Academic Writing Thesis

1. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
www.its.ac.id
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
www.its.ac.id
Metode Penelitian dan Komunikasi Ilmiah
Ch 4. Academic Writing
Fahmi Mubarok ST, MSc, PhD
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2. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
www.its.ac.id
WHAT IS ACADEMIC WRITING
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3. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
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Academic Writing
• What is academic writing?
– Academic writing is formal and follows some standard conventions
– Each academic discipline has its own specialist vocabulary which
you will be expected to learn and use in your own writing
• What is the point of academic writing?
– The substance of academic writing must be based on solid
evidence and logical analysis, and presented as a concise,
accurate argument.
– Academic writing can allow you to present your argument and
analysis accurately and concisely.
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Academic Writing
• How is it done?
– Aim for precision. Don’t use unnecessary words or waffle. Get
straight to the point. Make every word count.
– If there is any uncertainty about a particular point, use cautious
language (such as ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘could’, ‘potentially’).
– Unless you are a confident writer, it is best to avoid over-long
sentences and to aim for a mixture of long and short sentences for
variation and rhythm.
– Avoid repeating the same words
– Avoid abbreviations and contractions
– Use technical language and words specific to your discipline where
appropriate.
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5. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
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WHAT IS A THESIS?
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The Good and Bad News
Good
• You only have to write
ONE thesis
• At the end, you can
add
• “MT” to your name
for master program
• “Dr” to your name
for doctoral program
Bad
• Writing a thesis is
hard, painful work
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What is a Thesis?
• There is no ‘standard’ definition of a thesis but it is
generally understood to be the result of structured, original
research that is produced for assessment.
• Thesis is the document describing the Project Work carried
out as a part of partial fulfilment of academic requirement
to get a degree.
• It describes the complete process of the project starting
from the problem formulation to the solution and
conclusions in a Scientific and Methodical manner.
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What is the significance of Thesis?
• The thesis demonstrates authority in the candidate’s field
and shows evidence of command of knowledge in relevant
fields.
• It shows that the candidate has a thorough grasp of the
appropriate methodological techniques and an awareness
of their limitations.
• It makes a distinct contribution to knowledge.
• Its contribution to knowledge rests on originality of
approach and/or interpretation of the findings and, in some
cases, the discovery of new facts.
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9. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
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What is the significance of Thesis?
• It demonstrates an ability to communicate research
findings effectively in the professional arena and in an
international context.
• It is a careful, rigorous and sustained piece of work
demonstrating that a research ‘apprenticeship’ is complete
and the holder is admitted to the community of scholars in
the discipline.
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Types of Thesis
• In the Australian context, the word ‘thesis’ is used to refer
to the document that a student creates to earn a degree at
the Honours, Masters, or doctoral level.
• In other countries, such as the United States or Canada,
the word ‘thesis’ is commonly used to signify work at the
Honours or Masters degree level and ‘dissertation’ is
generally used to refer to doctoral work.
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What level of work is expected?
• Master’s thesis is just one step below the Ph.D. thesis in
terms of originality and contribution.
• However, finding solution to the original engineering
problem using the scientific and technical methods would
suffice at Master’s level.
• Although “new invention” in the work is not expected, the
originality in the solution and solution procedure is very
much sought.
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Masters Level Work
• Demonstrate knowledge of practice
• Apply theory to practice
• Analyse relevant material
• Evaluate theory and evidence within the context of study
• Synthesise new information and knowledge.
• Reflect – critiquing and critically reflecting on your learning
and using this to improve practice
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Academic writing at Masters Level
• The language has to be clear, concise and neutral.
• Material is to be well researched.
• Appropriate theories should be used.
• It should be supported by relevant literature.
• All literature should be correctly acknowledged.
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THESIS STRUCTURE
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Standard Thesis Structure
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Introduction
Problem statement
Aim and scope
Thesis overview
Background
Literature review
Current theory
Current practice
Core
Design of your own work
Proposal
Result
Synthesis
Analysis
Discussion
Conclusion

