Academic phrasebank- A guide to thesis writing

Academic Phasebank is a resourceful link to assist research writers in their theses writing. My friend gave this link to me and I found it's very useful especially to those who are thinking of the appropriate phrases for their thesis regardless in any chapter. Do browse this website http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/links.htm to benefit from it.

Determining normality of data

I learned new thing in my quest to know what normality test base on Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk is. Despite the fact that the normality test can be determined using the table, I can also refer to graphical representations of the few other measures. This is because Kolmogorov-Smirnov is sensitive and stringent. Han & Yoon (2008) in their book; Introduction to Statistical Analysis in Social Sciences write that normality test from the table (Normality test table of Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilkis) sensitive and stringent. For that matter, a researcher may use boxplot, Normal q-q plot and Detrended Q-q plot. All these have their own interpretations of how we can determine that our data is normally distributed. Once we are clear with these, we can now concentrate on outliers. In determining outliers, Pallant (2006) in her book SPSS Survival Manual; A step by Step Guide to Data Analysis Using SPSS, affirms that extreme value needs to be eliminated from the data. However, value with symbol 'O' may be eliminated or may not be. In deciding to retain the 'O' value, we need to refer to 5% Trimmed Mean. If the 5% Trimmed Mean does not differ that much from the mean values (need to refer to Descriptive table in the SPSS output) we can decide to retain the value. For instance 26.73 and 26.64 does not differ much, so we may consider to keep the value for analysis. Apart from that one must also look at skewness and kurtosis. If the former is lesser than 2 while the latter is from -1 to +1, distribution of data may be assumed to be normal (Hair, Anderson, Tatham & Black, 1998 in Fah & Yoon, 2008) as well.

I am stuck!!

I haven't write anything yet for Chapter 4 and it has already been 3 weeks data from tests and questionnaire was inserted in the SPSS. I also met one of my supervisors last week to discuss with him concerning the data I collected. Although he helped me to analyse the data, but one and the most important thing he didn't cater is to test the normality of the data. He did cater it, but it was really "shallow". I am rather stupid-ignorant with statistics, but I think determining normality of data is the first priority before concentrating on analysing the research questions. He reasoned that 'people' in my field was not too concern about this i.e. data normality, and therefore it was fine for me to just report on the fact that the outliers were taken care off before proceeding to analysing research questions. How can it be when it the first place that determine whether I can use parametric or non parametric statistic.

Back at home, I tried to write according to what he said. Yet, I couldn't. So, I started to ask around. And now since Hadif is having chicken pox, I can only email my friends asking them to help me regarding this. It's a process of learning, I know. But sometimes you can feel distress also because of people around you who are not really supportive and understanding.

Five-minutes break

I am still transcribing the interview... but felt a little bit sleepy. I guess, I need to write something. I found a very useful article from Prof. Muhd Kamil's blog. This was what he wrote with regards to presenting our writing:

Dalam tempoh dua bulan yang lepas saya menerima dua tesis sebagai pemeriksa luar. Tesis pertama saya baca dan terus berhenti. Pandangan pertama pemeriksa menyatakan “ia tidak sepatutnya dihantar”. Kenapa? Teksnya kelam kabut. Ada double spacing, ada single spacing. Jadual-jadual yang disusun di “cut and paste”. Susun aturnya tidak mengikut format penulisan tesis.Ia hanya pandangan pertama. Dan pandangan ini sepatutnya boleh dikawal oleh pelajar tersebut. Ia bukan memerlukan kepakaran luar biasa.

Saya menggambarkan beliau sebagai seorang yang cincai.

Tesis kedua yang diterima selang seminggu dibaca dan ia amat menyenangkan hati pemeriksa.Apakah yang dilakukan oleh pemeriksa? Maksud saya, saya sebagai pemeriksa. Pertama, saya melihat secara keseluruhan tesis tersebut. Memegang-megang dan membelek-belek tanpa tujuan. Jika ia tesis yang teruk [penulis sangat cincai] pelbagai kesilapan tesis akan dapat dilihat melalui proses ini.

Siapa kata wajah tidak penting?

Kedua, saya membaca abstrak, melihat isi kandungan, jadual-jadual dan menoleh kepada rujukan yang ditulis di belakang. Apakah rujukan yang terakhir? Lalu saya membuat keputusan mahu meneruskan bacaan atau mencari mood lain supaya beliau tidak dihukum berdasar pandangan pertama.

