Research Methods Technical Writing Thesis Report Writing Thesis

Research Methods Technical Writing • Thesis Report Writing • Thesis Presentation Research Methods 1

Writing a Thesis: • Writing Style and Format: – Follow guidelines and/or templates provided by the Department – Consult your Advisor • Thesis Content: – – – – – Acknowledgements (Optional) Table of Contents – Table of Figures – Abbreviation and Acronyms Abstract (No references) Introduction Background Information – Related Work (Title can change according to your project – Can be more than one chapter) Methodology (Title can change according to your project) • Technical description of your work Evaluation • Evaluation Methodology • Results • Discussion of Results Conclusions References Appendices Research Methods 2

Thesis - Acknowledgements • Thank the people who helped you in the project – Your advisor(s) for his/their guidance – The members of your evaluation committee for participating in the committee and their comments on the Thesis • Ph. D students must submit their Thesis early enough for the evaluation committee to read and make suggestions – Your colleagues for sharing their views or reviewing your work – Your sponsors • Research Funding Agencies (if your studies are funded through a research program) • Others who provided you with equipment, software licences, access to data, etc – Others • Family, Friends, God – Don’t overdo it • This section is optional – If omitted it shows that you either did everything by yourself or you show no gratitude to the people who helped you • Bad for you and your work In both cases Research Methods 3

Thesis - Abstract • This is a short summary of your work • Ph. D abstracts are often published in – Scientific Periodicals from professional organizations (IEEE etc) – Bulletins (Networks-of-Excellence, Forums etc) – Web sites (University or Specialized such as the Computer Architecture Portal) • Use it to promote your work – People read first the Abstract and if found interesting can search for your papers or contact you for more information • Must contain three main components – Introduction to the problem solved by your work • Motivation for doing this work – Aim (your solution) of the research work and overview of the methodology used to solve the problem – Evaluation methodology and summary of main results achieved • No references/citations must be included in the abstract • Often needed in English (If the report language is not English) • Typical size – 1 page Research Methods 4

Thesis - Introduction • • This is an extended summary of your work Main components of the Introduction: – Opening Part (one or two paragraphs) • State what is the problem to be solved and • Your Thesis (the main aim of your project) – Present State-of-the-Art work in the area – Summary of the methodology used • Must relate to the objectives specified in the project proposal and how they are met. – Evaluation • Summary of the evaluation methodology – Main results achieved leading to conclusions – Overview of the structure of your Thesis (Last / Optional) • E. g. { Chapter 1 presents an overview of the …. . Chapter 2 describes the ? ? . The evaluation methodology is presented in Chapter 3 etc. • For Ph. D include also – Statement of the contributions of your work – List of the publications that describe your work • 3 to 5 pages for MSc, 5 to 10 pages for Ph. D Research Methods 5

Thesis – Background Information • This chapter must provide – the necessary background for someone working in the general area of your work to understand it • It should not include what is considered a general knowledge for a Masters graduate in the specific area – A detailed description of the state-of-the-art work related to your project • With adequate references on text and diagrams or pictures used • Well structured – Not just a list of unrelated references to the work of others • It should help in justifying your approach in solving the problem – This is and extended version of the Literature Review of your project proposal – It • Shows that you have studied and mastered the area of your project • Places your work into content • Shows that you acknowledge and give credit to the work of others Research Methods 6

Thesis - Methodology • Detail description of how you have solved the problem and how the objectives of the project have been met. • Justify your design choices • Use of diagrams and flowcharts and provide a clear and technically sound description of your work • Use of examples to clarify your methodology • Can be more than one chapters • Chapter Title must be related to your work Research Methods 7

Thesis – Validation/Evaluation • This chapter shows how successful is your work • It must contain: – Validation/Evaluation Methodology • Describe in detail the methodology used to evaluate your work • Use of – experiments, – simulations, – surveys, – analytical modelling • Give the technical specification and settings of equipment used for your experiments or describe the sample used for your surveys and statistical analysis • Justify your evaluation methodology – Results achieved • Use tables and Graphs – Discussion of results • Critically discuss your results • Avoid describing in words what is given by the tables or figures • If possible relate your results with the results obtain by others – Make sure you compare similar and compatible things Research Methods 8

Thesis - Conclusions • This is the overall judgement of your work – State whether you have met the project objectives stated in the Project Proposal and how good are your results • It should include: – Overview of the problem and the methodology used to solve it – Significant problems encountered and how they were solved – Overview of the evaluation methodology used and a summary of the results achieved – Future work • Important Issues related but not addressed in your work • Significant for Ph. D students – They are expected to continue carrying out research » Academia » Research Organizations » Research & Development Departments Research Methods 9

Thesis – References and Appendices • For Reference use information in “Publications” lecture – Follow the format set by your Department – if any • Appendices may include: – Extended results of experiments that could no be shown in the main text – Source code of software – Datasheets and Manuals – Other useful information Research Methods 10

Presentation Structure for Thesis (1/3) • Keep in mind that your audience will be the members of the assessment committee (well aware of the topic your presenting - some of the members might not know you in person) • In some cases your defence might be open to the public or to other students • If the presentation is open to the public make sure that prepare the presentation to satisfy your assessment committee – not the public • First Slide – Present yourself, your affiliation and the title of your Thesis – Thank your advisor and the members of the committee (or other audience) for being there – Add the logos of organizations that supported/funded your work and thank them • Presentation Overview – List the main contents of your presentation – Use this slide as a table of contents with bookmarks • This can be very useful when you will answer questions and need to navigate in your presentation – Present this slide fast and avoid details that will be presented later in the main body of the presentation. Research Methods 11

Presentation Structure for Thesis (2/3) • Introduction – One or two slides explaining the problem your addressing • It should lead to the motivation of the research – You may add one or two slides from the literature review section of your Thesis to emphasise the motivation for your work (if applicable) – One slide introducing your solution to the problem • Thesis Aims and Contributions – One or two slides describing the objectives of the project – Emphasize • Your contributions • That the idea in novel and interesting • Implementation Methodology – Few slides describing the main components of the methodology – Use a Conceptual Diagram to describe your methodology – Use a simple example to explain your methodology Research Methods 12

Presentation Structure for Thesis (3/3) • Evaluation Methodology – One or two slides on how you evaluated the outcome of your research • Results – Using graphs and charts describe the results obtained – Analyse, verbally, your results during the Thesis defence – If appropriate relate/compare your results with the results of others • Conclusions – Stress that your idea is novel and interesting – Use your results to point out that your project is a success • Future Work – Briefly present how your research work can be continued/enhanced • Be careful not to show that your work is incomplete • Ask for Questions? – No! This is the work of the chairman of the committee – Just add a “Thank You” slide at the end. • Don’t forget to add “Rescue” or “Lifesaving” slides at the end Research Methods 13