Post 8

Post 8
THESIS RESEARCH AND WRITING/ METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH
Lecture on “The Problem”

I. Opening Comments
I want to encourage all in the class to stay up with the work. The number of comments being posted daily on the class site is dwindling down. As well, I am not receiving many homework assignments. We are past half way in our calendar, so let me send a clarion call. Keep up with your work. Remember: Falling behind leads to frustration as well as sloppy work. Don’t let yourself fall into those traps.

II. Today You Will Learn About Clearly Stating The Problem
Once again, to get an understanding of the section under consideration today, it is important to step back and look at the whole again. To do that, it is important to answer two questions:

III.What IS Graduate Research All About?
A. The distinguishing mark of graduate research is an original contribution to knowledge. The thesis is a formal document whose sole purpose is to prove that you have made an original contribution to knowledge. Failure to prove that you have made such a contribution generally leads to failure.
B. To this end, your thesis must show two important things:
1. You have identified a worthwhile problem or question which has not been previously answered,
2. You have solved the problem or answered the question.
C. Your contribution to knowledge generally lies in your solution or answer.
IV. What Is The Graduate Thesis All About?
A. The purpose of a thesis is to present an argument which has not been assembled before, and to persuade the reader of the validity of this argument, so
1. What is it they need to know?
2. Why do they need to know this?
B. Because the purpose of the graduate thesis is to prove that you have made an original and useful contribution to knowledge, readers examine your thesis to find the answers to the following questions:
1. What is this writer's research question?
2. Is it a good question? (Has it been answered before? Is it a useful question to work on?)
3. Did the writer convince me that the question was adequately answered?
4. Has the writer made an adequate contribution to knowledge?
C. A very clear statement of the question is essential to proving that you have made an original and worthwhile contribution to knowledge. To prove the originality and value of your contribution, you must present a thorough review of the existing literature on the subject, and on closely related subjects. Then, by making direct reference to your literature review, you must demonstrate that your question (a) has not been previously answered, and (b) is worth answering. Describing how you answered the question is usually easier to write about, since you have been intimately involved in the details over the course of your graduate work.
V. Structure
A. 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
B. Research Question or Problem Statement
1. Engineering theses tend to refer to a "problem" to be solved where other disciplines talk in terms of a "question" to be answered. In either case, this section has three main parts:
a) A concise statement of the question that your thesis tackles
b) Justification, by direct reference to section on Background, that your question is previously unanswered
c) Discussion of why it is worthwhile to answer this question.
2. The Item above labeled “justification” is where you analyze the information which you presented in “Background.” For example, maybe your problem is to "develop a Zylon algorithm capable of handling very large scale problems in reasonable time" (you would further describe what you mean by "large scale" and "reasonable time" in the problem statement). Now in your analysis of the state of the art you would show how each class of current approaches fails (i.e. can handle only small problems, or takes too much time). In the last part of this section you would explain why having a large-scale fast Zylon algorithm is useful; e.g., by describing applications where it can be used.
3. State the problem being investigated, and briefly describe the experimental or theoretical method used

4. Since this is one of the sections that the readers are definitely looking for, highlight it by using the word "problem" or "question" in the title: e.g. "Research Question" or "Problem Statement", or maybe something more specific such as "The Large-Scale Zylon Algorithm Problem (from http://www.sce.carleton.ca/faculty/chinneck/thesis.html, accessed 6/21/06)
5. It is easy to be fooled into thinking that since something is now obvious to you after several years of study, it is also obvious to your reader. The most difficult part of thesis writing is organizing and presenting your material in an understandable way.
VI. A typical outline will be of the form:
1. What is the problem?
2. Why is it important?
3. What have other people done?
4. What is central idea(s) of my approach?
5. How is the rest of the thesis organized? (from http://www.cs.umd.edu/~oleary/gradstudy/node10.html, accessed 6/21/06)
VII. Homework:
A. Read over the following websites and comment on each one in the comment section of the post
1. http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/dec/essay.dissertation.html Look for the discussion of problem. It is short, but good.
2. http://www.hhs.csus.edu/CJ/Word_Docs/Graduate_Handbook_2003ed-Sept03-E-Helpful_Tips_for_Writing_a_Thesis.doc This is in Microsoft Word format, so when the little screen pops up, hit “OPEN” not “save”. The read through, searching for a discussion of the section called “Problem.” Take note: this last clip is about writing a doctoral dissertation, so in your mind, convert comments about “chapters” to “paragraphs” or “sections.” Your project is only about 5-10 pages long.
B. Write a clear Problem statement-
1. Post one copy on the class website
2. E-mail on copy to Dr. Martin.
3. Leave comments on the class website!