The purpose of a dissertation is to demonstrate the ability to formulate in written form the results of independent specialised or scientific work carried out under the supervision of the thesis adviser. Its content should correspond to the demands imposed on the specialised scientific text.
The following information contains the requirements, conditions, and general recommendations for writing theses (bachelor and graduate dissertations), primarily in terms of current legal and organisational regulations.
1 CHOICE AND ASSIGNMENT OF DISSERTATION TOPIC
When choosing a dissertation topic the student has two options:
a)choose from the:
offer of topics written by individual faculty workplaces (departments, laboratories) or by specific teachers.
ou will find this list in the Studies Information System (SIS) under the Thesis topics (Dissertation selection) icon, or on the websites of individual workplaces. Announce the selected topic in SIS, and within 10 days contact the teacher who is to advise the student on the topic he or she has selected. After an agreement is reached, the teacher will or will not assign the work on a binding basis. If the student fails to contact the teacher within 10 days of announcing his or her choice, the work can be assigned to anyone else without prior notification (NB: If the student is unable to announce his or her selection, he or she should contact the teacher who can announce it or assign it to the student.)
b)propose a special topic, which the student must consult with the selected teacher
The teacher must approve the proposal, whose dissertation topic should fall under the teacher's specialised or research focus. The teacher then announces the assignment in SIS and assigns it to the student.
Assignment of the work to the student is binding and can be cancelled only by the studies department on the basis of a request confirmed by the head of the workplace at which the work was registered.
After the work is assigned the addition of files in SIS (the student's own solution for the work, abstracts, etc.) is activated.
The student generally writes the dissertation within the framework of his or her specialisation or field of study. The topic is selected according to the student's specific interests, prior experiences or practices, or according to the interest of the workplace with which the student cooperates or in which the student will work after graduating. In the ideal case the student can join a scientific-research project of the given workplace with his or her topic. The work can also be done under the leadership of an outside worker at individual workplaces of Charles University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, but only with the consent of the workplace leader.
The student reserves the dissertation topic with the head of dissertations according to the type of study programme: for bachelor's candidates, in the 2nd Section of Baccalaureate Studies, and master's candidates in the 1stSection of Graduate Studies. The adviser enters the student's fulfilled studies obligation in SIS and in the index under the name Reservation of Baccalaureate or Master's Thesis (3 credits awarded) no later than by the end of the 2nd (for bachelor candidates) or 1st (for master candidates) sector of study.
The adviser also enters the studies obligation in SIS and the index under the name Colloquium for Baccalaureate or Graduate Studies (3 credits awarded), in the 3rd (for baccalaureate work) or 2nd section (for graduate work) ofstudy.
2 ELABORATION OF A DISSERTATION PROJECT
After the selection and assignment of a dissertation topic the student is obligated to elaborate a written project for its realisation and submit this project to the adviser. Students are acquainted with its content structure and formalities under the subject, Methodologies for Baccalaureate or Graduate Dissertations in the winter semester of the 2nd Section of Baccalaureate Studies or the 1st Section of Graduate Studies. It should contain in particular the following items: goal of the work, its reasoning, working hypotheses, methods, and techniques that will be used in the work, a draft of the work, a timetable for the work, and basic literature for the study.
3 CONSENT OF THE CHARLES UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT, ETHICS COMMITTE
For certain theses (if the research involves researching human subjects) the student, prior to the realization of his/her own project, is obligated to request in writing the consent of the Charles University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Ethics Committee (UK FTVS Ethics Committee). More detailed information on the Ethics Committee, a list of topics requiring the consent of the Ethics Committee.
In sufficient time before commencement of the research, the student delivers to the UK FTVS Ethics Committee: a filled-in Application for Approval by UK FTVS Ethics Committee, together with a filled in document with Informed Consent (in the language of the participants with the given project), by e-mail in a Word-document to
4 onGOING CONSULTATIONS WITH THE ADVISER
While working on his or her dissertation, the student is obligated to consult regularly with the adviser with respect to the dissertation's content and form. The student has the right to discuss issues with any member of the workplace where the work is being done, with any other workplace at Charles University Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, and, when absolutely necessary, with any external institution.
