Tips for Writing Your Senior Thesis

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Tips for Writing Your Senior Thesis
Lance Cooper and Celia Elliott
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Structure of Your Thesis Main Sections of a
Technical Paper
Abstract Concise (100 200 words) summary of
procedure, results, and conclusions - see last
semesters presentation http//online.physics.uiu
c.edu/courses/Phys496/Spring08/Lectures/Abstracts-
Spr08.ppt
Introduction Motivation for research, necessary
background information for reader, preview of
findings
Experimental Procedure Detailed description of
experimental apparatus used, and procedures
employed
Results and Discussion Description, including
graphs and tables, of results obtained. Analysis
of results, interpretations of data, explanation
of errors, comparison with previous experimental
and theoretical results
Conclusions Statement of conclusions drawn from
results, with tie-in to main purpose behind the
research conducted
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The Introduction/Motivation

• It is up to you to make sure that your reader
• has enough background information to appreciate
  the problem youre studying
• appreciates the importance of the research youre
  doing

Elements of an Effective Introduction
Motivation Describe the goals and significance
of the research, i.e., why is the research
worth doing? Background Provide (concisely)
relevant background material, so that readers
can appreciate the research problem and its
motivation. This would include previous related
research, relevant theories, and unanswered
questions. Use figures and diagrams liberally
to convey your message! Preview of conclusions
Briefly describe the key conclusions and
results in the paper. Dont use the mystery
novel approach!
Bottom line Put yourself in your audiences
shoes Convey why they should be interested in
your research dont assume they are already
interested/informed.
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Types of Figures to Employ
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Types of Figures to Employ (cont.)
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The Experimental Procedure
The purpose of this section is to describe the
experimental or theoretical techniques and
methods with enough detail to allow other
researchers (i) to repeat your
measurements (ii) evaluate your methods
Important Elements Use appropriate detail
Provide enough detail so that others can
replicate the experimental arrangement used, but
dont include unnecessary specificity Use of
diagrams/figures Help the reader understand
what youre doing by using diagrams, figures,
photographs, flowcharts, etc.
Bottom line Put yourself in your audiences
shoes Convey clearly how the experiments/calcula
tions are performed dont assume they already
know.
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The Results and Discussion Section
The purpose of this section is to present and
discuss your findings, then to analyze your
results and compare to previous results or
models.
Important Elements Summary of results Describe
the key results obtained, with accompanying
figures and graphs of raw results Analyzed data
If there is any converted data obtained from
an analysis of the raw data, make sure to
describe what conversion procedure was
used Relevant details Highlight for the reader
any noteworthy observations
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The Results and Discussion Section
The purpose of this section is to present and
discuss your findings, then to analyze your
results and compare to previous results or
models.
Important Elements (cont.) Detailed Analysis
Analyze your results with appropriate level of
detail. If you analyze your data in terms of
particular models or phenomena, provide
background and detailed mechanisms Hypothesis
testing If your results agree or differ with
particular hypotheses, provide an explanation of
the relevant hypotheses, and explain in detail
why you believe your results agree or disagree
with these models
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The Results and Discussion Section
Important Elements (cont.) Sources of errors
Discuss any experimental errors or experimental
design problems that might have influenced your
ability to draw conclusions Alternative models
Be sure to offer alternative explanations for you
data, if they exist (and they always do!) The
future Discuss where the research might go
next, and what questions remain after your study
Bottom line Put yourself in your audiences
shoes Convey all the logical steps that went
into the analysis of your data, and into the
conclusions youve drawn from that data.
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The Conclusions Section
The goal of this section is to reemphasize the
most significant results and conclusions
associated with your research
Important Elements Summarize Reiterate the key
points and findings of your research, but dont
introduce new interpretations or analysis of data
in this section Provide closure Discuss
whether the goals put forward in the introduction
were met Make recommendations Describe how a
future study could be improvedsuggest what the
next course of action of your work should be Be
clear and concise Dont go into too much
detail, restate long arguments from the
Results/Discussion section, etc.
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Other Sections
Your paper will also include some or all of the
following additional sections
References You must reference outside sources of
information and resultsBe generous in your
offering of appropriate credit for relevant ideas
that contributed to your work
Acknowledgments Acknowledge individuals with whom
youve had useful discussions relevant to your
research, and individuals involved in some aspect
of the experiment who were not co-authors Acknowl
edge funding sources for the research reported
Appendices You might include more details about
the research, additional data, elaborations of
calculations, or a glossary in appendices at the
end of the report, if including it in the text of
the paper would interrupt the narrative
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Tips for Starting Your Thesis
(1). Identify and write down your two or three
main points Identify the key points you want to
convey to the reader
(2). Write an outline of the thesis sections and
subsections Write a few bullets in each
section of the key points or phrases you want to
include
(3). Start with the Results or Procedure
sections Avoid starting with the Abstract,
Introduction, or Discussion sections to allow
yourself to get into the flow of writing the
Results and Procedure sections will also identify
the background information youll need to include
in the introduction
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Other Tips for Writing Your Thesis
(1). Keep information specific rather than
general Youre scientists, so be detailed and
specific in your explanations. Make
quantitative, rather than qualitative, statements
whenever possible.
(2). Remember your audience - write in plain
English avoid colloquialisms, technical jargon,
slang words and phrases, and complex words
(3). Keep sentences short Avoid lengthy and
complex sentences (gt25 words with long strings of
modifiers)edit, edit, edit!
(4). Make liberal use of figures and diagrams to
clarify your arguments and help the reader
understand Helping the reader visualize what
you are writing is always a good thingremember,
you might have a good picture in your mind of
what you are describing, but keep your more
inexperienced audience in mind when you write.