Kiki Oktora

PhD Candidate at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow UK

[Faheem Ullah @Faheem_uh]

PhD Students — How to write the Introduction chapter of your thesis?

The 1st chapter of your thesis is the most important chapter.

This chapter sets the tone for your entire thesis.

Here are 8 points that you need to keep in mind for this chapter.

𝟏. 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬

It is very likely that you'd have published several papers during your PhD. This is what the reviewer is most interested in - How many papers and of what quality papers have you published? If this is mentioned upfront, you already win the case by 50%. In other words, punch the examiner right away with your strengths.

𝟐. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬

Thesis is a long document with lots of text. Include a figure in the first chapter that contains the following - how the chapter link with each other, how contributions/RQs relate to the chapters, and how published papers relate to each chapter, and what datasets have been used?

𝟑. 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Don't make the reviewer look for it in jungle of text. Make the problem statement stand out and present it in as simple words as possible. In my thesis, I put this in a colored box.

𝟒. 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

Similar to the research questions, highlight the key contributions. This is what the examiner is going to look for more keenly. Don't make the examiner put any effort looking for them. Highlight and present these with lots of clarity.

𝟓. 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐑𝐐𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩

You will be dividing your thesis into 6-8 chapters. In the first chapter, you should mention which chapter is answering which RQ and is associated with which contribution. Similarly, you should mention the link between chapters and published/under review papers.

𝟔. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦

It is very important that your research problem is sitting on the top of some existing works. This means you need to answer the following question - why this research problem is important? Answer it with the help of solid references.

𝟕. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬

Numbers are the best to convince someone. When motivating your research problem, use statistical figures. This really stands out in front of the examiner. If nothing else, you will not get the comment - the problem has not been properly motivated.

8. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨

Often PhD students publish papers that are not directly related to their PhD research. Such paper does not directly contribute to the thesis. However, you should still mention them. This will go in your favor as it will give a positive impression about you to the examiner.

Anything else you'd like to add?

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

Doing PhD is like running a marathon: a long slow battle to a very distant finishing line, where you have to just keep on going whatever happens along the way 🥲 #myfinalyear #iknowicandoit

[Masculine Path @masculinepath04]

Look at this guy.

• He delivered pizzas at Pizza Hut
• Dropped out of uni
• Sold supplements out of his parents' garage

Now, he's worth $1.3 Billion—at 31.

The story of the youngest billionaire you've never heard of:

[SBS Marketing Department @MarketingStrath]

And that's a wrap! Thank you to our fantastic Keynote Speakers, Lisa Peñaloza and Perves Ghauri, and all our PhD presenters for two invigorating days of bold, ambitious and innovative Marketing Research!
#MarketingStrath

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

My cooking for Eid day. Ketupat (rice cake) with opor (chicken curry), rendang and kentang balado (spicy potato)

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

Eid Mubarak all Muslim people! 🩷🩷🩷

[Psyche Wizard @PsycheWizard]

8 Japanese Techniques To Stop Overthinking:

[Ilya Shabanov @Artifexx]

5 tools every academic should know about:

1. Obsidian - Notes and organization
2. Litmaps - Literature review
3. Papers - Reference management
4. Drawio - Academic mind maps
5. SciSpace - AI PDF reader

11 tutorials on how and when to use them in the thread:
👇

[books 📖 @bookpoets]

be gentle

[SBS Marketing Department @MarketingStrath]

Our 10th International Research #Conference in Marketing has come to a close. Two full days filled with new & inspiring #marketing #research. Many thanks to our brilliant Keynotes, all our PhD Presenters and organiser @KathyLHamilton👏

Stay tuned for Best Presentation & Poster👀

[Amina Yonis, PhD @DrAminaYonis]

My PhD viva lasted almost 4 hours and I was told 'congratulations Dr Yonis' before I had even left the room.

How? By carefully preparing and covering certain parts of the thesis.

This is how I prepared in just 1 week:

[Amina Yonis, PhD @DrAminaYonis]

My thesis examiners passed my PhD thesis with ZERO corrections. One of their comments was that 'it was extremely well written'.

How? By following a strict consistent structure throughout.

This is exactly how you should structure your results chapter:

[Ilya Shabanov @Artifexx]

Note taking is the core of academic productivity.

These are the 10 rules that made me more productive.

Read the blog for details and this thread to get the gist:
👇

[Idil Ahmed @idillionaire]

Affirm:

Good things are happening for me.
Good things are coming my way.
I am a magnet for good news.
All things happen in my favor.
I am beyond blessed.
My life is great.

I claim this right now. I welcome it. I celebrate it and I act accordingly. All is well in my world.

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

Thank you for your time and thoughtful feedback, Esraa. That means a lot! I am so delighted to have you, such a humble and sweet person 🤍

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

Had so much fun talking and laughing with these ladies!

#PhDMarketingstudent @StrathBusiness

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

@idillionaire To be able to hug my daughters. To keep going on my study. To have a warm flat enough food and amazing people surround me.

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

@Artifexx Got you! Downloaded the scite browser extension and came up with this on my gscholar. Thank you. It really helps 😃

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

My workflow is exactly the same way! But scite is not a free tool 🥲

[Ilya Shabanov @Artifexx]

Here is my method to conduct (and automate) a literature review.

Using Google Scholar, @scite , @litmaps , #ChatGPT, @zotero and @obsdmd.

Tutorial with examples and best practices:
👇

[Kiki Oktora @qqoctora]

How obsidian works: it can link all your notes into graph as seen on the pic. The left hand side is all my note categories from the articles I have read.

#notetaking #phdlife