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Writing your Thesis: A Survival Guide
Dr. Suzanne Barker-Collo
© Suzanne Barker-Collo, June 2000. Barbara Tabachnick & Linda Fidell are gratefully acknowledged
for allowing inclusion of their work. This guide may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes. All
rights reserved.
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Forward or Forewarning
First, let me say that this document is NOT meant to represent any sort of official
policy or procedure for either The University of Auckland in general, or Department
of Psychology at U of A in specific. The opinions contained in the document are my
own and, therefore, may contradict those of others within the department. It is likely
that some (if not all) of the ideas contained in this document will conflict with those
of other supervisors. In such cases, it is always best to follow the direction of your
particular supervisor. Remember- this is a general guide, while your supervisor is an
expert in the particular area of research in which you have become involved. In
addition, as the title implies, this is meant only as a guide, not a comprehensive work.
More comprehensive assistance can be obtained using the American Psychological
Association’s Publication Manual.
I decided to write this manuscript for a number of reasons. First, as a student I was
required to write three theses. I received good feedback, good direction from my
supervisors, and as a result had positive experiences with all three. Unfortunately,
many of my peers had decidedly negative experiences in conducting thesis research,
and tended to ask “What would your supervisor say if”. I thought that other students
might also benefit from my own positive experiences. The aim of this document is to
help students by answering some questions, providing a little bit of guidance, and to
basically help them to get through the thesis experience. Second, I have clear ideas on
what I expect in my own research papers, and in those of students I supervise. To
avoid repeating myself, I thought a written guide could be used to summarize my
thoughts more efficiently.
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General Introduction
Your reaction to writing a thesis will largely be determined by the reason you chose to
take a thesis option. Some of the common reasons for doing a thesis are:
It is required to get a particular degree.
To improve your chances of getting into a higher degree program.
To gain experience in research.
Because you actually like research.
As you might expect, students usually have one of two reactions to having to write a
thesis:
(a)
Anticipation/fear at the possibility to do some hands-on research in
an area they are interested; or
(b)
Feeling overwhelmed/scared at the possibility of having to write a
rather large paper, whose grade will reflect a whole year (or two) of
work.
(You will note that fear/being scared is common to both reactions- being
anxious/fearful is normal, and is only a problem if it stops you from getting the thing
finished!)
The majority of students, particularly those who have never written a thesis before,
react to the thesis with terror, panic, and fear. Regardless of your initial reaction, it is
possible to have a positive experience. Writing a thesis can allow you to work closely
with a staff member whose research you are interested in, contribute to an area of
study in which you are interested, learn about how research is actually done, and do so
with one-to-one assistance and guidance.
While the goal of this document is to answer general questions, and increase your
enthusiasm and positive feelings about doing a thesis (rather than expecting to
undergo emotional pain and suffering), there are some realistic goals about the writing
of a thesis that you should keep in mind:
First, it is important to remember that, as with everything else at University, every
thesis has a deadline. In organizing and planning your research project, one of your
goals should be to establish written timelines that allow you to completing the thesis
on time. Your supervisor may be able to assist you in helping to determine how long
things usually take.
Second, completing a thesis can be beneficial in many ways. Not only is it a
requirement for graduation, it can lead to publishing the results in a journal
(Translation: great for your CV!), provides an indication that you know how to
conduct research (Translation: great for the CV!), may in some instances allow you to
earn a small income from research grants (No translation required), and finally will
often allow you to meet and work with professionals in the community (Translation:
great networking tool).
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Finally, though this may sound a bit negative and sarcastic, when doing research there
are a few general caveats that typically apply:
1)
2)
3)
4)
The sooner you start the sooner you’ll get finished.
Whatever can go wrong will go wrong – Murphy’s Law
Keep it simple, stupid - KISS
Revise, Revise, Revise - anonymous
What is a thesis?
A thesis is basically a long version of a journal article. Pick out a journal article that
describes a research project on a topic you are interested in. You will notice that it
includes an abstract, introduction, methods, and discussion/conclusion sections.
Journal articles are usually written in a way that is brief and concise as journal editors
place strict guidelines on the number of pages available per article.
Your thesis should contain the same general headings as a journal article (see APA
publication manual for specifics), but because there is no page limit it should be more
comprehensive and detailed. Note, that though your thesis will not likely be as brief as
a journal article, it should still be clear and concise (i.e., the information presented
should be made relevant to your topic).
General Outline/Style.
In general, your thesis should contain the following sections:
A title page
Table of Contents; list of tables/figures (optional)
Acknowledgments (optional)
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Participants/Sample
Measures/Apparatus
Procedure
Results
Discussion
References
Appendices
According to APA style, a thesis should always be double spaced, including the
references, and there should be a short title of 2 or 3 words (running head or header)
and a page number on the top right hand corner of every page. Other things keep in
mind are: (a) avoid using the first person (“I”); (b) making things easy for the reader
(i.e., the marker) means having a good flow of ideas between various sections and
paragraphs. Spend time ensuring you have made good transitions between topics; and
(c) be consistent in your terminology. Whether you are going to call the individuals
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who completed your questionnaire “participants” or “subjects” be consistent and use
the same term throughout.
A word on length
I have always been one to push the idea that the more concise you are, the more likely
it is that you will get your point across. As such, I tend to prefer theses that provide
coverage of relevant literature, but that do so in a way that is clear and to the point.
