Thesis Title

by

Author Name

Current Qualifications

Submitted at

Name of Department/Faculty/Institution

for the Degree

of

PhD

Names of Thesis Advisers/Supervisors

Acknowledgments

The purpose of the acknowledgments page is to recognize the work and contributions of those who provided support in the completion of degree program – generally in a voluntary capacity. For example colleagues or friends who assisted in editing the thesis or librarians and technical staff who provided special support beyond what would normally be expected from them

Declaration

Institutions generally require some formal declaration by the submitting candidate that the work which is being submitted is the actual work of that candidate. Refer to institutional guidelines for thesis submission and layout for specific information.

Abstract

The purpose of the abstract is to provide a succinct summary of the research work and its outcomes for the purposes of library classification and so that future researchers can determine if the work in the thesis is relevant to their requirements.

Generally the abstract should be written with a lay-audience in mind and should summarize:

  • The central theme of the research
  • The location of the research (institution, faculty, department, etc.)
  • The years over which the research was conducted
  • The basic hypothesis that was tested
  • A precis (few sentences) of the methodology used to test the hypothesis
  • A precis (few sentences) of the experimental procedures/tools used to implement the methodology
  • A short summary of the general findings
  • A short summary of the conclusions, limitations/shortcomings of the work, and recommendations for further research

Although it appears at the beginning of the thesis, the abstract is generally the last section of a thesis that is written because it requires the bringing together of all the elements contained within – in an accurate and succinct form.

Table of Contents

Page
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Overview of the Research Program
1.3 Overview of the Methodology
1.4 Overview of Experimental/Testing Method Design
1.5 Perceived Contributions of the Research
1.6 Thesis Structure
2. Literature Review
2.1 Overview of the Literature Review Process
2.2 Defense of the Literature Review Process
2.3 Historical Context of the Research Program
2.4 Specific Literature Item 1
:
2.N Specific Literature Item X
2.N+1 Summary of Literature Review Findings and Implications for This Research
3. Methodology
3.1 Overview of Methodology as it Emerged From Literature Review
3.2 Methodology Item 1
:
3.N Methodology Item X
3.N+1 Summation of Methodology
4. Experimental Design
4.1 Overview of Experimental Design
4.2 Defense of Experimental Design Process Relative to Reviewed Literature
4.3 Experimental Design Item 1
:
4.N Experimental Design Item X
4.N+1 Summation of Experimental Design

Table of Contents

5. Experimental Results
5.1 Overview of Experimental Results and Presentation Method
5.2 Experimental Results Item 1
:
5.N Experimental Results Item X
5.N+1 Summation of Experimental Results
6. Broad Context Discussion of Results
6.1 Overview
6.2 Limitations/Shortcomings of Presented Work
6.3 Broad Context Discussion of Results Item 1
:
6.N Broad Context Discussion of Results Item X
6.N+1 Summation of Broad Context Findings
7. Conclusions and Recommendations
7.1 Restatement of Central Research Theme and Hypothesis
7.2 Conclusions and Directions Established From Reviewed Literature
7.3 Summary of Research Findings
7.4 Perceived Specific Contributions of the Research
7.5 Perceived Contributions of Research Relative to Broader Existing Body of Work
7.6 Statement of Limitations/Shortcomings of Research
7.7 Recommendations for Future Research to Extend Knowledge or Address Limitations/Shortcomings

List of Figures

Page

List of Tables

Page

List of Acronyms/Abbreviations

Acronym or Abbreviation / Definition

(1)

Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.1Background

The purpose of this section, typically one or two pages in length, is to clearly enunciate the objectives of the research (i.e., the central research theme and/or hypothesis) as well as the setting for the research – that is, where the research was conducted, when the research was conducted and, if applicable, any collaborating organizations or funding agencies. This should provide the reader with sufficient background to understand the nature of the work that was conducted and any factors that may influence its scope or validity (e.g., if a pharmaceutical company funded the research to determine the efficacy of its products). To some extent, this section reproduces elements of the abstract but the abstract and the main body of the thesis need to be treated as two separate entities – the former being for library classification of the work and for external searches by future researchers.

Consider the following example:

The objective of this Doctoral research program was to determine if there was a relationship between the use of the Xylabene weight control drug and an increase in cardiac failure in patients over the age of 70. The research was conducted between the years of 2015 and 2018 at the Jones Medical Research Institute at the Flint University in Chicago. Funding for the project was provided by the Zetamax Pharmaceutical Corporation, a manufacturer of the Xylabene weight control drug.

In addition to this basic information, the background section should provide a very brief history of the problem being investigated. For example:

The reason for conducting this research was based on anecdotal evidence from physicians that the Xylabene drug could potentially be a source of cardiac problems in older users. This evidence was presented by Robinson et al. (2014) at the International Conference on Cardiology in Seattle.

1.2Overview of Research Program

This section should provide a several page overview/summary of the program of investigation that was undertaken and the manner in which it was undertaken. This might include a summary of how the literature review was undertaken and what it uncovered (the full literature review is documented later in the thesis), a brief description of the research/testing and analysis.

