IA 494 - GRADUATION THESIS

Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz HASIRCI

W R I T I N G T H E T H E S I S

Why are issues such as, format, rules and regulations so important in academic writing?

Selecting, narrowing down the Topic Setting up a Framework (Problem Statement,

Literature Review, Methodology, Data Analysis, Findings, Conclusions)

Avoiding Bias and Plagiarism

What is a thesis?Your thesis is a research report.

The report concerns a problem or series of problems in an area of your subject.

It should describe what was known about it previously, what you did towards solving it, what you think your results mean, and where or how further progress in the field can be made.

Thesis Requirements:

New Knowledge Significant contribution to your field Critical judgement Testing ideas Worthy of publication

Thesis Mistakes:

Poor reasoning Poor experimental design Repeating or confirming “established work” Insufficient analysis Sloppy presentation Errors or omissions in references

Requirement #1

New Knowledge

Originality

The ways in which your work WILL be original

The ways in which your work WON’T be original

Originality

New work New interpretation New application New way of testing knowledge New connections

Requirement #2

Judging the context of your work

How do you link your work to your field?

Be clear about how your work builds on existing research: Are you contesting a view? Are you strengthening existing theories with

additional perspectives? Are you filling a gap?

How are you adding value to your field?

Requirement #3

Critical Judgement and testing your ideas

Testing your own work

Why did you use this method/approach Be clear on its advantages and limitations

Is your interpretation the only possible explanation? Support from literature Confirmation from further work

Practical Issues

Use key words – do not worry about constant repetition of terminology

Make sure figures and tables are introduced and referred to - or omit them

Formatting – my thesis

Chapter Headings 18pt BoldMain Headings 14 pt BoldSubheadings 14ptText 12ptBullets

Margins Left 40 mm.Right 25 mm.

 Font Times New Roman

Formatting

Decide on rules for all features e.g. Figure 4.2ii Annotation of a figure goes below the figure e.g. Table 4.2a Annotation of tables goes above the table References – what is the standard?

Checklist does the content match the title ?

are important points emphasized enough ?

is the content within each section appropriate ?

is there a logical sequence ?

are information sources acknowledged ?

do the conclusions relate to the objectives ?

have you followed the conventions and regulations ?

is the meaning of each sentence clear - or open to interpretation ?

can long sentences be broken down ?

A Dictionary of Useful Research Phrases

Research PhraseIt has long been known…

A definite trend is evident…

Of great theoretical and practical importance...

While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions…

TranslationI didn't look up the original reference.

These data are are practically meaningless.

Interesting to me

An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published

Three of the sample were chosen for detailed study...

Typical results are shown…

The most reliable results are those obtained by Jones...

It is believed that…

It is generally believed that…

The results of the others didn't make any sense

The best results are shown.

My supervisor owes him a favor.

I think.

A couple of other people think so too.

A GOOD THESIS Has an appreciation of what came before Focuses on the interesting and important Is well-reasoned Has well-designed experiments (hypothesis-driven) Will change the way people think Has publishable results Is logical in presentation, analysis and argumentation Is well-illustrated with figures and graphs Is written without grammatical and spelling errors Has an appreciation of what comes next

A BAD THESIS

Is not interesting Deals with small or badly described problems Reasons poorly Has badly-designed experiments Repeats or confirms well-established things Is inadequate in quantitative analysis Has poor presentation of graphs and illustrations Contains grammatical and typing errors

Homework 1: Two page report on clarification of initial ideas on the topic of research (Clarity, Bias,

Strengths/ Weaknesses, Implications, Improvement etc.).

Cite references

Basic Research Methods

Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz HASIRCI

Research Questions and HypothesesTechniques, MethodsIntroduction: 1st ChapterDevelopment ChaptersConclusionFurther Improvement Suggestions

What is research? We ask questions all the time Research is a formal way of going about asking

questions Uses methodologies Many different kinds (e.g. market research,

media research and social research) Basic research methods can be learned easily

First things first

1. Basics

2. Topic ideas

3. Typical methodologies

4. Common pitfalls

5. Getting started and putting it all together

6. Questions/discussion

Basic steps of a research project

Find a topic What, When Formulate questions What, Why (Research

Question) Assumptions, hunches (Hypotheses) Define population Who, When (Sample group) Select design & measurement How (Instruments) Gather evidence How Interpret evidence Why Tell about what you did and found out

Step 1: What?

