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Glossary in a Dissertation – A Comprehensive Guide

Published by Owen Ingram at August 26th, 2021 , Revised On September 20, 2023

A list of glossary contains all those terms used in your dissertation, but the meanings of which may not be evident to the readers. Here is all you need to know about the glossary in a dissertation.

Basically, any term you use in your dissertation that you know, without a doubt, is not going to be common knowledge to readers outside of your field, is included in a list called glossary. And since every field has its unique, technical jargon, a glossary list can contain many terms some readers might not have even heard of before.

A typical glossary in a dissertation may look something like this:

Do you Even Need Glossary in your Dissertation to Begin with?

You may or may not be required to have a separate list of glossaries in your dissertation . The decision whether to have a list of glossaries in a dissertation depends on whether it will improve the readability of your paper.

For example , if you are writing a dissertation for an engineering degree and have used several technical terms that readers—especially laymen—may not be familiar with, \ it is advised to add a glossary in a dissertation.

Listing Terms in a Glossary

A recommended practice of adding a glossary in a dissertation is to sort the terms alphabetically and provide a definition or explanations for each of those terms. Having the terms listed in alphabetical order will help the readers to easily locate the information they are interested in.

Location of a Glossary List in a Dissertation

The glossary list is generally placed at the beginning of the dissertation paper, just after the list of tables and figures or the list of abbreviations. However, if your paper does not have a list of abbreviations or a list of tables and figures, you can place the glossary right after the table of contents .

This gives readers the opportunity to understand the meanings of key terms they are not familiar with even before they start to read the main content of the paper.

However, if you haven’t used a lot of technical terms in your dissertation, you can choose to provide an explanation and meanings of the few terms that you have used in the form of footnotes .

Difference Between Abbreviations and Glossary

It is important not to confuse the glossary in the dissertation with the abbreviations, which are put in the list of abbreviations.

A list of abbreviations contains all the terms that have abbreviations. For instance, if you have used terms like NASA , UNICEF , UNESCO , UN , NIH , etc., such terms along with what they stand for will come under the list of abbreviations.

Note, however, that only their full forms, and not their meanings, are mentioned in that list. That is what’s mentioned in a glossary list, though: meanings. Definitions of terms, terms that were used in the dissertation. The terms themselves aren’t abbreviation.

For instance, in a linguistics’ dissertation, you might end up creating a glossary list containing terms like phenomenology, code-switching, diglossia, etc. Notice how these are complete terms , not abbreviations.

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Example of a Glossary in Dissertation

If you haven’t created a list of glossaries before then you will find the below example of a glossary in a dissertation particularly useful:

Other Lists you can have in your Dissertation

You might also want to have a list of tables and figures as well as a list of abbreviations in your dissertation particularly if you are writing a master’s or PhD dissertation. However, make sure to keep the following order:

Table of contents
Lists of figures and tables
List of abbreviations

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FAQs About Glossary in a Dissertation

What is a glossary.

It’s a list of special terms—single words, phrases, etc.—that are not commonly known to the ‘average’ reader or to a reader who isn’t an expert in that field.

What is included in a glossary?

Ideally, words are included in a glossary. However, in some cases—depending on the topic— abbreviations , phrases etc. might also be mentioned within the list of glossary in a dissertation. Sometimes, it might also include a brief definition of how to pronounce a certain word/phrase.

What is the best way to create a glossary?

Keep in mind two things while creating a glossary list: keep the language of the definition simple so that every kind of reader can understand it. That’s why a glossary is given, to begin with, to simplify technical jargon and inform laymen. Secondly, arrange the terms inside it alphabetically.

How many times can I include the same term in a glossary list?

No matter how many times a word or a phrase appears in your dissertation , include it and define it only once in your glossary. There should be no duplicate entries in a glossary list.

How to Write a Glossary

Last Updated: January 5, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alexander Peterman, MA . Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. He received his MA in Education from the University of Florida in 2017. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 211,504 times.

A glossary is a list of terms that traditionally appears at the end of an academic paper, a thesis, a book, or an article. The glossary should contain definitions for terms in the main text that may be unfamiliar or unclear to the average reader. To write a glossary, you will first need to identify the terms in your main text that need to be in the glossary. Then, you can create definitions for these terms and make sure the formatting of the glossary is correct so it is polished and easy to read.

Identifying Terms for the Glossary

Step 2 Read over the main text for unfamiliar terms.

For example, you may notice you have a technical term that describes a process, such as “ionization.” You may then feel the reader needs more clarification on the term in the glossary.
You may also have a term that is mentioned in the main text, but not discussed in detail. You may then feel this term could go into the glossary so you can include more information for the reader.

Step 3 Ask your editor to help you identify the terms.

For example, you may ask your editor, “Would you mind helping me identify terms for the glossary?” or “Can you assist me in identifying any terms for the glossary that I may have missed?”

Step 4 Let a reader identify the terms for you.

You may tell the reader to look out for any terms they find unclear or unfamiliar in the main text. You may then get several readers to read the main text and note if the majority of readers chose the same terms for the glossary.
Have multiple readers point out terms they find confusing so you don’t miss any words.

Step 5 Collect the terms for the glossary.

The glossary terms should broad and useful to a reader, but not excessive. For example, you should have one to two pages of terms maximum for a five to six-page paper, unless there are many academic or technical terms that need to be explained further. Try not to have too many terms in the glossary, as it may not be useful if it covers too much.

Creating Definitions for the Glossary Terms

Step 1 Write a brief summary for each term.

You should always write the summary yourself. Do not copy and paste a definition for the term from another source. Copy and pasting an existing definition and claiming it as your own in the glossary can be considered plagiarism.
If you do use content from another source in the definition, make sure you cite it properly.

Step 2 Keep the definitions simple and reader-friendly.

For example, you may write a summary for the term “rigging” as: “In this article, I use this term to discuss putting a rig on an oil drum. This term is often used on an oil rig by oil workers.”
You may also include a “See [another term]” note if the definition refers to other terms listed in the glossary.
For example, “In this article, I use this term to discuss putting a rig on an oil drum. This term is often used on an oil rig by oil workers. See OIL RIG .”

Step 3 Do not use abbreviations in the glossary.

If you only have a small number of abbreviations in the main text, you can define them in the main text.
For example, you may have the abbreviation “RPG” in the text one or two times. You may then define it in the text on first use and then use the abbreviation moving forward in the text: “Role-playing game (RPG).”

Formatting the Glossary

Step 1 Put the terms in alphabetical order.

Make sure you order the terms by first letter and then by the second letter in the term. For example, in the “A” section of the glossary, “Apple” will appear before “Arrange,” as “p” appears before “r” in the alphabet. If a term has multiple words, use the first word in the phrase to determine where to put it in the glossary.

Step 2 Separate the terms with bullet points or spacing.

You may also have sub-bullets within one glossary entry for a term if there are sub-concepts or ideas for one term. If this is the case, put a sub-bullet under the main bullet so the content is easy to read. For example:
“My Little Pony RPG: A sub-group of role-playing games that focus on characters in the My Little Pony franchise.”