It should be noted here that while this rule may be applied to the written introduction
of any thesis; in writing up results and discussions it is best applied to quantitative
research where the results are expressed in numbers. It does not fit as well with
qualitative approaches, which are valuable in there own right.
As a result of different methods of research, supervisor expectations, writing styles,
and expected length of theses vary widely and wildly. I have seen some very well
written theses that deserved A++ grades that were less than 30 pages in length
(including tables, references, etc), but have also come across theses in excess of 200
pages that should have been re-written. In contrast, sometimes the depth and breadth
of a topic requires a longer introduction and discussion while others are made so brief
that they no longer make sense.
Keeping the above in mind, most institutions expect a PhD thesis to make a
significant original contribution to the literature. In completing a thesis, the student is
expected to show that he/she has become a competent and independent researcher and
scholar. The thesis is expected to thoroughly address an issue in the context of all
relevant literature. In some parts of Europe, PhD theses appear as books, averaging
200-400 pages in length and containing numerous chapters. Though still expected to
make an original contribution to the literature, and often containing more than one
experiment, PhD theses elsewhere tend to be shorter.
MA theses are not typically as thorough as a PhD thesis, but are still expected to
answer specific research problem(s) or question(s) raised in the literature. MA theses
typically range in length from 80 - 120 pages and are usually no more that 200 pages
in length.
In general, doing an Honours dissertation is an experience in learning to do research.
Your supervisor will therefore have a large amount of input into the questions asked,
design, and production of the manuscript. While an MA thesis is still regarded as a
learning experience, it typically involves greater independence on the part of the
student. The average Honours dissertation ranges from 25 to 50 pages in length.
Supervisors and Topics
While at some universities students are assigned to supervisors at other universities it
is up to the student to approach a staff member for supervision. If this second situation
applies to you, one of your first jobs as a student who is going to do a thesis is to find
a supervisor. In selecting a supervisor, you should first realize that the supervision
process is much like a teaching process, and no two supervisors work in exactly the
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same way.
The amount of assistance provided by individual supervisors varies greatly. Some
supervisors expect students to be independent and self-directed, identifying their own
topic and methods, and provide only minimal direction and feedback. Others provide
extensive written and verbal feedback on drafts of the thesis, meet with students
regularly to discuss progress, and are quite directive in guiding the methodology of the
project. Still others provide feedback in accordance with the level of need and
motivation expressed by the individual student.
It is often best to decide what your own expectations are, and try to find out who will
meet your needs. If you are assigned a supervisor, it is also a good idea to know your
own needs and try to express these to your supervisor. If you feel needy, say so.
Most students decide to work with a supervisor they know, usually someone who they
have had lectures from and who seems like an okay kind of person. If you are unsure
about a potential supervisor, it is a very good idea to talk to one or two students who
have already done work with him or her. Some information you might want to get
from other students include the amount of guidance the supervisor will provide,
whether this supervisor is approachable and easy to discuss things with, the more
recent areas of research being worked on, whether or not students supervised by that
individual typically graduate on time, whether that supervisor assists students in
publishing their work, and an idea of supervisor availability.
The Nuts and Bolts of Writing and Doing Research
A) Abstract
The abstract appears immediately after your title page, table of contents, and any
listings of table or figures. Despite appearing at the beginning of your manuscript, the
abstract is usually written last. It usually contains a sentence or two that summarize
the topic/purpose of the study, 2 or 3 sentences on the participants and method, a
statement of the main finding(s) and a final statement of the implications of the work.
For Example:
This study explored the ability of measures of functional status, cognitive status, and
mood to predict discharge destination and length of stay. Participants included 118
individuals consecutively admitted to an inpatient geriatric rehabilitation unit. The
Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Modified Mini-Mental State exam
(MMMS), and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were individually administered at
admission and discharge. One discriminant function significantly predicted discharge
destination (X2 (24) = 40.956, p < .05). Discharge to independent living was
associated with high scores on the FIM and MMMS at discharge, and MMMS at
admission, and low scores on the GDS at admission and discharge; discharged to the
community with supports scored in the same direction, but to a lesser extent; and
those discharged to long- term care scored in the opposite direction. One
discriminant function significantly predicted length of stay (X2 (30) = 62.329, p <
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.001). Shorter length of stay was related to higher scores on MMMS and FIM at
admission, and GDS and FIM at discharge, and lower scores on the MMMS at
discharge. Persons with longer lengths of stay scored in the opposite direction. Early
prediction of discharge destination and length of stay may provide additional time to
prepare for the possibility of long term care, however, while prediction from the
results are good, they are not fail-proof and should (once replicated), be used only as
a general guideline.
B) The Introduction
The introduction of your thesis proposal is your opportunity to tell readers why they
should be interested in your study: Why is your area of study important? and Why
should they be interested in your particular research topic? This means that you have
to produce a paper that reviews the literature in the area of interest but which is also
focused on your research question.
The whole idea is to tell the reader what you are doing and why you want to do it.
In starting to write their introduction, many students do an extensive search of the
literature, ordering 10s and 100s of articles and spending many hours reading.
Unfortunately, this often results in the student being overwhelmed by the huge amount
of information they have found, not quite knowing how to organize or present the
information so that it makes sense.
