Research and writing thesis
Dr. Bahawodin BahaUniversity of Brighton, UK
7th April 2009
Overview
Conducting research and writing a thesis require the following steps:
Selecting a topic and identify your objectives Project planning Research
– Conducting practical work– Hardware and software design, building and testing
Report/thesis writing Presentation
Project Planning
A "Project" is a set of activities which ends with specific accomplishment and which has:
Non-routine tasks Distinct start/finish dates Resource constraints
(time/money/people/equipment). Use Gannt chart
The Original Training Plan of the KPU Lecturers at UoB
MSc course
Back to KPU
Preparatory course
Back to KPU
English Language Training
Sep. 10
Oct. 09Sep. 09
Jul. 09Jun. 09
Oct. 08Sep. 08
Jul. 08Jun. 08
Oct. 07Activities
Year 3 Year 2Year 1
English Language Training - 9 MonthsReturn to KPU - 3 MonthsPrep. Course - 9 MonthsReturn to KPU - 3 Months MSc - 12 Months
The Modified Training Plan of the KPU Lecturers at UoB
MSc courses
English Language Training
Preparatory courses
English Language Training
Sep. 10Oct. 09 Sep. 09 Jul. 09Jun. 09Oct. 08Sep. 08Apr. 08Activities
Year 3Year 2Year 1
English Language Training - 6 MonthsPrep. Course - 9 MonthsEnglish Language Training - 3 MonthsMSc -12 Months
Research Methods
Carry out research to find background information about your chosen topic
Sources of information– Text books– Journals– Conference proceedings– Internet– Writing to companies– Visiting institutions
Conducting practical work
Seeking solutions for the problems, identified earlier It may be hardware, software or combination of
hardware and software Divide the task into smaller tasks Try to find solution to every task Test every task Integrate all the tasks Show flow-chart for the software that you may
develop
Report writing
Title page Abstract or summary Content Main body of report
– Introduction Background Main objectives
– Chapters and sections– Discuss your results
Conclusions References Appendices
References
It is important that you use full and proper referencing throughout the text. Findings or assumptions must be referenced. A reference is indicated in the text by a number of square brackets, eg 1. Each new referred work is given a new number. These references must then be listed at the end of your thesis as follows: reference number Authors name(s), Title of paper, article, book etc, Title of
Journal, Volume number of Journal, (name of editor), page numbers, year of publication.
Example for a Journal paper 1 F G Hammitt, ‘Damage to solids caused by cavitation’ Proc Royal Soc
A260, pp 243-255, 1966.
Important points to remember
People will assess your work on the basis of your written work
Check the format of thesis for TU and follow the guidelines
Try to minimize spelling and grammatical mistakes
Try to publish papers on your work
Thesis
i Title page ii Abstract iii Contents Introduction Background Design of artefact, model, test program, computer simulation etc. Results, including calculation Discussion of Results Conclusions Suggestions for Further Work References Appendices Acknowledgements
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