Step 3 Italicize or bold the terms in the glossary.

For example, you may have the following entry in the glossary: “ Rigging : In this report, I use rigging to discuss the process of putting a rig on an oil drum.”
Or you may format the entry as: “ Rigging - In this report, I use rigging to discuss the process of putting a rig on an oil drum.”

Step 4 Place the glossary before or after the main text.

If you have other additional content in the paper, such as a “List of Abbreviations,” the glossary will traditionally be placed after these lists as the last item in the paper.
If you are creating a glossary for an academic paper, your teacher may indicate where they would prefer the glossary in the paper.
If you are creating a glossary for a text for publication, ask your editor where they would prefer the glossary to fall in the text. You can also look at other texts that have been published and note where they place the glossary.

Glossary Template

Community Q&A

↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/research_papers/identifying_audiences.html
↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/definitions.html
↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/researchglossary
↑ https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/MDN/Writing_guidelines/Howto/Write_a_new_entry_in_the_Glossary
↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/glossary/
↑ https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/words/minimize-abbreviations/
↑ https://www.unl.edu/writing/glossary
↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/italics-quotations
↑ https://gradschool.unc.edu/academics/thesis-diss/guide/ordercomponents.html

About This Article

To write a glossary, start by making a list of terms you used in your text that your audience might not be familiar with. Next, write a 2 to 4 sentence summary for each term, using simple words and avoiding overly technical language. Then, put the terms in alphabetical order so they are easy for the reader to find, and separate each one with either a space or with bullet points. Finally, place the glossary before or after the text and make sure to include it in the table of contents so it’s easy to find. For tips from our Education reviewer on how to decide which terms should go in your glossary, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Glossary Of A Dissertation – Definition & Guide

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A dissertation is more than just a piece of narrative prose that guides readers through your research: It’s a sum of many distinct components that all make a vital contribution toward providing a complete contextual picture of the work that you have done. In this article, we will delve into the importance of a glossary, its role, and its structure in enhancing comprehension and effective communication in academic writing .

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 Glossary – In a Nutshell
2 Definition: Glossary
3 Citing sources for a glossary
4 5 tips for writing an effective glossary
5 Other lists aside from the glossary
6 Example of a glossary

Glossary – In a Nutshell

There is more nuance involved with producing a glossary than one might expect. To aid with this, this article shows:

How to construct helpful definitions for your readers and explain the benefits of the glossary
Other types of lists that might be useful when writing your dissertation.
Some of the most frequent questions, to really round out your understanding.

Definition: Glossary

Put simply, a glossary is a list of non-standard (i.e., technical or subject-specific) terms that you have used in your writing. They will be accompanied by an explanatory definition to add clarity for your readers, whilst also broadening your potential audience by reducing the barriers to entry that such language can often pose.

Take a look at the two examples below to see what we mean:

Bedrock: The layer of solid rock found underneath looser layers of gravel, soil, etc.
Phoneme : The individual sounds in a language that distinguish different words from one another

Citing sources for a glossary

Generally speaking, you do not need to provide citations for your glossary entries, as definitions are considered to be a part of our shared “ common knowledge “.

You may find, however, that you reference the definition in-text to provide a more explicit elaboration of a given point.

Merriam-Webster. (2003). Litmus test. In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed., p. 727).

5 tips for writing an effective glossary

The following delves into 5 helpful tips to write a dissertation glossary:

Meet your audience’s needs

As briefly alluded to, the content of the glossary should be shaped by your audience’s familiarity with the subject area.

Whilst you don’t want to under-explain the terms used in your dissertation, you should also be mindful of spending time and space explaining things that your readers require no clarification on.

Use plain language

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, stupid!

Glossary entries should not include terms that also warrant defining. You don’t want to trap your readers in an infinite definition loop!

Don’t use the word in the definition

A glossary definition is useless if somebody needs to already know the word’s meaning to understand it.

Refer back to the point above, again and again!

Provide pronunciation tips

Explaining how the word is pronounced (whether through basic transcription or use of the IPA symbols) vastly increases the readability of your text.

This, in turn, helps your readers strengthen their understanding of the terms you’ve used.

Include synonyms, antonyms & examples

All of these can build out that invaluable context that helps your readers grasp what is often a very specific meaning.

Don’t be afraid to lean on the synonym posts on BachelorPrint for help here!

Other lists aside from the glossary

At the outset, we referenced a number of component parts that make up the dissertation and will go a little more in-depth on a couple of those here.

One list you will almost certainly want to include is the index, which breaks down key topics/themes/terms in your paper by the page(s) they appear on, allowing more casual readers to quickly identify the most relevant sections for their perusal.

Another would be the list of tables, figures, and illustrations used throughout your dissertation (if applicable). This is yet another way of making your paper into a more holistic piece of work that is more accessible to a wider audience.

Example of a glossary

Below is an example of how a glossary of a dissertation may look like.

What is a glossary?

The term refers to a reference list of words that readers may not be familiar with.

It is derived from the Latin gloss, which means “word inserted as an explanation, translation, or definition”.

Where does a glossary go?

It will typically be included at the end as an appendix to the main body text, before the list of works cited.

Is a glossary mandatory?

No, but it’s certainly recommended if you’re using complex terminology.

If you find yourself drawing upon only a few such terms, you may prefer to include the definitions as footnotes instead, assuming that your style guide allows them.

What should I include in a glossary?

There’s no hard and fast ruling here: the decision should be guided for the most part by your intended audience and how much knowledge of the subject-specific language they may or may not have.

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Style Manual Glossary

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This glossary includes words and phrases that are useful when researching and citing sources. Many of these words are part of the academic metalanguage, or the specialized vocabulary used to talk about how research and citation is done in a Western academic context. Most of these terms appear in numerous locations throughout the OWL, but especially in our research and citation resources.

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Because these words and phrases are important to understanding how to use and cite sources.
Because we have found that multilingual writers from around the world sometimes are unfamiliar with these terms, or use different terms to describe the same ideas.

We intend to add additional terms over time as more suitable candidates become apparent.

An initialism that stands for the American Psychological Association. The American Psychological Association is one of the foremost associations in the social sciences in western academia. The APA publishes its own citation style manual for publications, which is updated every several years.

The word “circa” means “approximately,” and it is used mainly with dates. For example, a writer might explain that the social media website Facebook was created circa 2004. Circa is used to give a rough approximation of when the event occurred when exact dates or times of year are not forthcoming.

Credible source

A publication, person, or other resource that provides accurate, clear, and reliable information about a particular topic, idea, or opinion. The credibility of a source directly affects the credibility of the writer citing information from that source. If a writer or student cites information from sources that are not credible, their paper risks losing credibility overall. Generally, the most credible and reliable sources are those published in academic peer-reviewed journals. The least credible, most unreliable sources are sources written by people with no background or education in the topic or sources that can be easily edited by almost anyone (such as Wikipedia or social media). Different fields of study have different requirements for what constitutes a credible source, so writers should always consult the OWL, an instructor, or a knowledgeable advisor about the rules for credible sources in her or his area of study.