The first chapter of the thesis is about presenting a clear, succinct picture of the program of investigation and so should avoid an excessive use of mathematics, chemical or physics formulae, technical jargon, software, etc. The content of the thesis should lead the reader from the basics, through increasing complexity in subsequent chapters, to the details of the research.

1.3Overview of the Methodology

The methodology of the research work will need to be described in considerable detail later in the thesis. However, at this point, it is useful to provide a short overview of what was involved – perhaps one or two pages.

1.4Overview of Experimental/Testing Method Design

Experimental/Testing design or design of surveys or other measurement instruments needs to be documented, and defended, in considerable detail later in the thesis. However, at this point it is useful to provide the reader with a summary of what the design involved. This will make it easier for the thesis reader to understand the broader picture when looking at the detailed documentation.

1.5Perceived Contributions of the Research

The thesis author needs to be modest and circumspect about the contributions of his/her own research. However, it is also necessary to enunciate what the author feels has been achieved – and what can be defended – in terms of perceived outcomes. This section may only need to be a series of bullet points that summarize key achievements – perhaps a page in length.

1.6Thesis Structure

Thesis authors must not assume that a reader will be able to understand the flow of a thesis, or the inclusion/exclusion of various chapters and their sequencing. The thesis author needs to explain how the subsequent chapters of the thesis flow on from one another to a logical conclusion. A single page summary of the ensuing content is particularly useful here. For example:

This thesis is composed of seven chapters, six of which follow on from this introduction. A summary of each chapter and its objectives is provided below:

Chapter 2 – Literature Review

2.1Overview of the Literature Review Process

The purpose of the literature review chapter is to demonstrate that the research candidate can follow a systematic chain of discovery and then, based upon the findings of learned scholars in the field, add another link to the knowledge chain.

Given the complexity of reviewing a range of literature it is important that the thesis author provides an overview of the sequence in which the reviewed literature is presented. It should not be assumed that the reader will intuitively be able to follow the author's logic – because the author and reader may have completely different perspectives on the subject.

The overview of the literature review should provide one or two pages of explanation, summarizing the literature review process and chapter presentation and – most importantly – how each section in the chapter (and the overall literature review) link in with the central theme/hypothesis of the research.

2.2Defense of the Literature Review Process

It is generally not practical to review "all" literature in a given field and a research student naturally needs to reduce the scope of the review in order to make it manageable. This leads to the issue of defending the process that was in place to reduce the scope of the review from "all papers" to the ones that were selected for the review. This section should provide one or two pages of explanation on how the review was conducted in a systematic manner. Specifically,

  • Which publications were targeted
  • How seminal/key authors in the field were identified
  • What emphasis was placed on citations and journal rankings
  • How various schools of thought were identified
  • How the issue of balance was addressed (i.e., where there were multiple, conflicting schools of thought, how the literature review presents a fair and adequate representation of their advantages and disadvantages)
  • The reasons why the review should be considered a reasonable representation of the total body of literature in the field.

2.3Historical Context of the Research Program

This is an often ignored – but nevertheless important – component of a literature review. The thesis author's research generally only reflects a minute portion of the total body of work in the field. It is useful to place the research candidate's work into a historical perspective. Perhaps the researcher has conducted several years of research in a field which has many thousands of person-years of investigation already completed – or perhaps the field is relatively new. Either way, a historical summary of a few pages, showing the candidate's understanding of, and respect for, the chain of knowledge that has led to his/her research is a means of conveying his/her broader spectrum of knowledge.

2.4Literature Review Specific Item 1

First section of detailed literature relating specifically to the research field at hand. Include as many sections as are required to cover the relevant items in the field. If a section is quite complex it may be useful to divide it into subsections – the final subsection should be a summation – perhaps a few paragraphs – bringing the key points to the reader's attention.

2.NLiterature Review Specific Item X

Final section of detailed literature relating specifically to the research field at hand. Include as many sections as are required to cover the relevant items in the field. If a section is quite complex it may be useful to divide it into subsections – the final subsection should be a summation – perhaps a few paragraphs – bringing the key points to the reader's attention.

2.N+1 Summation of the Literature Review Findings and Implications for This Research

A critically important and overlooked part of the literature review. It is here where the thesis author brings together the summaries of each of the preceding sections and draws the reader's attention to how each of these findings influenced:

  • Research directions (central research theme/hypothesis)
  • Methodology
  • Experimentation and Testing.

It must not be assumed that the reader will be able to discern this automatically from the preceding sections. Further, even if a reader can discern how research directions from the reviewed literature, it is the researcher's role to demonstrate how he/she has been able to achieve this.

The summation needs to be short/succinct – perhaps one or two pages at most.

