualisationeg: The preceding section outlined the literature relating to

the value of the doctoral degree; this section discusses diversity within doctoral candidates.

- Overvieweg: Before the analysis of results from this instrument, it is

important to discuss the theoretical basis of this.

RMIT University©2012 Study and Learning Centre 19Study and Learning Centre

Signpost at various levels:

The whole thesis The focus of this thesis is...

Another chapter The physical properties are presented and analysed in Chapter 5.

The current chapter The remainder of this chapter discusses...

Another section In the previous section, it was demonstrated that...

The current section The following experiment shows...


The aim of this chapter is to provide, through selective reference to some of the literature, a clearer understanding of the different microbiological, chemical and physical processes that occur within trickling filters. Experimental observations of various trickling filter phenomena are reviewed, and there is discussion of the sometimes conflicting conclusions about the mechanisms of trickling filtration that have been drawn from the empirical evidence.

The chapter is divided into two parts. The subject of the first is the biological film which is the site of the biological oxidation of organic matter from the wastewater, and is thus the heart of the process of trickling filtration. The formation and structure of the biofilm (or slime layer) is outlined, and the different processes which occur within it are discussed. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to a consideration of the operating variables which determine trickling filter performance.


While writing, keep in mind your

research questions

or problems

aims and objectives

These underpin your thesis.


The big checklist:

What are your research questions?What are your answers to these?

What problems did you set out to solve?What are your solutions to these?

What were your aims?How have you met them?

What were your objectives?How have you met them?


Other big things to think about:

Is the argument and purpose clear throughout the thesis?

Does your introduction provide a clear context, rationale and research questions/aims/objectives?

Is your transition between and within chapters clear throughout the thesis?

Is there enough evidence and analysis for your major points?

Are your conclusions and recommendations strong and based on theevidence?

Are your introduction, body and conclusion aligned? That is, is there a logic in your responses to:

‘This is what I set out to do’‘This is what I did’‘This is what I found’ ?


And remember……

You’re building a cottage,

not a mansion!


Documents

What is a thesis? - RMIT Universitymams.rmit.edu.au/cu5rn47mmwpy.pdf · The big book is your ‘traditional’ thesis model which Judy will ... The exegesis carried the idea of creative