Common knowledge

Information that has become so mainstream that is so widely known in the public domain that there is no need for it to be cited. One example is the mass-energy equivalence formula (E = mc 2) . As this equation is widely known, there is no need to cite Albert Einstein’s original research in which he developed the equation.

Entry

A citation in a works cited or references page at the end of a document. If a writer uses eight different sources in a paper, they should be cited within the paper wherever the information from those sources is used. Each of the eight sources should also be given an entry in the works cited or references page at the end of the document. The format and information included in the entry depends on the style manual the writer is using.

Footnotes and Endnotes

Extra information (usually non-essential citations or extra contextual information) that the writer does not include in the main text of the document. Footnotes and endnotes are usually indicated within the text of the document by small superscripted numbers or letters (i.e., like this 123 ). These small numbers correspond to the citation or explanation at the bottom of the page (for a footnote) or at the end of the document (for an endnote).

The space at the top of an electronic document. Most style manuals require the writer to put certain types of information in the header, such as last name and page number.

I ndentation

The space between the margin and the text in a document. Indentation is usually created in electronic documents by using the space bar or the “tab” key on the keyboard. In many styles, the first line of a paragraph is indented by one tab (five spaces). Indentation is also important when formatting long quotations, formatting works cited/reference entries, and formatting outlines.

Kindle Books

A type of electronic book. A “Kindle” is an electronic reading device sold by the company Amazon. Kindle books exist in a different format than other electronic books, however, as, readers can download a free version of a Kindle e-reader application on almost any electronic device in order to read a Kindle book.

An initialism that stands for the Modern Language Association. The Modern Language Association is one of the foremost academic associations in literature, linguistics, and the humanities in western academia, and they publish their own style manual for publications, which is updated every few years.

Multi-volume Work

A book or publication that is published in two or more separate pieces. A publication may have multiple volumes because it has too many pages for just one piece. This is usually the case with encyclopedias. A publication may also have multiple volumes because each piece is published at different times throughout the year. It is usually the case that academic journals are published multiple times each year.

The way pages are assigned to a publication by the editor or publisher. Pagination is especially important for a multi-volume or multi-issue journal. Generally, the editor or publisher assigns pagination either by starting at page 1 for each volume or issue or by continuing the page count throughout many volumes or issues. In the second method, the first page of a second volume of a publication will not be labeled as page one. For example, if volume one ended with page 340, then the first page of volume two would be labeled page 341.

To restate another person’s idea in one’s own words. A paraphrase must differ substantially in vocabulary and word order, but should still retain the content of the original idea. Writers who make a paraphrase should cite the original author to avoid committing an act of plagiarism.

Parenthetical Citation

Identifying information from a certain source that a writer includes in the body of a text to signal to the reader where a certain argument or piece of information came from. This information is presented inside a set of parentheses. Different style manuals require different information in a parenthetical citation. Different style manuals also state where the parenthetical citation can and cannot be within a sentence.

Section Heading

A short, precise title for a section contained within a larger document. Some style manuals and reports require section headings to make it easier for the reader to find information quickly. Section headings may or may not be included within a table of contents.

Signal Phrase or Lead-In Phrase

A word or set of words that introduce information from someone else. A signal or lead-in phrase comes before a quotation, paraphrase, or summary, and includes information like the author’s name, the title of the source, or the year it was published. The word or words signal to the reader that the writer is using someone else’s ideas, and lead in to the new information.

Signal Verb or Lead-In Verb

The active verb included in a signal phrase or a lead-in phrase. Depending on the style manual the writer is using, this verb may need to be in the present tense, past tense, or a conditional tense. Writers should select signal verbs with care to accurately represent the source they are citing.

Style Manual

A list of rules about how to research and write for academia or publication. There are many different style manuals, and each has different rules for the style of writing, citation, and overall format used in a paper. Some of the most well-known style manuals include those published by the APA and MLA.

A message or entry on the social media website Twitter. Tweets are limited to 280 characters (letters, numbers, symbols, punctuation, and spaces). Some style manuals give specific ways to cite tweets as sources.

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What is a Glossary? | Definition, Templates, & Examples

What Is a Glossary? | Definition, Templates, & Examples

Published on 26 May 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on 25 October 2022.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader.

Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and it’s intended to enhance their understanding of your work. Glossaries are not mandatory, but if you use a lot of technical or field-specific terms, it may improve readability to add one.

If you do choose to include a glossary, it should go at the beginning of your document, just after the table of contents and (if applicable) list of tables and figures or list of abbreviations . It’s helpful to place your glossary at the beginning, so your readers can familiarise themselves with key terms prior to reading your work. Remember that glossaries are always in alphabetical order.

To help you get started, download our glossary template in the format of your choice below.

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Table of contents

Example of a glossary

Citing sources for your glossary, additional lists to include in your dissertation, frequently asked questions about glossaries.

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Glossaries and definitions often fall into the category of common knowledge , meaning that they don’t necessarily have to be cited.

However, it’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to citing your sources , in order to avoid accidental plagiarism .

If you’d prefer to cite just in case, you can follow guidance for citing dictionary entries in MLA or APA Style for citations in your glossary. Remember that direct quotes should always be accompanied by a citation.

In addition to the glossary, you can also include a list of tables and figures and a list of abbreviations in your thesis or dissertation if you choose.

Include your lists in the following order:

List of figures and tables
List of abbreviations

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and is intended to enhance their understanding of your work.

Definitional terms often fall into the category of common knowledge , meaning that they don’t necessarily have to be cited. This guidance can apply to your thesis or dissertation glossary as well.

However, if you’d prefer to cite your sources , you can follow guidance for citing dictionary entries in MLA or APA style for your glossary.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, an index is a list of the contents of your work organised by page number.

Glossaries are not mandatory, but if you use a lot of technical or field-specific terms, it may improve readability to add one to your thesis or dissertation. Your educational institution may also require them, so be sure to check their specific guidelines.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, dictionaries are more general collections of words.

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This glossary is intended to assist you in understanding commonly used terms and concepts when reading, interpreting, and evaluating scholarly research. Also included are common words and phrases defined within the context of how they apply to research in the social and behavioral sciences.

