Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
This book offers students easily digestible advice on how to plan, design, research and write the thesis. Written to help students across differing syllabuses it provides invaluable guidance applicable to particular course requirements. It is the ideal accompaniment to have from start to finish of the project.
THOMAS R. SMYTH has taught various subjects in Psychology including research methods and statistics, at undergraduate and postgraduate level at: Flinders University, The University of Adelaide, The University of South Australia, Charles Sturt University, The University of Canberra, Australia.
Publications include The Principles of Writing in Psychology, (Macmillan), Writing in Pscyhology: A Student Guide (Wiley, 1994).
'T.R. Smyth's book is a useful and well-written handbook...The tone is friendly and accessible, and the book is very comprehensive...This book would be a useful addition to a library, as a resource for students who find the thought of the thesis daunting, and for staff who are new to supervising work of this kind.' - Dr Nick Davis, Psychology Learning and Teaching
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover\r | Cover | ||
| Half-Title\r | i | ||
| Title\r | iii | ||
| Copyright\r | iv | ||
| Dedication\r | v | ||
| Contents | vii | ||
| Acknowledgements | xi | ||
| A Note to Students | xii | ||
| 1 Overview | 1 | ||
| Variations | 2 | ||
| Contribution | 2 | ||
| Expectations | 3 | ||
| The research | 4 | ||
| Documenting the research | 5 | ||
| Two-part research components | 6 | ||
| Motivation | 7 | ||
| 2 Time | 8 | ||
| Time frame | 9 | ||
| Deadlines | 10 | ||
| Time management | 10 | ||
| Planning time | 10 | ||
| Target dates | 12 | ||
| Estimating time | 14 | ||
| Thinking | 17 | ||
| Monitoring your work | 18 | ||
| Some advice | 18 | ||
| 3 Considerations | 20 | ||
| Some general advice | 20 | ||
| Individual vs group research projects | 22 | ||
| Originality | 24 | ||
| Quantitative vs qualitative research | 25 | ||
| Theoretical basis | 26 | ||
| Goals of scientific research | 26 | ||
| Outcome | 27 | ||
| Documenting the research | 27 | ||
| Supervision | 28 | ||
| Problems and advice | 30 | ||
| The research | 32 | ||
| Other considerations | 37 | ||
| A closing note | 38 | ||
| 4 Preparation | 39 | ||
| Initial preparation | 39 | ||
| Research outline | 45 | ||
| Some advice | 47 | ||
| 5 Detailed Design and Planning | 48 | ||
| Research design and data analysis | 49 | ||
| Research involving multiple experiments or studies | 61 | ||
| Group research projects | 61 | ||
| Problems | 65 | ||
| 6 Ethics | 67 | ||
| Approval | 67 | ||
| Modifications | 68 | ||
| Considerations | 68 | ||
| Requirements | 69 | ||
| Children | 72 | ||
| Schools | 72 | ||
| Infants | 72 | ||
| Individuals who are unable to give informed consent | 73 | ||
| Special groups | 73 | ||
| Photographic or audio recording | 73 | ||
| Confidentiality | 74 | ||
| Deception | 75 | ||
| Debriefing | 75 | ||
| Survey research | 76 | ||
| Qualitative research | 78 | ||
| Potential problems | 78 | ||
| A comment | 79 | ||
| 7 A Research Proposal | 80 | ||
| Requirement | 80 | ||
| Time plan | 80 | ||
| Length | 81 | ||
| Content | 81 | ||
| Structure | 81 | ||
| Planning and writing a research proposal | 83 | ||
| Figures and tables | 88 | ||
| Drafts of research proposals | 89 | ||
| Pilot or validation research | 89 | ||
| Multiple experiments or studies | 91 | ||
| A word of advice | 93 | ||
| 8 A Research Proposal Seminar | 95 | ||
| Anxiety | 95 | ||
| Content | 96 | ||
| Preparation | 97 | ||
| Confidence | 100 | ||
| Presentation | 100 | ||
| A final note | 101 | ||
| 9 The Structure and Format of a Thesis | 103 | ||
| The basic structure | 103 | ||
| Format | 108 | ||
| Chapters of a thesis in book format | 109 | ||
| Structure of the parts | 110 | ||
| 10 Writing a Thesis | 111 | ||
| Requirements of a thesis | 111 | ||
| Examination | 112 | ||
| Information and ideas | 113 | ||
| Ideas in a thesis | 114 | ||
| Parts of the thesis | 115 | ||
| Length of the parts | 115 | ||
| Planning | 116 | ||
| The introduction | 118 | ||
| The research | 122 | ||
| The discussion | 125 | ||
| Abstract | 130 | ||
| Back-up | 131 | ||
| Some advice on writing | 132 | ||
| 11 Drafts and Editing | 133 | ||
| First working draft | 133 | ||
| Headings and pagination | 134 | ||
| Editing | 134 | ||
| Editing for content | 135 | ||
| A second opinion | 139 | ||
| Editing for consistency | 139 | ||
| Making changes | 140 | ||
| Editing for detail | 140 | ||
| Supervisors’ drafts | 142 | ||
| Revising the first draft | 147 | ||
| The second supervisor’s drafts | 147 | ||
| Some words of advice | 148 | ||
| 12 Finalizing the Thesis | 149 | ||
| Editorial style | 149 | ||
| The body of the thesis | 150 | ||
| Report format | 151 | ||
| Figures and tables | 153 | ||
| Pagination | 155 | ||
| Reference list | 156 | ||
| Appendices | 156 | ||
| The composite file | 157 | ||
| Inserting pages | 158 | ||
| Proofreading | 158 | ||
| Preliminary pages | 159 | ||
| Spacing from top and bottom margins | 162 | ||
| Pagination | 162 | ||
| Final proofreading | 162 | ||
| Binding | 162 | ||
| Copies | 163 | ||
| The end | 163 | ||
| Appendices | 164 | ||
| A Recommended style requirements for theses | 164 | ||
| B An example of a title page | 166 | ||
| C An example of a certificate page | 167 | ||
| D An example of an acknowledgements page | 168 | ||
| E An example of a table of contents page | 169 | ||
| F An example of a list of figures page | 170 | ||
| G An example of a list of tables page | 171 | ||
| H An example of an abstract page | 172 | ||
| Notes | 173 | ||
| Index | 175 |