Issues of structure

Determining the structure can be one of the most challenging aspects of thesis writing. If you are lucky enough to be working in a discipline that favours an AIMRaD structure, some of these decisions will be made for you. However, for other disciplines it can be trickier.

AIMRaD Structures

AIMRaD thesis structures are an intrinsic part of the research culture of many disciplines, including many in the sciences, social sciences and education. The structure mimics the requirements of many academic journals, and while some variations are possible, the basic structure provides an outline to help you get started on the research and planning of your thesis.

	Section	Contents
A	Abstract	A concise summary of the entire thesis.
I	Introduction	Overview of the issue; statement of research problem; often includes a substantial literature review, although sometimes this is a separate section; research questions
M	Methods	Survey of possible methodologies and justification for your approach; specific methods and materials used in conducting the research; participants; methods of analysis; ethical issues
R	Results (Findings)	Presentation of the data you acquired and what you found
D	Discussion	Analysis and interpretation of the data (i.e. what it means for your research question); recommendations and conclusions

Sometimes the AIMRaD structure includes a separate Conclusion, although this isn’t generally part of the acronym.

 

Other Structures

There are many other ways to structure a thesis, although almost all will include an Abstract, Introduction, some form of Literature Review, a section/chapter which deals with theoretical frameworks and more specific methodology, main body/content chapters and a Conclusion.

The methods you use in your research can often be used to help outline the structure (e.g. case studies, textual analysis), but there is often room for a good deal of creativity as well. It is often the case that the overall structure of the thesis will only start to clearly emerge once you understand more fully what your argument will be.

Developing your Argument

Regardless of the structure you are working with, you do need to ensure that your overall argument is an inherent part of decisions about structure. Your research will involve considerable and high-level analysis and so must your writing.

The overall argument that you make is the central thesis of your project. This should be clearly stated in your abstract, introduction and conclusion. However, you should be using each chapter to help you build and progress this central argument. For each chapter ask yourself:

• How does this advance my central claim?
• What is its relationship to the chapter before?
• How will it be built on in the subsequent chapter?
• What is the relationship of this chapter to my research question/s?

Some statement of the answer to these questions should be included in the early and final sections of each chapter. See this blog post from Patter for more thoughts about structure and argument.

Dealing with Structural Issues

Reverse Outlining

Dealing with issues of structure in a large document can be very challenging. One technique that can be helpful if you are struggling with the logical progression of your argument is Reverse Outlining. It works like this:

• Choose a section of your writing (could be just a few pages, or a whole chapter)
• For each paragraph pick out the sentence that expresses the key idea (the topic sentence)
• Paste this into a new blank document (this is important)
• Repeat the process for every paragraph or section, pasting into the new document
• Close the initial draft and look at the new document. Does the order of the ideas make sense? Could they be rearranged to enhance the logic and progression of the argument? Should any be deleted?
• Once you are satisfied with the order of the sentences in the new document, go back to the original and copy all the necessary supporting evidence for each paragraph into the new document. Leave anything that is not strictly relevant in the original. Archive whatever remains of the original.
• Now work from your new document.

For more about reverse outlines see Rachel Cayley’s post: Reverse Outlines | Explorations of Style.

Try the CARS (Creating a research space) approach

This involves 3 basic moves:

1. Establish a context for your research
2. Create a niche for your research
3. Fill the niche you have created with the new knowledge produced by your research

You may not be able to address move 3 until you have done substantial work, but writing that addresses each move may help you to develop your broader structure.

Try Storyboarding to identify your overarching claims.

Storyboarding can be useful because it helps you to see your argument in narrative terms, and this is something that most readers can relate to. Pat Thompson suggests you consider the following questions to help storyboard your argument:

• What do I know about X now that I didn’t know when I started?
• How can this be explained?
• Why do I think my research has produced this new knowledge?

Have a look at Patter’s blog on this for more information.

 

Knowing the story of your research

All of these methods encourage you to articulate in your own voice the story and significance of research. Knowing these things is central to constructing a clear structure for your thesis.

 

Workshop Resources

Sign up for the RED workshop Thesis Writing: What to Expect