A thesis is obligatory writing you have to put on your professor's desk at the end of an education. And, if everything is done correctly, a Master's degree will be in your bag at a moment's notice.
A thesis isn't a paper of one night - you have to spend a lot of time, efforts, and even nerves to come up with a really refined and relevant work. To do so, you should start with the basics. Before the actual writing, be sure to recall what is the purpose of this academic paper and what is expected of you as a candidate who is approaching a PhD. Here, we will guide you through all the particularities of the thesis paper, provide you with step-by-step writing instructions, and offer you some useful tips to cope with this project without worries.
Frequently, a thesis paper is called a magnum opus of a student. That is because you have to work on it within a long period, conduct profound research and experiments on a certain scientific issue, analyze the findings and contribute to a certain academic area. Your thesis is the best representation of your capabilities, specific knowledge, skills, and academic interests, as well as an overall activity throughout your education.
While working on a thesis, you develop planning, interpreting, analyzing, information processing, and other skills that can come in handy in everyday life. Hence, this project is not just a waste of paper that needs to be submitted to cross all the t's. With its help, you will be able to discuss your research question with other experts and become a member of different scientific societies. A master's thesis can be the key to success in case you want to follow the academician's path.
Firstly, successful thesis writing is impossible without proper communication with your supervisor. You can easily choose a topic by yourself and even write a whole paper without any guidance, but what are the chances that this way, you'll do the appropriate thing? Rely on experienced and competent members of the corresponding Committee and don't neglect to ask for some academic advice or guidelines. This way, you can be confident about the proper progress of your writing, fix mistakes promptly, and submit everything in time. An academic thesis not only demonstrates the results of research conducted but makes the student meet the range of requirements.
These are the basic ones. We recommend you always discuss any specific requirements with your monitor or someone from an assessment committee. Now, after you have recalled the main points of the thesis project, it's time to embark on actual writing.
The general template of your thesis is simple. Like any other paper, it will have a part with an introduction where you have to set a central statement, a so-called body part with a description of your research, and your conclusions formatted appropriately. But, the structure of a thesis or dissertation has its particularities and specific features that should be preserved in order to complete a project like a real master. In this section, we will take a closer look at the points that make a thesis distinguish and provide you with guidelines on how to deal with each of them.
Start with the preliminaries. This section consists of the cover page, title page, the table of contents, and something called the abstract. Since the first three elements are just basic information about your thesis (your name, school, specialty, a topic, etc.), we suggest you pay attention to the abstract part.
Its length varies from 100 to 300 words organized in one paragraph, so always negotiate it with your monitor. As a rule, in this part, you provide an overview of the research you've conducted and cover its gist. To make it simple, write while looking at your outline - you will guarantee the logical flow of the narration and avoid omitting important elements. You only have to underline, not explore in depth, the peculiarities of the research. Make sure the abstract includes generalized information and meets certain goals.
Here are three principles of a good abstract.
Then, proceed to the introduction to make the audience immerse in the issue of your research. Provide more information about the research circumstances, methods, and objectives. State the primary problem and statement of your thesis, answer the question of why it's important by explaining its relevance to the audience. Make sure your introduction logically leads the reader to the main part where you are going to analyze the data obtained.
What to do when the aim and even the results of your research were already mentioned? In the body of a thesis, you have to go through all the information related to your study and show that it is reasonable and well-grounded. The first part is a literature review. Here, you analyze the theoretical background you have relied on before starting the research. Various results of previous studies, theories that have provoked you to consider a certain issue, various reliable facts, examples, etc.
Pay attention to the way you organize the body of a thesis. Create topics and subtopics, add a few bulleted and numbered lists, and make the overall text easy-to-read. For all the theoretical material to make solid grounds for further research, always check if it is related to the entire investigation.
In the second part of a thesis body, present the results of your investigation. This part of the paper is a place for precise data that can be given in the form of tables, charts, statistics, percentages, etc. If the results of your investigation emphasize different aspects, consider adding subparagraphs.
Conclusions are not the same as the results you've described before. All the information obtained has to show that your research was definitely effective to answer the primary statement. Hence, you have to analyze the results and explain how they can be applied in a certain area. There are several ways to formulate your conclusions:
Also, if your findings are appropriate, you can challenge your primary statement or prove its relevance.
You have approached the final part of this specific paper. Here, you have to deal with a few other sections.
It has almost the same purpose as an abstract and highlights the main concepts of your academic investigation. Depending on your studies and school, can be written in a foreign language.
Those should be done meeting all rules required by a certain referencing style. Here, you mention the sources used and cited in the paper (books, media, videos, etc.).
They contain charts and tables, statistical data, and other elements that were too big or unfitting for inserting into the text itself. Can also have different standards you have to meet, so discuss them with a professor.
With this guide, you will easily prepare an original thesis and amaze the examiners at the defense of your final project. Now, all you need to do is to get the degree you deserve!