Tesis kedua, VIVA hanya terlangsung 30 minit dan keputusannya Lulus tanpa Syarat. Kedua-dua pemeriksa – dari dua universiti berbeza - bersetuju begitu. Terdapat pembetulan-pembetulan tersangat minor tidak direkodkan. Ia masih perlu dibetulkan dengan seliaan supervisor.

Tesis pertama, VIVA berlangsung hampir sejam. Saya mempunyai 18 komen dan pemeriksa yang satu lagi mempunyai 50 komen bertulis. Keputusannya, “Lulus dengan pembetulan major. Ia perlu dibetulkan tidak kurang dari enam bulan dan tidak boleh melebihi setahun”.

PhD…… ia diri kita!

Reading the above posting really gives a great impact to me. His writing reminds me that everything needs to be checked before submitting draft(s) to our supervisor or committee members. Don't take something lightly when it comes to submitting our works especially works related to our phd... "it's your life" as what Prof Muhd Kamil claims. As a human, we surely know that someone is not serious when his/her work resembles that he/she just want to get over with something (i.e. to complete the write-up). I also go for neatness when it comes to submitting works...it has to be this way. However, we're not perfect. Ok, I need to pen-off here. Got to continue transcibing the interview ;-)

My 5S

5S is five Japanese words which are seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. It is being widely practice in many working organisations. As for me, the system is useful as to make sure that documents are put in manageable ways for easy retrieving. The picture above are all the tests and questionnaires that have already been keyed-in by my research-assistant. I paid her RM4.15 per hour and she did it for only a week. That is the standard allowance in hiring a student as a research assistant. She is a diploma holder and currently is pursuing her degree in the university where I work. She really value punctuality and sometimes I have to make sure that I reach to work before she did...impressions count. And often she skipped lunch or take lunch in the lab so as to make sure that she could finish key-in the data for only a week. In fact, this was the agreement we decided to take. I was not really pushy with her...as long as she knew what she was doing, it was OK for me. And often bought her breakfast or lunch. She agreed with it. Back at home, this is where I place the documents at the mean time.

Coincidentally, when I did the 5S I also made a new look for my filing. Label the files and there you go. I remembered a friend of mine told me that it was rather good if we could have one file for one variable, and so on and so forth. It was an advice from her supervisor actually. I think her supervisor got a point there. Again, it is easy for us to retrieve articles...time is not wasted. It's more manageable. I still have several articles which I haven't printed yet. Got to buy some more files for the filing. Although my mind is full with so many things to do, I want to make sure that everything is well manage.

Analysing data---- Insignificant results???

This week I am done with key in the data for my study. To be exact, I was not the one who keyed-in all the marks and responses (for the questionnaire). I hired a student to do the job. As far as sorting the instruments in the study is concerned, I did it myself. Also, transcribing part I am still doing it. Some of the results of the study showed insignifcant results. It worried me badly. Finding how to report the findings, gave me some ideas that there were few things that might contributed to the results. I obtained the ideas to jusitfy the insignificant results when I I goggle it. Though many of the websites I found discuss more on the significant results. However, one of the articles wrote that in reporting for insignifcant results, a researcher may look at the following:

(i) inadequate or biased sample. I think i can include this because one of my treatment groups were diploma holders while two other groups were matriculation and STPM holders
(ii) incorrect methodology. I might take a look at this. Perhaps I needed to compare which part of the questions did students score more.
(iii) design flaw.
(iv) errors in measurement. Maybe there's a point to consider
(v) data collection analysis
(v) unforeseen circumstances. I remembered that students were instructed to take the posttest after they sat for their final exam paper. Maybe there were under pressure having had their paper before the posttest was administered.

For whatever reasons in obtaining the insignificant results, I need to justify thoroughly of why it happened. Again, this has to be checked with previous literature. What others had to say and what they found (Like a CSI investigator). It's a challenge for me. I have already had some justifications at hands, yet, as I told, I need to back-up with relevant literature. Next week I'll be going to see one of my supervisors. Maybe I can discuss the results with him... Ya Allah I hope I can handle this well.

Actual study started

Last week I started collecting data for my actual study. Thus far, everything is under control, although I couldn't deny problems occured. Students attendance so far is great. I thank all of them for coming and participating in the study. Activity sheets and slides were all ready for the previous class. However, I still need to add few other things for next week class. I pray to Allah that the process of collecting the data is smooth for me in the sense that I can handle whatever circumstances that come into ways. Back at home, Hakim is having fever. Therefore, I couldn't spend extra time in the university photocopying or printing today. I hope I can also key in students' attendace as well as marks for the pretest. Of course need to do post-mortem of the first lesson. Just to make sure that I can improve things in the future.