A better method is to start with a research question, and then decide how you are
going to organize the content of your introduction so that it leads logically to that
question. Writing out a list of topics you wish to cover is a good first step.
While there are many ways to organize an introduction, two that I have used are the
Two-Topic format, and the Inverted Pyramid format. Both formats involve
identification of key topics to be covered in the literature review. You will also note
that both formats break the literature review into sections, each section covering a
specified topic area. By breaking your literature review into specific topics, it makes
the task of writing more manageable, as you can focus on writing one section at a
time, and avoid getting overwhelmed by the size of the whole.
Two-Topic Format
Many thesis questions relate to two topics. Does therapy reduce symptoms of
depression? Does brain injury relate to family discord? Do measures of mood relate to
test performance?
In brief this format includes: an Introductory paragraph; Literature review on Topic 1;
Literature review on Topic 2; Review of Literature linking Topics 1 and 2; a statement
of the Purpose of the proposed study in relation to Topics 1 and 2.
In using this format, you would start by writing an introductory paragraph (at most 2
paragraphs) that tells the reader “This area of study is Important”.
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Examples:
Depression is one of the most commonly occurring mental disorders (give a few lines
about the number of people effected, the impact of depression, etc….(references)
Brain injury is one of the leading causes of disability in our society, and is currently
estimated to contribute to ___% of deaths per year in New Zealand (references)
This paragraph should end with an introduction to the 2 main topics of your theses: In
this case, therapy and depressive symptoms. You might say something like
Examples
While numerous studies have examined the prevalence of depression and its impact on
society, both prevalence and impact will be influenced by the ways in which
depression may be manifest (i.e., symptomatology), and the effectiveness of various
modes of therapy.
While research efforts have seen the publication of numerous studies on the
prevalence of brain injury in New Zealand, recent efforts have begun to examine the
impact of brain injury on family functioning (references)
Once you have introduced these two areas, you can then write two separate sections
with the subtitles “Depressive Symptomatology” and “Modes of Therapy”; or
“Brain Injury” and “Family Discord”.
Each of these sections should provide a review of the literature on the specific topic.
This does not mean that you must include EVERY study that is listed by Psychlit, it
does mean that you must provide the reader with enough background information to
understand your study and to put it in the context of what is known about the area.
Once each of the two topics has been discussed, you then try to link the two together
by writing a section on symptoms or depression that is linked/focused on by different
types of treatment you have reviewed.
All of this should lead you to a final paragraph in which you state:
The purpose of the present study is to examine the impact of X and Y modes of
therapeutic intervention of depressive symptomatology. Specific questions to be
addressed/hypotheses of this study include (a) ; (b) ;
Inverted Pyramid Format
This format is commonly used in essay writing, and may be more familiar to most
students. In this approach you begin by discussing their topic in the most general of
terms, and then gradually narrow their discussion to become closer and closer to their
own topic or purpose.
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For example, lets look at an outline for the introduction of a study about the impact of
childhood brain injury on siblings:
(i) Childhood Brain Injury Is Important: Prevalence information
(ii) It can have a wide range of effects on child behaviour and
thinking
(iii) It also has an impact on family functioning
(iv) Part of this impact is on siblings
(v) Effect on sibling behaviours
and Relationships
(vi)Purpose
For an honours dissertation, using this format you would have one or two paragraphs
to introduce the topic (i); a page or two on general effects (ii); a page or two on family
(iii); and a page or so on siblings (iv & v); followed by a paragraph stating your
purpose and listing your specific hypotheses or questions you study will address.
MA and PhD theses will be more in depth, and each section will be longer in length.
Introductions for a Masters thesis are usually about 20 - 30 pages in length, while for a
PhD they are typically about 40 - 50 pages long.
A Note on Headings and Sub-headings
While an introduction should flow from one topic to another, writing your thesis will
be done in chunks -- one for each area to be discussed. It is often easier for the reader
(and the writer) if each topic area/section has a heading, and that any divisions within
that area might have sub-headings. In the Inverted Pyramid Example above, separate
heading was used for each of sections (i); (ii); (iii); (iv and v); and (vi).
As another example, in a study on models of responses to sexual abuse, the following
headings and sub-headings were used:
Introduction
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Models of Sexual Abuse
The recent literature indicates the for models that explain individual
differences in symptom development following abuse….. The models typically
examined in relation to response to sexual abuse typically originate as models of
stress and coping, or as models of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Models of Stress and Coping. The first models of stress and coping were
presented by…..
Models of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). Models used to explain
individual variation in responses to trauma within the context of PTSD were first
introduced by…. One recent model of response to trauma places individual variation
within the realm of stress and coping and PTSD was presented by Joseph et al.
(1995)….
Joseph, Williams, and Yule’s (1995) Model. In describing their model
of response to trauma…
The Present Study/Purpose
The purpose of the present study was to examine Joseph et al.’s (1995) model
of response to trauma when applied to a population of sexual abuse survivors.
In this study, the first paragraph ended with a statement that the majority of models for
sexual abuse were placed within either the literature on Stress and Coping, or the
literature on PTSD- leading into the next two paragraphs. The final statement of the
PTSD section identified that the Joseph model was recent, and was able to place
sexual abuse into the context of both stress/coping and PTSD. The final section of the
introduction went on to outline the specific questions to be answered by the study.
An Important Note on Statements of Purpose
Your literature review/introduction should lead logically to the purpose of your study.
