Writing a PhD Thesis: Tips and Guidelines for Success

1. Writing a PhD ThesisThe purpose of this talk is to explain to PhD candidates on what to be aware when writing their thesis. The materials of this talk are sourced from my PhD supervision at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia since 2007. Ismail Said Academic Manager of Generic Program The School of Graduate Studies UTM 20 NOV 2014

2. PhD research is my baby REMINDER: In your lifetime, you only write ONE thesis.

3. What is a Thesis? • A scientific document that has to be clear, well explained, well presented and easy to read. “The thesis is the culmination of your project and the quantifiable evidence of your learning and what you have accomplished for your higher degree” (Monash University). • It is a testament of your analytical and critical thinking on your research subject. • It defines your transition from student to scholar. It is a document with substantial and original contribution to knowledge of a particular field.

4. What is a Thesis? • It is cogently written that develops into a story. A story of new knowledge discovered from your investigation. • This means that each chapter is linked to the preceding ones. Each section of the chapter is integrated to explain the purpose of the chapter. Each chapter ends with a conclusion or a summary. • A story worth a thousand pictures.

5. Content of a ThesisAbstract • A brief representation of your thesis • An overall picture of your thesis that should trigger the examiners to go to your Chapter 1: Research Problem and Background • Its content includes RESEARCH PROBLEM AND GAP, AIM AND OBJECTIVES, METHODS, RESULTS AND FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS, FURTHER RESEARCH. • DOING THE RIGHT THING VERSUS DOING A THING RIGHT.

6. Examiner Commenton Abstract • By Tracey Skelton on Nor Fadzila’s thesis, AFFORDANCE OF SCHOOL GROUNDS FOR CHILDREN’S OUTDOOR PLAY AND ENVIORNMENTAL LEARNING (2014) The abstract accurately reflects the thesis and captures the content to very good effect. The abstract provides a good insight into what the thesis focuses on and outlines the methods used to gather the data. The innovative question about the role that school grounds play in children’s learning and play activities is clearly laid out. The abstract is followed by an excellent contents page, which is very detailed and well structured.

7. Content of ThesisChapter 1: Research Problem and Background • It is the main door of your thesis to enthuse the examiner that it is a worthwhile research to be read. In other words, it is the first impression for the examiners. • Its structure comprises of defining the research problem and specifying the gap of study, background and scope of study, research aim and objectives or hypothesis, significance of study, anticipated findings.

8. Content of ThesisChapter 1: Research Problem and Background • Your problem could be derived from literature as well as your direct experience with the research problem. • The background is the situatedness of your study. It means that the context of your research as a small part of a large research discipline. • It should be written in simple present tense.

9. Affordancesof School Grounds for Children’s Outdoor Play and Environmental Learning Nor Fadzila Aziz (PB103013) PhD Candidate Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr Ismail Said Faculty of Built Environment UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia 1 October 2014

10. School Grounds Schools grounds as potential sites for children’s outdoor play and environmental learning • School grounds provide the opportunities for children to interact with the school environment through movement, investigation, concentration and social interaction. • Promotes children’s physical, social and cognitive development and children’s health(Ozdemir and Yilmaz, 2008; Willenberg et al., 2010) • Potential sites for place-based or environmental learning and instruction (Malone and Tranter, 2003a, 2003b; Dyment, 2005; Dyment et al., 2009; Powell, 2007; Stanley 2010) • Children’s outdoor play in the school grounds is a fundamental component of informal learning, which has been referred to as environmental learning by Tranter and Malone (2004).

11. Research Gap There has been a variety of research about school grounds, but most studies have focused either on the impacts of the physical environment on children’s behaviour and levels of physical activity or on children’s perception of their school ground environment. The studies overlooked the connection between the physical environment and the social context of school grounds regarding the actualisation of affordances and the formation of children’s preferences. Research focusing on children’s values of outdoor play for environmental learning in relation to the physical and social contexts of school grounds is less studied. Therefore, more comprehensive research is required to explore the connection between children’s experiences within the designed school ground environment with their perceptions of the ideal school grounds for environmental learning.

