Enjoy Writing Your Science Thesis or Dissertation! : A Step by Step Guide to Planning and Writing Dissertations and Theses for Undergraduate and Gradua

Enjoy Writing Your Science Thesis or Dissertation! 1(20) What are the Rules? 1(2) Thesis and Dissertation Templates 3(1) The Importance of Planning 3(1) Familiarise Yourself With the Appropriate Format and Style 3(1) Get Your Information into a Workable Form 3(1) Creating a Plan for Your Thesis or Dissertation 4(1) Planning Materials and Methods 4(2) Planning Results Sections 6(1) Planning Your Introduction 7(1) Planning Your Discussion 8(2) Planning and Writing Your Abstract 10(1) Composing Your Title 10(1) Figures, Tables and Appendices 11(1) Writing Throughout the Course of Your Project 11(1) Overall Content 12(1) Writing 12(1) Putting Down the First Words 13(1) Drafts 13(1) Use of English 14(1) The Importance of Good Presentation 15(1) Plagiarism 16(1) Binding 16(1) Where to Write 17(1) Resources 17(2) Interim Reports 19(1) Key Points 19(2) Planning and Writing the References (Bibliography) 21(14) Why Reference? 21(1) What to Reference 22(1) What to Cite 22(1) How Many References and How Old? 22(1) Problem References 23(1) Quoting 23(1) The Implications of Copyright 23(1) Collecting and Storing Your References 24(1) Add Citations to Your Text As You Write 25(1) The Final Printout 26(1) Formats for Citations and References 26(2) How to Write the Full Length Reference 28(5) The Importance of Referencing Carefully 33(1) Common Mistakes 33(1) Key Points 34(1) Planning and Writing Materials and Methods/Experimental Techniques 35(19) The Importance of Forward Planning 36(1) Planning Materials and Methods/Experimental Techniques 36(1) Which to Write First, Materials or Methods? 37(1) Literature Review 37(1) Writing Methods 38(2) Writing the Materials Section 40(2) Writing Conventions 42(1) What Tense to Use 43(2) Explaining the Principles 45(1) Including the Details 45(1) Controls 45(1) Using Kits 46(1) Specialised Equipment 46(1) Numbers and Symbols 47(2) Statistical Analysis, Approximation Methods, Artefacts and Repeatability of Measurements 49(1) Computer Programs and the World Wide Web 49(1) Hazards 49(1) Questionnaires and Other Relevant Information 50(1) Acknowledging Other People If They Helped You 50(1) Figures, Tables and Appendices 50(1) Reading What You Have Written 51(1) Common Mistakes and Points to Bear in Mind for Different Disciplines 51(1) Key Points 52(2) Planning and Writing the Results 54(10) Literature Survey 54(1) Planning Your Results Chapter 55(1) What Results to Include 56(1) What Not to Include 57(1) Including Other People's Data 57(1) The Order in Which to Present Your Results 57(1) How Many Results Chapters, in Which Order? 58(1) Writing Your Results Chapter 59(1) Writing Style 60(1) `Strategy' Section and `Summary' Section 60(1) Titles for Results Chapters 61(1) Preparing for Your Introduction and Discussion Chapters 61(1) Statistics and Numbers 61(1) Figures, Tables and Appendices 62(1) Common Mistakes 62(1) Key Points 62(2) Planning and Writing the Introduction 64(8) Structure of the Introduction Chapter 64(1) Literature Survey 64(1) Planning the Introduction 65(3) Figures, Tables, and Appendices 68(1) The Importance of Planning 69(1) Writing Your Introduction 69(1) Plagiarism 70(1) Common Mistakes 71(1) Key Points 71(1) Planning and Writing the Discussion 72(7) Structure of the Discussion Chapter or Section 72(1) Read the Plan of Your Introduction and Results, and Your References 72(1) Planning the Discussion 73(3) The Importance of Planning 76(1) Writing Your Discussion 77(1) Figures, Tables and Appendices 77(1) Common Mistakes 78(1) Key Points 78(1) Figures and Tables 79(31) Size 79(1) Numbering 80(1) Other People's Figures and Tables 80(1) Figures 80(1) Creating Figures 81(4) Manipulating Images 85(1) Annotating Figures 85(3) Size and Scale 88(1) Figure Titles 89(1) Figure Legends 90(1) Black and White or Colour? 