Elements of a Good Thesis
As with the thesis itself, the processes involved and the stages through
which you progress vary according to the type of thesis. However, most
candidates can expect to encounter the following stages:
Literature Review
The significance of your research topic can be gauged by studying the
relevant background literature, and your literature review should locate
your research within the existing literature and make clear the importance
of your study. It is very important for you to realise that the literature
review has a service function insofar as it tells you
- what research has been done on your topic;
- what solutions or agreements have been reached by writers investigating the issue or problem, and, more importantly,
- which questions have been left unanswered.
A careful and critical examination of the relevant literature
will thus delineate the scope of your approach to the issue or problem,
or suggest a new angle or way of looking at it. Do not be surprised
if, in the course of your reading and your research, you find that
another issue or problem becomes the more important one. Once you are
familiar with the various ways other writers have dealt with the problem
you may decide that there is another way of looking at this issue,
and this is what good research often accomplishes: a refocusing of
issues which might lead to new problems and new solutions. The major
point to be made about the literature review is that it provides you
with the relevant and necessary background knowledge to solve your
problem. It follows that it is always integral to the topic or problem.
It is not superfluous.
Theoretical Basis of the Study
Any piece of research is always approached from a particular point
of view or orientation. Often we are not initially aware of what it
is. It is important, however, to make quite clear in your thesis the
theoretical perspective you are using in approaching a particular topic.
For example, if you are writing on leadership in administration, you
need to state clearly whose theoretical framework provides your starting
point. You also need to be aware of the fact that every writer has
his or her own theoretical commitments that you need to identify and
question. This means that you cannot simply accept another's framework
without subjecting it to a critical examination. Theoretical frameworks
do not go without saying, they need to be defended as appropriate by
you as the writer/researcher in context of the research problem you
wish to solve. This means that you have to provide some reasons for
your choice of theoretical framework. The framework you select for
your study will also provide you with relevant concepts. There is generally
no need to have a separate section on the conceptual framework because
it is normally embedded in your theoretical approach.
Making Decisions About Methodology and Research Design
In order to carry out your identified research successfully you need
a set of appropriate tools. This is what research methodology is all
about. It tells you, and the examiners, how you went about tackling
your research problem or issue. Here it is generally important to recognise
that a combination of methodologies may be applied from statistical
or experimental techniques to applying the concepts of a particular
philosophical or historical school. The methodology, or combination
of methodologies, is determined by the chosen research topic and the
questions put. Different questions give you different answers and may
often require different methods. Topics can be empirical but they can
also be of a theoretical, philosophical or historical nature. Quantitative
techniques, appropriately employed, such as surveys or regression analyses
are as valid as the so-called qualitative methods such as participant
observation, thick description or interviews often conducted within
naturalistic, or field, approaches.
Each approach has standards of rigour to which it must conform. The
approach finally chosen depends on what you wish to find out. When
selecting and employing research methodologies you need to be aware
of their technical properties and use them correctly, e.g. questionnaires.
In addition to becoming technically competent at applying whatever
methodologies you employ, you need to ensure that your overall research
is coherent and that you avoid contradictions between findings and
problem statements. A study is valid when the appropriate methodology
is employed to address the problem and appropriate evidence is used
to support each conclusion.
Data Gathering
(see section on Human Research Ethics this
stage is not relevant to theses of a mainly theoretical nature). The
gathering of data is thesis-specific and should be discussed in detail
with your supervisor.
Reporting and Interpretation of Data
- Results
The results of your research may be presented in one chapter or more. In either case it is advisable to restate your hypothesis(es) or research question(s) in the introduction. This helps to maintain focus. In your introduction(s), you should also explicitly describe what you are covering and the sequence. This should form the basis of the sub-headings that you will use to organise your findings.
There are several ways in which the Results sections may be presented. The following represents just two approaches, but the structure most appropriate to your research will emerge from the nature of your particular study and after consultation with your supervisor.
- Direct reporting, in which the data or findings are reported without
simultaneous interpretation or running analysis. In this case, interpretation
or analysis should follow in another section or chapter, or may form
part of the Discussion/Conclusions chapters.
- Interpretive reporting, in which the data or findings are discussed
and interpreted at the point of presentation. In this case you should
ensure that the discussion or interpretation does not go beyond the
substance of the findings. Conjectural or interpretative points may
be raised briefly, but details should be taken up in depth in the
Discussion/Conclusions chapters.
- Tables and figures should carry informative headings and footnote
explanations so that the content is understandable virtually without
reference to the text. The text will highlight the major features
of the tables or figures and will relate the findings to your research
questions. The data presented should be an integral part of your
argument, and will often consist of summaries of series of results
or findings. Fine detail can often be relegated to tables in appendices.
- Descriptions and commentary should be presented in logical sequence,
preferably using sub-headings to guide the reader. Once again, the
findings that you are reporting should relate closely to your research
questions. Descriptive reporting should avoid being verbose.
- Appendices should include all material which has direct relevance to the thesis, but which is not an integral part of the argument or material being presented in the body of the text. Typically, appendices will include: data-collecting instruments; data sources (persons interviewed, organisations visited, etc); letters of permission to gain access to data sources; associated tables. Other appendices could include: raw data in instances where the thesis analysis is concerned with refined data; other materials which assist with the interpretation of the thesis but which are related rather than integral; and so on. Material that is not directly related to the thesis should not be included.
These parts of the thesis provide the opportunity for creative interpretation of the findings of your research. You should be able to demonstrate a measure of enhanced knowledge and understanding as a result of having undertaken the research. It may be that you demonstrate an ability to think beyond the immediate practical interpretation or feasible application of the findings into a more speculative realm, or you may reflect on related theoretical implications not previously considered.
- Conclusions are judgements or inferences that can be reasonably
drawn from your findings. In drawing conclusions, it is normal to
make reference to aspects of the thesis discussed in previous sections,
i.e. to the literature, to the methods, and to the introduction or
contextual statements made at the beginning of the thesis. You may
observe that the findings from your work reinforce or contradict
those raised in your literature review and that such findings are
similar to or different from those of other researchers in relation
to similar or different methods used, and so on. Some connection
should be made of your findings to the overall context of the study
as it was in relation to the particular context, or the present circumstance,
that the study was established in the first instance. Such references
support the judgements you took when you were conceptualising and
carrying out your research.
- Implications naturally flow from the drawing of such conclusions.
They tend to be a less specific and more general interpretation of
the findings, a 'first-remove' set of interpretations or judgements
having some wider applicability. You may draw implications beyond
the direct field of application by implying possible associations
with related or affiliated areas. Placing the study into a wider
context may reveal a level of conceptualisation which may differ
from that discovered within the more precise boundaries of your findings.
However it should be noted that wider interpretive statements are
conjectural, and should be explicitly treated as such, and not be
confused with actual findings.
- Recommendations, if included, fall into two categories: those pertaining
to the need for further research on the topic under discussion, and
those having pertinence to current practice in the field.
- Recommendations for further research are commonly included in theses. They provide the opportunity to discuss notional shortcomings or difficulties in your research: narrowness of scope; limitations of the methods; problems associated with the sample or data collection; and so on. Similarly, you may suggest relationships and extensions to the research that have emerged; or you may suggest ways in which a limited application could be enlarged to have wider relevance or applicability.
- Recommendations for current practice can be made as a result of the study having been undertaken and are directed at improving practice pertinent to the particular topic of the research. These may be directed to policy-makers, or to practitioners in the field. For instance, they may relate to the interpretation of policies, or to shortcomings in the realisation of policies. Recommendations may constitute suggestions for action or for inaction.