5 Structure of the dissertation
A dissertation can a) be based on orientational, partial, or purposeful research and on various research observations (empirical-theoretical work), or can b) purposefully process, sort, and critically analyse an overview of knowledge on a serious, topical specialised problem (so it is of compilation or descriptively-analytical nature) (theoretical work).
5.1 Structure of empirical-theoretical work
Abstract
An abstract (structured abstract) is a brief characteristic work from which follows the goal and sense of the work, the method for solving problems, and the most-balanced results. It contains so-called key words that, as the most important terms from the solution of the problem and truthfully characterise the basic theme of the work and serve for cataloguing (with the help of these words users can seek out in the text). The key words should not include words that are part of the title of the dissertation. The abstract comes at the beginning of the work after the mandatory opening pages in Czech and English.
Contents
The contents are structured in accord with the articulation of the actual text of the work. The titles of the individual chapters must be in the text and the same in content. Each item in the contents should fit on one line. For creating the contents automatic generation with the use of an application of predefined styles of headings is recommended.
List of symbols and abbreviations used
If the text contains special symbols and abbreviations, they should be listed and explained. If the text contains only abbreviations that are generally known, they need not be explained.
A dissertation of empirical-theoretical nature articulated into individual chapters that are mutually linked and form a finished, compact whole.
a. Introduction
The introduction should contain an explanation of the selection and the topicality of the subject and an outline of the problem that the student will solve (e.g., as a theme it falls under the workplace's research work), the current status of the solution of the issue, a setting of the goal and working hypotheses, and the anticipated yield of the work. The introduction should not take quotations from or discuss the work of another author.
The introduction should be from 1 to 1½ pages long.
b. Theoretical starting point of the work
This part of the dissertation presents a detailed report on what is in domestic and foreign literature about the selected problem published up to the present. The student demonstrates the ability to find, study, thematically sort and analyse specialised literature from a given field. Citations from the literature (more details in Chapter 6.3) must be included.
The overall extent of the theoretical part of the work is generally 15 to 20 pages.
c. Goals and themes of the work, hypothesis
The student precisely, briefly, and comprehensibly defines the goal of the work. He or she formulates the themes of the work step by step. The student explains the stipulation of a working hypothesis or formulates the research question.
The total extent of this part should be 1 to 1½ pages.
d. Methodology of the work
Here, the student describes the overall methodological approach and states specific methods and procedures the student used and on the basis of which the student arrived at the stated results and conclusions. Methods must be clearly described so as to make it possible to verify any achieved results. The procedures used should also include suitable statistical methods.
In this part of the work the student should mention the possible existence of informed consent and approval of the project by the ethics Committee of Charles University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport.
The methodology is generally articulated into the following sub-chapters:
description of the observed/researched set
methods used
data collection – timetable, conditions and management of data collection
analysis of data – statistical processing of data
According to the dissertation's focus, the extent of the methodological part can be from 3 to 8 pages long.
e. Results
In this fundamental part of the thesis the student graphically, briefly, clearly, and convincingly presents the results both through a simple text and using tables or graphics. The achieved results should be appropriately evaluated (specifically, with statistics) and interpreted with reasoned objectivity in comparison with the current state of knowledge in the area of the given issue according to literature sources (especially when combining this chapter with Discussion).
This part should be about 15 to 20 pages long, depending on the methods used and the character of the work.
f. Discussion
Here, the results achieved are compared with the current status of resolution of the problem, as stated in the theoretical part of the work. The Discussion should contain information as to whether the stipulated hypotheses of the work have been confirmed or rejected, and for what reason. This part of the work must be linked to Results.