12. Content of ThesisChapter 2: Literature Review • This chapter presents the critical appraisal of past studies related to your research subject. It shall demonstrate a discursive prose that is you write in your own words. • It is synthesizing a subject from a set of previous studies in your own stance. Therefore, it explains how you evaluate the works of others, show the relationships between different works, and show how it relates to your work. Hence, it is your debate on what has been studied, what is the status quo of the research subject, and lastly, what you want to extend. • Organize the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory.

13. Content of ThesisChapter 2: Literature Review • Here is where you discuss the meaning of research concept or underpinning(s). The discussion ends with a clear research framework of your study referring to past studies and your research objectives. • It shall be written in simple present tense even though you are referring to past studies.

14. Rebuilding identity of the historical area through the use of urban morphology PhD Thesis Defense, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Widya Fransiska Febriati Anwar (PB093004) Supervisor(s): Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ismail Said Dr. Dilshan Remaz Ossen Dr. Moh. Hisyam bin Rasidi December 2009 – January 2013

15. Situating a research with the current status quo of a subject Urban Morphology Schuller, 1898; Geisler, 1918; Whitby, 1951; Conzen, 1960; Muratori, 1960; Hillier and Hanson, 1984; Forties; 1989; Kropt, 1996; Hall, 1997; Levy, 1999; Canigia, 2001; Jiang and Claramunt, 2002; Chapman, 2006; James and Bound, 2009; Tian et.al, 2010; Topcu and Kubat, 2012 Conzen, 1960; Lynch, 1960; Kostof, 1991; Wikantyoso, 1997; Hillier, 2001; Ikaputra, et. Al, 2000; Fattahi and Kobayashi, 2009a, 2009b Urban Element Boblic, 1990; Hall, 1997; Purwanto, 2005; Hanh, 2006; Hara, et.al (2008) Inn, 2004;Gospodini, 2004, 2011; Doralti, 2004;Watson, 2006; Plaza, 2006, 2008; Butina, 2006; Niebrzydowski, 2007; Novickas, 2007; Lewicka, 2008; Handal, 2009;Chen, 2011; Sainz, 2012 Urban Setting Urban Structure Change Tuan, 1974; Steele, 1981; Altman and Low, 1992; Hummon, 1992; Jackson, 1994; Cross, 2001; Guillani, 2003; Willian and Vaske, 2003; Smaldone, 2006; Handal. 2006; Beidler, 2007; Hernandez, 2007; Brown and Raymond, 2007; Watson and Bentley, 2007; White et.al, 2008; Liu, 2009; Raymod et.al, 2010; Najafi and Kamal, 2011 Urban Reminder Place Familiarity Whitehand and Morton, 2004; Rapoport, 2004; Samant, 2004; Tweed and Sutherland, 2007; Smith, 2008; Rabady, 2010; Ragab, 2011, Kim, 2011 Rebuilding City Identity Place Character City Marketing Sense of Place Authenticity Identity Culture City's Identity Environmental Psychology Place Attachment Image of the city Conservation Preservation Place Identity Identity of Place Rodwel, 2007; Kolzlowski and Bowen, 1997; Sevinc, 2009; Wei and Kiang, 2009; Whitehand and Gu, 2010; Albert and Hanzen, 2010; Hillier, 2001

16. Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 RO#1. The physical and spatial pattern RO#2 Place character that can establish the identity RO#3 The interdependency between the urban morphology and identity Urban Morphology Identity with the Place Place Identity The persistent and new urban element The physical-spatial pattern changes, streetline and riverline People's appreciation in the past (1890-1930) People appreciation of the present (1990-2000s) The current bonding between people and riverside area Old paintings / photos Archival studies Interview Questionnaire Interview Questionnaire Superimposed the maps Stage 4 The forgotten and memorized elements The new/ remaining/ disappeared urban elements or setting High vs. Low appreciation towards the place Social Character Physical Character IDENTITY OF RIVER CITY Rebuilding city identity through the use of urban morphology (Widya, 2013)