At the introduction, you should have a paragraph that tells the reader: What questions
does this study hope to address? and/or Is the researcher making specific predictions
about what results he/she will find?
This section is often written in paragraph form that is typically more general, or may
contain a listing of the specific questions or hypotheses.
Paragraph form example:
“This study addressed a number of issues in relation to the impact of childhood brain
injury on sibling behaviour. Specific questions that were addressed include: Do
siblings of brain-injured children exhibit challenging behaviours? How does the
presence of a brain injured child influence family functioning? And what are
children’s’ perceptions of their brain-injured siblings?”
Listing Form Example:
In conducting this study, a number of specific hypotheses were tested: (1) It was
hypothesized that siblings of brain injured children would exhibit more behaviour
problems than siblings of non-injured children or children with orthopedic injuries;
(2) it was hypothesized that male siblings would exhibit more behaviour problems
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than female siblings, regardless of the type of injury sustained; (3) It was
hypothesized that families with brain injured children would score higher on scales of
family dysfunction than families of orthopedic injured children, while families without
injured children would score lowest on these measures; and (4) It was hypothesized
that children would view their brain-injured siblings as more negative than children
from the other injury groups.
Having a clear statement of questions/hypotheses that will be addressed helps the
reader to know what they can expect from the rest of your paper.
In addition, by listing out the questions you intend to answer, this section will also
help you to write/complete the remaining sections of your thesis (see results and
discussion sections for more on this).
C) Methods Section
Your methods section answers the following questions: Who were your participants?
What apparatus, surveys, questionnaires, materials did you need to run the study?
How did you go about doing the study?
When you write this section, you should keep in mind that after it is written, any John
Doe from off the street should be able to read this section and do the same study the
same way you did it.
The methods section described in detail how the study was done. This section allows
readers to evaluate whether you’re methods are appropriate, and how reliable or
invalid your results might be.
The methods section is typically divided into labelled sub-sections. These usually
include descriptions of the participants were subject, the apparatus or material views,
and a procedure you followed. If the design of your experiment was very complex, or
if the material you use requires a very detailed description, additional subsections or
subheadings to divide the subsections may be needed to help your reader find specific
information. Include in the subsections only the information that essential for people
to comprehend and replicate your study. If you don't provide enough information,
your reader will be left with questions; but if you give too much detail, the reader will
be burdened with irrelevant information.
Participants/Subjects
This subsection should answer in three main questions. (1) Who participated in the
study? (2) How many participants were there? and (3) How were they selected? In
answering these questions, you should likely include information such as the number
of participants, the number of males and females, the range and average age of
participants, information on ethnicity, and any other pertinent participant
characteristics. You should give not only the total number of participants in the study,
but also the number that might have been assigned to each group. If any participants
started the experiment, but didn't finish, you should give the number of participants
and the reasons they did not continue/withdrew.
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You should include in this section any criteria that were used in determining who was
selected to participate in your study. For example, did your study specifically include
only people over the age of 16; only people with a specific diagnosis; or only people
who were affiliated with a particular institution or agency. In addition you should
include any method used for assigning subjects to particular groups (e.g., random
assignment; assignment based on a specific characteristic; groups matched on
age/gender; etc..).
Instruments/apparatus/measures
This section should describe the materials for use in their function the experiment.
Standard equipment such as furniture, star watches, video screens, or pencil can
usually be mentioned without describing them in detail. Specialized equipment
should be described with more detail, and complex or custom-made equipment should
be illustrated by drawing or photograph. Many psychology experiments involve the
administration of standardize psychological assessments, such as assessments of
mood, personality, intelligence, etc... In describing the assessment measures, you
should include a description of the number of items on the assessment, how the
questions were answered (e.g., narrative; yes/no; multiple-choice; Likert scale), the
typical amount of time taken to complete the assessment, as well as any previously
published information on the reliability and validity of the assessments.
You may wish to include information that reflects whether a particular assessment has
been used with the population you are using before, other population sit may have
been used with, and an indication of any alterations that may have been made either to
the items or to the administration procedure.
Example., “Due to the physical limitations of participants in the disabled sample,
participants were unable to respond to the items using the standard paper-pencil
method. As such, all items from this assessment were read aloud to each participant,
and their verbal responses were recorded verbatim by the researcher”.
Procedure
The procedure section summarizes each step that you took to complete the research
project. It should begin the beginning. What was the first thing that you did? The
second thing? Etc
For example,
"Forty-three agencies providing counseling services to sexual abuse survivors were
contacted with an introductory letter requesting their assistance in identifying
potential participants. This letter provided the agency with a rationale for the study,
a statement of the study's purpose, and a description of the role they would be asked
to fill in soliciting participants. This letter was followed via telephone contact to
determined willingness of agency service providers to assist in the research project.
A total of 32 agencies agree to participate in the study. Of the 11 agencies who did
not agree to participate, two stated that their contact with sexual abuse survivors was
too limited to be useful, five stated that agency policies did not allow their
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participation, and four stated that they had had negative experiences with research
projects in the past. Agencies willing to participate in the study were asked to
distribute surveys packages to all clients consecutively referred to their services.
Survey packages include the following materials: a covering letter explaining the
purpose of the study,......"
