Research Thesis
A research Thesis, or dissertation, is a document submitted supporting candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author’s research and findings.
Thesis Statement
A research thesis statement is a concise sentence that summarizes the main idea or argument of your study. Ideal thesis statements are:
- Concise: An effective thesis statement should be concise and attention-grabbing, avoiding unnecessary detail. Explain your statement clearly and directly in one or two phrases.
- Contentious: Avoid formulating your research thesis as a simple factual statement that is very common for everyone. A strong research thesis statement is a claim that needs more evidence or analysis to support it.
- Coherent: All the points stated in your research thesis statement must be verified and explained in the subsequent sections of your work.
Types of Thesis Statement
There are three main types of research thesis statements: analytical, argumentative, and explanatory.
Analytical
In an analytical paper, you break down an issue or idea into its component parts, evaluate the idea, and present this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
Explanatory
Exposition in an expository essay, you explain or describe something, place, person, or event to the audience.
Argumentative
Argument in an argumentative assignment, you make a rational claim about a topic and justify this claim with specific evidence to logically convince your readers that your claim is true.
Components of Research Thesis
Title Page
The initial page of your document comprises your dissertation title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.
Acknowledgment
The dissertation acknowledgments section is dedicated to expressing gratitude towards individuals who provided assistance during the research thesis journey.
Table of Contents
The table of contents lists all chapters and subchapters of your research Thesis and provides the page number where each chapter starts.
Abstract
An abstract is a brief summary of your article that aims to provide the reader with a comprehensive and concise comprehension of your study and its outcomes. In simple terms, we may describe it as a shorter version of your dissertation.
In simple terms, it is a concise and broad overview of the main points of a dissertation. It enables readers to swiftly examine the contents of an article. Readers often make their decision to read the complete article based on the abstract.
An abstract is mentioned at the start of the study, but it is written after conducting and compiling the entire research thesis. Usually, it starts with a brief description of the topic and then follows research objectives, basic methodology, key findings, and concluding remarks.
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Broad in Nature
It should be written in general. All the aspects of the selected topic should be covered and arranged logically. The topic should be well-defined and clear in the researcher’s mind because it is essential to move on one track rather than scatter in irrelevant directions.
General to Specific
The study should be started in general and specifically discussed according to the selected topic. Generally, the introduction of the research Thesis is comprised of 10 to 15 pages; however, the length of the introduction is flexible and vary from the level of academic degree and its requirement.
1.1 Overview
An introduction of the topic involves defining and describing it in parenthetical citation style. It is a general explanation of a selected topic, and the researcher has to present an overview of the respective topic. It should be informative and engaging for readers.
For this purpose, start your introduction with a thought-provoking statement, surprising facts, and an appealing statement that captures the reader’s attention. Here, the researcher has to relate their topic to society or to any specific issue/problem. It will consist of less than two pages. The statements presented in the introduction should be logically described with citations.
After that, the relevant aspects of the topic are discussed in an overview with subheadings such as types, causes, factors, roles, etc, or any other dimensions that are important to describe the selected topic. These headings are numbered within the context of “Overview” as like 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, etc.
1.2 Background of the Study
In the background of the study, the researcher has to describe the history or background of the selected topic or the broader context of your selected area. He/she has to relate his/her topic with past events relevant to the topic. It can consist of legislation about the selected topic or a brief overview of the literature.
For this purpose, identify the major studies and their findings related to your research problem. Evaluation of previous literature enables research to identify significant gaps in the current knowledge that your study aims to fill.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
What do you aim to find out? The researcher should know the aspects or dimensions of the study. For this purpose, the researcher has to critically analyze the relevant literature that will reveal the gaps in the selected topic.
These gaps are ultimately the aim of the research that you want to cover up. Objective statements should be concise and clear and start with to know, to find out, to analyze, etc.
1.4 Research Questions
Research questions are inquiries that must be investigated by the researcher. These are the questions that need to be answered. Research questions and research objectives are annexed to each other, and both are considered the tracks for research. These tracks help researchers be specific and avoid unnecessary aspects.
Research questions should be clear, concise, and directly relevant to your study problem. The statements of the research questions can be simple forms of questioning statements that use what, why, how, etc.
1.5 Hypothesis of the Study
A hypothesis is a tentative statement that needs to be tested.” A hypothesis is a statement about an issue based on dependent and independent variables. e.g., People do not send their children to school due to poverty. If a hypothesis is disproved, it will be a null hypothesis.
The hypothesis is developed according to the research questions and objectives of the study. Only those variables are abstracted which are practically testable in the research. Moreover, hypotheses are usually part of quantitative studies.