Acculturation -- refers to the process of adapting to another culture, particularly in reference to blending in with the majority population [e.g., an immigrant adopting American customs]. However, acculturation also implies that both cultures add something to one another, but still remain distinct groups unto themselves.
Accuracy -- a term used in survey research to refer to the match between the target population and the sample.
Affective Measures -- procedures or devices used to obtain quantified descriptions of an individual's feelings, emotional states, or dispositions.
Aggregate -- a total created from smaller units. For instance, the population of a county is an aggregate of the populations of the cities, rural areas, etc. that comprise the county. As a verb, it refers to total data from smaller units into a large unit.
Anonymity -- a research condition in which no one, including the researcher, knows the identities of research participants.
Baseline -- a control measurement carried out before an experimental treatment.
Behaviorism -- school of psychological thought concerned with the observable, tangible, objective facts of behavior, rather than with subjective phenomena such as thoughts, emotions, or impulses. Contemporary behaviorism also emphasizes the study of mental states such as feelings and fantasies to the extent that they can be directly observed and measured.
Beliefs -- ideas, doctrines, tenets, etc. that are accepted as true on grounds which are not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.
Benchmarking -- systematically measuring and comparing the operations and outcomes of organizations, systems, processes, etc., against agreed upon "best-in-class" frames of reference.
Bias -- a loss of balance and accuracy in the use of research methods. It can appear in research via the sampling frame, random sampling, or non-response. It can also occur at other stages in research, such as while interviewing, in the design of questions, or in the way data are analyzed and presented. Bias means that the research findings will not be representative of, or generalizable to, a wider population.
Case Study -- the collection and presentation of detailed information about a particular participant or small group, frequently including data derived from the subjects themselves.
Causal Hypothesis -- a statement hypothesizing that the independent variable affects the dependent variable in some way.
Causal Relationship -- the relationship established that shows that an independent variable, and nothing else, causes a change in a dependent variable. It also establishes how much of a change is shown in the dependent variable.
Causality -- the relation between cause and effect.
Central Tendency -- any way of describing or characterizing typical, average, or common values in some distribution.
Chi-square Analysis -- a common non-parametric statistical test which compares an expected proportion or ratio to an actual proportion or ratio.
Claim -- a statement, similar to a hypothesis, which is made in response to the research question and that is affirmed with evidence based on research.
Classification -- ordering of related phenomena into categories, groups, or systems according to characteristics or attributes.
Cluster Analysis -- a method of statistical analysis where data that share a common trait are grouped together. The data is collected in a way that allows the data collector to group data according to certain characteristics.
Cohort Analysis -- group by group analytic treatment of individuals having a statistical factor in common to each group. Group members share a particular characteristic [e.g., born in a given year] or a common experience [e.g., entering a college at a given time].
Confidentiality -- a research condition in which no one except the researcher(s) knows the identities of the participants in a study. It refers to the treatment of information that a participant has disclosed to the researcher in a relationship of trust and with the expectation that it will not be revealed to others in ways that violate the original consent agreement, unless permission is granted by the participant.
Confirmability Objectivity -- the findings of the study could be confirmed by another person conducting the same study.
Construct -- refers to any of the following: something that exists theoretically but is not directly observable; a concept developed [constructed] for describing relations among phenomena or for other research purposes; or, a theoretical definition in which concepts are defined in terms of other concepts. For example, intelligence cannot be directly observed or measured; it is a construct.
Construct Validity -- seeks an agreement between a theoretical concept and a specific measuring device, such as observation.
Constructivism -- the idea that reality is socially constructed. It is the view that reality cannot be understood outside of the way humans interact and that the idea that knowledge is constructed, not discovered. Constructivists believe that learning is more active and self-directed than either behaviorism or cognitive theory would postulate.
Content Analysis -- the systematic, objective, and quantitative description of the manifest or latent content of print or nonprint communications.
Context Sensitivity -- awareness by a qualitative researcher of factors such as values and beliefs that influence cultural behaviors.
Control Group -- the group in an experimental design that receives either no treatment or a different treatment from the experimental group. This group can thus be compared to the experimental group.
Controlled Experiment -- an experimental design with two or more randomly selected groups [an experimental group and control group] in which the researcher controls or introduces the independent variable and measures the dependent variable at least two times [pre- and post-test measurements].
Correlation -- a common statistical analysis, usually abbreviated as r, that measures the degree of relationship between pairs of interval variables in a sample. The range of correlation is from -1.00 to zero to +1.00. Also, a non-cause and effect relationship between two variables.
Covariate -- a product of the correlation of two related variables times their standard deviations. Used in true experiments to measure the difference of treatment between them.
Credibility -- a researcher's ability to demonstrate that the object of a study is accurately identified and described based on the way in which the study was conducted.
Critical Theory -- an evaluative approach to social science research, associated with Germany's neo-Marxist “Frankfurt School,” that aims to criticize as well as analyze society, opposing the political orthodoxy of modern communism. Its goal is to promote human emancipatory forces and to expose ideas and systems that impede them.
Data -- factual information [as measurements or statistics] used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation.
Data Mining -- the process of analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information, often to discover patterns and/or systematic relationships among variables.
Data Quality -- this is the degree to which the collected data [results of measurement or observation] meet the standards of quality to be considered valid [trustworthy] and reliable [dependable].
Deductive -- a form of reasoning in which conclusions are formulated about particulars from general or universal premises.
Dependability -- being able to account for changes in the design of the study and the changing conditions surrounding what was studied.
Dependent Variable -- a variable that varies due, at least in part, to the impact of the independent variable. In other words, its value “depends” on the value of the independent variable. For example, in the variables “gender” and “academic major,” academic major is the dependent variable, meaning that your major cannot determine whether you are male or female, but your gender might indirectly lead you to favor one major over another.
Deviation -- the distance between the mean and a particular data point in a given distribution.
Discourse Community -- a community of scholars and researchers in a given field who respond to and communicate to each other through published articles in the community's journals and presentations at conventions. All members of the discourse community adhere to certain conventions for the presentation of their theories and research.
Discrete Variable -- a variable that is measured solely in whole units, such as, gender and number of siblings.
Distribution -- the range of values of a particular variable.
Effect Size -- the amount of change in a dependent variable that can be attributed to manipulations of the independent variable. A large effect size exists when the value of the dependent variable is strongly influenced by the independent variable. It is the mean difference on a variable between experimental and control groups divided by the standard deviation on that variable of the pooled groups or of the control group alone.
Emancipatory Research -- research is conducted on and with people from marginalized groups or communities. It is led by a researcher or research team who is either an indigenous or external insider; is interpreted within intellectual frameworks of that group; and, is conducted largely for the purpose of empowering members of that community and improving services for them. It also engages members of the community as co-constructors or validators of knowledge.
Empirical Research -- the process of developing systematized knowledge gained from observations that are formulated to support insights and generalizations about the phenomena being researched.
Epistemology -- concerns knowledge construction; asks what constitutes knowledge and how knowledge is validated.
Ethnography -- method to study groups and/or cultures over a period of time. The goal of this type of research is to comprehend the particular group/culture through immersion into the culture or group. Research is completed through various methods but, since the researcher is immersed within the group for an extended period of time, more detailed information is usually collected during the research.
Expectancy Effect -- any unconscious or conscious cues that convey to the participant in a study how the researcher wants them to respond. Expecting someone to behave in a particular way has been shown to promote the expected behavior. Expectancy effects can be minimized by using standardized interactions with subjects, automated data-gathering methods, and double blind protocols.
External Validity -- the extent to which the results of a study are generalizable or transferable.
Factor Analysis -- a statistical test that explores relationships among data. The test explores which variables in a data set are most related to each other. In a carefully constructed survey, for example, factor analysis can yield information on patterns of responses, not simply data on a single response. Larger tendencies may then be interpreted, indicating behavior trends rather than simply responses to specific questions.
Field Studies -- academic or other investigative studies undertaken in a natural setting, rather than in laboratories, classrooms, or other structured environments.
Focus Groups -- small, roundtable discussion groups charged with examining specific topics or problems, including possible options or solutions. Focus groups usually consist of 4-12 participants, guided by moderators to keep the discussion flowing and to collect and report the results.
Framework -- the structure and support that may be used as both the launching point and the on-going guidelines for investigating a research problem.
Generalizability -- the extent to which research findings and conclusions conducted on a specific study to groups or situations can be applied to the population at large.
Grey Literature -- research produced by organizations outside of commercial and academic publishing that publish materials, such as, working papers, research reports, and briefing papers.
Grounded Theory -- practice of developing other theories that emerge from observing a group. Theories are grounded in the group's observable experiences, but researchers add their own insight into why those experiences exist.
Group Behavior -- behaviors of a group as a whole, as well as the behavior of an individual as influenced by his or her membership in a group.
Hypothesis -- a tentative explanation based on theory to predict a causal relationship between variables.
Independent Variable -- the conditions of an experiment that are systematically manipulated by the researcher. A variable that is not impacted by the dependent variable, and that itself impacts the dependent variable. In the earlier example of "gender" and "academic major," (see Dependent Variable) gender is the independent variable.
Individualism -- a theory or policy having primary regard for the liberty, rights, or independent actions of individuals.
