Tips for Thesis Writing

This is another common question that I get each year from many students when they plan to write their undergraduate thesis. Thesis can be considered as one of the highlights of your academic journey but first of all, you need to consider that it is only a part of your studies. I guess our students need to understand that your thesis does not define your personality or career. So, here are my five main key points that I give when writing any kind of thesis in general.

1.??????The journey of many kilometers starts with a step. I believe this is the most important thing as many try to procrastinate writing of the thesis while engaging in other different activities. First and foremost, you need to sit and start writing after making up your mind.

2.??????Next is that it is essential to have your own schedule of thesis writing. It can differ from weeks to months according to your study area. But the major task is to finish the writing in a clearly defined time with allocated time slots for printing and binding. My advice is to mark certain milestones with small sub deadlines to finish the thesis on time. They can be ‘reading phase’, ‘literature review’, ‘chapter arrangement’, ‘reference’, ‘final editing’ etc. You always need a buffer time (like one week) in your time management as well because unexpected things can happen. Splitting your writing into manageable sections with sub deadlines is a very crucial activity.

3.??????In addition, you need to be a voracious reader by following the hermeneutic circle. When you start writing the thesis, you initially have a preconception of your topic. This will gradually shape the way you think and read with new information. As a result, such new ideas you get while reading will reshape your own thesis. These new ideas will then create a new need of literature where you can research and add again. This circular process happens many times when you write the thesis even without your knowledge. This method helps to understand the topic in a broader way by intensifying your ideas and interpretations.

4.??????Then you need to look whether your research is based on the following themes in an interconnected way with a proper flow. They are Research Question (RQ), Research Methodology (RM) and Research Results (RR). Mainly you need to check that whether your RQ defines RM and RM produces RR while answering RQ. Simple as that.

5.??????Finally, there should be a clear thesis structure. Anybody who ever picks up your thesis will read it in a non-linear way as they will not go from page 1 to the end. So, the content has to be arranged according to a specific format (according to the different degree programmes of the university) where the reader is able to jump back and forth the get the gist/ quality of your project with a minimal effort after believing in your research work.

Tip:

This link describes how to write a winning thesis in detail.

https://get-thesis.com/blog/bachelor-thesis