This part of the work should be 3 to 6 pages long.
g. Conclusions
This is a brief summary of the achieved results, conclusions, and knowledge in comparison with the stipulated goal and the hypotheses. From the conclusion it should be clear what sort of problem the student took up and especially what conclusions the student came to. Based on the results found the author should name other problems he or she had to pay purposeful attention to, outline the recommendations and proposals whose realisation would in practice and possibly also in theory (i.e., through further research) help solve the problem under examination. As in the Introduction there are no citations of other works.
It is recommended that this part be 1 to 2 pages long.
Bibliography (Reference List)
This contains all the literature and sources that were used in the work and are mentioned in the text. In the bibliography it is possible to exceptionally also state publications with which the student worked but on which there is no reference in the text (e.g., literature of a methodological nature). The bibliography is arranged in alphabetical order according to the initials of the name (first) of the author of the work, and works of the same author are listed chronologically. Internet sources should not be stated separately but together with printed sources.
In the bibliography the student is obligated to use a bibliographic quotation according to the APA Style, Seventh Edition (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020).
Attachments
This part of the dissertation contains all the materials (photographs, graphs, tables, question forms, etc.) necessary for understanding and illustrating the text, if it is impossible to place them directly in the text. For material that comes from another source, that source must be acknowledged in the bibliography. It is recommended that this part of the thesis starts with a list of attachments, followed by the attachments themselves. Each attachment has its own number and true name (e.g., Attachment No. 1: Offer of interesting circles of organisations from the point of view of elementary schools), and on it the text must be properly referred to. The pages of the attachments are either not numbered at all, or else they are numbered differently than the pages in the text itself (e.g.: with Roman numerals).
The first attachment is the original of the confirmed Ethics Committee of Charles University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport (the second copy of the student's dissertation has a copy of this form) and a sample of the informed consent of the research participants (without the data filled in). A filled-in informed consent with the relevant signatures (for each person examined) must be personally submitted to the chairperson of the Ethics Committee of Charles University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport.
5.2 Structure of the theoretical work
Abstract
An abstract (structured abstract) is a brief characteristic work from which follows the goal and sense of the work, the method for solving problems, and the most-balanced results. It contains so-called key words that, as the most important terms from the solution of the problem and truthfully characterise the basic theme of the work and serve for cataloguing (with the help of these words users can seek out in the text). The key words should not include words that are part of the title of the dissertation. The abstract comes at the beginning of the work after the mandatory opening pages in Czech and English.
Contents
The contents are structured in accord with the articulation of the actual text of the work. The titles of the individual chapters must be in the text and the same in content. Each item in the contents should fit on one line. For creating the contents automatic generation with the use of an application of predefined styles of headings is recommended.
List of symbols and abbreviations used
If the text contains special symbols and abbreviations, they should be listed and explained. If the text contains only abbreviations that are generally known, they need not be explained.
A dissertation of theoretical nature is usually further articulated in the subsequent chapters, which are mutually linked to each other and create a purposeful, compact whole.
a. Introduction
The introduction should contain an explanation of the selection and the topicality of the subject and an outline of the problem that the student will solve (e.g., as a theme it falls under the workplace's research work), the current status of the solution of the issue, a setting of the goal, and the anticipated yield of the work. The introduction should not take quotations from or discuss the work of another author.
The introduction should be from 1 to 1½ pages long.
b. Current status of the research
This part of the dissertation presents a detailed report on what is in domestic and foreign literature about the selected problem published up to the present. The student demonstrates the ability to find, study, thematically sort and analyse specialised literature, a periodical, or period documents from a given field. Citations from the literature (more details in Chapter 6.3) must be included.
The overall extent of the theoretical part of the work is generally 5 to 10 pages.
c. Goals and themes of the work, hypothesis
The student precisely, briefly, and comprehensibly defines the goal of the work. He or she formulates the themes of the work step by step. This describes the overall methodological approach and states the specific methods that the student used and on the basis of which the student arrived at the stated conclusions.