Melangkah Gagah: Urus Kerjaya Anda

Ini adalah buku pertama yang ditulis bersama rakan sekerja, Ida Rizyani Tahir. Buku ini telah ditulis seawal tahun 2008 lagi. Tetapi disebabkan komitmen lain yang perlu diutamakan, maka ianya dicetak pada tahun ini. Buku ini ditulis untuk memberi panduan kepada siswazah terutama yang berada pada tahun akhir atau lebih spesifik lagi pada sesiapa yang baru melangkah untuk bekerjaya. Penulis memuatkan cadangan dan tip-tip yang praktikal untuk dimanfaatkan kepada pembaca golongan ini. Ianya juga ditulis menggunakan bahasa yang mudah untuk difahami. Setiap bab mempunyai dialog khusus untuk memberi gambaran kepada pembaca akan kandungan bab tersebut. Selain dari itu, ianya juga dipersembahkan secara santai dengan ilustrasi kartun dan 'font' yang menarik. Antara kandungan buku ini adalah "Ketahui Pasaran Kerjaya Anda", "Penjenamaan Diri", "Kerjaya Kedua", "Pemeriksaan Karier" dan pelbagai lagi kandungan yang boleh dimanfaatkan oleh pembaca. Buku ini boleh didapati daripada Unit Penerbitan Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) atau pesanan boleh ditujukan kepada zurainaali@gmail.com atau rizyani@gmail.com, rizyani@yahoo.com.

Muka hadapan buku Melangkah Gagah: Urus Kerjaya Anda. Putih menggambarkan bakal graduan yang bakal memasuki Dunia Sebenar alam pekerjaan.


Antara bab didalam buku Melangkah Gagah: Urus Kerjaya Anda yang dimuatkan pelbagai grafik. Kandungan bab diharapkan dapat membantu bakal graduan merancang kerjaya dengan lebih efektif.

The proposal defense

Alhamdullilah. The waiting for proposal defend was over yesterday. It went okay. I received construtive comments from the examiner, chairperson and audiences. Some of the things I need to ammend were:

(i) problem statement needed to be refined. There's ONE point that I didn't address in the section. I stated it in the introduction but didn't highlights this in the problem statement's session.
(ii) further reading on theories used for the study needed to be done. They suggested that I read books though articles are also important. I can buy books on line for this. Committee recommeded me to go to the uni's library to borrow books
(iii) address why I left out some elements in the theory I adopted for the study.
(iv) check formatting. Is it APA, MLA..check consistency

They didn't comment on the method (Chapter 3) of my study. My committe (the only one) attending since the main SV was on academic trip oversea, was really happy about this. He gave me deadline for 5 months to analyse and write all chapters. What a challenge!

I'm still waiting

Last Friday, I prepared myself to present my proposal. I was nervous but always had faith that no matter what happened, I prayed that I could handle all matters well (if not best). I went to the presentation room (the usual room for presentation) and I saw that they were a few people in it. I guessed they must be there for my presentation. However, they seemed to be quite matured. That was my first doubt. Well, perhaps I was the only presenter. Moreover, it was a "last minute" notice for the students (they also didn't notify the presentation online, not that I care that no one will be attending the presentation. It's just that I felt that, would'nt there be at least a student to see me presenting? If there's none, the better actually!. I also didn't see a note on the door. Usually, there'll be a notice paste on the door if there's any presentation on that day. I thought it was better for me to go and check at the Graduate office. The staff told me that they changed the venue. Okay.. so I went to the building as was requested by her.

I waited for a few minutes. Then one of the SVs came (not the main SV). We discussed a few things. There were a lot of fruitful discussions, but just before I'll be presenting, not a good sign!. After a while, I could see a food caterer preparing tea-break in the room. Then came the examiner.. we made a short acquaintance. Just a few minutes after that the examiner's phone was ringing. I overhead her conversation. I could tell that something bad would be happening. My thought was right, she told me that the presentation was postpone again. I didn't know what to say. The SV was also speechless. He called the staff in the Graduate Office for confirmation. Yes, it was true as what the examiner informed us. The SV consoled me telling me there would always be a "hikmah" behinds all the things that happen to me. So, my defend was schedule to be on the Thursday 7 October. And yet at this hour the Graduate Office was still unable to find one available MC for the presentation nor can they fix the time whether is it going to be in the morning/afternoon. Ku mohon dipermudahkan buatku Ya Allah sebagaimana Engkau permudahkan tugasan hamba2mu yg lain, Amin.

