How to Write an Excellent Master’s Thesis: List of Hints
- Choose your research question carefully. It should be broad, important, and interesting enough for you to produce a large piece of research as an answer to it.
- Write a clear and specific thesis statement. It will be your main guideline throughout your writing process.
- Review the available literature on your subject. Pay special attention to recent research studies. Make sure that the work you are going to perform is not obsolete, and your question has not been explicitly answered by others.
- Prepare an outline. It is a perfect way to organize your thoughts. You can use the outline’s main points as your headings and sub-headings.
- Do not begin writing your thesis until you get the outline approved by your advisor (or, in some universities, by the faculty board). They may advise you to change the outline structure, and you will find yourself having to delete or completely rewrite pieces of text that are irrelevant.
- Maintain close contact with your supervisor. This is the first person whom you should turn to if you have any problems or questions about writing your thesis.
- Set deadlines for each stage of work on your thesis; it will increase your motivation. You may use special planning software to help keep track on your progress.
- Use a journal or notebook to record ideas related to your thesis whenever they occur – perhaps on a long bus ride or while waiting in a queue. This notebook may also serve to record pieces of raw data from the literature.
- Do not be afraid of repeating key words or terms. Attempts to replace them with synonyms may negatively affect your thesis, as other words have different connotations and shades of meanings. If your thesis subject is “communicable disease,” do not try to alternate the first word with “infectious” or “contagious” – they may not be exact enough for your context. Besides, using the same key phrases again and again helps link sentences and paragraphs, and makes it easier for readers to keep track of your thought.
- Make your figures and tables as soon as you need them. If you postpone this work for the last moment, there may be errors that you will have no time to improve.
- Find an editor. Regardless of your previous experience in academic writing, it may be difficult to find all the flaws in such a large piece like your master’s thesis on your own. Make sure that your editor is an expert in academic style and language.
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