17. Examiner Comment on Literature Review • By Tracey Skelton on Nor Fadzila’s thesis, AFFORDANCE OF SCHOOL GROUNDS FOR CHILDREN’S OUTDOOR PLAY AND ENVIORNMENTAL LEARNING (2014) The literature review, which is largely located in Chapter 2, is extremely comprehensive and clearly written. An extremely good range of literature is examined and the candidate displays clear knowledge of, and the competence to engage with, the scholarly debates that are relevant to her field of study. She draws upon well-established and influential literature and also recent work to very good effect. The literature review is structured clearly and logically. I was also hoping to read more critical discussion about the conceptual and material problems around the ideas of affordances is all the existing literature accurate and useful? What are the candidate’s own critical perspectives on the literature?

18. Content of ThesisChapter 3: Research Methodology • It explains the research approach or design on how to elicit data as well as what tools are used to analyze the data leading to results. • It also explains what type is your research either exploratory, explanatory, experimental, descriptive or narrative. • In addition, it describes the general approach of your investigation either positivism, pragmatism or constructivism. • It elaborates the meaning of parameters as well as the interrelationship of parameters. • It describes the background of your study site or setting or context. • Lastly, the justify the validity and reliability of your methods. • It should be written in simple past tense.

19. Affordancesof School Grounds for Children’s Outdoor Play and Environmental Learning Nor Fadzila Aziz (PB103013) PhD Candidate Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr Ismail Said Faculty of Built Environment UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia 1 October 2014

20. Research Methodology Exploratory research Measurement Strategies Transactional approach Mixed methods design (Concurrent nested strategy) Qualitative (Predominant method) Quantitative (Embedded method) Children (Stratified purposeful sampling) Teachers (Simple random sampling) Data analysis and triangulation Findings Research Design

21. PLANNING AND DESIGN OF SCHOOL GROUNDS Interrelationship between Variables UP potential site for offered affordances offered affordances Environmental Learning Children’s Outdoor Play School Grounds Environment D2 D1 perceived affordances Actualisation of Affordances Perception and attitude towards Conception of ideal school grounds Preferences D3 Children’s needs Children’s interactions Children’s emotions BOTTOM CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOURAL AND PERCEPTUAL RESPONSES

22. Research Objectives RO #4 Ideal school grounds for environmental learning RO #3 Environmental learning in school grounds RO #2 Factors that influence level of affordances RO #1 Affordances of school grounds Needs & preferences Perceptions & attitudes Outdoor play activities Place preferences The potentials & barriers of school grounds for environmental learning Beliefs, preferences & needs Meaning and understanding on the potential affordances of school grounds Features, design patterns & aspects considered The use of school grounds environment Play behaviour patterns & children’s performances Children’s affection & evaluation towards the environment Properties & attributes of school grounds Children’s preference survey (n=80) Teacher’s survey questionnaire (n=71) Children’s drawing (n=80) Children’s walkabout interview & mapping (n=80) Children’s photography & discussion (n=80) Descriptive statistics Descriptive statistics RASCH Model Descriptive statistics Content analysis Descriptive statistics (Univariate) Spatial analysis (Hotspots) Content analysis (Interpretative) TRIANGULATION Physical & social factors Person-environment relationship (“ACTUAL” environment) Perceptual & conception (“IDEAL” environment) Theoretical & design implication in enhancing school grounds’ potentials

23. Examiner Comment on Research Methodology • By Tracey Skelton on Nor Fadzila’s thesis, AFFORDANCE OF SCHOOL GROUNDS FOR CHILDREN’S OUTDOOR PLAY AND ENVIORNMENTAL LEARNING (2014) This is a really strong chapter in the thesis and the range of methods utilized for the research is explained very well and in good depth. There is also valuable use of methodological scholarships and discussion and strong argument put forward to the mixed-method approach. There are a few things that I think will strengthen the chapter and form part of the minor amendments. The methodology chapter provides a very clear, descriptive introduction, but how does this chapter link with the aims of the thesis and the research questions of the thesis? There needs to be more critical discussion of the purpose of this chapter to answer the complexities of the research project. This material is there a little later on but the early part of the chapter needs to be restructured. I would move paragraph 2 on page 86 up in the introduction as it provides a good description of the methods and so would better with the introduction as part of showing why and how the research was done in the way it was.

