Designs with One Source of Variation

Transcript Designs with One Source of Variation

The PhD Thesis PhD seminar 21/02/2014

Outline • How to elaborate a PhD thesis • Parts of a thesis 2

What is a thesis?

• • a research report [Wolfe06] – concerns a problem in a particular area of research – describe what was known about it previously – what you did towards solving it – what you think your results mean – how further progress in the field can be made

it make an original contribution to human knowledge: your research must discover something hitherto unknown

What is a thesis?

• A thesis is a

scientific text

depth describing a an in-

description of a phenomenon

(that includes computing) together with a set of

solutions/hypothesis

to yet unsolved problems or questions

about the phenomena

, and that further provides extensive support and

evidence to back up any claims made

. [FelipeOrihuela] 4

Types of Ph.D. theses • Types of PhD thesis [Allen Newell] – Opens up new area – – Resolves long-standing question Thoroughly explores an area – – Contradicts existing knowledge Experimentally validates theory – – Produces an ambitious system Etc… More info: http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~htk/thesis.htm

What has a thesis got to demonstrate?

• That the student is capable of: – Carrying out innovative research by himself – Criticism; both towards other’s work and to his own work – Planning, executing and finishing a long term project – Communicating knowledge and ideas 29/04/2020 Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina 7

What has a thesis got to demonstrate?

• Skills: – Independet and Effective thinking – Critical analysis, – Problem solving – Time management • The only way to develop these skills is to take responsibility for your project. [Georgia06] • The PhD thesis is the way to get or improve these skills to become a researcher 8

How to choose a thesis topic • Proposed by the supervisor – He is in the boundary of a research area and knows the open problems – result of a research project, – a necessity/research priority of the institution – or sometimes from a collaboration with a partner – Pros: • Saves some headaches such as questioning one-self what do I do ?

• The problem definition, extension and coverage are often well studied and defined • Motivation and justification is clear • There is already a researcher interested with expertise on the topic – Cons: • You might not love the topic • You might not get on well with the supervisor • You risk just following instructions , and not demonstrating initiative (necessary for obtaining the degree) 29/04/2020 Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina 9

How to choose a thesis topic • Proposed by the student – Often as a result of the student’s interests – Pros: • You are likely to love the topic • You are free to find a supervisor which you want to work with • You are already demostrating initiative – Cons: • There might not be any researcher willing to supervise the thesis or with enough knowledge about the topic • You’ll have to work on the problem definition, motivation, etc 29/04/2020 Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina 10

The actors • The student (protagonist) – Solving all problems related to the thesis research – Carry out the experiments – – Proposing the solutions Writing and submitting everything (proposal, papers, thesis) – The scientific quality of the work(legal) – Successful finalization of the research • If something goes wrong it is your fault , so

do not blame your supervisor.

• The supervisor (co-star) – Providing adequate guidance(That’s not mean babysitting), – Ensuring that the student finishes in time and form – The scientific quality of the work (moral) linked to his/her reputation 29/04/2020 Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina 11

The actors • The thesis committee (antagonist) - 4 members of the faculty plus 1 external – Periodically evaluating the student progress – Detecting weaknesses in the research – Providing suggestions for amending deviations menacing the finalization within time constraints • The panel (more antagonist in the story) – Peers assessing the final workpiece – Experts on the field – Evaluating the final thesis – Rejecting works which do not exhibit originality, or do not reach scientific standards Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina 12

How to write the thesis • Developing the thesis project – Reading about the background – Establish a calendar – Launch hypothesis – – Design and execute experiments Analyse your data (Conclusions) – Write the final thesis document • Periodic monitoring by the supervisor and the committee – ensure that the thesis is finished in due time and form guaranteeing minimal scientific quality 29/04/2020 Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina 13

How to write the thesis • Writing the document – Who is it written for?

• Scientific peers (Comitte, panel) – Level of detail •

Basic concepts

– – If truly trivial, then omit them Things which are trivial for you, may not be trivial for him.

•

Advanced concepts

– If fairly known, mention and provide adequate references •

Concepts developed in your thesis

– perfectly/accurately defined 29/04/2020 Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina 14

How to write the thesis • Formatting – Compulsory : Most times, the institutions have regulations about the formatting (inc. front cover, style, fonts, interline space, margins, paper size (and weight!), etc). Be sure you comply with them.

– Availability ; We may not have always the software we like. Use whatever you need to guarantee the best possible presentation.

– Never excuse a bad presentation blaming the software/hardware tool you have used!

– Portability : The format chosen has to be easily portable to other formats.