Inductive -- a form of reasoning in which a generalized conclusion is formulated from particular instances.
Inductive Analysis -- a form of analysis based on inductive reasoning; a researcher using inductive analysis starts with answers, but formulates questions throughout the research process.
Insiderness -- a concept in qualitative research that refers to the degree to which a researcher has access to and an understanding of persons, places, or things within a group or community based on being a member of that group or community.
Internal Consistency -- the extent to which all questions or items assess the same characteristic, skill, or quality.
Internal Validity -- the rigor with which the study was conducted [e.g., the study's design, the care taken to conduct measurements, and decisions concerning what was and was not measured]. It is also the extent to which the designers of a study have taken into account alternative explanations for any causal relationships they explore. In studies that do not explore causal relationships, only the first of these definitions should be considered when assessing internal validity.
Life History -- a record of an event/events in a respondent's life told [written down, but increasingly audio or video recorded] by the respondent from his/her own perspective in his/her own words. A life history is different from a "research story" in that it covers a longer time span, perhaps a complete life, or a significant period in a life.
Margin of Error -- the permittable or acceptable deviation from the target or a specific value. The allowance for slight error or miscalculation or changing circumstances in a study.
Measurement -- process of obtaining a numerical description of the extent to which persons, organizations, or things possess specified characteristics.
Meta-Analysis -- an analysis combining the results of several studies that address a set of related hypotheses.
Methodology -- a theory or analysis of how research does and should proceed.
Methods -- systematic approaches to the conduct of an operation or process. It includes steps of procedure, application of techniques, systems of reasoning or analysis, and the modes of inquiry employed by a discipline.
Mixed-Methods -- a research approach that uses two or more methods from both the quantitative and qualitative research categories. It is also referred to as blended methods, combined methods, or methodological triangulation.
Modeling -- the creation of a physical or computer analogy to understand a particular phenomenon. Modeling helps in estimating the relative magnitude of various factors involved in a phenomenon. A successful model can be shown to account for unexpected behavior that has been observed, to predict certain behaviors, which can then be tested experimentally, and to demonstrate that a given theory cannot account for certain phenomenon.
Models -- representations of objects, principles, processes, or ideas often used for imitation or emulation.
Naturalistic Observation -- observation of behaviors and events in natural settings without experimental manipulation or other forms of interference.
Norm -- the norm in statistics is the average or usual performance. For example, students usually complete their high school graduation requirements when they are 18 years old. Even though some students graduate when they are younger or older, the norm is that any given student will graduate when he or she is 18 years old.
Null Hypothesis -- the proposition, to be tested statistically, that the experimental intervention has "no effect," meaning that the treatment and control groups will not differ as a result of the intervention. Investigators usually hope that the data will demonstrate some effect from the intervention, thus allowing the investigator to reject the null hypothesis.
Ontology -- a discipline of philosophy that explores the science of what is, the kinds and structures of objects, properties, events, processes, and relations in every area of reality.
Panel Study -- a longitudinal study in which a group of individuals is interviewed at intervals over a period of time.
Participant -- individuals whose physiological and/or behavioral characteristics and responses are the object of study in a research project.
Peer-Review -- the process in which the author of a book, article, or other type of publication submits his or her work to experts in the field for critical evaluation, usually prior to publication. This is standard procedure in publishing scholarly research.
Phenomenology -- a qualitative research approach concerned with understanding certain group behaviors from that group's point of view.
Philosophy -- critical examination of the grounds for fundamental beliefs and analysis of the basic concepts, doctrines, or practices that express such beliefs.
Phonology -- the study of the ways in which speech sounds form systems and patterns in language.
Policy -- governing principles that serve as guidelines or rules for decision making and action in a given area.
Policy Analysis -- systematic study of the nature, rationale, cost, impact, effectiveness, implications, etc., of existing or alternative policies, using the theories and methodologies of relevant social science disciplines.
Population -- the target group under investigation. The population is the entire set under consideration. Samples are drawn from populations.
Position Papers -- statements of official or organizational viewpoints, often recommending a particular course of action or response to a situation.
Positivism -- a doctrine in the philosophy of science, positivism argues that science can only deal with observable entities known directly to experience. The positivist aims to construct general laws, or theories, which express relationships between phenomena. Observation and experiment is used to show whether the phenomena fit the theory.
Predictive Measurement -- use of tests, inventories, or other measures to determine or estimate future events, conditions, outcomes, or trends.
Principal Investigator -- the scientist or scholar with primary responsibility for the design and conduct of a research project.
Probability -- the chance that a phenomenon will occur randomly. As a statistical measure, it is shown as p [the "p" factor].
Questionnaire -- structured sets of questions on specified subjects that are used to gather information, attitudes, or opinions.
Random Sampling -- a process used in research to draw a sample of a population strictly by chance, yielding no discernible pattern beyond chance. Random sampling can be accomplished by first numbering the population, then selecting the sample according to a table of random numbers or using a random-number computer generator. The sample is said to be random because there is no regular or discernible pattern or order. Random sample selection is used under the assumption that sufficiently large samples assigned randomly will exhibit a distribution comparable to that of the population from which the sample is drawn. The random assignment of participants increases the probability that differences observed between participant groups are the result of the experimental intervention.
Reliability -- the degree to which a measure yields consistent results. If the measuring instrument [e.g., survey] is reliable, then administering it to similar groups would yield similar results. Reliability is a prerequisite for validity. An unreliable indicator cannot produce trustworthy results.
Representative Sample -- sample in which the participants closely match the characteristics of the population, and thus, all segments of the population are represented in the sample. A representative sample allows results to be generalized from the sample to the population.
Rigor -- degree to which research methods are scrupulously and meticulously carried out in order to recognize important influences occurring in an experimental study.
Sample -- the population researched in a particular study. Usually, attempts are made to select a "sample population" that is considered representative of groups of people to whom results will be generalized or transferred. In studies that use inferential statistics to analyze results or which are designed to be generalizable, sample size is critical, generally the larger the number in the sample, the higher the likelihood of a representative distribution of the population.
Sampling Error -- the degree to which the results from the sample deviate from those that would be obtained from the entire population, because of random error in the selection of respondent and the corresponding reduction in reliability.
Saturation -- a situation in which data analysis begins to reveal repetition and redundancy and when new data tend to confirm existing findings rather than expand upon them.
Semantics -- the relationship between symbols and meaning in a linguistic system. Also, the cuing system that connects what is written in the text to what is stored in the reader's prior knowledge.
Social Theories -- theories about the structure, organization, and functioning of human societies.
Sociolinguistics -- the study of language in society and, more specifically, the study of language varieties, their functions, and their speakers.
Standard Deviation -- a measure of variation that indicates the typical distance between the scores of a distribution and the mean; it is determined by taking the square root of the average of the squared deviations in a given distribution. It can be used to indicate the proportion of data within certain ranges of scale values when the distribution conforms closely to the normal curve.
Statistical Analysis -- application of statistical processes and theory to the compilation, presentation, discussion, and interpretation of numerical data.
Statistical Bias -- characteristics of an experimental or sampling design, or the mathematical treatment of data, that systematically affects the results of a study so as to produce incorrect, unjustified, or inappropriate inferences or conclusions.
Statistical Significance -- the probability that the difference between the outcomes of the control and experimental group are great enough that it is unlikely due solely to chance. The probability that the null hypothesis can be rejected at a predetermined significance level [0.05 or 0.01].
Statistical Tests -- researchers use statistical tests to make quantitative decisions about whether a study's data indicate a significant effect from the intervention and allow the researcher to reject the null hypothesis. That is, statistical tests show whether the differences between the outcomes of the control and experimental groups are great enough to be statistically significant. If differences are found to be statistically significant, it means that the probability [likelihood] that these differences occurred solely due to chance is relatively low. Most researchers agree that a significance value of .05 or less [i.e., there is a 95% probability that the differences are real] sufficiently determines significance.
Subcultures -- ethnic, regional, economic, or social groups exhibiting characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to distinguish them from the larger society to which they belong.
Testing -- the act of gathering and processing information about individuals' ability, skill, understanding, or knowledge under controlled conditions.
Theory -- a general explanation about a specific behavior or set of events that is based on known principles and serves to organize related events in a meaningful way. A theory is not as specific as a hypothesis.
Treatment -- the stimulus given to a dependent variable.
Trend Samples -- method of sampling different groups of people at different points in time from the same population.
Triangulation -- a multi-method or pluralistic approach, using different methods in order to focus on the research topic from different viewpoints and to produce a multi-faceted set of data. Also used to check the validity of findings from any one method.
Unit of Analysis -- the basic observable entity or phenomenon being analyzed by a study and for which data are collected in the form of variables.
Validity -- the degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the researcher is attempting to measure. A method can be reliable, consistently measuring the same thing, but not valid.
Variable -- any characteristic or trait that can vary from one person to another [race, gender, academic major] or for one person over time [age, political beliefs].
Weighted Scores -- scores in which the components are modified by different multipliers to reflect their relative importance.
White Paper -- an authoritative report that often states the position or philosophy about a social, political, or other subject, or a general explanation of an architecture, framework, or product technology written by a group of researchers. A white paper seeks to contain unbiased information and analysis regarding a business or policy problem that the researchers may be facing.