This section should include the period of data collection, a statement of response rate,
a statement that the data were scored and entered into the data file for analysis, and a
statement of the accuracy of data entry. Again, the goal is to state exactly what you did
in order that other researchers can replicate your study.
D) Data Analysis and Writing the Results
One of the most fear inducing things about doing a thesis is sitting in front of the
computer with a pile of data. So - take a deep breathe, relax, it is often not as difficult
as you think it is going to be.
Entering the Data.
Once you have collected your data, your first job is to decide how it will go into the
computer. The best way to make decisions about your data is to go back to the
questions you want your thesis to answer.
If you hypothesize that males will be less successful than females at getting a ball
through a hoop, you will have to make sure you include gender and success at getting
the ball into the hoop as variables in your data set.
If you are unsure what data you should be entering or how to enter it, it is a good idea
to sit down with your supervisor. Speaking from experience, it can be very time
consuming to enter data, and then realize you have done it wrong and have to start
again!
In terms of the mechanics of data entry, most statistics software (SPSS, EXCEL,
BMDP) have excellent tutorials that show you how to get started. SPSS is particularly
useful as it comes with ready-made data sets that you can play around with. Other
resources to assist in data entry can be found in written resources in university
libraries, such as SPSS Applications Guide, which provides an overview of data entry,
and how to perform various analyses.
(Note: Just because you have entered your data into the computer does not mean you
can destroy the raw data, most ethics committees/agencies require that raw data kept
from 7 to 10 years).
Organizing the Writing of your Results Section.
One of the things that commonly occur in doing analyses is that you don’t know
where to begin. Try to present your results in a logical sequence and use subheadings
for different sections.
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While there are many styles and ways to write up results, I am a very
structured/organized person, and tend to use the same framework for all of my own
writings. So here is my own style.
It often helps to re-state your hypotheses/questions at the start of your results section
and then to divide your results into sections: one section with its own heading and
analyses per question/hypothesis. This is important for a number of reasons:
i)
It ensures that each of your hypotheses/questions is addressed by your
results;
ii)
It helps to guide the reader towards that part of the results section they
are most interested in;
iii)
It can help you to avoid the common trap of running numerous
analyses just because you can, and because you fear you will miss
something if you don’t keep analyzing.
(This last one is a bit of a pet peeve for a number of reasons. First, it is often a waste
of time as you end up running and re-running analyses that are meaningless or
uninteresting. Second, it reduces the power of the tests you have used to answer your
central questions- meaning that it reduces your ability to find real effects and increases
the probability of you finding “significant relationships” that aren’t really there.
Finally, you will eventually have to organize your analyses into a comprehensible
Results section. The more analyses you run, the more difficult this is likely to be!)
An Example Introductory/Organizational paragraph in the Results Section:
Results
In this study, the analyses were conducted in three stages. First, descriptive
data were generated to provide information on the characteristics of the sample.
Second, correlational analysis was conducted to examine the degree and direction of
relationships between exercise characteristics and responses to stress. Finally, a
MANOVA was performed to determine whether groupings based on demographic
variables such as age, gender, and ethnicity differed in their responses to stress.
This would then be followed by the results, under the following headings.
Stage 1: Sample Description
In examining the characteristics of the sample, it can be seen that…
Stage 2: Relationships between exercise and stress response
…..
Stage 3: Stress response in demographic groupings
…..
What Statistic do I Use? – A review of a few statistics
The statistics you use should reflect the questions you are trying to answer with the
data. (Note, due to the huge amount of good information currently available, I will
not be providing detail about various statistics, my goal is only to show that the
statistic used should be guided by the research question you want to answer. Non-
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parametric stats will not be reviewed).
i)
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive Statistics are just that, they provide you with numbers that can be used to
describe the participants in your study, as well as how they performed on the
tests/tasks you asked them to complete. If you are testing participants in different
groups, you may wish to generate these numbers separately for each group.
a. One of your first jobs will be to generate descriptive statistics that describe
your participants. Include demographic information such as age, gender,
education, ethnicity, marital status, etc...The numbers you generate will be
useful in writing your “Participants/Sample” section. Information from SPSS
(Analyze Descriptive Descriptive or Analyze Descriptive
Frequencies) should include range of scores. mean score, and the percentage of
persons obtaining different scores on each variable measured.
“The sample contained 110 individuals of whom 48% were male. Age of the
sample ranged from 18.5 to 24.25 years with a mean age of 19.0 years. The
majority of the sample (84%) had completed 12 years of formal education,
while 12% had completed 10 years, and 4% had completed 13 years...”
b. You may also wish to generate descriptive statistics such as the highest,
lowest, and average scores your participants obtained on the measures/tasks
you had them complete. This will usually be your first stage/subsection of your
results.
“Of the 110 participants 76 (69.1%) reported prior history of suicidal
ideation, while 25 (22.7%) reported a prior history of suicide attempts.
Of those who attempted suicide, only 2 (8%) had received mental
health services following the suicide attempt...”
The Measures section of your Method should describe how you scored and coded and
analyzed your data. In placing descriptive data in your results section you should be
reporting how your sample performed on the measures you have described.
Where the amount of data to present is large, you may wish to present them in clearly
labeled tables or figures. Describe your results verbally/in text, but do not repeat
information that is already provided in a table or graph.