90(1) Reproducing Figures 90(1) Graphs 91(1) Some Basic Guidelines 91(1) Annotating Graphs 92(5) Figure Title and Legend 97(1) Scatter Graphs 97(1) Line Graphs 97(2) Histograms 99(2) Bar Charts 101(1) Pie Charts 101(2) Tables 103(1) Some Basic Guidelines 103(2) Annotating Tables 105(1) Numbers and Titles for Tables 105(1) Footnotes for Tables 106(1) Inserting Figures and Tables into a Thesis or Dissertation 106(2) Where to Put Figures and Tables 108(1) Including Figures and Tables on Computer Disc, Video Tape, CD, and Audio Tape 109(1) Common Mistakes 109(1) Key Points 109(1) Deciding On a Title and Planning and Writing the Other Bits 110(11) The Title of Your Thesis or Dissertation 110(2) The Other Bits 112(1) Title Page 112(1) Abstract 113(3) Dedication 116(1) Acknowledgements 117(1) Table of Contents 117(1) Table or List of Figures 117(1) Table or List of Tables 118(1) Table or List of Appendices 118(1) List of Abbreviations 118(1) Glossary 118(1) Appendices 119(1) Computer Programs 119(1) Published Papers 119(1) Common Mistakes 120(1) Key Points 120(1) Proofreading, Printing, Binding and Submission 121(9) Know Your Submission Date 121(1) Know How Many Copies You Need 122(1) Advance Organisation 122(1) Advance Organisation of Figures 123(1) Preparing to Print the Final Version 123(1) Proofreading 124(1) Printing Your Dissertation or Thesis 125(1) Adding Figures to the Completed Text 126(1) Including Your Own Publications 127(1) Binding 127(1) Submitting Your Thesis 128(1) What Happens Next 128(1) Common Mistakes 128(1) Key Points 129(1) And You Thought It Was All Over 130(10) Oral Examinations 130(1) What to Expect in the Viva 131(1) Preparing for Your Viva 131(3) Taking Your Thesis or Dissertation to the Viva 134(1) Taking Raw Data to the Viva 134(1) The Day of the Viva 135(2) In the Viva 137(1) After the Viva 137(1) If You Should Fail 138(1) Common Mistakes 138(1) Key Points 139(1) Supervision 140(6) Your Role 140(1) The Role of the Supervisor or Tutor 141(1) See Your Supervisor Regularly With Drafts of Your Thesis or Dissertation 142(1) Problems With Supervisors 143(1) Changing Supervisor 144(1) Key Points 144(2) Resources 146(25) Managing Your Time 146(1) Managing Your Tasks 146(2) Getting, Storing and Processing Information 148(2) Textbooks, Dictionaries, English Usage Books, and Thesauruses 150(1) Libraries 150(1) Carrying out a Literature Survey 151(1) Building Your Own Library of Papers 151(1) Copyright 152(1) Information from Commercial Catalogues 153(1) Information from Microfiche 154(1) Information from CD-ROMs 154(1) Computers 154(1) Guidelines for VDU Users 155(1) Thesis Templates 155(1) Saving Your Information 156(1) Keeping Printed Copies of Your Work 157(1) Filing Your Work in Folders or Directories 158(1) Typing 158(1) Word Processing 158(5) Reference Database Programs 163(1) Spreadsheet Programs 164(1) Graph Programs 165(1) Graphics and Drawing Programs 165(1) Scanners 166(1) Computer Networks 166(3) Learn to Love Your Computer 169(1) Common Mistakes 169(1) Key Points 170(1) Layout 171(14) Fonts and Line Spacing 172(3) Margins, Headers, and Footers 175(1) Alignment of Text 175(4) Titles and Headings 179(3) Separating Sections and Chapters 182(1) Inserting Page Numbers 182(1) Highlighting Text 182(1) Bullet Points 183(1) Footnotes 183(1) Check Your Layout on the Final Version of Your Manuscript 184(1) Common Mistakes 184(1) Key Points 184(1) The Use of English 185(59) A Few Basic Terms and Constructions 185(7) Scientific Writing Style 192(13) Planning Your Writing 205(2) Grammar 207(12) Punctuation 219(19) Common Mistakes With Punctuation 238(6) Appendices 244(31) 1 Easily Confused Words 244(8) 2 Prefixes and Suffixes 252(4) 3 Wordy Words and Phrases 256(5) 4 Words That Can Cause Vagueness 261(4) 5 Latin Words and Abbreviations, and What They Mean 265(5) 6 The Greek Alphabet and Roman Numerals 270(3) 7 SI Units and Their Multiples 273(2) Index 275