Elliot, Mark, Fairweather, Ian, Olsen, Wendy Kay, and Pampaka, Maria. A Dictionary of Social Research Methods. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2016; Free Social Science Dictionary. Socialsciencedictionary.com [2008]. Glossary. Institutional Review Board. Colorado College; Glossary of Key Terms. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Glossary A-Z. Education.com; Glossary of Research Terms. Research Mindedness Virtual Learning Resource. Centre for Human Servive Technology. University of Southampton; Miller, Robert L. and Brewer, John D. The A-Z of Social Research: A Dictionary of Key Social Science Research Concepts London: SAGE, 2003; Jupp, Victor. The SAGE Dictionary of Social and Cultural Research Methods . London: Sage, 2006.

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Enter the Glossators

While I was in Canada I got an email from Agnes who is finishing the writing part of her PhD. After some kind words about the blog she got down to business:

“… I have a question to you that I could not find an answer to elsewhere. I am now writing up my PhD work and organising the ‘front matter’ section as well. Some of the theses and articles I have seen included a glossary in the front matter. These concise descriptions of the main terms of the piece always seemed so smart and put together; a sign that the authors knew exactly what and how they wanted to communicate.

I know that a glossary should include the most important terms and phrases used in an alphabetical order, especially if they are used in an unusual way. But I have not found any strategic guidelines on how to do it well, or whether it is really a good idea to write it at all…”

I was travelling and only responding to urgent messages, so I filed Agnes’s message in Omnifocus and promptly forgot about it until it appeared on my to do list yesterday. I thought answering this email would be simple. I went straight to my favourite blogs on writing – Patter, Explorations in Style and Doctoral Writing Sig. None of them had anything specific on glossaries, so I did some Googling. Agnes was right – lots of descriptions of glossaries, but no ‘how to’.

Frustrated now, I went to my bookshelf which is bulging with just about every book you can imagine on writing. Here, take a look:

“… this [law] literature began with mere interlinear or marginal glosses elucidating the meaning of words, and in its final stage produced great critical apparatuses or commentaries, consisting of extensive and continuous glosses on an entire collection of laws, which strive to capture not only the meaning of each word but the sense of the [original] text and the legislator’s intention”

Are you using a lot of terms not common in your field or area?
Is your project cross disciplinary in flavour? Do you import concepts or methods from elsewhere?
Are you using multiple terms or phrases to mean similar things?
Are some phrases or terms very similar in spelling and/or construction and thus potentially confusing?
Are you using a large number of acronyms?
Are there places, people or things that reoccur and need to be explained (remember, you can include different kinds of glossaries for this – for instance, a biographical index or list of places)

If you answered ‘yes’ to most of these questions your thesis would benefit from a glossary.