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For example
Table 1. Context and Years of Clinician Experience
Psychiatrists
Frequency
(%)
Years clinical experience
 0-2 years
 2-5 years
 5-10 years
 10+ years
Context of employment1
 Inpatient facility
 Outpatient facility
 Justice department
 Community facility
 Private practice
 Tertiary training
institute
 Other
Psychologists
Frequency
(%)
Total
Frequency
(%)
0
1
4
46
(0.0)
(2.0)
(7.8)
(90.2)
0
7
11
45
(0.0)
(11.1)
(17.5)
(71.4)
0
8
15
91
(0.0)
(7.0)
(13.2)
(79.8)
15
28
2
10
20
(29.4)
(54.9)
(3.9)
(19.6)
(39.2)
6
18
2
2
43
(9.5)
(28.6)
(3.2)
(3.2)
(68.3)
21
46
4
12
63
(18.4)
(40.4)
(3.5)
(10.5)
(55.3)
11
(21.6)
7
(11.1)
18
(15.8)
4
(7.8)
6
(9.5)
10
(8.8)
Given that respondents frequently worked in more than one context of employment, total
percentage rates add to more than 100.
“As can be seen in Table 1, the majority of clinicians had greater than 10 years of
experience. While, overall, the majority of clinicians were employed in private
practice, within profession groupings the majority of psychologists were employed in
private practice, followed by outpatient facilities, while the majority of psychiatrists
were employed in outpatient facilities, followed by private practice”
The numbers presented in the table would not be replicated in the text, but the text can
be used to clarify the meaning of the numbers in the table for the reader.
ii) Correlation Coefficients
Correlations are used to examine the degree and direction of relationships between
variables. For example, you may wish to examine whether age is related to extent of
memory loss, or whether increasing dosage of a particular medication is related to
increased or decreased symptoms. (In SPSS use Analyze Correlate click Bivariate;
then select the variables you want to examine)
It is important to consider the variables you will be using in performing your
correlations. Correlation is ONLY appropriate when variables are coded so that the
numbers you assign are meaningful.
This means that a high score on the variable in your correlation must MEAN
something. For example, high scores on an assessment of mood may mean an happier
mood than lower scores; an increased number on the variable age might indicate
greater age; lower scores on a scale of fitness may mean you are less fit than those
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with higher scores.
When correlations are generated, the statistic/correlation value is the value of r, and it
is associated with a p value. P values less than 0.05 are considered significant.
In interpreting correlations, it is important to take into consideration the direction (+
or -) associated with the r-value. If the r-value of the correlation between 2 variables is
positive, it means that as the value for one variable increases, so does the value for the
other variable. If the r-value for the correlations between 2 variables is negative, it
means that as the value for one variable increases, the value for the other variable
decreases. If you are having difficulty trying to understand what your correlations
mean, get your stats package to draw you a scatterplot (see below for an example).
For Example:
“Correlations were generated between demographic variables (i.e., age, gender,
extent of developmental disability, residential history, presence of psychiatric/medical
diagnosis) and the four classes of challenging behaviour surveyed (i.e., physical
aggression, verbal aggression, self-injury, socially inappropriate) and presence
versus absence of prescription for four classes of psychotropic medication (i.e.,
antipsychotic, antidepressant, anxiolytic/antimanic, antiepileptic). Significant
correlations are presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Significant correlations of demographics, medication class, & behaviours.
Behaviours
Physical Aggression
Verbal Aggression
Self-Injury
Medication Class
Antidepressant
Antiepileptic
Age
Gender
Diagnosis
Years in Community
--.439*
---
—
—
---
—
—
---
.752*
--.676*
---.439*
.475*
---
-.475*
.607*
—
---
Note: * p < .05
As can be seen in Table 2 as age increase the number of verbally aggressive
behaviours present increased, while the prescription of antiepileptic medications
decreased. Though not significantly related to any class of challenging behaviours,
gender was significantly related to the prescription of antidepressant medications
with females being more likely to receive antidepressants than males….Nonsignificant correlations are not presented.”
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If I had had difficulty in interpreting the correlation between age and verbal
aggression, I would ask the computer to draw me a scatter plot of each subjects scores
on age along one side and verbal aggression along the other side (SPSS Graph,
Scatterplot) or would draw one by hand:
70
60
50
40
30
AGE
20
10
0
10
20
30
A GRES
Each plotted point on the graph represents a subject. You can see that as age goes up,
so does the individuals’ aggression score. As higher aggression scores indicate the
presence of more aggressive behaviour, you could interpret the correlation as meaning
that older individuals displayed significantly more aggression than younger people.
iii) Univariate Statistics
Often one of the central questions of a thesis will be “Do group A and Group B differ
significantly on X”. For example: “Do children with brain injury have more behaviour
problems than those without?” “Do depressed people score differently on this test than
non-depressed people?” “Do men and women differ in their performance on a
particular test?”
The central question being asked is “Are the observed differences between the two
group means (averages) on a particular score the result of actual differences between
the groups (i.e., are they significantly different), or due to chance?
In the above examples, the researcher has collected data from 2 groups, and will
compare their performances on a particular measure. Univariate statistics can also be
used if you have only collected data from one group, and want to find out if they differ
from what would be expected. In this case, you would be comparing the data you
collected to some value in the literature, if there is such a value.
