Before beginning to write, you should develop chapters outline or also widely known as Table of Contents. This will guide on how to divide your ideas and findings into different chapters and to plan on what to state in each chapter.
Again, before doing the outline, please refer to your faculty or university graduate schoolÊs guideline on thesis preparation. The guideline should define an outline which you can start working with and modify to suit your research requirements.
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In a thesis or dissertation, there will be preliminary materials which include title page, abstract, acknowledgements, table of contents, list of figures and list of tables. All pages in the preliminary section will start with lower-case Roman numerals (i,ii,iii,iv.)
(a) Title Page
Title page usually includes the topics of the thesis chapters, the name of the author, a statement on degree requirements, the name of the institution to be submitted to and the date of presentation. More importantly, the title must be precise. However, after examination and approval of your thesis by the senate, your title may undergo some changes or modification. Hence, it is important to ensure that the title should claim more than the research actually delivers. Also keep in mind the potential benefit to the readers who may conduct searches in the research databases in which your thesis may be listed.
(b) Acknowledgement
The acknowledgement page is included to state your appreciation to those who helped and assisted you throughout the research period. Avoid flattery and excessive recognition for routine participation of persons and family members.
(c) Table of Content
A table of content is very important in providing outline for the whole content of a thesis. Page references for each chapter and sub-chapter are also included in the table of content.
(d) List of Figures and Tables
It is a common practice to include separate sheet on list of figures and list of tables. Full title of figures and tables in the thesis are worded exactly as they appear in the thesis body. In ICT research, at times there is another type of list called List of Abbreviation. Since ICT deals with large number of terminologies, researchers often use IT jargon in their writing. Therefore, it is important to include an additional list that defines all the jargons to the readers.
A typical body of thesis would contain the following chapters (Figure 13.1):
Figure 13.1: Chapters in a thesis (e) Chapter 1 ă Introduction
The Introduction chapter, being the first chapter, consists of a statement of the problem with research questions to be answered. In this chapter, you should present significance of your research work, background on your area of interest and important defined terms of your work. You also need to state your assumptions that you made as well as the limitation of your research. Chapter 1 serves as an important chapter because it gives the examiners and readers a glimpse of what you are actually supposed to produce and expect at the end of the research process.
(f) Chapter 2 ă Literature Review
In this chapter, you should thoroughly review important literature in your research area. This chapter should be constructed well enough by extracting previous research and providing critiques in your own words. Providing critiques shows you are capable as a scholar and knowledge savvy. The whole chapter should bring the reader up to date about the most recent research and thinking in the field. Read, extract and write the review in your own words.
(g) Chapter 3 - Methodology
In this chapter, write about your research design and method you choose to complete your research work. You will have to explain about sampling method and how you select them. Also indicate samples representation and description about variables that you use. In ICT research, methodology
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should be concise and clear. If you adopt a model from other researchersÊ work, you have to cite and mention it as well as reasoning out the details of a particular model. Do not forget to include explanation on how you perform data collection methods, questionnaire design and instruments to be used to analyze the outcome.
(h) Chapter 4 - Results and Discussion
Chapter 4 serves as another important chapter where you present your findings and data analysis. Briefly, this is the core of your thesis. Use extensive tables and graphs to present your analysis, and give clear view of your findings, chronologically. You may also present data in the form of documents or observations to support your argument. Use consistent terms throughout the thesis chapters. Discuss your findings by identifying and interpreting it logically. Examiners or readers should be able to relate to your results and discussion accordingly. One of the common weaknesses observed among graduate students is that they fail to provide thoughtful interpretation of their findings. Keep in mind, the scholarly judgment of being a graduate student or researcher always depends on your ability to think, interpret and write.
(i) Chapter 5 - Conclusion and Future Works
The last chapter can be divided into two main parts : conclusion and future work/ recommendation. This chapter, should highlight the summary of your entire findings and describe briefly about it. You may also suggest how your research work and findings can be improved under different setting or circumstances. Give recommendations and suggest future works that possibly could be further developed.
(j) References
This section consists of References and Appendixes of your thesis. Refer to your university guideline on writing references. Typical style would be alphabetical order with last name of the author listed first. In References, you should include journals, books, Internet articles, chapters in books or monographs that you have cited in your thesis document. On Appendixes, included separate sheet for Table and data, printed forms of questionnaire, cover letters, datasheet, software information and manual, simulation procedures and other materials pertinent to your research.
SELF-CHECK 13.1
Identify the contents of a thesis.