A Concise Guide to Writing a Thesis or Dissertation

Educational Research and Beyond

Halyna M. Kornuta, Ron W. Germaine

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429615009
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Recherche dans l'éducation

A Concise Guide to Writing a Thesis or Dissertation provides clear, succinct, and intentional guidelines about organizing and writing a thesis or dissertation. Part I provides an overview for writing a thesis or dissertation. It describes the big picture of planning and formatting a research study, from identifying a topic to focusing on writing quality. Part II describes the framework and substance of a research study. It models the pattern generally found in a formal, five-chapter research study.

Each chapter of a thesis or dissertation has a specific purpose, and this book focuses on each in an easy-to-follow structure. Chapter One reviews the headings and contents expected in the introduction of a study. Chapter Two provides advice for writing a literature review. Chapter Three discusses what to include when describing the methodology. These first three chapters form the proposal section of a study. Two additional chapters present results (Chapter Four) and provide discussion and conclusions (Chapter Five).

Appendices offer resources for instructors and students, including a rubric for evaluating writing, exercises to strengthen skills in APA format, sample purpose statements, a research planning organizer, and a guide for scholarly writing. The book is designed overall to be a practical guide and resource for students for their thesis or dissertation process.

Note to readers: Due to publishing limitations, some of the titles within the book do not accurately conform with APA format. For precise APA format, please see the APA manual (2010, pp. 62-63), or refer to Table 1.1, (p. 8) or Table D.1 (p. 107) in this book.

Part I

The big picture

As you begin the journey of conducting research and reporting the results, it is helpful to know about the formal expectations for writing as well as general organizational guidelines. One set of formal expectations comes from the decision of many of the social and behavioral sciences to follow the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for formatting journal articles and research documents. A second set of formal expectations is likely to come from specific requirements set out by your university. Check whether your university has a style guide. Both sets of formal expectations must be adhered to as part of producing quality, professional writing. A third set of expectations may come from your faculty advisor or committee chair about how to structure and develop your study.

Theses and dissertations defined

The term ‘thesis’ usually refers to a study completed as part of a Master’s program, while ‘dissertation’ refers to the culminating study in a doctoral program. Length and depth of content may also be distinguishing features; however, the purpose of both is to demonstrate that writers have a sufficient knowledge of their field of study. For the purpose of this Guide, reference to a research study (or simply ‘a study’) includes both a thesis and dissertation, and the general structure for writing a thesis or a dissertation is considered to be the same. Before beginning a study, writers should review institutional requirements for approval of their study. Most studies require approval through an Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Topic development

Begin by identifying a topic about which you feel passionate, and clarify how it fits within your field of study (see Chapter Two, Figures 2.1 & 2.2). A research study is too much work for its own sake unless you feel some passion for the topic you are investigating. Look within your own professional practice for ideas, discuss ideas with others, including professors, colleagues, and other practitioners. Explaining your interest and answering their questions will help you to focus your ideas, sharpen your purpose, and even lead to a source of support. Choosing a faculty advisor or committee chair that you know you can work with, and one who shares your interests, is critical to the success of your completed study (Lunnenburg & Irby, 2014).

Repeat the discussion process several times as you are articulating the purpose statement, contributing to the Literature Review, and developing the research methodology.

Read the literature within your area of interest, and where possible focus writing assignments from coursework on your topic. You are likely to find several problems or topics that would benefit from an investigation and intervention.

Define the problem clearly.

Articulate the problem or need that must be addressed within the topic you choose. A clearly defined problem will make it much easier to write a laser sharp purpose statement, which will guide the whole of your study. Most problems in social sciences are open-ended questions, and thus do not have “one best solution”. For example, there are many kinds of interventions in teaching that may influence students’ learning or even their attitudes. The things we want to influence – like measures of achievement or attitude – are dependent variables in a quantitative study. The tools or interventions we use in the process of influencing are independent variables. Clarifying the problem and writing a purpose will be easier when you define a problem in terms of: What effect does [some intervention or strategy] have on [measures of what you want to influence]?

For example, a problem might be: How do cooperative learning/teaching strategies affect the academic achievement of learners in an elementary school setting? Or: What effect does teaching a multicultural-based curriculum have on adolescent learners’ attitudes towards tolerance? Or: What effect does parent involvement in the life of a school have on the graduation rate of children? A significant body of educational research has been performed around such questions and is readily available in the literature. Reading the current literature begins to define a topic for further investigation.

Choose the methodology.

