Writing Masters Thesis/Dissertation

Who here has written a masters dissertation? What is the approximate time required to complete a 15,000 word project? What is the structure of such a project?

What do I incorporate to make a successfull project? How long should I expect to put into writing this?

damn... some people spend years researching, writing and defending their thesis.

12oz is probably the last place to ask...

we only write on word at a time and embellish it with arrows and stars.

...don't you have an advisor or somebody you can talk to?...but out of curiosity, what's your topic?...

i'm pretty sure fatbastard can help you when he logs on.

A good way to fill up a 15,000 word thesis/dissertation is to constantly use the following words in your sentances: "like, uh, um, stuff, interesting, cool, you know".

Um, like, you know? Or something....

Mine was only 25 pages but it was packed with solid data. What type of thesis are you doing? Mine was scientific, which basically followed the traditional format of introduction, methods, results, then discussion. i guess a different approach is needed if you're doing some humanities thesis.

My job as an undergrad was to research data for my professors lectures, and i learned really fast how to get resources for writing a solid paper: google.

just enter the topic as search criteria, but make sure you include phrases that are specific to researcheres in the field, basically words that only experts would know and use in journals. this got me linked to abstracts of many published papers on the subject, the types of journals that you need to cite. the journals were all in my campus library, and i could order the books from the library online, and i would just go to the desk of the library and photocopy all the papers. it also helped that my department had a copy machine key card.

but honestly, i was thinking that i would have had no idea how to approach doing a thesis a decade earlier, before the boom of the internet.

15k words sounds like a lot, but its really not that much.

Incorporate long ways of saying things, big words, pretty much stretch everything out the most that you can. Depending on your writing skills, how much info you know without having to look anything up, and how well you can put your shit together, it shouldn't really take an amazing amount of time. I would

estimate how long you have to do it, and break the work up over a series of days where you will just dedicate your whole day to working on it.

Basically the format of it should be

Blank leaf (unnumbered)

*Title Page (unnumbered but counted as as page i)

Preliminary Pages: (Paginate all subsequent preliminary pages using Roman numerals beginning with ii,iii etc.)

*Approval Page

*Abstract lower case

Preface or Forward (if any)

Dedication (if any)

Acknowledgement (if any)

Table of Contents (if any)

List of Tables (if any)

Lists of other types of materials: (photographs, figures, etc.)

Body of Text (Paginate body of text using Arabic numerals beginning with 1)

List of References

Appendices (if any)

*Copyright Statement (unnumbered)

For more info check http://academic-standards-unit.cant.ac.uk/...ght-masters.doc

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=116306

i don't know whats up with all these people telling you to add a bunch of useless words. when i would catch myself doing that, i would always just tell myself "you can't fake the funk", it was a silly limerick, but it kept me on track. it's true, your advisor will just tell you to trim the bullshit. if you use 25 words to say something that can be said with only ten words, you will just make yourself look stupid, like you're not even in league with being a master's candidate.

if you wanna add bulk to your paper, think of different angles that you could use to look at your subject. how have other people analyzed similar observations? what makes your observations more accurate? what are other effects and related outcomes or influences that have occurred due to your subject?

this is the only way to bulk up the thesis.

^ that man knows how it is.

Follow his advise or be prepared to have people

much smarter than you and much more well versed

in the subject matter call bullshit on every single point you make.

Yeah listen to these dudes I guess..I was just trying to add some info since nobody else really did.

wow excellent info. its totally a humanities paper.

good luck. remember you have to get it past your advisor, then a commitee that you will defend it against. during your defense you may have a large group asking you questions, and you're gonna wanna know how to not only answer their questions, but also prove that you're already considered their question, and that you have an even better angle that they haven't even thought.

start your thesis by getting and reading other theses relative to your subject, and follow or improve upon their structure. make a basic outline to get an idea, and then a more-detailed outline for the meat and potatoes...

funny, i had so much stress doing it, but right now i kinda miss it.

