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Thesis Writing Guide The Writing Center American University of Beirut Table of

Thesis Writing Guide The Writing Center American University of Beirut Table of Contents  The Purpose of this Handbook  Table of Requirements  A Run through the Process  The Preparation Stage  Be Realistic!  The Writing Process  Choosing a Topic  Keeping a Research Log  Conducting a Preliminary Study  Scheduling  Choosing a Committee and Advisor  Checklist  The Writing Stage  Writing the Proposal  Literature Review  Introduction  Methodology  Writing the Thesis  Results  Discussion  Conclusions  Revising  Writing an Abstract  The Formatting Stage  Style  Organization  Citation  Rules and Formatting at AUB  Copyrighting your Thesis  Checklist  Submitting and Defending  Committee  Defense  Tips and Advice  Other References  Appendices  Example Outlines for Five Types of Proposals  Sample Pages 1 Purpose Writing a thesis can be a difficult but exciting task. Yet the creativity of the project, thoroughness of the research and insight of the analysis are only part of the work. Many graduate students aren‘t sure where to begin, what to put into a thesis, and how to organize it. This booklet is a comprehensive guide to writing a thesis at the American University of Beirut. Although it is specifically catered to theses, this manual can also serve as a guide for those doing PhD dissertations and various projects. You will find helpful advice and direction regarding several aspects. Are you having problems thinking of a topic? Check out ―The Preparation Stage‖ section. Have you gotten started, but are having problems actually writing and organizing your thesis? Take a look at ―The Writing Stage‖ segment. If you‘ve done the writing but aren‘t sure what it should look like, you may want to consult ―The Formatting Stage‖. Along with steps to writing your thesis, this handbook introduces and explains the defense of the thesis in the ―Submitting and Defending‖ part. Guidance from your advisors is essential and he/she should always have the last word, but you‘ll find the answers to your basic questions and uncertainties here. This guide was written for the AUB Writing Center, and is intended as a supplement, not a substitute for AUB‘s official ―Thesis Manual‖—the university guidelines for submitting a thesis, posted on the Jafet Library website at http://wwwlb.aub.edu.lb/~webjafet/researchassistance/thesismanual/thesis manual.htm 2 Table of Requirements (in the order they appear in the thesis) Preliminary Pages Blank page Required Title page Required Thesis approval page Required Thesis release form Required Acknowledgements If any Abstract Required Preface Optional Table of contents Required List of figures/ illustrations If any List of tables If any List of abbreviations If any Glossary If any Dedication If any Body of Text Introduction Required; Organized according to conventions of specific disciplines Literature review Methodology Results Discussion Conclusions End Pages Appendix If any Footnotes and Endnotes If any Bibliography/References/Works Cited Required Index If any A Run through the Process Writing a thesis can be complicated, but it doesn‘t have to be. Often, graduate students are not familiar with the process that goes into writing and submitting a thesis. Here is a basic overview of what‘s to come: 1. Preparing for the thesis may take as much effort as the thesis itself. It is important that you have a topic which is both interesting to you (you will be spending a lot of time on it!) and realistic; you should have an idea of what you are getting yourself into before you start. Preparation also involves picking an advisor and a committee in front of whom you will defend your thesis. 2. Writing a thesis proposal is the first formal writing step in the process. The proposal can sometimes be the first three chapters of the thesis (the introduction, literature review and methodology), or at the very least, their beginnings. When a proposal has been written, a proposal 3 meeting, or defense, takes place between you and the committee members in order to verify that your research plan is acceptable. 3. After the research or experiment has been thoroughly done, the remaining sections of the thesis need to be composed. These are usually divided into the results, discussion and conclusions chapters. 4. Once you‘ve written the thesis, you will need to write an abstract to add to the beginning. 5. With the important thoughts on paper, you should consider the formatting aspect of writing: style, general organization and other technical details of the thesis. There are also certain university requirements of paper, size, and other logistical features that need to be addressed. 6. After the thesis is complete, you will need to submit the thesis to your advisor and committee members in advance, to give them a chance to read it before your defense. The actual thesis defense is a presentation of your work, followed by questioning by the committee. At the end of this guide, you will find a list of other references that may be helpful in thesis-writing. Templates of standard required pages can be found in the appendices. Some general sources that might help you in your thesis writing: http://www.asgs.org/ (The Association for Support of Graduate Students) http://www.sss.uq.edu.au/linkto/phdwriting/ (First Thoughts to Finished Writing University of Queensland, Australia) http://learnerassociates.net/dissthes/ (Writing and Presenting your Thesis and Dissertation, by S. Joseph Levin) http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/dissertation.html (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) http://www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning/online/dissertation.html (University of Kent) http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2001/02/28/10 ("Thesis Writing, Guru-Style," by Andrea Lord) “Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day” by Joan Bolker, available in AUB‘s Jafet Library The Preparation Stage Before you actually start writing your thesis, you need to think about a lot of things and prepare yourself. Writing a thesis is different from many of the previous things you may have done because it is almost entirely defined by you, and gives you the freedom to do what you want. It is important for you to have a lot of academic, as well as emotional support at this time, whether from your advisor, your fellow masters or PhD students, or others. 4 Be Realistic! First of all, it is essential to be realistic about a number of aspects of the thesis. While you should choose a topic that will sustain your interest, it is also important to acknowledge that it is unlikely that your research will be a world-altering discovery. The thesis is an academic requirement, and much of its purpose lies in its process and what you learn from it. Secondly, it is important to realize how much time you are willing to spend on this project and to act accordingly. If your aim is to have a study that lasts for years and you have the means and will to do it, then go ahead. However, think twice before jumping into a study that you will be unable to complete. It‘s also important to have a topic which is narrow enough to be feasible. The Writing Process Needless to say, your thesis will involve a lot of writing. If you are unsure of your skills as a writer, perhaps you should brush up on your knowledge of the writing process. Writing is more than copying down words. There are certain steps that must be followed to ensure a good piece of writing. An important thing to remember is that writing is a process; you should be writing throughout, not just when the time comes to turn in a finished product. It‘s helpful to keep a notebook of ideas and rough drafts at hand and continuously write down your thoughts. The Writing Center at AUB is a good place to go if you need any kind of help in writing, from brainstorming, to organizing, to help with grammar and mechanics. Some websites that will help you in the writing process are: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/(The Owl at Purdue University) http://www.idrc.ca/IMAGES/books/WFC_English/WFC_English/ (Writing for Change by Alan Barker, Firoze Manil, and Judith Charlton) http://webware.princeton.edu/sites/writing/writing_center/wcwritingresourc es.htm (Writing Center at Princeton University) Choosing a Topic The first step in any writing process is choosing a topic to write on. If you are not sure about how to start, which is likely to be the case, you should try brainstorming. It‘s a good idea to read relevant articles and books that cover the general area of your study. Articles are available through AUB libraries at http://olib.aub.edu.lb/cgi-bin/jl_w207.sh. Then think of all possible ideas, and don‘t leave anything out; you never know how one idea might lead to another. Don‘t let other people interfere with you or your ideas in a negative way. After all, this research is yours, so you should be making all the decisions. Be as creative as you can be, and most importantly, write all your thoughts down. What may seem like a doubtful idea one moment may eventually become more and more promising. Writing down ideas helps 5 you to remember them and makes them more concrete, something you can add to and build on. The following websites may also help: http://chris.golde.org/filecabinet/disspropose.html ("Some Thoughts on Dissertation Proposal Writing," by Chris M., Golde) uploads/Litterature/ thesis-guide 3 .pdf