1. A Manual for Dissertation Yong Zheng DePaul University May 17, 2011 1

2. Outline 1. Introduce Dissertation 2. How to Write & Organize Dissertation 3. Dissertation Style 4. More About Dissertation 5. Good habits for Dissertation 2

3. 1. Introduce Dissertation In view of the process and milestones: Course Credits Ph.D. Exams General Research Directed Research Proposal Defense Further Research Dissertation Defense Ph.D. Degree Graduation Career 3

4. 1. Introduce Dissertation In view of the purpose and significance: To fulfill the promises in your dissertation proposals; To clearly document an original, significant, innovative contributions to knowledge; 4

5. 1. Introduce Dissertation In view of the differences among papers and Master thesis: PaperProposalMS Thesis/Dissertation Length/Time Short/Depends Longer/Longer Examiner ReviewerProposal Committee Thesis Committee Audience Researchers, Experts Interested People Proposal Committee Thesis Committee Generalist Focuses Purpose Specific problem Quick publication; Academic communication Academic Recognition & Supports Systematized problems General and Thorough Cover specific & trivial aspects Significance Contribution Targeted on specific smaller problems; A plan/direction for further research MS Thesis: incremental improvement Ph.D. Thesis: More difficult problems; Original, Substantial, Innovative Contributions to prior knowledge 5 Hypothesis (Problem+Solution) + Convincing Evidence + Organized Literature

6. 2. How to Write Dissertation 1 st Question: When to start writing Ph.D. thesis? Start as early as possible, do not wait you are fully ready. Write early, write often, writing is thinking!  Assumption: successfully defend the proposal;  At least start with an outline or skeleton;  Do not have to start from the 1 st section to the end;  Start taking notes of problems, goals, brief descriptions, experimental designs and expected outcomes;  The theories, algorithms or experiments, as well as the thesis may require numerous revisions to cover weaknesses/errors;  Set deadline/due dates for each stages!! 6

7. 2. How to Write Dissertation Common Skeleton (formal structure depends on Universities):  Abstract  Introduction  Background and Literature Review  Research Questions/Problem Statement  Solutions, Methodologies and Experiments  Evaluations and Discussions  Conclusions  References  Appendices  Others: Table of Contents, Acknowledgements, etc 7

8. 2. How to Write Dissertation Principles of Thesis Organizations:  Take the readers’ views/focuses into account;  Logically Clear, Sound, thorough, Reasonable;  Be honest and justified;  Highlight the novel ideas and main contributions;  For each section, ask yourself relevant questions to validate whether your writings have meet the requirements of each section  Basic Routine: Goal->Writing->Question 8

9. 2. How to Write Dissertation 1). Abstract  General introduction of the background  Briefly introduce the problem you want to address  Summary of your solution and methodologies  State a bird view of your results/conclusions  Highlight your novel ideas and main contributions  Is it concise? Is it clear and easy to learn the background and the targeted problem?  Did you clearly indicate your solutions, conclusions and highlight your contributions? 9

10. 2. How to Write Dissertation 2). Introductions  General introduction to what the thesis is about  Summarize the research questions/problems  Indicate why this is a worthwhile problem  Give an overview of your solution, experiment and main results/conclusions  Can general readers easily understand the introduction?  Did you explain some terms to avoid readers’ confusion?  Did you briefly introduce your solutions and contributions?  Did you highlight the novelty? 10

11. 2. How to Write Dissertation 3). Background and Literature Review  Give the background to let the readers know and understand your topic & the knowledge of this area  The state of the art; related work, existing research  Organize these by logical and reasonable ideas, not simply by time/author, etc  Is the background clear enough?  Is the literature review well organized?  Is the literature review thorough enough? 11

12. 2. How to Write Dissertation 4). Research Questions/Problem Statements  Concise statement about the problems you want to address  Justification, indicate the problem is unanswered based on the previous literature review  Thoroughly discuss why it is worthwhile to solve this problem  Will readers be convinced to agree with your view on the problems, about the originality, novelty and applicability?  Did you refer to some literature references to convince your points? 12

13. 2. How to Write Dissertation 5). Solutions, Methodologies and Experiments  Main purpose: to convince the examiners that you have answered the question or solved the problem by your own solutions  It may require several sections to thoroughly explain the solutions, experiments and evaluations; here I simply split them into two.  Show relevant methodologies/work to your solution  If there were blind alleys or dead ends, do not include them unless they can be used to serve that you have solved the problem  Can readers clearly understand your solutions?  Did all these parts have a logical basis and convinces?  Did you mention the experimental conditions and limitations? 13

14. 2. How to Write Dissertation 6). Evaluations and Discussions  Analyze your experimental results and evaluate your assumptions/solutions performance  Focus on the positive contributions of the results, also explain the negative results  Reasonably discuss the limitations of your solution, focus on the scale of the applicability  Did you thoroughly evaluate the experimental results?  Did you thoroughly discuss the relevant issues, such as limitations, flaws, etc? 14

15. 2. How to Write Dissertation 7). Conclusions  Conclusions: short concise statements about the results of work you have done; must be directly relevant to the problem you raised in this thesis; How you complete your promise?  Summary of contributions: whether your results can contribute to the knowledge of your area; organize from most to least important. Original? Novel? Thorough? Meaningful?  Future research: in order to let other researchers pick up relevant work and follow your tracks. Feasible? Reasonable? 15

16. 2. How to Write Dissertation 8). References  Closely tied to the literature reviews in previous sections  Examiners usually scan this list looking for important works in the field, which may be considered as a preliminary assessment  If your examiners are one of the experts in your topic, it may be necessary for you to read their relevant papers and put them into the references  Do not just list them, make sure you have referred them in the main body!  Organize them either alphabetically by author surname or order of citation in your thesis 16

17. 2. How to Write Dissertation 9). Appendices  This part may include materials impede the smooth development of your presentation but can contribute to justify the results of the thesis.  For example: program listings, huge tables of data, mathematical proofs or derivations 17

18. 3. Dissertation Style The formal structure/format depends on the University; Be clear, sound, reasonable as literature style; Latex tool is recommended for writing; Grammar & logic written; Keep the figures and tables clear enough and well organized; Spell check, also check for missing chapter or figure references; Avoid simply use “obviously/clearly”, etc; Avoid simply use “XX is the most important …”; Avoid personal moral judgements and self-assessment; More: How to Write A Dissertation or Bedtime Reading for People Who Do not Have Time To Sleep 18

19. 4. More about Dissertation  Results of your dissertation defense: Pass, Fail, Major Revision, Small Revision, etc  Evaluate your thesis by yourself: Did you clearly and reasonably describe all? Did you logically demonstrate your solution? Were all questions well answered? Is there a significant contribution to previous knowledge?  Ethical Issues: Original, Honest, Justified Thorough literature review Keep original, honest & justified about ideas & evidences Take references seriously (literature, figure, table, etc) 19

20. 5. Good Habits/Tips  Write early, write often, do not wait all things to be ready;  Grow your Ph.D. thesis from previous research;  Keep notes about your ideas daily;  Keep the reader’s backgrounds and views in mind;  Keep asking yourself questions about the thesis;  Predict examiners’ questions and answer them in thesis;  Get feedbacks from others, especially advisors & committees;  Submit early to committees in order to get feedbacks early; 20

21. Thanks! Any Questions? 21