GOOD AFTERNOON

GOOD AFTERNOON

1
“HOW TO DO A DISSERTATION”

DR.MURALIDHAR TUMMALA
Professor
Department of Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics.
 WWWHWAW
 “I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew) Their
names are What and Why and When And How and Where And
Who”
-- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). “The Elephant’s Child”
Anatomy of a Dissertation
Title
Need to be accurate and
Authors
informative for effective
Abstract
indexing and searching
Keywords

Main text (IMRaD)

Introduction
Each has a distinct
Methods
function
Results and
Discussion
(Conclusion)
Acknowledgements
References
Supplementary material
Hourglass model of Dissertation
 Title What is about?

Abstract What is it in a nut shell?

INTRODUCTION Why did you do it?

I
Study site Where did you do it?
M
Methods How did you do it?
R

D Results What did you find?

What does it mean? And so

Discussion what?

Conclusion
What are your major findings?
And their significance
Acknowledgements

References
 IMRaD (SSIMMRaDeCaRR)

Structured Summary Introduction Materials Methods ,

Results and Discussion ensuring

Conclusions and Recommendatitions References

 Tell a Story!

Steps in Story line Section of the Paper

Question Introduction

Experiments done to Methods

answer question

Results found to Results

answer question

Answer
Discussion

The story also includes why question and answer are

important and how they fit with previous work
 Introduction

Primary functions:

1.Identifies the research question(s).

2.Provides background information (context) that a reader needs to understand your

experiments.
Introduction…….Why did you start ?
A Funnel-like Organization

Known (general area)

Unknown (specific topic)

Question (make this obvious)

 Introduction

•States purpose of study and describes why it matters.

•Keep introduction focused, brief (3-4 paragraphs) and relevant to your work.
•Not an extensive literature review! (summarizes background information only for
specific aspect of the topic being addressed).
•Past tense (previous findings and to state question) and present tense (for
what is currently true).
 Tell a Story!

Steps in Story line Section of the Paper

Question Introduction

Experiments done to Methods

answer question

Results found to Results

answer question

Answer
Discussion
 Methods…..What did you do?

Primary functions:

1.To tell reader what experiments you did to answer the question(s) posed in the
introduction.

2.Should include sufficient details and references to permit a trained scientist to

evaluate your work fully or to repeat the experiments exactly as you have done
them.
 Methods
•Describe in detail what was done to answer the research question.

•Give sources (company, etc.) and detailed description of reagents and equipment used.

•Use subheadings

• Usually written in chronological order (i.e. same order as in Results)

• Use past tense.

•Understand what are common vs. specialized techniques. (provide more detailed
information for specialized/new techniques).
Methods: details
 Inclusion criteria
 Exclusion criteria
 Sample size calculation
 Circumstances under which intervention done – Lab settings – In-patient
or real life
 Consent
 Ethics clearance
Methods: details

 Study design (drug trial / intervention; prospective / retrospective;

randomized, blinded; sensitivity of method; questionnaire;

 Who is the study about? – Participants and control subjects (in animal
studies, specify genus, species)

 What did you do? – Intervention – Follow up

 What did you look for? – Outcome measure

 Tell a Story!
Steps in Story line Section of the Paper

Question Introduction

Experiments done to Methods

answer question

Results found to Results

answer question

Answer
Discussion
 Results…...What did you find?
Primary
functions:

1.Objectively state results/findings of the

experiments described in the Methods section.

2.Direct reader to figures or tables that present

the supporting data.

The Results Section is the Core of your Dissertation

 Results

• Objectively describe the findings (significant data interpretation and conclusions

belong in Discussion).
• For each set of experiments:
1. Why you did the experiment (rationale).
2. How you did it (without repeating details found in Methods).
3. Presentation of representative data (what you did and found).
• Use past tense.
• Provides foundation for Discussion.
 Figures and Figure Legends

• Design effective (clear and simple) figures, graphs, images, tables,

etc. from the raw data.
• Give each figure and table a simple, self-explanatory title in the form of
a sentence
• 2 approaches for writing figure legend titles:

1. State what figure represents.

2. Gives the conclusion of a figure.
 Tell a Story!
Steps in Story line Section of the Paper

Question Introduction

Experiments done to Methods

answer question

Results found to Results

answer question

Answer
Discussion
Discussion……What does it mean?
Primary functions:

1. To answer the question(s) posed in the Introduction.

2. To explain how results support the answer(s).

3. To explain how answer(s) fit in with existing knowledge

on the topic.

