How to Write Your Thesis (Part 2)

II. Crosscutting Issues

What Are We Looking For?

We are looking for a critical analysis. We want you to answer a scientific question or hypothesis. We would like you to gather evidence -- from various sources -- to allow you to make interpretations and judgments. Your approach/methods should be carefully designed to come to closure. Your results should be clearly defined and discussed in the context of your topic. Relevant literature should be cited. You should place your analysis in a broader context, and highlight the implications (regional, global, etc.) of your work. We are looking for a well-reasoned line of argument, from your initial question, compilation of relevant evidence, setting data in a general/universal context, and finally making a judgment based on your analysis. Your thesis should be clearly written and in the format described below.

Planning Ahead for Your Thesis

If at all possible, start your thesis research during the summer between your junior and senior year - or even earlier - with an internship, etc. ... then work on filling in background material and lab work during the fall so that you're prepared to write and present your research during the spring . The best strategy is to pick a project that you are interested in, but also that a faculty member or other professional is working on. This person will become your research mentor and this gives you someone to talk with and get background material from. If you're unsure about the selection of a project, let us know and we'll try to connect you with someone.

Writing for an Audience Who is your audience? Researchers working in analogous field areas elsewhere in the world (i.e. other strike-slip faults, other deep sea fans). Researchers working in your field area, but with different techniques. Researchers working on the same interval of geologic time elsewhere in the world. All other researchers using the same technique you have used . If your study encompasses an active process, researchers working on the same process in the ancient record. Conversely, if your study is based on the rock record, people studying modem analogs. People writing a synthesis paper on important new developments in your field. People applying earth science to societal problems (i.e. earthquake hazard reduction, climate warming) who will try to understand your paper. Potential reviewers of your manuscript or your thesis committee.

Skimming vs. Reading

Because of the literature explosion, papers more skimmed than read. Skimming involves reading the abstract, and looking at the figures and figure captions. Therefore, you should construct your paper so that it can be understood by skimming, i.e., the conclusions, as written in your abstract, can be understood by study of the figures and captions. The text fills out the details for the more interested reader.

Order of Writing Your thesis is not written in the same order as it is presented in. The following gives you one idea how to proceed. first organize your paper as a logical argument before you begin writing make your figures to illustrate your argument (think skimming) the main sections are: background to the argument (intro); describing the information to be used in the argument, and making points about them (observations), connecting the points regarding the info (analysis), summing up (conclusions). outline the main elements: sections, and subsections begin writing, choosing options in the following hierarchy - paragraphs, sentences, and words. Here is another approach. Write up a preliminary version of the background section first. This will serve as the basis for the introduction in your final paper. As you collect data, write up the methods section. It is much easier to do this right after you have collected the data. Be sure to include a description of the research equipment and relevant calibration plots. When you have some data, start making plots and tables of the data. These will help you to visualize the data and to see gaps in your data collection. If time permits, you should go back and fill in the gaps. You are finished when you have a set of plots that show a definite trend (or lack of a trend). Be sure to make adequate statistical tests of your results. Once you have a complete set of plots and statistical tests, arrange the plots and tables in a logical order. Write figure captions for the plots and tables. As much as possible, the captions should stand alone in explaining the plots and tables. Many scientists read only the abstract, figures, figure captions, tables, table captions, and conclusions of a paper. Be sure that your figures, tables and captions are well labeled and well documented. Once your plots and tables are complete, write the results section. Writing this section requires extreme discipline. You must describe your results, but you must NOT interpret them. (If good ideas occur to you at this time, save them at the bottom of the page for the discussion section.) Be factual and orderly in this section, but try not to be too dry. Once you have written the results section, you can move on to the discussion section. This is usually fun to write, because now you can talk about your ideas about the data. If you can come up with a good cartoon/schematic showing your ideas, do so. Many papers are cited in the literature because they have a good cartoon that subsequent authors would like to use or modify. In writing the discussion session, be sure to adequately discuss the work of other authors who collected data on the same or related scientific questions. Be sure to discuss how their work is relevant to your work. If there were flaws in their methodology, this is the place to discuss it. After you have discussed the data, you can write the conclusions section. In this section, you take the ideas that were mentioned in the discussion section and try to come to some closure. If some hypothesis can be ruled out as a result of your work, say so. If more work is needed for a definitive answer, say that. The final section in the paper is a recommendation section. This is really the end of the conclusion section in a scientific paper. Make recommendations for further research or policy actions in this section. If you can make predictions about what will be found if X is true, then do so. You will get credit from later researchers for this. After you have finished the recommendation section, look back at your original introduction. Your introduction should set the stage for the conclusions of the paper by laying out the ideas that you will test in the paper. Now that you know where the paper is leading, you will probably need to rewrite the introduction. You must write your abstract last.