Human are good at planning, yet God is the Provider

Today was quite a bad day for me as I received the news that my proposal defense is postponed due to the inability of the examiner in attending the session this 23rd Sept. I thought I can present earlier than the date I booked for the actual presentation, which I booked on 30 September. However, thinking of wanting to present earlier, I then called the Graduate Office to make the arrangement. Now, I'm not sure whether my main supervisor and the committee are able to make it or not on 4October. Latest info. both the chairperson and examiner will only be avaiilable on 8th Oct. Hope committee members are also free on that day. Human beings are good at planning things, but Allah is the one who determine whether or not our wish can become a reality or otherwise. I realised that this could be due to my wrong doings of so many things. Ya Allah, please forgive me for I couldn't run away from making mistakes. Here's a poem as a lesson from today's event when I browsed the word "La Takhaf wa la tahzan". Taken from http://www.mail-archive.com/sobat-azzam@yahoogroups.com/msg00661.html. It's a very nice poem and really reflects what I'm feeling at the moment.

La Takhaf wa la tahzan...

Jika ini ketentuanMu,
ku coba tabahkan hatiku,
karena pasti tersirat sesuatu di balik yang tersurat itu...
karena ku manusia biasa,
tidak terdaya memikirkan apakah hikmahnya...
apakah rahsianya..
hidup ini terus berputar,
tiada masa untuk lengah,
tiada masa untuk patah,

ku kuatkan hati yang serapuh kaca ini,
ku salutkan bersama doa tulus suci,
karena doa itu tersimpan satu kekuatanku,
kekuatan dari yang Empunya segalanya...

dan pastinya dunia bukan milikku sendiri,
untukku atur segalanya,
karena yang takdir itu mengatasi tadbir...
tadbir dari manusia yang lemah,
takdir dari Tuhan Yang Maha Mencipta,

ku simpan segala pahit dan duka,
dalam surat kehidupan ini,
yang penuh sirat pengajaran...

di sebalik yang terjadi
pasti ada yang terjanji
termateri sesuatu yang pasti
jika kau ridho ketentuan Ilahi...

The above story didn't end there. The day after writing this post, I was scolded by my supervisor via phone call telling me that I was the only student that had this kind of problem. The SV didn't have such a problem handling other students. I felt that the SV wanted to say that I'm a problematic std. In the conversation, I proposed to the SV to arrange for sthe presentation some other day. The SV refused to hear anything on the changes of date. The SV wanted to talk to the personnel in the Graduate Office only and warned me that things would be bad when it happens. I cried after I hang up the phone. I called the personnel right after that, though I knew she was off from work that day. She said she'll tell me on the date when she gets back to work (meaning today, Thursday 23 Sept). Now, I'm waiting for her call. I don't really expect anything good to happen at the current moment. What I mean I might not be presenting my proposal at the nearest time. Only Allah knows when...

Writing n publishing...

Alhamdullillah, finally I'm finished writing a manuscript after it was read by my supervisor. He made few suggestions and required me to edit few things. It concerns with what I've done in my pilot study (hence the title "Some Initial Findings") that I conducted a few month ago. Currently, I'm asking one of my colleagues to sort of proof-read it. Not sure which journal should I send it to but will find one. Hope it will be accepted by any publication out there as Prof. Ramayah of USM once said "every manuscipt has its place out there". Also, the manuscript I wrote with Kak Ida was already sent to be printed. It is really nice to work with her despite of our age gap. Her hubmleness makes me able to express my views though she is already a "somebody" in publishing industry. She is not stingy to share her knowledge of how to write. Her motivation always inspire me. Thank you kak ida for this friendship. I'm waiting for another two weeks to see how the book looks like after everything it is finalised.

NOTE: I didn't send this article as one of my supervisors told me to keep it first. He was afraid that people/ readers will be confused when reading the pilot study since I also mentioned that I wanted to publish the actual one study. For whatever the reason is, I need to get articles published; "published OR perished".

New look for my blog

Since this morning I was busy updating my blog because it has been a while that I didn't write or even add anything to this blog. And also today, the staff from Indah Water Consortium came to my house for their sewerage services. It cost RM48.00 per service. I'm not sure whether that is the standard price for all the services. The sewerage tank needs to be build again as it was really old. Not sure when it was built.