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Dissertation Glossary

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It is not I who become addicted, it is my body. —Jean Cocteau in Opium Over the last few decades, I have been involved in popular theatre work that seeks to highlight the hiddenness and presuppositions of mainstream institutions, notably education, government, business and the media. In my final year of high school, through the popular theatre director Peter Moore, I was introduced to the works of Augusto Boal (1974, 1992) and Peter Brook (1968). The literature of Grotowski (1968), Brecht (2003), Artaud (1970) and Barba (1979, 1986, 1995) soon followed in my readings. These practitioners and writers have been steady guides ever since. All my performative explorations are rooted within the nexus of bodies with/in space. Aspects of the work of these practitioners and writers from the 1960s and 1970s played a significant role in my dissertation, where performative inquiry and popular theatre melded. That project involved a group of psychiatric survivors teasing apart and playing with t...

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During the latter decades of the twentieth century there was a steady rise in the number of event-specific festivals that were designed to broaden the participation of Australian audiences in new forms of community-based entertainment. This investigation explains how the processual phases of Paulo Freire’s conscientização process were applied as guiding principles within the context of an event-specific theatre-making project that involved multiple cohorts of undergraduate participants over an eight-year period. The thesis is grounded in the empirical experience of their cultural praxis as theatre-makers who collaborated to devise and present street theatre, parades, and cabarets for performance amongst V8 motor sport enthusiasts. Recent literature concerning critical performance autoethnography is reviewed. Ethnohistoric primary source documentation is used to develop a multi-case study that examines how certain categories of embedded theory - conscientização, the carnivalesque aesthetic, popular theatre theory, and permaculture design principles – contributed to the evolvement of a new approach for guiding the work of devising original entertainments for event-specific popular audiences. This investigation demonstrates how Baz Kershaw’s theoretical/conceptual categories concerning ‘the dialectical processes of community-based performance’ and ‘the radical in performance’ can be used as analytic tools for critically evaluating instances of ‘performance beyond theatre’. This line of inquiry results in the articulation of new propositions for the processual conduct of devising event-specific entertainments. Five conclusions concerning practice as research into performance are drawn from this study. (1) When grounded in ethnohistoric primary source documentation, critical performance autoethnography offers theatre practitioners a new epistemic stance for using their own theatre practice as the basis for conducting theoretical/conceptual research into live performance. (2) The conscientização process, as characterised by Paulo Freire, provides a pertinent guide for the conduct of dramaturgical research that is designed to generate original entertainments for event-specific popular audiences. (3) When applied as informing principles for production processes that are designed for these purposes, the conscientização process displays conceptual symmetries with the characteristic phases of theatre production. (4) Kershaw’s propositions concerning ‘the dialectical processes of community-based performance’ and ‘the radical in performance’ represent cogent new principles that can be used for guiding pre-production dramaturgical research as well as providing analytic categories for interrogating performative outcomes. (5) When attention is paid to Kershaw’s ‘points of process’ concerning the ‘radical in performance’, those processes will promote the conscientização of theatre-makers as they labour to devise original entertainments for performance amongst event specific popular audiences. Keywords: conscientização; conscientisation; devised performance; the ‘radical in performance’; event-specific theatre; popular theatre; the carnivalesque; permaculture design principles; ecologies of performance; qualitative research; theoretical/conceptual research; critical performance autoethnography; embedded multi-case study. Language: English Document Type: Research Thesis (PhD)

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A glossary of terms is a list of important words or phrases used in a dissertation and their definitions. It is not mandatory to add in your dissertation, but it helps readers to understand the dissertation's critical and technical content more easily.

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When you create a glossary of terms for a dissertation or thesis, it is important to choose words and phrases that are essential to your dissertation's argument. The definitions should be clear and consistent with how the words or phrases are used in your dissertation. The glossary of terms should be placed at the end of the dissertation.

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Example Glossary for a Dissertation

Here is an example of a glossary of terms for a dissertation on the topic of "The Impact of Social Media on Political Discourse":

Your glossary example will depend on your dissertation topic. However, this example should give you a good starting point for creating your own glossary of terms.

The Significance of a Glossary in Dissertation Writing

A glossary can improve the readability and understanding of a dissertation in several ways. It can help readers to identify the key concepts and ideas in the dissertation topic . This can help readers to better understand the dissertation and to remember the important points. Third, a glossary can help readers to find information on specific topics. This can be helpful for readers who are interested in learning more about a particular topic. If you are writing a dissertation , we encourage you to include a glossary.

Citing Source for Your Glossary

When citing sources for your glossary, you should follow the same guidelines that you would use for any other type of academic writing. This means providing the author's name, the title of the source, the publication date, and the page number(s) where the definition appears.

A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Write an Outline for a Dissertation

For example, if you are citing a definition from a book, you would include the following information in your citation:

If you are citing a definition from an article, you would include the following information in your citation:

Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of article. Journal title, volume number(s), issue number(s), pages.

It is important to note that the specific citation format that you use will depend on the style guide that you are following. For example, the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide and the Modern Language Association (MLA) style guide have different citation formats.

If you are unsure of which style guide to use, you should consult with your instructor or a librarian.

Here are some additional tips for citing sources for your glossary:

Make sure that you include all of the necessary information in your citations.
Be consistent with your citation format.
Use a consistent font and font size for your citations.
Double-check your citations for accuracy.

By following these tips, you can ensure that your glossary is properly cited and that you are giving credit to the sources that you have used.

Conclusion

Expanding your vocabulary and utilising a well-curated glossary is instrumental in enhancing the quality and effectiveness of your dissertation.

In this article, we have explored the importance of a glossary in academic writing, particularly for dissertations that involve technical or field-specific terminology. By incorporating a comprehensive glossary, you provide your readers with a valuable resource that improves readability, comprehension, and engagement with your research.

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Biostatistics Graduate Program

Shengxin tu dissertation defense – may 10.

Posted by duthip1 on Friday, April 26, 2024 in News .

PhD candidate Shengxin Tu will defend her dissertation on Friday, May 10, at 8 a.m. Central Time, at 2525 West End Avenue, in the 11th floor large conference room (suite 1100, room 11105). Her advisor is Bryan Shepherd . All are invited and encouraged to attend.

Rank-Based Analyses and Designs with Clustered Data

Clustered data are common in biomedical research. It is often of interest to evaluate the correlations within clusters and between variables with clustered data. Conventional approaches, including intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Pearson correlations, are commonly used in analyses with clustered data. However, these conventional approaches are sensitive to extreme values and skewness. They also depend on the scale of the data and are not applicable to ordered categorical data. In this dissertation, we define population parameters for the rank ICC and between- and within-cluster Spearman rank correlations. These definitions are natural extensions of the conventional correlations to the rank scale. We show that the total Spearman rank correlation approximates a weighted sum of between- and within-cluster Spearman rank correlations, with weights determined by the rank ICCs of the two random variables. We also describe estimation and inference for these four rank-based correlations, conduct simulations to evaluate the performance of our estimators, and illustrate their use with real data examples. Furthermore, we apply the rank ICC in the design of clustered randomized controlled trials (RCTs), proposing unified and simple sample size calculations for cluster RCTs with skewed or ordinal outcomes. Our calculation involves inflating the sample size for an adequately powered individual RCT for an ordinal outcome with a design effect that incorporates the rank ICC. For continuous outcomes, our calculation sets the number of distinct ordinal levels to the sample size. We show that with continuous data, our calculations closely approximate more complicated sample size calculations based on clustered Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. We conduct simulations to evaluate our calculations’ performance and illustrate their use in the design of two cluster RCTs, one with a skewed continuous outcome and a non-inferiority trial with an irregularly distributed count outcome.

