12 tips for a successful Master’s thesis: The Master’s thesis is crucial for your M2 year since its validation is a prerequisite for obtaining your degree. From choosing the subject to preparing the oral defense, here are 12 tips to have the best chance of success:
Choose Your Topic Well
The best idea is to find a subject you like and want to explore. Since you will spend hours working on your dissertation, it might as well be a topic you are passionate about. This initial step is essential. It is necessary to validate a priori the subject’s relevance (its’ capacity to support a deepening or a contradictory treatment, its topicality for the actors of education or research, etc.).
At this stage, the field of study or reflection should be clearly marked out, so there is no risk of ambiguity or distorted interpretations. Ensure your topic is relevant to your training and school placements.
Clearly Define Your Field of Investigation
What angle of your topic still needs to be addressed? What phenomenon is likely to be explored? To define your problem, you will have to do some research. It is essential to situate the subject studied in the field of existing knowledge.
Suppose the subject is widely covered by a diversity of publications, or on the contrary. You will have to consider appropriating it if it is impossible to feed it because of a lack of information (the documentation is inaccessible because the material is non-existent). You will have to “study the literature” and look for academic and scientific articles on the subject.
As we see, some themes/subjects are already widely explored, while others are still wooly for understanding and research. In the first case, the auditor relies on a large body of knowledge. In the other case, it is better to delegate your paper to a professional from https://essayswriter.org/ and receive a unique and compelling Master’s thesis on time.
Define the Problem
The formulation of the problem and the expression of the research guidelines are essential and delicate aspects of the work. A problematic and the associated questions must not remain implicit or be induced a posteriori by the reader – academic or professional. They demonstrate the author’s ability to conduct a personal and independent reflection on a chosen subject.
A problem is a logical set of questions built around the central question directly related to the chosen subject. This logical whole must include working hypotheses and questions that are logically linked to each other.
A problem must be explicit, written, and unequivocal. It must be deployed and unfolded in an obvious manner. The plan is a tangible expression of a well-thought-out problem. In other words, the issue is the pilot station of your dissertation.
Be Clear About Your Methodology
To succeed in elaborating a dissertation, it is necessary to respect a rigorous methodology that must be perfectly mastered to produce high-quality work. A reflection only has a serious chance of succeeding if it focuses on a limited subject, circumscribed by a state of knowledge, and if it corresponds to an identified social and/or professional demand.
Then the approach has a certain legitimacy, and the central question can be clearly formulated.
A work of reflection does not simply consist in recalling or reproducing obvious facts (observations). It contributes to the growth of knowledge of its subject in a particular field by enrichment, confirmation, or refutation.
A relevant methodology makes it possible to record and analyze concrete situations based on representations (concepts, etc.) and observations. A well-developed methodology reinforces the process of understanding and the explanatory and demonstrative scope of the work.
Have Thought About Your Plan
An essential step in any successful dissertation, the plan will allow you to highlight your problem and organize the different concepts of your dissertation efficiently.
To compose your plan, don’t hesitate to leaf through the dissertations written by former students in your class. You will get ideas and realize what can (or cannot) be done.
The plan must be well thought out. It involves identifying the main ideas to be addressed, the essential arguments and explanations, and the examples to deal effectively with the subject, and then deciding how to approach the problem and move from one idea to another logically.
It would be best if you waited to implement the plan. Start by thinking, reading, and synthesizing. Students need to know what they want to talk about. The plan will come easier later.
A plan is not a rigid element; it is necessarily bound to be reshaped, rearranged, and modified as the process progresses. This is why it is helpful to distinguish the following:
- the indicative plan corresponding to the draft of the reflection;
- the work plan or detailed operational plan corresponding to the succession of steps to be implemented;
- the writing plan corresponding to the summary (short) or the table of contents (detailed) that will appear in the final version of the dissertation.
Do Your Research Effectively
The research part is essential: thanks to it, you will get to know your subject. Collecting and analyzing literature is an integral part of the dissertation process.
Depending on the subject chosen, the documentary sources will be made up of a more or less important part of general literature, academic and research literature, technical documents, and specialized and/or professional press.
The process can take some time, and field studies require a retranscription and analysis after the fact, which can be very long and need a connection between empirically observed elements and theoretical concepts.
Write Carefully
For the writing, try to give all the elements that can help to understand your subject and advance your argument. Use short sentences to provide more strength to your idea. Feel free to use footnotes if you need to make a clarification that does not appear in the body of your text.
It is crucial to cite your sources when writing your thesis. Indeed, when you state an idea, remember to say where it comes from. This will give much more weight and strength to your argument.
Think About Your Bibliography
A good dissertation bibliography (scientific and academic sources) is essential. The bibliographical references used for the writing of the dissertation must be listed as you go along.
They will be compiled in the bibliography section, the presentation of which must respect a precise format. The files must be structured and accurate.
Think About Building a Conclusion
The conclusion summarizes what has been learned and clearly explains the work’s results and thesis. Avoid rushed or vague conclusions: it must be clear what outcome you have reached. You can also open up avenues for further research.
Write the Introduction Last
Particular care must be taken with the introduction, both in style and content. It is advisable to write it last, in parallel with the conclusion, which is a summary.
Proofread the Text Carefully
Proofreading is an essential part of writing your dissertation. Unfortunately, many underestimates it. It is important to work on the form, have a professional rendering, proofread the spelling, vocabulary, and grammar, and ensure that the ideas are coherent. This may seem simple at first glance, but many students neglect it.
Prepare Your Defense Well
The thesis defense is an oral exam during which the candidate presents their work and answers questions from a jury. The jury, composed of the candidate’s director and another teacher-researcher, has previously read the thesis and prepared comments and questions.
The presentation at the beginning of the defense should be carefully prepared and last about ten minutes. It should present successively the reasons that led the student to study this subject, the methodology adopted, the difficulties encountered, the results obtained, any gaps, and possible avenues for further research. It would help if you did not say everything in the preliminary presentation but kept some elements to bring up in response to questions from the jury, particularly concerning difficulties, possible gaps, and avenues for future research.
Conclusion
An ideal thesis process has a variety of solutions. It depends on the type of work you do, your chosen subject matter, and whether you work alone or with an expert. We now hope you have found helpful tips and motivation in this article, which will hopefully help you get off to a good start.