Be sure to convey the significance of your work

and emphasize unique contributions.
 Discussion (Content)

• Answers to question(s) posed in introduction (provide your interpretation of

results).
• Accompanying support, explanation, and defense of answers.
• Explanation of novelty of work (compare with previously published work).
• Explanations of any unexpected findings, discrepancies with other’s related work,
and limitations of methods or study design.
• Explanation of importance/significance of work (e.g. applications, implications )
• Use present tense except when describing previous work (past).
 Discussion (Organization)

• BEGINNING: States answer and summarizes main findings.

• MIDDLE: Explains answer and how it fits in with previous work.

• END: Gives final conclusion and recommendations for future research

Sections not covered by IMRaD
(but covered by Kipling)
Title How long; how many parts; declamatory (or not)?

Authorship Who is best defined in advance; what does "authorship" mean; how many?

Abstract What structure; where to place it; how long?

Conclusion Who needs one?

Acknowledgments Who should be thanked; who paid; who has conflicts?

References How many; what are they for; how to set them out?
Acknowledgments

Acknowledge and thank colleagues who contributed

to the work but do not meet the criteria of authorship.

• Intellectual assistance (including reviewing

manuscript).
• Technical help.
• Special equipment.
References
Primary functions:

1. To give credit to the ideas and findings of others.

2. To direct readers to sources of further information

References

1. Include only significant, published work.

2. Must be accurate (you should not cite a reference

that you have not read).
 Abstract

Primary functions:

1. To provide an overview and clear preview of dissertation.

2. Must be understandable by itself and accurately reflect the

dissertation.

IS VITALLY IMPORTANT:
A reader uses an abstract to quickly understand the purpose,
methods, results, and significance of your work and will only
read further if their interest is captivated by the Abstract.
 Abstract

• Is a single paragraph, condensed version of entire paper.

• Should specifically and selectively pull-out (“abstract”) the
highlights from each section of the paper (IMRaD).

• I: background and question.

M:what experiments were done.
R:what results were found.
D:the overall answer/conclusion.
• Past tense.
 Title
Primary functions:
1. To identify the main topic and message (answer) of dissertation
(accurately, completely, and specifically).

2. To attract readers.

• Keep in mind that few people will read your entire dissertation but
many will read the title.

• Be concise, revealing, and exciting.

 Common Errors (Don’ts)
• Title/Abstract: Too vague or detailed, not captivating reader’s interest,
over-stating or over-generalizing.
• Introduction: Too much information or failure to point out gap/question.
• Methods: Insufficient detail to enable replication by others.
• Results: Confusing figure and table design,
• Discussion: Highly redundant with Results, too much information, poor
transitions, ommission of related work, not thoughtful.
The C3 Principle

Good Dissertation contains the following:

• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Correctness (accuracy)

The key is to be as brief and specific as possible without

omitting essential details
Plagiarism
UNDERSTAND AND AVOID IT!!!

• Do not use the exact wording (or phrasing) from

another article - even when you cite the source.

• Put all the articles far away when you write.

• Insufficient acknowledgement of ideas or work

is a form of plagiarism.
INTRODUCTION
TITLE
TOPIC AND DEFINITIONS
FOCUS AUTHORS
0BJECTIVES
ABSTRACT
METHODOLOGY

TECHNIQUES KEY WORDS

EXPERIMENTAL SET UP
OBJECT OF STUDY ABBREVATIONS

RESULTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MAIN DISCOVERIES
SUMMARY COMPARISIONS
REFERENCES
CONCLUSIONS &
DISCUSSION APPENDIX
ANSWERS
EXPLANATIONS
FURTHER IMPLICATIONS
Abide by Instructions………
“Sandwich technology”
THANK YOU