Chapters of the thesis

Dr. Sara Lavinia Brair

Associate Professor, Community Medicine
Al Neelain University
 Lecture outlines
• Describe structure of the Thesis

• Discuss how to write the Literature Review,

Results and Discussion Chapters
 REPORT WRITING
The final format for the thesis:
• Cover page
• Declaration page
• Approval page
• Dedication page
• Acknowledgement page
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of abbreviations
• Abstract
 Structure of thesis
Chapter 1: (same as in proposal)
• Introduction
• Justification
• Objectives

Chapter 2:
• Literature review

Chapter 3: (same as in proposal)

• Research methodology
 Structure of thesis
Chapter 4:
• Results

Chapter 5:
• Discussion

Chapter 6:
• Conclusion
• Recommendations
• References
• Annex
 Cover Page
• Cover page will depend on the institutional guidelines,
therefore always read those guidelines before embarking
on your proposal

• This page should not be paginated

• All wording should be single-spaced and in uppercase

• The title at the cover page to be bold and font-size is 14

 Cover Page
Items will be arranged in the following sequence:

• Name of the institution

• Title: which should be focused, informative and not more

than 16 words (some institutions have different number of
wordings)

For Masters
• “A Research submitted in partial fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Award of the Degree of (specify, e.g.
Master of Science) in the School of Medicine
 Cover Page
For PhD
• “A Research submitted in fulfilment of the Requirements for the
Award of the Degree of (specify, e.g. PhD) in the School of
Medicine

• Full names of student followed by highest qualification in

standard abbreviation in brackets

• Registration number of student below the name

• Name of supervisor followed by highest qualification in standard

abbreviation in brackets

• Month and year of submission comes immediately after (Centred)

 Student Declaration Page

• To have the following writings in font 12, Times New

Roman ( check institutional guidelines)

A. Student declaration:
• “This thesis is my original work and has not been
presented for a Degree in any other University.” Then
the student signs above his/her name and registration
number, followed by the date. E.g.:
• Signature: Date:
 Approval page
B. Supervisor declaration:
• This dissertation has been submitted for review with our
approval as University supervisors

• Then the supervisors, sign above at least two of their

names written in full, together with their respective
departments.

• The name of the main supervisor should appear at the

top and the other(s) below it. e.g.:
Signature: Date:
Prof. Department
Al Neelain University
 Dedication page
• The dedication page is optional
• If used, it comes after the approval page
• It is not counted, numbered or listed in the table of
contents
• It is used to acknowledge those who have supported you
during your graduate studies
• This is not typically the place to recognize those who
assisted you in your academic research, which is done on
the required acknowledgements page
• There are no restrictions on the style or format
 Acknowledgements page
• The acknowledgements page is required for all theses and
dissertations
• It follows the approval page, unless you have included the
optional dedication page, in which case it follows the
dedication page
• Centre and capitalize the term “ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.”
• The page number should be Roman numeral ii, aligned centre,
1 inch from the bottom
• Indent the body of the text
• Double-space the body of the text
• There is no length restriction
 Table of contents
Table of contents format:
• Centre and capitalize the term “TABLE OF CONTENTS”

• Most pages before and after the body of the research should be
included in the table of contents, e.g.: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• The only exceptions include: the table of contents; the approval

page and dedication pages. These pages should not be listed in
the table of contents

• Do not use the heading “Page” above the page numbers on the
table of contents

• For every heading and subheading in the body of the research,

there must be a corresponding entry in the table of contents.
 Table of contents
• Single-space lines within entries, and indent any lines that
follow the first line of an entry with three character spaces

• Double-space between entries

• Item numbers should align on periods

• Item page numbers should align at the right margin

• The table of contents page number should be a Roman

numeral, aligned centre, 1 inch from the bottom
 List of tables & figures
• A list of tables should be included if tables are used

• A list of figures is needed if figures are present in the research

• Tables usually numbered in Arabic numerals (1,2,3..)

• Figures usually numbered in Roman Numerals

• All tables or figures must have a title

 List of abbreviations
• Describes the significance of various abbreviations and
acronyms used throughout the thesis

• The page on which each one is defined or first used is also

given

• Abbreviation list is usually in Alphabetical Order

Example of a list:
Abbreviation Meaning Page

AVF anisotropic volume fraction 51

BEDPOST Bayesian Estimation of Diffusion Parameters Obtained 51

using Sampling Techniques

c.d.f. cumulative density function 11

c.s.f cerebrospinal fluid 4

 Abstract
Definition:
• The word abstract comes from the Latin abstractum, which
means a condensed form of a longer piece of writing
• A short, self-contained, powerful summary of an article,
paper or thesis

• Length: between 250 and 500 words (maximum 800 words)

• Position: usually at the beginning of the research

• Abstract position depends on institutional guidelines –

sometimes placed before introduction chapter and at
other times placed after Acknowledgement page
 Types of abstracts