The flow chart on the next page indicates the statistics that is appropriate in certain
situations:
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Groups/Samples
Standard Deviation
Of population published
Statistic to Use
Yes
Use z-scores
No
One sample t-test
One
groups are
independent
Independent t-test
groups are
dependent
Dependent t-test
Two
Samples are said to be independent if the subjects in each group are different subjects,
and the subjects in one group are not ‘matched’ or ‘paired’ in any fashion with
subjects in the other condition. In independent samples, the outcomes in one sample
have no bearing on the outcomes in the other sample. In dependent or correlated
samples, the outcome for one sample influences the outcome of the other sample.
Very often, this means that the two samples have been matched or in some way.
Repeated measures designs typically involve dependent samples. For example, in a
repeated measures design, you may have a single group of subjects and measure their
mood before counseling, and then again after counseling. To find out if counseling
had an effect, you would compare the scores taken before and after counseling. This
involves treating “before’ and “after” as two separate samples. Because the same
subjects were involved in “before” and “after”, the two samples are considered
dependent.
Journal Form:
When writing the results of univariate tests, the following format is usually use:
“The effect of the enrichment treatment program was significant (z= 2.98, p < .05)”
“Administration of the drug had no significant effect on performance (t(19) = 1.35, p
> .05)”.
The format includes:
(i)
the abbreviated name of the test statistics you used (z or t);
(ii)
the degrees freedom, if any, in parentheses, followed by an equals
sign;
(iii) the calculated value of the test statistic; and
(iv)
the probability value for the result having occurred by chance. Type p,
followed by < or > and then the level of alpha.
a. Usual alpha is p= 0.05; significant statistics are therefore p < .05;
while non-significance is p > .05.
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You should note that a recent trend is to present the exact p values that are generated
(e.g., p = 0.04 rather than p < .05).
iv) Multivariate Statistics
Multivariate statistics are much too complex to be described here in any detail. You
should realize that, as would be suggested in their title, multivariate statistics involve
examining more than one variable and/or comparison of more than two groups.
To assist you in going from Question/Hypothesis to statistic, I have shamelessly
reproduced a wonderful set of tables first presented in Tabachnick B. G., & Fidell, L.
S. (1989) Using Multivariate Statistics, 2nd ed. Harper Collins Publishers. The table is
presented on the following pages. Permission to include these figures was obtained
from the authors.
Please note that, in order to fit everything on the pages, abbreviations have been used.
DV means dependent variable; IV is independent variable (often meaning the
grouping variable); vars = variables.
In actually writing up your results, a very good resource is Tabachnick & Fidell’s
Using Multivariate Statistics, which provide sample SPSS, SAS, and BMDP outputs,
how they would be interpreted, and an example of how to write-up the findings.
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Research
Question
Predicting Group
Membership
Identifying
Structure
Number of
DVs (number
Of attributes
Groups differ
On)
One
Multiple
Multiple
(Observed)
Number of
IVs (grouping
Variables)
Multiple
Multiple
Multiple
(latent, not
observed)
Covariates
None
Some
None
Some
Factorial
Discrim
Function
Hierarchical
Factorial
Discrim
Function Principle
Components
- empirical
Technique
One-way
Discriminant
Goal of
Analysis
Hierarchical
one-way
Discriminant
Creates a linear combination which
Maximizes group differences on the DVs.
Factor
Analysis
-theoretical
Creates linear combinations of
Observed variables to represent
Latent/un-observed factors
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Research
Question
Significance of
Group differences
Number of
DVs
Number of
IVs
Covariates None
One
One
Some
Multiple
Multiple
None
One
Some
None
Multiple
Some
None
One
Multiple
Multiple
(1 within
subjects)
One
Some
Profile
Profile
Analysis
Analysis
Of repeated
Measures
1 way
1 way
Multiple
(1 within
subjects)
Factorial
Factorial
MANOVA MANCOVA MANOVA MANCOVA
t-test or One Way
Factorial Fact
One-way ANCOVA ANOVA ANCOVA
ANOVA
Create linear combinations of DVs to maximize
group differences
Doubly
Multivariate
Profile
Analysis
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Research
Question
Degree of Relationship
Between Variables
Number of
DVs
Number of
IVs
One
One
Covariates
Technique
Multiple
Multiple
None
Bivariate
R
Multiple
R
Multiple
None
One
Multiple
(discrete)
Multiple
(discrete)
Some
Hierarchical
Multiple
R
Create a linear combination of
IVs to best predict the DV
Canonical
R
Correlates a
linear combo of
DVs maximally
With a linear
Combo of IVs
Multiway
Frequency
Analysis
(MFA)
MFA
(logit)
creates loglinear combos of
IVs to: best predict category
frequency or best predict the
DV(logit).
D) Discussion
Here is where you interpret your results in relation to the literature. Discussion
sections usually start with a paragraph of two that summarize how your study
contributes to the literature/to understanding the topic area (i.e., summarizes your
main findings). Some reference should be made to the reliability of the findings and
any limitations. For example, state whether your sample size was too small to do
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additional analyses; if you only examined children ages 5-6, state that the results may
not be generalizable to other age groups; if questions used were misunderstood by
respondents this should be noted,; etc. Identify any aspects of the procedure (e.g.,
measures used) that you would have changed if you were to re-do the study.
Something should be said about whether your results fit with your hypotheses, and the
agreement/disagreement of your results with those of other studies. Finally, indicate
what conclusions you can draw.
