Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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CS5014

Research Methods in CS

Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid

Computer Science Department

Virginia Tech

Thesis Writing

Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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OutlineThesis Writing

•Writing a Thesis

•Thesis Defense

•Defense Mechanics

Some of the material is based on Dr. Cliff Shaffer’s Notes for CS5014. Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech

Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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Theses and Dissertations

•The dictionary defines a thesis to be "a proposition that is maintained by argument"

•and a dissertation to be "a lengthy, formal treatise, especially one written by a candidate for the doctoral degree at a university"

•That is, a thesis is a contention or principle of which you would like to convince your reader

•A dissertation is a written presentation of it.

Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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Writing a Thesis 1/3

•Long and unstructured (It takes longer than you think!)

Psychological factors

Document management issues

Project management issues

Decisions must be made about thesis structure

Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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Writing a Thesis 2/3

•Introduction: Lay out the problem (general)

•Literature Review: How do you fit in?

•Content Sections

•Analysis (if appropriate)

•Conclusions and Future Work

•Reference List

•Appendices

Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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Writing a Thesis 3/3

•Begin earlier rather than later

•Might do initial literature review while gearing up for doing work

• If the work naturally falls into project parts, can write parts as they are completed

• Ideally, you will already have submitted papers for publication well before completing the thesis. Depends on the scope of the work.

•Key to success: Make it look like it was done right!

Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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Thesis Defense •Primarily a presentation of the thesis work.

Like a (long) talk at a (small) conference

But there are likely to be lots of questions

•Some possible goals of the defense are to:

make sure you did it

make sure you understand what you did

make sure you understand the significance/context of what you did

probe your general understanding of the field of the thesis

make sure the committee understands what you did

test your ability to present

Thesis Writing © Dr. Ayman Abdel-Hamid, CS5014, Fall 2006

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Defense Mechanics

•Generally about 2 hours long (shorter for MS, longer for PhD)

•Presentation is typically preceded by a private discussion among the committee on student's record, ground rules, and problems

•Presentation section is officially public, though it might or might not have been advertised

•Private discussion among committee follows presentation, during which a decision is (usually) reached

•Last step is communicating the decision to the student, including any requirements for modification to the thesis