• Descriptive abstracts

• Informative abstracts
 Types of abstracts

Descriptive abstracts:
• Descriptive abstracts are generally used for humanities
and social science papers or psychology essays. This type
of abstract is usually very short (50-100 words). Most
descriptive abstracts have certain key parts in common.
These are:
• Background
• Purpose
• Particular interest/focus of paper
• Overview of contents (not always included)
 Types of abstracts
Informative abstracts:
• Informative abstracts are generally used for science,
engineering or psychology reports.
• These are usually about 200 - 500 words. Most informative
abstracts also have key parts in common. Each of these
parts might consist of 1-2 sentences. The parts include:
• Background
• Aim or purpose of research
• Method & Materials
• Findings/results
• Conclusion
 Structure of abstract

Abstracts can be:

• Structured

• Non structured
 Structure of abstract
Structured Abstracts:
• Structured abstracts are usually used in researches. The
format for research investigations is:
• Background – Briefly describe the context and motivation
for the study
• Purpose (Hypothesis) – Summarize the research
question/propositions(s) addressed
• Design/Method – Provide an overview of the research
design, methods of data collection, and analysis
• Results – Summarize the key findings
• Conclusions – State the key conclusion(s) based on the
findings
 Structure of abstract
Unstructured abstract:
• An abstract that presents an article summary in
several sentences, usually formatted as a single
paragraph
Articles where unstructured abstracts can be used:
• Commentaries
• Field Reports
• Reviews
• Analytic assays
 How do I write an abstract?
• First re-read your paper/report for an overview. Then read
each section and shrink the information in each down to
1-2 sentences
• Next read these sentences again to ensure that they cover
the major points in your paper
• Ensure you have written something for each of the key
points outlined above for either the descriptive or
informative abstract
• Check the word length and further reduce your words if
necessary by cutting out unnecessary words or rewriting
some of the sentences into a single, more succinct
sentence
• Edit for flow and expression
 Chapter I
Introduction chapter: (same as in the proposal)
• Background
• Problem statement
• Justification
• Objectives
 Chapter II
Literature Review:
• This is the, reading, revision analyzing and presenting the
previous literature relevant to the research topic selected by
the researcher

• Researcher should spend fair time in reviewing the various

reading materials, textbooks, journal articles, encyclopedias,
research work, internet websites and others

• Literature review is not mechanical collection of data but

rather understanding and analyzing the reading materials
(selectivity of high quality reading materials)
 Why we review literature?
• To prevent duplication

• To increase in-depth understanding about the research

problem

• To enable comparison

• To refine statement of the problem

• To formulate the suitable type of methodology

• To support the argument for need of the research

(justification)
How do you write a review of literature?
• It is a review of what has been published on that topic so
that you do not duplicate someone else’s work

• Conduct a thorough literature search before designing

your methodology and collecting your data

• The literature review should provide context and clarify

the relationship between your topic and previous work in
that area

• Literature review should start more general, you then

focus on your problem and then more selective
depending on objectives
How do you write a review of literature?

• When writing the literature review, present major

themes, theories, and ideas that have been published in
the area, and the findings of related studies

• Conclude the review of the literature with a short section

that describes your topic, highlighting why it is important
to address the problem you have investigated
 Chapter III
• Methodology chapter: (same as in proposal but in past tense)
• Study Design
• Study Population
• Inclusion & exclusion criteria
• Study Area/Study Setting
• Sampling
• Sample size
• Sampling technique
• Data collection:
• Data collection tool
• List of variables
• Data Analysis
• Ethical consideration
• Ethical approval from the university, hospital administration
• Permission from area where research is conducted
• Consent from patients
 Chapter IV
Results:
• It describes what you found in your research, without
discussion, interpretation or reference to the literature

• Just the facts, presented as tables, figures, interview

summaries and/or descriptions of what you found that is
important and noteworthy

• Do not present the same data in different ways (table and

figure) – this is duplication

• The objective is to present a simple, clear and complete

account of the results of your research
 Discussion:
Chapter V
• Relate your findings to your original statement of the problem,
research question(s), hypothesis/working paradigm and aims and
your literature review

• Begin by briefly summarizing the previous chapters, then discuss

what you found

• Ask yourself why the results were what they were, and then try to
provide meaningful answers to the question

• Feel free to interpret objectively and subjectively and to make

references to what others have said on the subject and try to build
new models/theories or modify existing ones

• Make sure that every conclusion you draw is defensible and not
just your own personal opinion
 Chapter VI
• Conclusion
• Recommendation
• Reference – discussed later
• Annex – same as in proposal
Conclusion:
• Summarize your conclusions from the discussion chapter –
depending on your objectives

• Note the limitations of your study

• Show that you are aware of the methodological limitations of

your study, for example the small size of your sample, or the
fact that you set out to examine only one part of a bigger
problem
 Chapter VI
• Make recommendations relating to the problem that you
investigated, for example by making practical suggestions on
how to improve the situation in the organization in which your
research took place

• Always relate you recommendation to the conclusion

• Make recommendations for areas that require further study