This document provides an overview of thesis writing. It discusses what constitutes a thesis, the typical structure of a thesis including 5 chapters, and different categories of theses such as those in science/engineering, social science/humanities, action research, and design. It also covers the thesis writing process, including using writing tools like LaTeX and Word, following style guides, and employing critical writing skills like planning, clarity, brevity, simplicity, and addressing copyrights. The document provides examples and references for each category of thesis to illustrate the key elements that need to be covered.

1. THESIS WRITING
論文の書き方講座
Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University
Charith Fernando (Ph.D.), Chihiro Sato (Ph.D.)
charith@kmd.keio.ac.jp, chihiro@kmd.keio.ac.jp

2. Overview
¨ What is a Thesis
¨ Structure of a Thesis
¨ Thesis Categories
¤ Science / Engineering
¤ Social Science / Humanities
¤ Action Research
¤ Design
¨ Thesis writing process
¤ Writing Tools
n Tex / Word Template
¤ Critical Writing Skills
n Planning, Clarity, Brevity, Simplicity, Copyrights

3. What is a Thesis ?
Reference: Yvonne N. Bui, How to Write a Master’s Thesis (2013)
A research study that is an original piece of work of your own,
based on data produced by experiment or observation
Term Paper Thesis
Just a summary of
what other people
researched and done
related to your topic
from books, journals,
or articles…
Develop a research question,
conduct literature review,
collect original data,
analyze what you found
to state your claim
Follow the
5 chapter
Structure
Form your
research
claim
Choose the
suited
category

4. What you need ?
¨ Writing a thesis involves
¤ Passion
¤ Advisors and Areas
¤ Problem, Question, Purpose and Claims Originality and
Replication
¤ Reviewing the Literature
¤ Argument
¤ Style and Form in Writing the Proposal

5. Structure of a Thesis
Reference: Stephen E. Toulmin, The Uses of Argument (2003)
Forming your own research claim and the argument (thesis core)
Claim Data
Warrant
states your
position on the
issue you have
chosen to write
about
the evidence
which you cite
to support your
claim
interprets the data
and shows how it
supports your claim

6. 5 Chapter Structure of a Thesis
Literature ReviewIntroduction
Establish the
statement of the
problem and
research
questions
Reference: Yvonne N. Bui, How to Write a Master’s Thesis (2013)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
The traditional format to structure your thesis thoroughly
Chapter 5
Proving concept
& Results
Concept
& Methods
Discussion
Provide justification
of your study by
Identifying the most
relevant and
significant research
Propose the
concept and
explain the
research method
you use
Present the
finding from
data collection
process and
method
Discuss the
results and draw
conclusions
related to your
statement

7. Accepted Thesis Categories
¨ Categories
¤ Science / Engineering Thesis
¤ Social Science / Humanities Thesis
¤ Action Research Thesis
¤ Design Thesis

8. Design Thesis
• A Design thesis is oriented towards
1. What is the designed artifact(s) and what user experience it
provides
2. What designing process you took and its rationale for the
selection of methods employed can be reproduced
3. Prove your concept (the set of artifact and the user
experience) and show extensibility
Reference: J. Zimmerman, “Research through Design as a method for interaction design in HCI”(2007)
Designing
Process
Designed
Artifact
User Study Show
Extensibility

9. Design Thesis
You
Designed
Artifact
Design
Process
Users
Relationship
Experience
Concept
User Study
Observation
Situation
Extensibility
Other
Users
Why does the user need the artifact?
How does the artifact effect the user?

10. Design Thesis
Reference: J. Zimmerman, “Research through Design as a method for interaction design in HCI”(2007)
Designing
Process
Designed
Artifact
User Study Show
Extensibility
Chapter 3
Concept
& Methods
Chapter 4
Proving concept
& Results
Chapter 5
Discussion

11. Action Research Thesis
• An Action Research thesis is oriented towards
1. The inquiry research done by or with insiders to an
organization or community
2. Whom is the research is conducted towards? (cannot be to or
on themselves)
3. What action cycles process that organizational or community
members have taken, taking, or wish to take
Reference: Kathryn Herr and Gary L. Anderson, The Action Research Dissertation (2005)
Develop a plan
of action cycles
Act to implement the
plan
Observe effects in
the context
Reflect effects for
further planning

12. Action Research Thesis
You
Organization/
Community A
part of
Action
Cycles
Acting Process
Observe
Reflect
Organization/
Community B
Concept

13. Action Research Thesis
Reference: Kathryn Herr and Gary L. Anderson, The Action Research Dissertation (2005)
Develop a
plan of action
cycles
Act to
implement the
plan
Observe
effects in the
context
Reflect effects
for further
planning
Chapter 3
Concept
& Methods
Chapter 4
Proving concept
& Results
Chapter 5
Discussion

14. Science / Engineering Thesis
• A Science / Engineering thesis is oriented towards
1. What is the question / problem about the world that needs
to be answered or solved ?
2. Why previous answers / solutions to this question or problem
inadequate or unsatisfactory?
3. What is your answer or solution ?
4. How good is your answer or solution compare to previous
answers or solutions? What are its benefits and drawbacks?
Concept Hypothesis Proofing Evaluation

