Short course - Thesis writing

1. Read carefully the examples of (A).

2. Question - This is the core element of your 'Instruction' paragraph of your thesis. Before starting writing your Introduction, WRITE DOWN YOUR QUESTION FIRST.

Write Introduction --> then write the question (X)

Write the question --> then fill up Introduction (O)

3. Evidence - This is the core element of your Method and Result paragraph. Evidence means HOW YOU MEASURE THE FINDINGS. It is about the definition of the variables that you analyzed. For example, when you say 'people have a brain volume of 1300 cm2),

What matters is the number 1300 (X)

What matter is the method how you define brain volume and how it is measured (O)

4. Answer - It means your response to the question. An 'answer' is just a straightforward 'Conclusion' of your thesis. But keep in mind that ALL YOUR ANSWERS SHOULD BE BASED ON YOUR EVIDENCE.

Tooth loss is not associated with memory (because we did not see a significant correlation) (O)

Tooth loss is important to quality of life (but we did not assess quality of life at all) (X)

Please see the example in the right-side box to find how to translate the Q&A into your thesis paragraphs

Examples: (from (A) - A study on the association between tooth loss and memory)

Get your Q&A first like this -

1. Question: Is that true that more tooth loss worse memory abilities for older people?

2. Evidence: The number of tooth loss is not significantly correlated with the score of MMSE in adults >65 y/o

3. Answer: No, at least from this data, we cannot confirm that.

And formulate your thesis paragraphs like this -

1. Introduction

Clinical significance / Background review / What we have already know / What we have not yet know / QUESTION

2. Materials and Methods

Participants / Clinical assessment / EVIDENCE / Statistical analysis

3. Results

The results (statistical findings) from the evidence

4. Conclusion: your ANSWER

For the Question, you need to define three things: (A) The population to be investigated (e.g., healthy or disease groups) (B) The variables (e.g., some symptoms) and (C) The association between the variables.

(A) Population: If they belong to a disease group, then your fill up your background review with information of the disease. If they are healthy subjects with a specific sex/age/physical/mental status, then tell people why it is important to study this group.

(B) Variables: What in the hell you want to study on? What is the thing you want to observe/measure? Is it pain? the number of tooth loss? or dry mouth? Tell people why it is important to study these variables.

(C) Associations: What are the associations between the variables? It could be a comparative one (e.g., brain size is larger in younger people than older people). It could be a correlational one (the older, the smaller brain size).

Please see the examples in the right-side box.

Example 1:

Write down the question first...

Question: Do older people with cognitive impairment have a worse swallowing performance than non-cognitive impairment ones? - Population: cognitive impairment (what is that definition?) Variable: swallowing performance (how to define/measure it? Association: a comparison between different groups.

Then fill up the Introduction paragraph accordingly...

Introduction

Cognitive impairment is (definition). There is a high prevalence of cognitive impairment and it leads to a great challenge in health (Clinical significance). Literature shows that patients with cognitive impairment has difficulty in eating (Background review). The patients have a worse oral hygiene (What we have already known). However, the association between cognitive impairment and swallowing is not clear [HERE BRINGS UP YOUR QUESTION] Therefore, in this study we compared the swallowing performance between older people with vs. without cognitive impairment.

Example 2:

Write down the question first...

Question: Is it true that for older people, the more molars losing, the worse masticatory performance? - Population: older people with tooth loss (what is the definition of 'tooth loss') Variable: masticatory performance (how to measure?) Association: correlation between number of tooth loss and masticatory performance

Then fill up the Introduction paragraph accordingly...

Introduction

Tooth loss is a common illness of older population (definition). There is a high prevalence of tooth loss and it leads to a great challenge in health (Clinical significance). Literature shows that patients with tooth loss has difficulty in eating (Background review). The patients have a worse masticatory performance if there is an increased number of missing teeth (What we have already known). However, the association between losing molars and masticatory performance is not clear [HERE BRINGS UP YOUR QUESTION] Therefore, in this study we investigated the correlation between the number of missing molars and masticatory performance in older people.