1.6 Statement of the Problem
It is some sort of justification of the topic. The researcher has to describe the current scenario of the selected issue, and then, he has to logically explain why he selected this topic. For this purpose, clearly define the problem, identify gap and justify why this study is significant and worthy. Furthermore, it is needed to relate the topic logically to social issues or problems in the society.
1.7 Rationale of the Study
In the rationale, the researcher has to write down the overall situation of the study problem along with gaps prevailing in the selected topic. For this purpose, clearly mention the problem that you want to address, explain the impacts of the problem on society and particular field. You have to justify that how your study will contribute to the field and how it will fill the gaps?
1.8 Significance of the Study
In the next paragraph or in the separate heading of the “Significance of the study”, the researcher has to pen down how the study will be beneficial or effective and for whom. You have to explain the importance of your research and its potential impacts on individuals, practitioners, and its other practical applications. Prove this logically with arguments, and it is recommended to give citations while describing the significance of the research.
1.9 Limitations / Delimitations of the Study
The researcher must indicate the limitations of the study, which are the factors beyond the researcher’s control, as well as delimitations that the researcher chooses not to address for the purposes of the study. Delimitations are the boundaries that the researcher has set for the study.
The reasons for both limitations and delimitations must be discussed in this section. In short, delimitations are the boundaries you set for your study while limitations are the unavoidable factors or constraints that impact scope of study.
1.10 Structure of the Study
Describe how many chapters are included in the selected research. Describe the detail of each chapter in a separate paragraph. Such as what are the aspects or headings included in each chapter. Write this detail at the end of the introduction i.e., chapter 1.
Chapter 2 – Review of Literature
It is an evaluation of past studies. Literature review means writing down the overview of each relevant study in a critical and logical manner, which the researcher has consulted and also penned down in separate paragraphs. These studies can be of books, articles, reports, etc.
The author recommends organizing your literature review using subheadings that correspond to the primary themes you have identified, which serve as the foundation for your theoretical framework. The subheadings must be concise, accurately represent the theme at hand, and adhere to a coherent sequence.
Now, beneath each subsection, document your major findings regarding the theme (heading), i.e., thematic writing, highlight the reasons for and against an argument if they exist, and identify gaps and issues in each study. Moreover, the theoretical background is also part of the literature review, i.e., relating and presenting theory relevant to your research problem.
Usually, the literature is written in the narrative citation (starts with reference) style; however, the relevance of each argument can be presented in the parenthetical citation (reference after the statement).
Chapter 3 – Research Methodology
The researcher has to explain the nature of the study, i.e., qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method, geographical area, and individuals/groups selected for collecting data, sampling technique adopted for selecting population, tools of data collection, and data analysis techniques and procedures.
Data analysis depends on the nature of the study (i.e., qualitative or quantitative). It could be descriptive or statistical. Moreover, here the researcher has to present a conceptual framework, i.e., terms, concepts, and variables, and their interconnection in a diagram.
In a research thesis, selected methodologies are usually penned down in headings and subheadings. However, this portion entirely depends on the nature of the study and the type of data collection, i.e., primary or secondary.
Chapter 4 – Results and Discussions
In the case of a quantitative study, all the collected data is presented in tables and interpreted according to the obtained results in your research Thesis. It involves the explanations of applied tests, which gives a reader a clear understanding of the results obtained by various tests.
In addition, commonly used tests in social sciences research are the T-test, Chi-square, and Regression line. However, if the study is qualitative in nature, the results will be presented and interpreted in descriptive form. There is no specific procedure for analyzing qualitative data, but it depends on the nature of the data, the research approach, and the researcher’s understanding.
Chapter 5 – Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1 Conclusion
It is the summary of the study, and it should be based on data gathered during the investigation in accordance with the research questions of the study. Discuss here by mentioning research questions separately and describe how your study gives an answer to a constructed research question. Each research question can be dealt with in one paragraph.
5.2 Key Findings
Mention here the main findings of the study obtained through the constructed instrument. It can be discussed from the viewpoint of knowledge and observation of the researcher or in the context of the literature review. Otherwise, a description of the findings can also be presented in points. Moreover, key findings and discussion/conclusion can be dealt with separately.
5.3 Recommendations
Recommendations are made to the relevant section or authorities on the basis of research findings.
5.4 Future Research Directions
After conducting the entire research thesis the researcher becomes able to identify gaps and the areas of research that can be or need to be addressed further. The researcher has to mention these areas for conducting future research.
Appendixes
All the supporting material of research thesis for data collection and presentation is attached here, such as the questionnaire/interview schedule, permission letter (if any) from any authority, any type of list obtained for data collection, maps, forms, etc.
References
Generally, the APA (American Psychological Association) style is adopted for citations. Usually, in a book or report reference, the title of the study has to be in italics, whereas in a research paper, the name of the journal has to be in italics. A reference list typically comprises a full listing of all the sources referenced in your dissertation.