Tags: clustered data , dissertation defense , RCTs , sample size calculations

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Glossary Of A Dissertation ~ Definition & Guide
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What Is a Glossary?
Revised on July 18, 2023. A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it's a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and it's intended to enhance their ...
Glossary in a Dissertation
Glossary in a Dissertation - A Comprehensive Guide. Published by Owen Ingram at August 26th, 2021 , Revised On September 20, 2023. A list of glossary contains all those terms used in your dissertation, but the meanings of which may not be evident to the readers. Here is all you need to know about the glossary in a dissertation.
How to decide where (in a thesis) a glossary should be positioned?
The other answers already contain the conclusions of my answer. However, I'll try to give some reasoning behind. Glossary, Nomenclature, List of Symbols, Index, References, etc.-- all these are indexes, and should go to the backmatter. Table of Contents, List of Figures, etc.-- these specify the contents, and should go to the frontmatter. The difference is that indexes are have in general ...
Glossary Of A Dissertation ~ Definition & Guide
Definition: Glossary. Put simply, a glossary is a list of non-standard (i.e., technical or subject-specific) terms that you have used in your writing. They will be accompanied by an explanatory definition to add clarity for your readers, whilst also broadening your potential audience by reducing the barriers to entry that such language can ...
What Is a Dissertation?
Example dissertation #1: Heat, Wildfire and Energy Demand: ... Glossary. In addition to the list of abbreviations, if you find yourself using a lot of highly specialized terms that you worry will not be familiar to your reader, consider including a glossary. Here, alphabetize the terms and include a brief description or definition. ...
PDF A Complete Dissertation
dissertation. Reason The introduction sets the stage for the study and directs readers to the purpose and context of the dissertation. Quality Markers A quality introduction situates the context and scope of the study and informs the reader, providing a clear and valid representation of what will be found in the remainder of the dissertation.
How to Write a Glossary: 12 Steps (with Pictures)
Download Article. 1. Write a brief summary for each term. Once you have identified the terms in the main text that need to be in the glossary, sit down and write out a brief summary for each term. The summary should be between two to four sentences total. Try to keep the summaries for each term short and to the point.
Glossary Of A Dissertation ~ Definition & Guide
Below is an example of how a glossary of a dissertation may look like. FAQs. What is a glossary? The term refers to a reference list of words that readers may not be familiar with. It is derived from the Latin gloss, which means "word inserted as an explanation, translation, or definition".
What is a glossary?
A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it's a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and is intended to enhance their understanding of your work.
Style Manual Glossary
Style Manual Glossary. This glossary includes words and phrases that are useful when researching and citing sources. Many of these words are part of the academic metalanguage, or the specialized vocabulary used to talk about how research and citation is done in a Western academic context. Most of these terms appear in numerous locations ...
PDF Definition of Key Terms in Your Dissertation: How to Decide What to
• Define terms that are fundamental for your dissertation; those that you will frequently use in most sections of your study. • Keep in mind, there is absolutely no need to incorporate common knowledge terms. What do we mean by this? Here is an example: Let us pretend we are doing research on nurturing international business research
What Is a Glossary?
Revised on 25 October 2022. A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it's a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and it's intended to enhance their ...
Glossary of Research Terms
This glossary is intended to assist you in understanding commonly used terms and concepts when reading, interpreting, and evaluating scholarly research. Also included are common words and phrases defined within the context of how they apply to research in the social and behavioral sciences. ... Sample-- the population researched in a particular ...
The Thesis Whisperer
If you answered 'yes' to most of these questions your thesis would benefit from a glossary. Step two: Selection of terms is critical. A glossary should demystify terms for the reader, not state the obvious. If you put a whole bunch of common terms there your reader will feel like you are talking down to them.
PDF Glossary of Key Terms in Educational Research
GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH by ABDULLAH NOORI Assistant Professor Department of English, Kabul University ORCID: 0000-0003-2141-3675 Email: [email protected] ... that for a random sample of observations from any distribution with a finite mean and a finite
What is a glossary?
A glossary or "glossary of terms" is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it's a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and is intended to enhance their understanding ...
List of Abbreviations
List of Abbreviations | Example, Template & Best Practices. Published on May 23, 2022 by Tegan George.Revised on July 18, 2023. A list of abbreviations is an alphabetical list of abbreviations that you can add to your thesis or dissertation.If you choose to include it, it should appear at the beginning of your document, just after your table of contents.
Glossary Example
Glossary Example Format Here is a glossary of examples that will help you write in MLA and APA format to write a dissertation. MLA style focuses on citing sources within the text, while APA style focuses on citing sources on the references page. One or both of these dissertation writing styles may be required depending on the institution or ...
PDF APA Style Dissertation Guidelines: Formatting Your Dissertation
Dissertation Content When the content of the dissertation starts, the page numbering should restart at page one using Arabic numbering (i.e., 1, 2, 3, etc.) and continue throughout the dissertation until the end. The Arabic page number should be aligned to the upper right margin of the page with a running head aligned to the upper left margin.
(DOC) Dissertation Glossary
Dissertation Glossary . Dissertation Glossary . Steven Noble. See Full PDF Download PDF. See Full PDF Download PDF. Related Papers. Dissertation Chapter Four. Steven Noble. ... For example, in Shaken, a generative theme was "employment" but then codifications that supported that included the EI office, the EI appeal panel, trying to fit ...
Prize-Winning Thesis and Dissertation Examples
Prize-Winning Thesis and Dissertation Examples. Published on September 9, 2022 by Tegan George.Revised on July 18, 2023. It can be difficult to know where to start when writing your thesis or dissertation.One way to come up with some ideas or maybe even combat writer's block is to check out previous work done by other students on a similar thesis or dissertation topic to yours.
Glossary of Terms Example
The definitions should be clear and consistent with how the words or phrases are used in your dissertation. The glossary of terms should be placed at the end of the dissertation. With this guide, you can write a successful dissertation glossary in time! Example 1: Effects of Virus on Hospitality and Tourism
Shengxin Tu dissertation defense
Shengxin Tu dissertation defense - May 10. Posted by duthip1 on Friday, April 26, 2024 in News.. PhD candidate Shengxin Tu will defend her dissertation on Friday, May 10, at 8 a.m. Central Time, at 2525 West End Avenue, in the 11th floor large conference room (suite 1100, room 11105). Her advisor is Bryan Shepherd.All are invited and encouraged to attend.
Dissertation Table of Contents in Word
Other lists in your thesis, dissertation, or research paper. In addition to a table of contents, you might also want to include a list of figures and tables, a list of abbreviations, and a glossary in your thesis or dissertation. You can use the following guides to do so: List of figures and tables; List of abbreviations; Glossary

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