theEzone : Thesis

The reflective examiner

robyn.owens — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:48:00 GMT

I love it when an examiner talks about "the PhD" in general, rather than simply the particulars of the one under consideration. When this happens, we get an insight into what examiners are looking for. Usually, such reflection occurs when the examiner is trying to explain to the candidate how a thesis might be improved - this is the formative part of the report.

Here's a summary of the sorts of comments that often arise:

Normally in academic writing, especially at the PhD level, it is crucial to begin with a statement of a research problem. A research problem is at the core of an academic study. It is the main idea of the research and represents the philosophical view of the PhD candidate. Without this philosophical view, the thesis only deals with technical aspects and this does not suffice for a PhD.

A research problem is created by intensive, extensive, comprehensive, and critical reading of the literature. Any gap in the literature, caused by methodological problems or incorrect interpretations of data, can become a general statement that can subsequently be enhanced by the researcher's opinion on the issue. Thus, there must be old knowledge and new knowledge in the thesis.

A literature review is not a re-echoing of the literature; it must be a critical review of it. First and foremost, a literature review is the researcher's own opinions and comments about previous writings and studies in the area. These opinions are built from the reading. They may be directed towards methodological shortcomings or weaknesses in previously published work. These opinions of the candidate should be categorized, labelled as sub-topics, and discussed. Additionally, some part of the literature review will be a gathering together of known data, statistics, opinions and definitions that will be used to justify or support the argument put forward by the candidate.

Images of originality

robyn.owens — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:02:00 GMT

Any diagrams, figures, or images in your thesis must be treated in the same way as your text: they must be your own, or they must be appropriately cited. However, unlike text, when an image is copyrighted (and it is safe to assume that all are unless it is explicitly stated that they can be used with a citation only), then you must obtain permission to use someone else's image.

The over-use of figures downloaded from the internet detracts from the quality and it is preferable to see the candidate's own images, which then would be clearer and in some instances more appropriately targeted to the relevant information.

Justifying your thesis

robyn.owens — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:27:00 GMT

I know it is hard enough actually stating what your thesis is, but once you have articulated it, you then have to be able to convince the world that it is important enough to be worthy of 3 years' consideration, and that what you have found is a substantial contribution to the world's knowledge.

One of the most serious concerns relates to the need for a sound justification that the research topic is substantive enough to satisfy the requirement that the thesis makes a substantial and original contribution to scholarship.

One way of making this justification is to demonstrate, through your literature review, that other people have identified the gap in knowledge that you are intending to fill, that they care about knowing the answer, and that the question is contemporary and relevant. In this way, citation becomes a powerful ally in your construction of a sound argument.

A good idea

robyn.owens — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:15:00 GMT

Sometimes, in passing, examiners present good ideas for all.

The abstract should have a short paragraph in which contribution(s) to knowledge are claimed and the major finds of the thesis and their implications noted ... It would also help retrieval of the thesis by interested parties, if a series of keywords are added to the bottom of the abstract.

Text, especially digital, should be tagged by keywords and appropriately structured to facilitate digital search. Where appropriate, accompanying data should similarly be tagged and structured so that direct links can be made between the text and the data. Simple, old-fashioned, examples of this idea include putting your text within chapters and chapter subsections, identifying and tagging citations, equations and diagrams, and forming links between these objects and the text itself. Pushing this idea further, if your thesis is accompanied by the data you collected, you can link your text, diagrams and tables etc to the appropriately tagged component of your full dataset.

And speaking of digital theses, I'm wondering how long I have to wait before someone requests permission to submit a purely digital thesis with embedded objects such as sound files (interviews, music) and video clips (a visual representation of the synthesis of a particular chemical, how to tag a willy-wagtail with a microchip, a snippet from the movie you are analysing (with permission, of course)).

The Thesis

robyn.owens — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:13:00 GMT

I have recently been examining a PhD thesis of a student from another university (in another country). Overall, it was, in my opinion, an adequate dissertation: the candidate had clearly done a lot of work, there were some original contributions (although they were difficult to find in the presentation), and the written style was passable. While this might not sound very positive, my overall recommendation was "Pass, subject to the questions in my report being addressed at the oral examination, and the revisions in my report being undertaken in the thesis." This recommendation was one of the choices I had, and common to all examination procedures I have ever seen, it required ticking a box.

What I found most difficult in this examination process was identifying what the candidate's actual thesis was; that is, the argument that was being developed over 150 or so pages so as to convince me that this new approach to XXX either had promise as a practical system, or that it gave some insight into existing biological systems. The Graduate Research School webpages give the following advice about the thesis (adapted from Anderson, J. and Poole, M. (1994) Thesis and assignment writing John Wiley and Sons, Brisbane):

"A thesis is not the same as a topic to be investigated. While a topic may be the structure of a particular crystal or the novels of Miles Franklin, a thesis is a statement that says, for instance, something about crystals or an author’s novels. The distinction is important since in many ways the statement of a thesis determines the approach and stance writers take towards their topics or research questions.

A thesis is an idea or theory that is expressed as a statement, a contention for which evidence is gathered and discussed logically. The statement nearly always begins with the word that.

…that the move towards republicanism in Australia began at the end of the last century.

…that use of sapphire as a test mass material in a gravitational wave detector will significantly reduce thermal noise.

…that failure of apparent pregnancies in sheep in the Merredin area is due to high temperatures at the time of mating.

A thesis is a sustained argument. The thesis statement usually appears in the first chapter where the background to the study is described. It will often determine the framework for the literature review and the data collection and it is revisited in the last chapter. It permeates the whole study."

Since I have challenged the candidate I am examining to state his thesis, I now offer the same challenge here: can you state your thesis, in one phrase, starting with the word "that"?