According to the focus of the dissertation, this part can be from approximately 3 to 5 pages long.
d. Methodology of the work
This is the fundamental part of the dissertation. For example, it can contain a description and analysis of the development of the historical facts, philosophical, sociological, pedagogical, and other problems. Its most specific delimitation of course depends on the topic of the thesis and the scientific discipline to which it leads.
The total length of this part of the dissertation is approximately 30 to 50 pages.
e. Conclusion
This is a brief summary of the achieved results, conclusions, and knowledge in comparison with the stated goal. From the conclusion it should be clear what kind of problem the student has researched and especially what conclusions he or she has arrived at. Based on the results achieved the student should name the directions that further research in the topical area that the author has elaborated could take. As in the Introduction, other authors are not quoted here.
Recommended length: 2 to 4 pages
Bibliography (Reference List)
This contains all the literature and sources that were used in the work and are mentioned in the text. In the bibliography it is possible to exceptionally also state publications with which the student worked but on which there is no reference in the text (e.g., literature of methodological nature). The bibliography is arranged in alphabetical order according to the initials of the name (first) of the author of the work, and works of the same author are listed chronologically. Internet sources should not be stated separately but together with printed sources. In cases of historical nature different articulation of the list of sources and literature are generally used.
In the bibliography the student is obligated to use a bibliographic quotation according to the APA Style, Seventh Edition (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020).
Attachments
This part of the dissertation contains all the materials (photographs, period documents, graphs, tables, etc.) necessary for understanding and illustrating the text, if it is impossible to place them directly in the text. For material that comes from another source, that source must be acknowledged in the bibliography. It is recommended that this part of the thesis start with a list of attachments, followed by the attachments themselves. Each attachment has its own number and true name (e.g., Attachment No. 1: Statutes of Prague Physical Education Unit), and in it the text must be properly referred to. The pages of the attachments are either not numbered at all, or else they are numbered differently than the pages in the text itself (e.g.: with Roman numerals).
6 MATTERS OF FORM IN THE DISSERTATION
The work must be compiled using a text editor (most often Microsoft Word) or another programme oriented toward the creation of text and combined documents, or with the use of other appropriate programmes for working with data of numerical or graphical nature. It must be printed on white A4 (210 x 297 mm), on only one side of each page.
A dissertation is most often elaborated in the language of the accreditation of the relevant field of study, or in another language only with the consent of the adviser.
The entire text of the thesis must have a unified graphical arrangement. Excessive use of boldface, italics, underlining, various fonts and sizes of letters, etc., is not recommended. If possible, do not use underlining at all. A scientific text need not be colourful, rather its form and unified presentation are what matter.
The student is fully responsible for the linguistic level and form of his or her work, which are among the partial criteria in its overall rating. The style must be professional, scientific, and brief, and use precisely defined terms (primarily with empirical-theoretical works).
6.1Title page and opening pages of the text
Use a sample of a title page's structure, of the title page inside the thesis, and the opening pages which must be included in the dissertation.
6.2 Method for writing the text
Font: Times New Roman, 12 point (10 points for footnotes)
Line spacing: 1.5 (in footnotes 1.0)
Aligning the text: block form (both sides uniform)
Margins: left 3.5 cm (or left 2.5 cm, at the spine-lining 1 cm), right 2.5 cm, top 2.5 cm, bottom 2.5 cm
Gaps between paragraphs: 6 points
Articulation of the text: At most four levels of titles of numbered chapters (tenth numerical classification) are used – the individual levels are distinguished by boldface, italics, or font size (e.g., the first level, with bold, upper-case 16-point letters, second level, with lower-case bold 14-point letters, the third level, with 12-point bold lower-case letters, the fourth level, with 12-point lower-case letters). At the end of the numerical expression (i.e., after the final numeral) there is no period (e.g., 1.1.3), between the number and the beginning of the name of the chapter there are two fixed spaces. There is no period after the name of the chapter. Numbering of chapters begins with the Introduction and ends with Conclusions. The list of literature used (Reference List) and the Attachments are not numbered. Each main chapter begins on a new page. There are multiple blank lines between the subchapters.
