THESIS and Research Proposal Language, Structure and Contents With Process

Aims and Objectives Aim: To enhance the students knowledge on thesis writing Objectives: To know what is research proposal To know what is a thesis To highlight the steps in thesis writing To discuss what type of language should be used in a thesis

Selecting a Topic Topics by choice (by extensive literature review) Topics by chance Select an area in which you are strong The research topic should be exciting

Research Proposal (H.O.1) Topic and title page Background Research Questions Significance Rationale Locale Methodology Literature Review Chapter and Time Division etc

Presenting a Research Proposal Structure your Presentation around Three Basic Questions: What? (Topic) Why? (Significance) How? (Methodology) You can also include: Where? (Locale)

What is a thesis? • An argument • An exposition of an original piece of work • Probably the largest (most self-indulgent) piece of work you’ll ever do • Something that could be published “A thesis must form a distinctive contribution to the knowledge of the subject and afford evidence of originality shown by the discovery of new facts and/or by the exercise of independent critical power.” (Uni. of London regulations)

Starters Write your title page Start a file Make Cards Look at some theses in your area Plan your argument Set out

Steps of a Research Topic Literature Review; topic (mustn’t miss 10 giants of the area) Data Collection; tools Organizing the data Data Analysis; qualitative/quantitative Composing Thesis -> (H.O.2)

Link In the thesis as a whole: • Within each chapter / section • Within each paragraph… • But it’s not just repetition, it’s linking and rationale; lead in and lead out What the thesis will say (Introduction) Details of the work (Body) What the thesis said (Conclusion) What this section says (Signposting) The details (Body) What this section said and what is up next (Summary)

Outline your thesis Title (and title page) - conveys a message Abstract - for the librarian (H.O.3) Contents Listing - shows the right things are there Acknowledgements - get your supervisor on your side ;-) Introduction - says “I am going to look at the following things”. Review of Previous Work - show you know the subject Philosophy of Approach - no great detail Description of the work Critical analysis of the results - show you know its limitations Future Work - show you know what’s missing Conclusions - repetition of the intro, but with reference to the detail. References - Cover the field; examiners will look for key references (10-giants) Appendices - Nitty Gritty details that would clutter your eloquent description

Chapterization Research questions, Significance, Rationale, Locale etc (Introduction) Critical review of previous work on the related subject (Literature Review) Methods and Research Tools employed by you (Research Methodology) Presentation of results (Data Analysis) Summing up, telling limitations of your research, recommendations implications and suggestions for future researchers (Conclusions)

Language Avoid Sweeping Statements Often Primarily Frequently Too often Regularly Some Many Most

…continued Avoid private and informal speech e.g. ‘He was feeling rough’ Avoid literary and idiomatic language (e.g. instead of writing and ‘apple of her eye’ write ‘her son’ and in place of ‘they were put to rout by the Muslims’ use ‘they were defeated in the battlefield by the Muslims’) Avoid narrative

…continued Use descriptive language Use academic language Don’t say anything for certain if you don’t have a strong argument in its support; use expressions like ‘it seems’, ‘it appears from Hall’s research’ etc. Use appropriate terminology e.g. instead of saying ‘expert on language’ say ‘linguist’

References Keep a database of complete references Use a consistent citation style (APA or MLA) Cite the latest works Read original sources; don’t rely on the secondary ones Use authentic sources Assume the reader is familiar with the main references; always include the key figures of your area (10 giants) e.g. Claude Levi Strauss (28 November 1908 – … 2009)

Sample References Text: (H.O.4) References: Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Baugh, John. (1992). A dissection of style shifting. Penelope Eckert and John Rickford (eds.) Style and sociolinguistic variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 109-118. Cameron, Deborah (1997) Performing Gender Identity: Young Men’s Talk and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity. Sally Johnson and Ulrike Hanna Meinhof (ed.) Language and masculinity. Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 47-64. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ on December 10, 2009.

Get your thesis reviewed Get other people to read your drafts • Peers will give friendly comments (and may have the most time!) • Supervisor will steer you • Other academics will spot things your supervisor has missed. • Above all, get the bugs out before the examiners see it.

Get ready for viva voce What’s this one about? Examiners have little time available, so they want to extract the most juice in the shortest time: • This may be enough to decide whether it’s worth a Masters. Abstract; (bibliography); conclusions; contents list • Then: 1) What questions now spring to mind? 2) ...read through... 3) Were the questions answered?