15. Science / Engineering Thesis
New
Concept ? Proof of Concept
Design &
Implementation
Identify
Problem
Related
Works
Proofing
Hypothesis

16. Science / Engineering Thesis
Concept Hypothesis Proofing Evaluation
Chapter 3
Concept
Hypothesis
Design
Chapter 4
Implementation
Technical Evaluation
Chapter 5
Obj /Sub Evaluation
Discussion

17. Summary of Thesis Categories
Category Claim Data (Evidence) Warrant
Science / Engineering
Concept
Hypothesis
Implementation
Evaluation
Discussion
Conclusion
Social Science /
Humanities
Claim
Observation
Interviewing
Archival
Assurance
Action Research Action Cycle
Act
Observations
Reflect Effects
Discussion, Plan
Design Artifact
Design
User Study
Discussion
Extensibility

18. How to find & manage related research
¨ Use keywords to search similar
research to your work
¨ List them up or manage a
bibliography
¨ Read and categorize them
based on how they are related
https://scholar.google.com
http://bibdesk.sourceforge.net/
https://www.mendeley.com/

19. Writing Tools
¨ Formatting a Long document is troublesome
¤ Latex, Microsoft Word
Latex (Texshop / Eclipse) Microsoft Word

20. Writing Tools
¨ Online Editors (Troublefree Setting up)
https://www.overleaf.com/

21. Thesis Structure
¨ Writing Styles
¤ Chicago Manual of Style
¤ APA (American Psychological Association) Style
¤ MLA (Modern Language Association) Style
¤ CSE (Council of Science Editors) Style
¤ Others (any other styles specified by the academic societies
related your research field.)

22. Critical Writing Skills
¨ The fundamental purpose of thesis is not the mere
presentation of information and thought but rather
it’s actual communication
§ George Gopen and Judith Swan
The Science of Scientific Writing

23. Process of Thesis Writing
¨ Good writing doesn’t happen overnight
¤ planning, drafting (first draft, revised draft, final draft), rereading,
revising, and editing
¨ Learning and improvement requires
¤ self-review, peer-review, subject-matterexpert feedback, and practice
¨ Good writing is a habit that takes time
¤ There are no shortcuts

24. Thesis Writing: Best Practice
Planning
/
Rethinking
Writing
Revising
• Planning
• Clarity
• Brevity
• Simplicity
• Copyrights

25. Planning
¨ Plan before you begin writing
¤ Understand your audience, thesis
type, Claim, Evidence and
Warrant
¤ Organize your thoughts and
materials
¤ Define Deadlines

26. Clarity
¨ Avoid Jargons
¤ Abbreviations, Slang
n If needs to abbreviate, define the term in its first occurrence.
n Ex: Keio Media Design (KMD)
¨ Citation and Quotation
¤ Cite the work of others to strengthen your arguments
¤ Quote properly when Copying someone else's explanation
¤ Acknowledge the source

27. Clarity
¨ Use audience familiarity words
¤ Ex: The materials friction coefficient seems adequate
for the outer design. (Design Thesis)
¨ Avoid too long sentences

28. Brevity
¨ Most Important First
¤ Place key information in the main clause
¨ Less Is More
¤ Pare your language down to the essential message you want to get
across to your readers
¨ Use words efficiently & Remove Redundancy
¤ Never use two words when one word will do
¤ Combine overlapping sentences when possible

29. Simplicity
¨ Use details wisely
¤ Specific details are desirable ,but be careful to
balance detail with audience needs for clarity
¤ significance is more important
• Language: Active Voice
¤ Communicate as efficiently and more straightforward

30. Simplicity
¨ Language: Complexity
¤ Avoid too complex words
Category Substitutes
Nouns Utilization (use)
Verbs Finalize (end)
Adjectives Individualized (individual)
Adverbs Firstly (first)

31. Simplicity
¨ Language: Abstraction
¤ Avoid too many abstract words
n (Already) existing
n At (the) present (time)
n (Completely) eliminate
n (Empty) space
n Mix (together)

32. Simplicity
¨ Language:
¤ Avoid excess words
n Made arrangements for → Arranged
n Made the decision → Decided
n Perform the development of → Developed

33. Plagiarism & Copyrights
¨ Images, Sentences, Quotes that are not your
originals, needs to acknowledge the author
¤ Contact author directly
¤ Add appropriate Copyright text
n Ex: Photo © author

34. Tips & Tricks
1. Decide when to start
2. Decide when to stop
3. Set Milestones (deadlines for each chapter)
4. Set easy targets for each day
5. Create a comfortable, distraction free environment
6. Only turn on the computer when you know exactly what you’re going to write
7. Check email only after you’ve done at least 2 hours work
8. Work for 25 minutes at a time (5min break)
9. Get away from the computer when you aren’t working
10. Look after yourself

35. Q&A