What do I want to know? When developing your research question, keep in

mind: Who your research is for;What decisions your research will inform;What kind of information is needed to inform those

decisions.

Conduct a local information scan Take another look at your research question

Step 2: How? Where? Who?

How do I find out what I want to know? Where can I get the information I need? Who do I need to ask? Choose your methodology

quantitative or numbers information qualitative in-depth explanatory information case studies site visits or observation participatory research

Step 3: When?

When do all the different parts of the research need to be done?

List all your research work areas Map them against a timeline Develop a work plan

Step 4: Why? Getting the answer

Collect your data Keep returning to your research question Organize your research results to answer the

question Keep in mind who you are doing the research for Focus on what research results do tell you Be creative, methodical and meticulous

Basic research methods

Quantitative research (e.g. survey) Qualitative research (e.g. face-to-face interviews;

focus groups; site visits) Case studies Participatory research

Quantitative research Involves information or data in the form of

numbers Allows us to measure or to quantify things Respondents don’t necessarily give numbers as

answers - answers are analyzed as numbers Good example of quantitative research is the

survey

Surveys Think clearly about questions (need to constrain

answers as much as possible) Make sure results will answer your research

question Can use Internet for conducting surveys if need

to cover wide geographic reach

Qualitative research

Helps us flesh out the story and develop a deeper understanding of a topic

Often contrasted to quantitative research Together they give us the ‘bigger picture’ Good examples of qualitative research are face-to-

face interviews, focus groups and site visits

Face-to-face interviews

Must prepare questions Good idea to record your interviews Interviews take up time, so plan for an hour or less

(roughly 10 questions) Stick to your questions, but be flexible if relevant or

interesting issues arise during the interview

Focus groups

Take time to arrange, so prepare in advance (use an intermediary to help you if you can)

Who will be in your focus group? (e.g. age, gender) Size of focus group (8-10 is typical) Consider whether or not to have separate focus

groups for different ages or genders (e.g. discussing sex and sexuality)

Site visits and observation

Site visits involve visiting an organization, community project etc.

Consider using a guide Observation is when you visit a location and

observe what is going on, drawing your own conclusions

Both facilitate making your research more relevant and concrete

Case studies

Method of capturing and presenting concrete details of real or fictional situations in a structured way

Good for comparative analysis

Participatory research

Allows participation of community being researched in research process (e.g. developing research question; choosing methodology; analyzing results)

Good way to ensure research does not simply reinforce prejudices and presumptions of researcher (bias)

Good for raising awareness in community and developing appropriate action plans

Planning your research: Key questions

What do you want to know? How do you find out what you want to know? Where can you get the information? Who do you need to ask? When does your research need to be done? Why? (Getting the answer)

Keep In Mind That

No study is perfect “All data is dirty is some way or another; research is

what you do with that dirty data” (Manuel). Measurement involves making choices

Be Critical About Numbers

“Every statistic is a way of summarizing complex information into relatively simple numbers” (Best).

How did the researchers arrive at these numbers? Who produced the numbers and what is their bias? How can key terms be defined & in how many

different ways?

Be Critical About Numbers

How was the choice for the measurement made? What type of sample was gathered & how does that

affect result? Is the statistical result interpreted correctly? If comparisons are made, are they appropriate? Are there competing statistics?

Getting Started

Read to learn; read to analyze About research methodology Studies on similar topics Interesting studies Non-library studies

Getting Started

Finding a topic needn’t be traumatic Work projects Research studies

Media Trends Technology Physical, Social Environment

Data collection involves agreement & consent Forge partnerships At some point you will need to leave the comfort

zone of reading and literature gathering.

Data Collection

Collect and present your ideas in an orderly and interesting way.

Add figures, tables to enhance to clarify ideas and to enhance the reading experience.

Finishing Up

Be very careful about spelling, rules & regulations, and references.

Make someone else to check the report for you. Make sure your report is neat and tidy. Timing is everything. Do and submit everything on time.

Finishing Up