I'm still fasting today. For the month of Syaaban. Perhaps a training before the actual fasting in Ramadhan. If there is any 'puasa ganti' that I haven't qada' (of missing any fasting days), I guess this is the appropriate time. Today I plan to cook ikan pari masak asam pedas. I searched for the recipe and found this link http://sudipkayu.blogspot.com/2008/05/asam-pedas-ikan-pari.html to be the most useful guide as this is the first time I'll be cooking the dish. I cooked mi rebus johor yesterday. Gave it to Mak Teh next door since she was also fasting. My husband only said it was 'bole le'. He had two plates of that dish last night. The kids ate it with kicap kipas udang only and a little of its 'kuah'.

Streamyx- not so fame as it sounds

I'm so angry with the service... The personnel in TMPoint Pekan told me that a technician from Kuantan will come to my house within a week after I filled-in the application form. It has been A MONTH and A DAY now and he's still not here. What takes him so long?

I understand about the so-called "procedure" as was told by the personnel at the centre. However, been tolerating for it for some time already. This is EXTREMELY BAD. I'm working at home and internet is the 'life' to everything that I'm doing. Currently, I'm sharing the internet line with my neighbour (also my husband's cousin) and every time I have to call her asking to on/off the line.. it's devastating.

Vocabulary Tests

I'm done with preparing three immediate vocabulary tests and a delayed test (for pre and/or post tests). I also have new circle of friends, not just some kind of friends but the "who's who" in the field of L2 Vocabulary Acquisitions. I contacted them through emails and mobile phones. They gave me helpful opinions and great insights into the topic that I'm researching. I admired how down-to-earth they are unlike others who think they are so damn great and think they are the best. Just like the song "You're so VAIN, I'll bet you think this song is about you, Don't you? Don't you?" Ha, ha...

Yesterday was Hadif's birthday

I didn't bought a cake for hadif's birthday yesterday. Instead I packed goodies in colourful plastic bags, put a tag (to indicate that they were from him) and gave to his friends at the taska. He refused to bring cake to the taska actually. He was bothered by a girl who liked to lick the cake's cream but he could not (perhaps he saw the girl licking someone's cake in the taska). So he said he wanted to eat the cake at home. I asked my husband to buy the cake on his way home after taking the kids, but he forgot. Luckily, Hadif didn't mention anything about it. I think what matter most in our kids' birthday is the thoughts of preparing "something" from their parents. It's to show that they are celebrated for their birthdays. A cake may be a good idea but it can be replaced with other things... Happy 4th Birthday, Hadif.

Comprehensive Exam

I completed answering the comprehensive exam assigned by my supervisor. I found it difficult to understand the questions. I discussed the questions with my friends and a lecturer in Uitm Perlis. They gave me insights on what to cover for the questions. To make the matter worse, my baby- sitter felt sick for two days. It was stressful for me because I had to meet the deadline in submitting the answers. Alhamdulillah, it is over now. Yet, it doesn't mean that I will be over with it entirely. I wish I will not be doing corrections or any sort of thing like that, though I hope for the worst.

My first day working after semester break

I'm back to work again after having a long break. And this is a new year already! I have great determination for these 24 months.. hopefully it will last. I need to be more enthusiast with my works (generally or academically). Tomorrow I'll be seeing Dr. Ahmad Fauzi. He's one of the committee members for my doctoral degree programme in UPM. Will be seeing him at 2sth before I go to Dr. Bahaman's Advanced Statistics class. I withdrew from his Introduction to Statistics class last semester since i could not catch-up. I took Introduction to Statistics when he was a part- timer in IIUM. I really worked hard for his subject. Scored a B in his class and to me it was a real achievement for someone who is so very2x poor in calculations and numbers (no jokes!). He was so fast and energetic, really he was FAST (back then and now also). Ask him and he can give the answer instantly. For this Advances Statistics class I'll be having my own 'personal tutor'. I know that I will not be able to learn stat. all by myself. And thus, I really hope she can make me understand concepts, calculations (especially) and others in learning the subject. At the moment I'm downloading notes for the classes. It's available online. You need to register for the course though you're auditing, sitting-in or even registered (legally) for the course at http://ace.upm.edu.my/~bas/. I'll be going with Anita for the class tomorrow. As usual, we'll be heading from Kuantan to KL at 9sth. We'll be reaching there at 1pm, perhaps. Talking about the way she drives, she's a speedy gonzales, I know we'll arrive earlier than the time I mentioned here. Happy 2010, may this year bring more bless.

To mok and pok, InshaAllah Ina akan pikul tanggungjawab yg diberikan ini dgn sebaiknya sebagaimana mok selalu pesan buat kerja mesti sungguh2. Semoga roh mok & pok dirahmati Allah. Alfatihah.