HOW TO WRITE A

THESIS FOR CE400

Dr. Tanvir Ahmed
Assistant Professor,
Dept of Civil Engineering, BUET

Style and Structure

Follow a certain convention to facilitate the writing process

and make your dissertation readable.

It is useful to look at other dissertation and get an idea

about the approach that people adopt to present their

findings and arguments.

Do not wait for your supervisor to tell you what fonts, size

and spacing you should use.

Sample dissertations are available from BUET library (1st

floor), CE library (CE thesis only)

Typical Font, Spacing, Margin

The preferred typeface is Times Roman (11 or 12 points).
Use 1.5 or double-line spacing for the dissertation text.
Each page must have a left margin of 3.7 cm to allow for

binding.

The top, bottom and right margin shall all be 2.5 cm.
Justify all your text in the dissertation body.

Figures and Tables

Figures inserted in the dissertation should appear close to

where they are referenced in the text.

The usual convention of the figure followed by the figure

title shall be followed.

Use the Chapter/Figure number convention to label the

figures in the dissertation. For example, Figure 1.2 refers

to the second figure of chapter 1.

A List of Figures and Tables must be included after the

content page of dissertation

Order of Contents
Title Page
Acknowledgments

(A brief thank you)

Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Content of Dissertation
References
Appendices

Ch 1: Introduction
Ch 2: Literature Review
Ch 3: Methodology
Ch 4: Results and Discussion
Ch 5: Conclusion and

Recommendations

Introduction
Background and present state of the problem objectives

of the research methodology scope and limitations of

the study thesis organization

Keep introduction short and focused

May be rewritten/revised after the body of the thesis is

written

Likely to contain a lot of reference citations - put your

thesis in context of existing work

Literature Review
It is a review of what has been published on that topic so

that you do not duplicate someone elses work.

Conduct a thorough literature search before designing

your methodology and collecting your data.

The literature review should provide context and clarify

the relationship between your topic and previous work in

that area.

When writing the literature review, present major themes,

theories, and ideas that have been published in the area,

and the findings of related studies.

Conclude the review of the literature with a short section

that describes your topic, highlighting why it is important

to address the problem you have investigated.

Literature Review (ctd)

When reading a technical paper, jot down the key points

and make a note of the journal or technical publication

where the paper was published.

Make sure that you have read and understood cited work
Organize your content according to ideas instead of

individual publications.

Do not simply quote or paraphrase the contents of

published articles. Weave the information into focused

views. Demonstrate your deeper understanding of the
topic.

Do not be tempted to summarize everything you have

read; only include those relevant to your main points.

Methodology
This chapter describes exactly the steps that you took to

investigate your research problem.

Explains your research design

the methodology that you selected (survey, interviews,

historical research, document analysis or extended

literature review for example),

the instruments that you used and how they were

developed, the sample that you selected, and the

description of your data collection process.

Copies of correspondence, instruments if you used any

(questionnaires or interview scripts), raw data if

appropriate and other items relating to the methodology
are included as appendices

Results/Findings
Just the facts, presented as tables, figures, interview

summaries and/or descriptions of what you found that is

important and noteworthy.

The objective is to present a simple, clear and complete

account of the results of your research.

Draft your figures carefully first, captions should be

standalone, write the text around your figures.

Discussions
Relate your findings to your original statement of the

problem and your literature review.

Begin by briefly summarizing the previous chapters, then

discuss what you found.

Ask yourself why the results were what they were, and then

try to provide meaningful answers to the question.

Feel free to interpret objectively and subjectively and to

make references to what others have said on the subject.

Make sure that every conclusion you draw is defensible and

not just your own personal opinion.

Conclusions and
Recommendations
Summarize your conclusions from the discussion chapter.
Note the limitations of your study.
Show that you are aware of the methodological limitations of

your study, for example the small size of your sample, or the
fact that you set out to examine only one part of a bigger
problem.

Make recommendations relating to the problem that you

investigated, for example by making practical suggestions on

how to improve the situation in the organization in which
your research took place.

Make recommendations for areas that require further study.

The Nested Hourglass Model

The whole thesis
Each section,

subsection
Most paragraphs
Broad focus at

beginning, end;
specifics/narrow
focus in middle

Abstract
Write this LAST!
Abstracts should be 1-2 pages and should be self-

contained

Written to attract readers to your article or thesis,

gives a good initial impression

Summary of the contents of the thesis

Brief but contains sufficient detail
motivation for the work (problem statement)
project objectives
techniques employed
main results and conclusions

Tools for your Research and

Writing
Spreadsheets, analysis tools
Plotting programs
Graphics programs
ENDNOTE
Writing resources
Start learning these before you collect the data (e.g.,

during the thesis proposal process)

References
All references cited, including those in Tables and

Figure captions. No more, no less.

Choose a style, be consistent throughout (e.g. et al.

OR and others, not both)

Use ENDNOTE or other suitable program (start NOW

building your library database)

Final Remarks
Shed light on your subject: clarity is everything
Avoid convoluted writing
Avoid ornate language, words you dont really

understand

It may just be a draft, but proofread it first. A

spell-check is not enough

Have confidence that you know more about

your project than anyone else does, you just

need to convey that knowledge