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PARTS OF A THESIS

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Parts of a thesis • • • • • Title Abstract Preliminaries – Table of contents, figure and table listing, abbreviations and acronyms Chapters – Introductory chapter – Theoretical and reference frameworks – Experimental chapters • Introduction • Methodology • Description of the work developed • Results and analysis • Discussion of results – Conclusions, Recommendations, and future work – References – Appendixes Others – Index of terms, Source code, maps, circuits, etc 29/04/2020 ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 17

Parts of a thesis • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Copyright waiver Declaration Title page Abstract Acknowledgments Table of contents Introduction Literature review Middle chapters -Materials and Methods -Theory -Results and discussion Final chapter, references and appendices – Conclusions and suggestions for further work References Appendices 29/04/2020 [Wolfe06] 18

Title and abstract • Title: – must strictly stick to the developed research.

• …and not to the phenomenon or general field investigated • Should reflect the research hypothesis?

• Abstract: – a concise description of the problem, your method of solving it, your results and conclusions. Is not an introduction!!

– After reading the abstract the reader must know • What was the problem before this thesis • • • What has been your How this thesis contribution The highlights of your impact findings science ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 19

Introductory chapter • • The first chapter is often an introductory chapter It would be expected to cover the following: – Project framing, – Description of the phenomenon – – Justification and motivation Research questions – Goals – Limits – Research hypothesis – Contributions – – Publications derived from the thesis Thesis outline / organization ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 20

Theoretical and reference frameworks • Theoretical framework – It gives a broad view of all the knowledge related to your thesis ensuring it is self-contained • needed to understand the problem and the solution – Includes the knowledge accepted by the research community and all the theories that will support our work ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 21

Theoretical and reference frameworks • Reference framework – This is now fully focused on your specific topic – This is where you show the reviewer that you: • Know about your topic everything worth knowing • Understand the subtleties of every aspect of the problem – Analyze, discuss, criticise what other authors have done • Not everything published is true or correct • Good criticism is constructive – Show that you are up-to-date!

• Ensure that you have the latest references on the field ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 22

Experimental chapters • Experimental chapters are the

fundamental/main part

of your thesis • This is your work!

•

Each chapter is dedicated to answer one research question (ideally)

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Experimental chapters • • The description of your experiments ought to be: – scrupulous, – rigorous, – exhaustive – honest – guaranteeing replicability of your results

Describe the experimental design

–

Factors, levels, co-variables, controlled variables, hypothesis testing, experimental units…

Experimental chapters • Stay objective at all times • This is just a reporting exercise, • the time to speculate will come in your conclusions chapter • NEVER, ever, manipulate your results ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 25

Experimental chapters •

Discussion

: This is where you evaluate your findings and contextualize them with accepted knowledge – Identify your own weaknesses, assumptions (especially those hidden or not obvious), biases, etc – Be critical and objective to your own work – Contextualize with accepted knowledge 29/04/2020 ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 26

Conclusions, Recommendations, and future work •

Conclusiones

: This is a summary of your findings – Think how have you contributed to science – It is not a mere summary of your results, but thought on their implications a – It is here where you state if you have confirm or refute your original hypothesis • i.e. where your hypothesis becomes a thesis 29/04/2020 ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 27

Conclusions, Recommendations, and future work •

Recommendations

: – Highlight some of the difficulties and challenges you faced did during your experimentation you solve them and how •

Future work

: – Identify ways in which your work can be modified, improved, enlarged, generalized, particularized, further verified/validated, etc 29/04/2020 ©Dr. Felipe Orihuela Espina (2006) 28

• When do I actually start writing?

– 6 months / 12 months before the end?

– No, the day you start your PhD – Don’t worry, it’s never too late to start • How long the PhD thesis should be?

– – The doctoral thesis is approximately 75,000 words long [Ottawa] John Nash’s PhD thesis was 27 pages long • Won him a Nobel prize!!!

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• “…writing a thesis seems a long, difficult task . That is because enjoying it”.

it is a long, difficult task

…. Towards the end, you will even find yourself • “Scientific writing is a difficult art, and it takes a while to learn.” • “It would be nice if clear, precise prose leapt easily from the keyboard, but it usually does not.” [Wolfe06] 30

References • [Rolfe06] Joe Wolfe, How to Write a PhD thesis, http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/thesis.htm

• [Walsh] Toby Walsh, How to Write a Thesis, http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~tw/thesis2.ppt • [Georgia06]Georgia Chenevix-Trench, et al. Guide for PhD students (and post-docs) aiming for a successful career in science, http://www.inscc.utah.edu/~reichler/Guideforphds.pdf

• [Ottawa] Preparing a Thesis or a Research Paper at the University of Ottawa, http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Portals/29/theses/GuidePreparing a a Thesis or a Research Paper_En_ final.pdf

• [Orihuela] Felipe Orihuela-Espina, Week 5. Writing the PhD thesis, proposal and research papers, http://ccc.inaoep.mx/~foe/Src/Teaching.php