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Standard Thesis Structure
• Title
• Abstract/ Executive Summary/Overview
• Introduction
• Background/Scene Setting
• Literature Review
• Method
• Results/ Analysis
• Discussion.
• Conclusion
• Future works.
• References ( using an appropriate system)
• Appendices.
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Abstract
• A brief summary of the entire report, generally around 150 -
200 words.
• Write the abstract after you have written the report.
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HOW TO WRITE INTRODUCTION
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The Introduction
• As the point of entry into a thesis
– the intention of and justification for the research is provided, where
its scope, limitations, originality and significance lie and where the
structure of the thesis is described and explained.
• In some empirical theses a brief account of the findings is
often included in the introduction.
• The preview and overview element of the introduction
should not, therefore, be confused with writing a summary
of the thesis.
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Clarifying Objectives
• Start by clarifying, in so far as is possible at this early
stage, what the objectives of the research are.
– The research question/s or hypothesis is/are…
– The main themes are…
– But debate centres on the issue/s of…
– There is still work to be done on…
– My research is closest to… because…
– My contribution will be…
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What an Introduction Should Cover
• Step one ‘establishes territory’ by providing background
information about the main issue, question or hypothesis to
be researched.
• Step two involves ‘establishing a niche*’ by indicating, for
example, a ‘gap’ in the research or by providing a
statement that a particular research tradition is being
elaborated.
• Step three requires the ‘occupation of the niche*’ by
outlining the objectives of the research and, as is
sometimes the case in the sciences and engineering, by
presenting the principal findings.
– An outline explaining to the reader how the essay or article has
been structured is usually included in this final step.
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*niche means an area or position that is exactly
suitable for a small group of the same type

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What an Introduction Should Cover
• Step one provides the background to the study.
• Step two introduces the research topic.
• Step three provides greater definition to the topic.
• Step four defines the scope of the study by introducing the
research parameters and summarising previous research.
• Step five prepares for the introduction of the research
focus by indicating, for example, a gap in the research
literature or by outlining previous research that is to be
extended.
• Step six introduces the research focus by stating the aims
of the study and the justification for undertaking it.
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What an Introduction Should Cover
This is the question I posed.
This is why I posed it.
This is how I approached it. And
Here is a preview of where I think
this is all going
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Short statement indicating what the thesis is
• The aim of this thesis is to investigate key aspects of…
• This thesis is part of a larger project…
• The premise of my work is that…
• The overall objective of the study was to…
• The first objective was to…
• The second and major objective was to…
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LITERATURE REVIEW
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Literature Review
• The purpose of the literature review is to complement the
introduction by discussing the intellectual history of the
study.
• The introduction and literature review, when presented
either as separate chapters or as one, provide the
foundation upon which the remainder of the thesis will rest.
• Able to see just where previous researchers had drawn
unwarranted conclusions or had disagreed with each other,
and would then be able to design brilliant experiments to
resolve these problems.
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29. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
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Literature Review
• A review of current theory serves three purposes:
– it gives the background information required to contextualize the
extent and significance of your research problem;
– it identifies and discusses attempts by others to solve similar
problems; and
– it provides examples of methods they have employed in attempts to
get these solutions.
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30. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
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Skill requirements
• First, the ability to define in relation to a particular research
undertaking what the term ‘literature’ means.
• Second, the ability not only to know where and how to
access the bulk of the literature falling within the definition
applied but, also, to have the necessary creativity and
determination to persist in the search for the illusive
literature within that definition.
• Third, the ability to appraise the literature critically and, in
doing so, to retain both the context and meaning intended
by the original authors and also critique it.
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Skill requirements (Cont.)
• Fourth, the ability to manage and organise the material
from the literature in such a way that it can be accessed
easily and efficiently when the drafts of the thesis are being
written and that all of the necessary referencing information
is retained.
• Fifth, the ability not only to integrate the material into the
text of the thesis so that continuity between previous work
and the thesis study is demonstrated but also to explain
and justify the study and the methodology used to
undertake it.
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What to omit?
• Don’t include material that the reader does not need in
order to understand what will follow. Although we need
some chemistry to understand the effects of bicarbonate
soda in baking, there is a lot that is not relevant to the
problem.
• Don’t include anything in your main text if it is going to
interrupt the development of the flow of logic in your
argument. There may be some things that have to be
included in the thesis, but that should be in appendices
rather than the main text.
• Include anything that is genuinely clarifying.
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