Consider what you might measure, who you would interview or survey, or what documents you might examine to gather data about the problem you have identified. For example, measures of whether a teaching intervention is successful could come from sources such as test scores, office referrals, attendance, et cetera. Such numerical measures are called quantitative data. You may also discover what you need to learn by interviewing people who have experienced what you are investigating. Such verbal or written data are called qualitative data.

Craft a purpose statement.

Once the problem is defined and the methodology identified, a purpose statement is needed. The purpose statement is a clear, precise statement that encapsulates what you intend to do in your study. The purpose statement is like a ‘rudder’ that guides everything you write in your study. Each time the purpose statement is repeated in your study, it should be copied and pasted so that it is exactly the same. Part II, Chapter One provides more detailed information about writing the purpose statement.

Organization

Writing a research study should demonstrate understanding of how to prepare for, set up, and conduct quality research. In general, this requires identifying a topic, finding out and reporting from the literature what is already known about the topic, what other researchers have discovered, establishing a need and purpose for the study, detailing a plan for gathering and analyzing data, results, and making recommendations.

Chapters One, Two and Three.

On the surface, the logical order for writing a research study may appear to begin with Chapter One and proceed sequentially through to Chapter Five.

The order for writing a research study begins with Chapter Two, followed by Chapters One, Three, Four, and Five.

However, because research must be grounded in literature, the place to begin is with the Chapter Two review of literature, followed by Chapter One, which introduces the study; then Chapter Three, which presents the plan for gathering and analyzing data, followed by Chapter Four with its presentation and analysis of data, and finally the executive summary of Chapter Five, which discusses the findings, draws conclusions, and looks ahead to make recommendations for change in policy or practice and need for further study.

Suggestions for choosing a topic and beginning the Literature Review are found in Part II, Chapter Two of this Guide. The Literature Review for your area of focus should reflect current knowledge about the topic to be investigated, and should review what other researchers have discovered about the issue, or closely related topics. It is important to write about the topic with sufficient breadth to present differing perspectives or contrasting views of the topic, and with sufficient depth to report the complexities of the issue.

Upon completion of Chapter Two, Chapter One is written. It outlines the need, purpose, and nature of the study. Chapter Three is written after Chapter One is completed and describes the methodology for carrying out the study. Completion of the first three chapters ends the proposal-writing stage. If you have not already done so, check with your advisor about requirements for approval from your institution’s IRB before beginning data collection.

Chapters Four and Five.

Once the proposal is approved by an IRB, data are gathered and analyzed. Two additional chapters are then added to the three-chapter proposal section. Chapter Four presents the findings and analysis of data. Chapter Five forms an executive summary of the study and includes recommendations for change in policy or practice, and recommendations for further study. Each of the five chapters should be ‘stand alone’; written so that the reader could read one chapter and know the essence of the study.

References and Abstract.

The reference section begins on a new page at the end of your writing, and before any appendices. We highly recommend keeping an ongoing, annotated bibliography throughout the writing process as a way of tracking key ideas and sources. Notes and ideas from each source are briefly summarized within an annotated bibliography, and the source identified in APA format so that it is available for the reference section. The annotated bibliography will provide a quick link for you to go back to sources, which is often needed during writing. An example of an entry in an annotated bibliography is:

Marshall, J., Smart, J., & Alston, D. (2016). Development and validation of Teacher Intentionality of Practice Scale (TIPS): A measure to evaluate and scaffold professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 59, 159–168. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2016.05.007

The Marshall et al. article identifies seven teacher- controllable actions that are said to lead to greater student success. Note to self: Compare/align the seven actions with other measures of teacher effectiveness to see how they match.

In the reference section of your report, list only the references you actually cite in your writing, and omit all notes from the annotated bibliography.

The Abstract should be the very last part of your writing. Information about writing an abstract is at the beginning of Part II of this Guide, and in the APA Publication Manual (APA, 2010b, pp. 25–27).

Writing quality

Writing should reflect grammatical correctness, clear and precise communication, accuracy of information, and a logical flow of thought. Chapters Three and Four of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010b) provide excellent advice about writing style. The APA Publication Manual also identifies a format for levels of headings. Headings are ‘directional signs’ within your writing. They help to create meaning for readers by showing a pattern of organization and flow of thought; therefore, accurate formatting of headings is essential. Critical thinking contributes to clarity in writing.

Levels of headings.

Headings show readers the outline and flow of thought for your writing. In that sense, headings are like navigation lights mariners rely on as they traverse a dark channel at night. Without the navigation lights, sailors would quickly become lost or run aground. Similarly, without correct levels of headings that reflect ...