Page numbering: All the pages are numbered, beginning with the first physical page of the work; on some pages the number does not appear (e.g., blank pages, the title page, the Appreciation page, the declaration, pages with special graphic arrangement; the first numbered page is thus generally the table of Contents). Arabic numerals are used to number the pages, and are usually placed at the bottom, in the centre. For setting the numbering format a “new section” of the text must be inserted.
Tables: Each table must have its own number and a brief, accurate name (e.g., Table No. 1, Changes in body weight of men during one year) or a legend (placed beneath the table, in smaller font size than in the basic text of the work). The name is above the table and there is no period after it. The heading (name of the column) is written with the first letter capitalised. The letter style in the table should be the same as in the basic text, only smaller by two points. The text in the left column is usually aligned on the left, while the other columns are centred. If there are numbers in the other columns they are aligned with the same decimal rows beneath each other; if these columns contain non-commensurable numerical data (e.g., in various units), the decimal lines need not be aligned. The line around the whole table and the horizontal line above the heading can be bolder than the other lines in the table. If in practice there are multiple tables, they are numbered consecutively. The text must contain appropriate references.
Images: Each image (graph, schematic, photograph) must have its own number and a brief, accurate name or legend. The name is generally under the image and there is no period after it. If there are multiple images in the work they are numbered consecutively. There must be appropriate references to them.
Footnotes: These are for placing supplementary information that does not belong directly in the text because they would interrupt its logical course, and bibliographical information is printed there (especially in historical works – more details in Chapter 6.3). Footnotes are numbered with Arabic numerals in the upper index through the entire work. They are located on the same page as the text they refer to. Text in footnotes ends with a period.
Abbreviations in the text: If abbreviations are used in the text they must always be explained the first time they are used (in parentheses or in a footnote if the explanation is more complicated). It can also be included in the list of abbreviations.
6.3 Quotations
Scientific baccalaureate and graduate works can contain findings or claims that are based either on the student's own research, or as quotations from relevant authors. They must not contain the student's own memories or statements heard somewhere. Notes from lectures may be used only in the event that the author consents to their publication (the quotation must then contain the author's name, the name of the lecture, the time and venue of the lecture).
Correct quoting and stating of all sources used, including data on information taken from any sources is not only a prerequisite for adhering to copyright law, it is also one of the basic rules of ethics in scientific work. The student is thus obligated, when writing his or her dissertation, to state all sources, and to mark all quotations and paraphrases. In this, the student must follow the APA Style, Seventh Edition (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020). The use of even shorter parts of expert and other works by other authors without quoting them and also the use of source material or empirical data without stating the source is fraud, whereby the student appropriates as his or her own the results of the work of other people. The results of such activity are considered plagiarism.
Bibliographical quotations is a summary of information on quoted publications or parts thereof, thus allowing their identification. A reference to a quotation is understood as a reference in the text to a quotation used in a different place (in the list of literature at the end of the work, or in footnotes).
You can find more detailed information on quotations here.
6.3.1 Bibliographical quotations
Bibliographical quotations is a list of information on a quoted publication of a part thereof, and their list is found in the List of Literature chapter. Information that constitutes a bibliographical quotation is listed in the List of Literature chapter. Data that constitute bibliographical quotations allow identification of a given book or part thereof. Below are examples of quotations or the most common types of works according the valid standard. The adviser will explain quotation of other sources, or will refer to the given standard.
6.3.2 References to quotations
A reference is a brief form of quotation that is a) slipped into the continuing text, b) included as a footnote below on the page (especially with historical works), c) stated at the end of the chapter or text. The selected method for referring to quotations must be unified through the entire text.
A reference to a quotation can take various forms; most frequently a so-called nominal reference, i.e., marking of the quotation in the text by naming the author/s and year of publication of the work, or by the page number in round parentheses e.g., (e.g., jak uvádí Novák (1999, s. 65)…. a jak tento problém řeší trenéři (Dobrý, 1985)).