Chapter 3 – Methodology

3.1Overview of Methodology as it Emerged From Literature Review

A research candidate needs to demonstrate that he/she can systematically follow a chain of knowledge, as established by learned peers, and then, based upon that chain of knowledge and the deficiencies established by those peers, extend the state of knowledge. In other words, the research hypothesis and methodology need to logically follow on from the work of others.

In this chapter, the research candidate puts forward his/her methodology in detail. However, before doing so, it is useful to devote a page or two to explaining how what has been developed is the logical follow on from the literature review (and literature review chapter)

3.2Methodology Item 1

First detailed section on methodology.

3.NMethodology Item X

Final detailed section on methodology

3.N+1 Summation of Methodology

A concise summary of how the methodology led on to the development of experimental procedures or mechanisms for testing a hypothesis.

Chapter 4 – Experimental Design

4.1Overview of Experimental Design

A succinct statement of how the experimental design chapter is structured so that the reader can understand the ensuing sequence even amidst the complexity of what is presented.

4.2Defense of Experimental Design Process Relative to Reviewed Literature

A research thesis needs to substantiate, with hard evidence, the reasons why particular courses of action were taken. In terms of designing the experiments or instruments/tools that were necessary to test the research hypothesis it is useful to devote a page or two to defending the process that was undertaken – especially in relation to pre-existing work as it was uncovered during the course of the literature review.

4.3Experimental Design Item 1

First element of detailed description of experimental design.

4.NExperimental Design Item X

Final item of detailed discussion on experimental design.

4.N+1Summation of Experimental Design

A succinct summary that brings together each of the detailed sections into a cohesive statement that leads on to the results chapter.

Chapter 5 Experimental Results

5.1Overview of Experimental Results and Presentation Method

It is important that the research student does not simply dump a collection of acquired results and data in front of the thesis reader. In this overview section, the thesis writer's task is to present a summary of how the results will be presented – in terms of sequence, format, and so on. It is also important for the thesis author to outline how each presented group of results relates to the central research theme and hypothesis of the research – in other words, why are the results being presented? This is critical because a common flaw in theses is that research candidates provide irrelevant results to pad out a thesis, while omitting results which are critical to the hypothesis itself.

5.2Experimental Results Item 1

First item of experimental results. Keep in mind for the body of the thesis, only key results, graphs charts and tables – which directly relate to the central research theme / hypothesis – should be presented. Items which are too long or detailed should be placed into appendices to avoid breaking the reader's reading flow.

5.NExperimental Results Item X

Final Item of experimental results presentation.

5.N+1Summation of Experimental Results

The thesis author needs to bring together – for the benefit of the thesis reader – the key findings from each of the items of experimental results and then explain how each of these impacts upon the central research theme / hypothesis. Generally one or two pages that cover a summary of each of the Sections 5.2 – 5.N should give the reader an insight into what has been achieved.

Chapter 6 – Broad Context

Discussion

of

Results

6.1Overview

The broad context discussion of results needs to place any findings into their sequence in the knowledge chain and their relevance to that chain. In order to do this, research candidates need to understand the chain of discovery that led to their research, and the relative contribution of the new work. It is also important for the research candidate to outline any shortcomings or limitations of his/her research work and the impact these have had on the significance one can ascribe to the results.

This section should provide a one or two page summary of how this broad context discussion will take place.

6.2Limitations/Shortcomings of Presented Work

It is important for the research candidate to commence any discussion of the significance of his/her results by starting with a statement of the limitations/shortcomings of the work that has been undertaken. This may include a limited scope of study, limited sample sizes, restrictions on information that was available, inaccuracies of equipment that was used, and so on.

6.3Broad Context Discussion of Results Item 1

First item of broad context discussion.

6.NBroad Context Discussion of Results Item X

Last item of broad context discussion.

6.N+1Summation of Broad Context Findings

A short summation of how the thesis reader should interpret the results and their significance in the broader scheme of research that exists.

Chapter 7 – Conclusions

and

Recommendations

7.1Restatement of Central Research Theme and Hypothesis

The concluding chapter of the thesis needs to bring together all the elements that are contained within the thesis body into a cohesive final statement and defense of the work. To some extent this means restating things which have already been documented throughout the thesis so that the reader can see them all together in a final and cohesive summation.

The defense needs to start with a restatement of what the purpose of the research was – that is, the central research theme and/or hypothesis. This can be a short section of a few paragraphs.

7.2Conclusions and Directions Established from Reviewed Literature

A review of literature can be a complex task in its own right and a literature review can therefore be, of itself, a contribution to knowledge because it brings together many historical threads. This section should restate the nature and defense of the review – as it pertains to how comprehensive it was. It should also restate how the review influenced the directions of the research program. This is particularly important in relation to the methodology, design of experiments and any basis for benchmarking results.

7.3Summary of Research Findings

This section should be a powerful and succinct summation of how, in totality, the results of the research program can be interpreted in relation to the central research theme and hypothesis. In order to convey the message as clearly as possible, this section should be written in terms a lay-person could understand – perhaps with a single chart or diagram or table that summarizes all the findings in terms of their meaning.