Originally posted by <KEY3>@Oct 28 2004, 09:51 AM

damn... some people spend years researching, writing and defending their thesis.

 

12oz is probably the last place to ask...

we only write on word at a time and embellish it with arrows and stars.

Quoted post

:haha:

you dont wanna add useless words and make things longer. what u gotta do is go into a lot of details, explain defenitions and so on. the key is being concise but also getting lots of details and knowledge across, along with your idea. thats how i figure it would work...not just for a thesis but anything really....im assuming theyll worry more about ur info and ideas rather than ur writing style ( making sentences long by using big words etc...)

Well their not going to punish you for using illmatic vocabulary.

they might if they feel ur not getting ur point across (even tho u may be) since ur using hella words to say something u could say a lot quicker....but hey, im only in my 1st year hahahah

Originally posted by metallix@Oct 28 2004, 05:33 PM

Who here has written a masters dissertation? What is the approximate time required to complete a 15,000 word project? What is the structure of such a project?

What do I incorporate to make a successfull project? How long should I expect to put into writing this?

Quoted post

There are a few variables that you should address here: what is your time frame (in semesters)? What field will your degree be in? Is it an MA or an MS? I'm not aware of any schools that require a dissertation at the Master's level, and most of the time dissertation and thesis are not used synonymously, although I could be mistaken.

15,000 words at 300 words a page should put you somewhere around 50 pages, or about average (or perhaps below) for a thesis. Consider that you won't be analyzed on number of pages, but rather the content and strength of your ideas.

I have NEVER seen a program in which students were simply thrown out into the field to fend for themselves. In my program (which is three years), thesis work begins in the fall of the first year. At this time the student selects a thesis committee, usually consisting of a chair person, and two others, all of whom are educated at a doctoral level. The bulk of the work takes place during the last year of the program, in which the student will be enrolled in a thesis class for 6 hours a week for 32 weeks, and will be spending a large amount of time outside class working on their thesis.

In developing a quality thesis, I would expect a minimum of 250 hours of solid work, with the possibility of ranging into the 700+ hour range. Consider that this time however SHOULD be spread over at least a year's span. If you have the option of comprehensive exams or writing an analytical review in lieu of a thesis, you may want to weigh these options. Feel free to ask any further questions, I'll do my best to help.

Originally posted by slave_one@Oct 28 2004, 06:03 PM

i'm pretty sure fatbastard can help you when he logs on.

Quoted post

Sure, i could pretend to know what im talking about. I do this on a regular basis.

Serioulsy though metalix dont you have lecturers/profs/tutors etc in your area of study you could ask these questions to? its like asking the park ranger the trading hours for mcdonalds.

Metallix, how goes the thesis? I'm starting mine this week I think. Woo.

ive just started my first year at university. im doing a BA (hons) degree in media with cultural studies. we havent been told a lot, but it seems that at the end of the 3 year course we have the option of writing a dissertation or producing a film project of sort. details on this are vague, but does this sound like something a media based course with a fair element of production work could (and would) do? im sick of writing essays, and a 15,000 sounds like hell. id much prefer to do a film to be able to add it to a portfolio of other media based texts ive come up with.

this thread can die now. thank you

MERK THIS THREAD MOD NIGGAS

Originally posted by sneak@Nov 25 2004, 02:10 PM

ive just started my first year at university. im doing a BA (hons) degree in media with cultural studies. we havent been told a lot, but it seems that at the end of the 3 year course we have the option of writing a dissertation or producing a film project of sort. details on this are vague, but does this sound like something a media based course with a fair element of production work could (and would) do? im sick of writing essays, and a 15,000 sounds like hell. id much prefer to do a film to be able to add it to a portfolio of other media based texts ive come up with.

Quoted post

Yeah, that sounds like something a media program would entail. Definitely not a dissertation in the "traditional" sense, or else you would have started it by now. I'm on year one of my thesis, which entails selecting a chair, a committee, and begining work. During my last year, almost all of my time will be dedicated to it, if everything goes as planned. I can't imagine them making you put in that much work for a BA.