The problem of two or more quotations in one year by the same author is resolved by distinguishing, e.g., the two books in the List of Publications by means of a letter after the year of publication (2000a, 2000b). This delineation must then also appear in the references to the thus distinguished bibliographical quotation (Rychtecký, 2000a), (Rychtecký, 2000b).
It is important to know that it is necessary to work with literature by other authors, not only to literally take a copy of the text (so-called direct quotation) without the student's own contribution. Work with literature primarily means comprehension of important thoughts of other authors, which are interpreted and further distributed (so-called indirect quotation). It is not permissible for direct quotations to make up most of the content of a page. Direct quotations are most often used in definitions, for statements that the student considers very important or “extreme” in some way. In this case the literally lifted part of the text (it must not be too long) is put in quotation marks, in italics, and in the reference to the quotation the student is obligated to state, besides the last name of the author, the year if publication and the number of the page from which the text was lifted.
In works of a historical nature the quotation is often referred to archival documents, whose quotation is not governed by the standard, but by established usage.
7 SUBMITTING A DISSERTATION AND REGISTERING TO DEFEND IT
The student is obligated to submit the dissertation in electronic form through SIS, and in printed form at the workplace (the department or laboratory) that extracted the work, by the deadline announced in the timetable of the academic year. The deadline for submitting the electronic and printed forms of the work is the same. The printed form is submitted in one bound, printed copy in fixed binding (thermal binders and ring binders are not permitted – the work's binding must guarantee that pages will be neither added to nor removed from it). A work is considered submitted only after both forms (electronic and printed) have been submitted. After the passing of the date set in the timetable for submitting dissertations it is not possible to submit the work!
Prior to submitting the work the student checks whether his or her work is correctly entered in SIS and all the necessary information is filled in (i.e., mainly the title, English title, academic year in which it was written, language of the work, type of work, institution, adviser, department). After the work is submitted no further editing is permitted! After submitting the work in electronic and printed form the student fills in a registration to defend it and submits it at the studies department (only by the deadline set by the timetable, the same date for submitting dissertations). The studies department checks the fulfillment of studies obligation, without which the dissertation cannot be defended.
8 JUDGMENT AND DEFENCE OF A DISSERTATION
The dissertation adviser and the opponent elaborate their evaluations, which include recommending (or not recommending) the evaluated work for defence, and enters them in SIS. The adviser proposes the opponent of the dissertation according to the nature of the topic.
At least three days prior to the deadline for the defence, the student has the right to become acquainted, in SIS, with wording of the judgments of the adviser and the opponent (the judgments have been attached to other files), in order to be able to prepare for the comments and questions that follow from them. Even if both evaIuations are positive, this does not automatically guarantee a successful defence of the work during the oral defence.
Defence of a dissertation, including the form of its presentation, takes place according to the instructions of the adviser and the workplace where it originated, before a committee which has at least three members. It is available to the public, except for the final meeting of the committee for evaluation of the work. Successful defence of a dissertation is a condition for holding the state final examination and is a part of the overall evaluation. During the period of no more than 15 days following his or her defence, the student can insert errata (a list of typographical and other errors) into SIS.
9 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BACCALAUREATE AND GRADUATE DISSERTATIONS
In terms of content, baccalaureate work differs from graduate work, especially for empirical-theoretical works, in the quality or extent of methods used, including statistical processing of data, size of the research file, etc.
Below are the quantitative requirements for dissertations:
a) baccalaureate work
recommended length: 40–60 pages (without attachments)
Minimum number of quotations required: 20
b) graduate work
Recommended length: 60–80 pages (without attachments)
Minimum number of quotations required: 40
If a graduate dissertation follows, in its topic, from baccalaureate work (which is suitable and desirable), or if it is an expanded and modified version of baccalaureate work, it should be at least 50% new. In this case, the dissertation must present a qualitatively new level of work on the topic, involving a further degree of knowledge.
