Writing a Thesis Requires Time, Patience and Skill - Learn more about preparing and writing your thesis.
Develop skills in undertaking research and preparing your own thesis or research project. Carrying out a lot of hard work on research can be wasted if you then do not prepare an effective and well-presented thesis or report. This course enables you to develop more skills in the area of thesis and report writing.
Pre-requisite: Research Project III
What this Course Covers
Lesson 1. The Problem Statement
- Introduction
- What is a problem
- Selecting a topic
- Structure of a problem statement
- How does a problem statement relate to quantitative and qualitative research
- Referencing and reference types
Lesson 2. The Literature Review Part One
- What is a literature review
- Relating your literature review to the problem statement
- Types of literature
- Collecting information
- Finding literature: text books, journal articles, indexes, abstracts, internet
Lesson 3. The Literature Review Part Two
- Critical reading
- Literature review structure
- Writing
- Verbs
- Quotations
- Presentation of work
Lesson 4. The Hypothesis
- What is a hypothesis
- Definitions
- Scientific method
- Structuring a hypothesis
- What is not a hypothesis
- Null hypothesis
- Correlation vs cause and effect
- Occam's razor
Lesson 5. The Method
- Introduction
- Structuring your research method
- Research strategy
- Data collection
- Quantitative data
- Qualitative data
- Data sampling
- Sampling methods
- Research integrity
Lesson 6. Data Collection
- Introduction
- Primary and secondary sources of data
- Quantitative data
- Qualitative data
- Data collection
- Literature review
- Key informants
- Experimental
- Correlation
- What is correlation?
- Questionnaires, Surveys and Tests
- Interviews
- Documentation
- Observation
- Focus groups
- Case studies
- Combination and triangulation
Lesson 7. Research Proposal
- Introduction
- Outline
- Cover Page, abstract, introduction, problem statement, hypothesis, context background, literature survey, research methodology
- Time schedule, budget, terminology, resource list, appendix
- Academic writing
Lesson 8. Thesis Writing
- Nature of thesis structure
- Thesis structure guidelines: different types
Lesson 9. Ethics
- Ethics of collecting data
- Human research
- Non human research
- Ethics committee
- Categories of research
10. Where To From Here
- Pitfalls
- Finalising a thesis submission
Workload
Study when, where and however much you want. For most students, the course can be completed with a total of around 100 hours of study; and a commitment close to that may be needed to achieve desired learning outcomes.
Extra Reading
The following books, available through this web site are relevant supplementary reading for this course
- Technical Writing
- Learning Tips
Assessment
Self Assessment Tests are presented throughout the course. These are essentially an automated quiz. When you undertake a "SAT" or "Self Assessment Test", you will be able to see what you got correct, and what was incorrect; and in that way, you can identify your weaknesses.
Assignments are given at the end of each lesson. You should complete this assignment, paying careful attention to follow what is asked of you. It can be just as important to learn to work to specification, as it is to learn about the topic you are studying. Graduates who develop a habit of working to specification in the field of human behaviour, will impress employers, and will be more efficient when self employed.
A Final Exam is offered upon satisfactory completion of all assignments. This is optional. If you choose to apply for and do this exam, you will have the possibility of obtaining a "formal credit" or "Pass Certification" for this course. A fee applies. The exam may be sat under prearranged conditions anywhere in the world. This college will award you a formal transcript, upon successful completion of the exam, as proof of your results.
Recognition and Ethics
This college is a member of the ACS Affiliates Network; a group of colleges from several countries, affiliated with each other through ACS Distance Education.. Courses are developed with input from all of these colleges, aspiring to reflect internationally accepted standards and needs.
A strict "No Plagiarism" and "No fraud" policy exists. Assignments are checked for plagiarism, and assignments will not be deemed to have been completed, if work is not your own original creation, and is found to have been copied from elsewhere. If the person doing the course is discovered to be different to the name enrolled, the enrolment and any results will be recorded as invalid and any fees paid will be forfeited.
Refund Policy
A full refund less expenses (up to 15% of fees applied) is provided to anyone wishing to withdraw from a course, within 2 weeks of enrolment. This does not apply after the first assignment has been submitted and marked; or after the two weeks has expired.