Figures and Tables The actual figures and tables should be embedded/inserted in the text, generally on the page following the page where the figure/table is first cited in the text. All figures and tables should be numbered and cited consecutively in the text as figure 1, figure 2, table 1, table 2, etc. Include a caption for each figure and table, citing how it was constructed (reference citations, data sources, etc.) and highlighting the key findings (think skimming). Include an index figure (map) showing and naming all locations discussed in paper. You are encouraged to make your own figures, including cartoons, schematics or sketches that illustrate the processes that you discuss. Examine your figures with these questions in mind: Is the figure self-explanatory? Are your axes labeled and are the units indicated? Show the uncertainty in your data with error bars. If the data are fit by a curve, indicate the goodness of fit. Could chart junk be eliminated? Could non-data ink be eliminated? Could redundant data ink be eliminated? Could data density be increased by eliminating non-data bearing space? Is this a sparse data set that could better be expressed as a table? Does the figure distort the data in any way? Are the data presented in context? Does the figure caption guide the reader's eye to the "take-home lesson" of the figure? Figures should be oriented vertically, in portrait mode, wherever possible. If you must orient them horizontally, in landscape mode, orient them so that you can read them from the right, not from the left, where the binding will be.

Tying the Text to the Data "Show them, don't just tell them…" Ideally, every result claimed in the text should be documented with data, usually data presented in tables or figures. If there are no data provided to support a given statement of result or observation, consider adding more data, or deleting the unsupported "observation." Examine figure(s) or table(s) pertaining to the result(s). Assess whether: the data support the textual statement the data contradict the textual statement the data are insufficient to prove or refute the textual statement the data may support the textual statement, but are not presented in such a way that you can be sure you are seeing the same phenomenon in the data that the author claims to have seen.

Giving Credit

How does one fairly and accurately indicate who has made what contributions towards the results and interpretations presented in your paper?: by referencing, authorship, and acknowledgements.
Different types of errors:

1. direct quotes or illustrations without quotation marks, without attribution
2. direct quotes without quotation marks, with attribution
3. concepts/ideas without attribution
4. concepts/ideas with sloppy attribution
5. omitting or fabricating data or results

Check references carefully and reread reference works prior to publication. The first time you read something, you will consciously remember some things, but may subconsciously take in other aspects. It is important to cross check your conscious memory against your citations.
See also:
D. Kennedy, 1985, On Academic Authorship
Sigma Xi, 1984, Honor in Science
Yale University pamphlet on plagiarism

Final Thesis Make 3 final copies: 1 to mentor and 2 to department, so that we can have 2 readers. Final thesis should be bound. Printed cleanly on white paper. Double-spaced using 12-point font. 1-inch margins. Double-sided saves paper. Include page numbers.

Resources The Barnard Writing Room provides assistance on writing senior theses. Look at other theses on file in the Environmental Science department, they will give you an idea of what we are looking for. Of course do not hesitate to ask us, or your research advisor for help. The Barnard Environmental Science Department has many books on scientific writing, ask the departmental administrator for assistance in locating them. Also see additional books listed as Resources.