24. Content of ThesisChapter 4: Results and Discussion • Here lies the novelty of your research. Your data has been churned into tables and figures, your results. Figures could be maps, illustrations, charts and graphs. • Being critical means you interpret the results rigorously relative to your research objectives, research hypothesis or research questions. Answering all of them means your thesis is complete. • If you found that one of your objectives was not clearly answered, you can revise it in Chapter 1 or you can even drop the objective when you clearly understood that you have reached your research aim.

25. Content of ThesisChapter 4: Results and Discussion • Situate your findings with those of your literature review either affirm, modify or reject. Hence, there should be many citations. Avoid playing safe in your discussion that is discussing your findings all in consistent with those in the review. You should argue why your finding is in contrast with the findings of previous studies. It means that you either modify the current status of research subject or you create a new theory. This is the novelty of your research, new knowledge. • It should be written in simple past tense.

26. Examiner Comment on Results and Discussion • By Tracey Skelton on Nor Fadzila’s thesis, AFFORDANCE OF SCHOOL GROUNDS FOR CHILDREN’S OUTDOOR PLAY AND ENVIORNMENTAL LEARNING (2014) The chapter is extremely thorough and takes the reader through all the methods and findings step by step. In some places I think sections could be combined and more connected discussion be provided that provides a more analytical rather than a largely descriptive narrative. I found the most interesting part of this chapter related to the ideal school grounds that the children invented. Their diagrams were intriguing. I enjoyed the discussion on this too.

27. Content of ThesisChapter 5: Conclusions and Implications • Here lies the contribution of your research, the milestones that you have generated and has clearly extended the boundary of the current status quo of your research subject. This demonstrates that you are a scholar in the field of study. • The conclusion is constructed from the triangulation of findings answering your research objectives. It is a generalization of findings benefit humanity. • The implication is your idea consists of constructive steps that your findings benefiting stakeholders, organization, government or the people’s community. • It should be written in simple present tense.

28. Conclusion & Theoretical Implications 1. P-E fit 3. Environmental preferences 2. Affordances The Model of Child-Environment Transactional Process

29. PLACE MAKING AND MEANING OF PADANG AS A PUBLIC PLACE IN HISTORIC CITIES OF MALAYSIA Nor ZalinaHarun (PB073042) PhD Candidate, UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia

30. Theoretical Implication Denotative meaning Connotative meaning Abstract meaning Distinctiveness Valuation Symbolical / analogical + Diversity + Place familiarity Place dependence Place belongingness Place identity Place rootedness Place identity Cognitive attachment Affective attachment Symbolic attachment

31. Examiner Comment on Conclusion and Implication • By Tracey Skelton on Nor Fadzila’s thesis, AFFORDANCE OF SCHOOL GROUNDS FOR CHILDREN’S OUTDOOR PLAY AND ENVIORNMENTAL LEARNING (2014) A key strength of this thesis is the amount of data and the systematic analysis of that data. There is a wealth of material provided and discussed. This is particularly impressive given that the research could only be carried out in a two-day period in both schools. This is a testament to the mixed-methods approach that garnered a lot of information in a short space of time. The thesis is one of the best written and error-free pieces of work I have examined in quite a while – given the candidate is written in her second language this makes it all the more impressive. The structure and logic of the thesis is very strong and makes for an engaging read. I could almost feel the energy of the children as they talked about and engaged in their different types of play. There is a good engagement with the academic literature throughout the thesis and the candidate demonstrates a good knowledge of the debates – although I think a more critical take on the work would have really strengthened the thesis. The thesis provides insights which will be valuable for policy making and planning.

32. Read Novels The Uncharted Path: The Autobiography of Lee Myung-Bak  What is a life well lived?

33. Q & A Session