Acknowledge only real indebtedness. It is not necessary, although permissible, to thank family, friends, or the members of one's committee. Acknowledgment must be made of any grants or other aid (especially financial) received in support of the investigation. This section should be brief and in good taste.
2.5 The Table of Contents
Every thesis has a table of contents. A good rule to follow is to include all major headings and all first-level subheadings. Other levels may be included if they facilitate quick reference to specific sub-sections of the thesis. There must be exact correspondence between the Table of Contents and the text of the thesis. The principal headings should be listed verbatim and in the order in which they appear in the thesis, together with the page number on which each of them begins.
The References and Appendices are part of the text of the thesis. They are listed in the Table of Contents as major divisions, set flush with the left margin and capitalized consistently with other major divisions. See Sample D.
2.6 The Illustrations
Tables are simply data presented in tabular form. Figures are materials presented in graphic form, including maps, charts, graphs, photographs, computer printouts, music script, and the like. All these are ordinarily grouped as figures, or by some authorities as illustrations. Tables precede figures. If there are large numbers of one type of illustration, these may properly be separated and listed by themselves, e.g., List of Maps, List of Graphs. Normally, photographs and many maps are referred to as Plates. A thesis may well contain a List of Tables, a List of Figures, and a List of Plates, if each listing is of adequate length. If only one type of illustration is used, only one list is required. If illustrations of any type are infrequent (if any list takes less than one third of a page), lists may be combined as List of Tables and Figures, or as List of Illustrations. (A table may properly be called an illustration; it cannot properly be called a figure.)
2.7 The Text
The text describes the project and will contain chapters with various titles, but chapters of research theses will most likely fall into the following types of sections. Plays, novels, or other literary works will result in different text divisions.
2.71 The Introduction
Every report will have an introduction. The introduction presents the problem or concept that will be analyzed. It articulates the argument and contains the pertinent sources and approach to analysis. The thesis will use the sources throughout and demonstrate how the strain of thinking in each contributes to your argument.
2.72 The Literature Review
Critically discuss and analyze previous important work pertinent to the specific issue of your project. Integrate literature from other fields as necessary. Demonstrate logical continuity between previous work and the present work. Integrate the use of literature in support of your project.