Other sections/topics you might wish to cover include: future research (e.g., if I had
unlimited time, energy, and funding, what would I do to replicate/change/built on
these results?); and the clinical/practical/real life implications of your findings.
What if….(common problems and concerns)
Dealing with Feedback: Everything I do is wrong!
Most theses go through numerous drafts. If you are getting lots of feedback, you
probably have a good supervisor. While I try to ensure that I always provide some
positive feedback about a draft, most feedback given suggests improvements, wording
changes, deletion, etc, and is often has negative connotation. If you feel you are
always getting negative feedback, this will make it very hard to view your thesis in a
positive way. You may wish to address this issue directly with your supervisor by
asking them to identify sections that are well written. He/she may not realize that they
aren’t giving any positive feedback, which is often key in keeping students motivated.
For example, if you notice that there are no red marks/changes to your description of
the sample you may wish to ask, “How did you find the participants section?”
A better solution might be to put more effort into your next draft before handing it in
for review. Try writing 2 or 3 drafts, reading each draft carefully and making your
own corrections to each, before handing it in. Also, ask a friend to read a draft and
make suggestions.
Loss of Momentum
Often during the course of writing a thesis, you will “get stuck”. This can occur due to
feelings of being overwhelmed by the thesis, due to increased workload in other areas,
(such as exams/course work); due to increased commitments outside of school; or for
any of a multitude of other reasons. We all lose momentum on occasion.
One way to avoid losing momentum is to provide yourself with rewards for each small
deadline you have set in regards to the thesis (cheesecake is always a good option!).
Some deadlines worthy of a reward include: Having first draft of introduction
completed by a certain date; finalizing introduction by a certain date; first and final
drafts of measures/procedure section; assessing your first participant; completion of
data collection; entering all your data; conducting analyses and writing up the results
for each hypothesis/question; etc…
If you do lose momentum, try to get back into the thesis by doing easy things first.
This might involve re-reading a key article, reading over your introduction, re-running
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a simple analysis, or organizing your data. If your introduction is already done, try rereading your introduction or other sections of your thesis. Make a list of the sentences
you have used that really sound great, or those that you would like to change and
If you have collected your data, try to write up a description of your sample for the
method section, as this tends to be the most straightforward section to write.
You may also try to schedule specific “thesis writing times”, where you will sit at your
desk and do something (anything!) that is related to your thesis. If you do this, try not
to daydream, or procrastinate by cleaning your desktop, making phone calls,
etc…(Again, reward yourself if you are able to carry through on this!)
Nothing Significant
This can happen for many reasons: maybe the theory you tested was wrong; maybe the
measures you used were not able to find an effect that really was there; maybe your
sample was too small and reduced your ability to find effects. Not finding significant
results where they were expected is not the end of the world. In reporting research
findings, honesty is always the best policy – don’t claim your results were positive if
they were not. Also, try to avoid making excuses for non-significant findings such as
“While the finding did not reach significance, it approached significance (p = .58),
and would likely have been significant if a larger sample had been obtained”.
Write up the results, including your non-significant findings, and then address
possible reasons for the lack of significance in your discussion. How might you
change the study in future to increase your ability to find an effect?
Feeling overwhelmed/Incapable
I think that all graduate students have a little voice in the back of their minds that tells
them that they are not really good enough. I have often heard statements such as “I’m
not as bright as the other students” or “I only got in on a fluke”. Most of us feel
inadequate at some point. Imposter Syndrome, where you feel as if you are putting on
an act, and that you will eventually screw up and everyone will then realize that you
are an imposter and not good enough, is actually quite common.
Realize that having self-doubts is a normal part of being a student, and of doing a
thesis. You are probably alright. However, it is also possible that you may have taken
on a task that is too difficult for you. If this is the case you have 2 options: either
simplify the task, or increase your own ability to succeed. Examples of ways to
simplify the task: Instead of planning to use a hugely technical statistic, use one that is
simpler, but still answers your research question; instead of trying to condense ALL
the literature on a topic, try instead to produce an introduction that touches only on the
literature that is directly relevant to your study and provides enough for the reader to
put things into context. Examples of ways to increase own preparation: Try re-reading
some of the key articles and jotting down issues you would like to cover about your
topic to increase your preparedness to start writing; go to your supervisor or to the
library and review one or 2 theses on topics similar to yours in order to get a better
idea of what is expected.
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Data Difficulties
Students often run into difficulties when running analyses or entering their data.
Within many departments there will be a staff member who is the identified “stats
expert”. Indeed, some programmes have actually hired additional staff whose sole job
is to answer staff and student questions about data and statistics (Bless you, Bless you,
Bless you, ...Thank you, Thank you, Thank you……).
Give one of these individuals a call and ask to set-up an appointment. Try to go into
the appointment with specific questions or a description of the difficulty you are
having. If you have your data entered into the computer, take along a copy on disc.
Conclusions
While a number of things have prompted me to produce this document, my main
objective has been to provide some basic guidance and ideas and reduce anxiety for
those who have never taken on a research project before. The writing of this document
has increased my own appreciation of the amount of learning, which occurs when
working on a research project, and has also allowed me to identify some of the gaps in
my own knowledge. Having said this, I would encourage my colleagues and peers to
consider the need to improve and expand upon this guide, particularly in the area of
quantitative research.