Writing your MSc thesis (Landman and Van Arem)

9/30/11

Challenge the future Delft University of Technology

Writing your MSc Thesis About mastering your thesis and killing your darlings

2 Titel van de presentatie

Killing your darlings

• No dating and sex during the writing process

• Not participating in the household during writing process

•  Being rude and grumpy to your environment if writing fails

•  else...


Killing your darlings

•  To realize a clear story line within your report, kill everything that does not contribute to the message.

• How do you kill them??

• When do you kill them??


Goal MSc Thesis

•  To show all I know and learned

•  There is no real goal for writing the thesis; my supervisors already know what I am capable of.

•  To answer my research questions in a structured way for any interested reader

•  Else...


Goal MSc Thesis

•  Provides insight into (for different types of readers) •  What has been done •  Why it has been done •  How it has been done •  What was concluded

•  Thoroughly master the content of your research subject (after struggle)

•  Learn to put things in place; •  introduction, research goals and questions, literature, method, results, discussion and conclusions.


Themes

•  Introduction and structure

•  Language and layout


Introduction and structure

• Not important; my supervisor reads everything

•  Very important; they give my reader a hallstand

•  Literature not needed; its all about my own cleverness

•  Else...


Structure

•  Reading a report •  Rough

•  Summary, content, conclusions

•  Selective •  Content, introduction (Pirst sentence) of sections, headings

•  Intensive •  Clear structure, not too much detail

•  One subject (point) per section


Introduction - format

•  1. Give insight into background of the research •  2. Establish a niche

•  Problem statement; However, unforunately, but... •  Importance of solving the problem

•  3. Occupy the niche •  Research question •  Indicate your main purposes (concrete) •  WorkPlow (literature, method, test case)

•  4. Present main Pindings •  5. Structure of report


Introduction – State of the art

•  Shows student is aware of existing theories, methods and results

•  To rePlect upon own method and results in discussion

•  Places research in existing research Pield (stresses relevance and prevents double work)

• Helps to distinguish own work from state-‐of-‐the-‐art and state-‐of-‐practice.


Structure of report

•  Separate results, their interpretation (meaning, consistency and validity) and the conclusions

•  Isolate required background information for the reader

• Minimize use appendices •  Hardly read and assessed (why if information is not important enough to include in main report)


Language and layout

• Keep it vague; if you can’t convice them, confuse them...

•  Subjective; I am the expert, so my option counts most

• Unambiguous and to the point based on facts

•  else...


Language and layout

•  Based on facts, unambiguous and to the point

•  Prevent the following •  adjectives and adverbs like important, large, etc…

•  it is clear that, obvious, evident etc… •  If it is clear, it is redundant information!

•  If it is not clear, am I stupid?


Language and layout

•  Figures •  Increase the number of pages

•  Make my report accessible to under age readers

•  Bring some color and a moment of relief •  else...


Language and layout

•  Figures •  Support your message

•  Make label readable (same size as your body text)

•  You always guide your readers through your Pigures (be polite!!)

•  Need to be refered to (mind the capital F “in Figure 2”)

•  Caption makes Pigure stand alone readable

Writing your MSc thesis (Landman and Van Arem)

Education

Transcript of Writing your MSc thesis (Landman and Van Arem)