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Writing of your MSc thesis

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Title: Writing of your MSc thesis


1
Writing of your MSc thesis
  • Risto Kalliola
  • Department of Geography
  • University of Turku
  • Luonnonmaantieteen tutkielmaseminaari,
  • tieteellisen kirjoittamisen osa
  • MSc seminar in Physical Geography
  • Section SCIENTIFIC WRITING

2
Structure of the course
  • Writing as a process
  • MSc Thesis
  • Scientific papers

3
About the writing of a MSc thesis
  • Individual research project
  • From study planning through data collection and
    analysis until the final reporting
  • Final part of your studies
  • You should apply anything you have learned thus
    far
  • Possible gateway to your employment
  • How to? Instructions in the web
  • In Finnish http//www.sci.utu.fi/maantiede/opiske
    lu/opiskeluohjeet/tutkielmat/pro_gradu_tutkielma.h
    tml
  • In English (shorter version) http//www.sci.utu.f
    i/maantiede/en/studying/instructions/
  • Also available several books in the departments
    library (note, however, the disciplinary of each
    of the writers)
  • Important to maintain clarity and coherence in
    all ways

4
Structure of the thesis
  • The structure of the thesis is crucial
  • General recommendation keep the structure
    conservative (as expected)
  • Individualism may be problematic
  • It is recommendable to apply hierarchical
    numbering of chapters
  • 2.3. Title this 2.3.1. Subtitle that 2.3.2.
    Another subtitle etc.
  • Remember to use clearly formulated titles and
    sub-titles they will be read more than your
    actual texts
  • Hour glass structure (next slide) fits to most
    empirical works
  • Addition, however (in MSc thesis) literature
    review
  • Also other structures are possible but only for a
    good reason

5
Hour glass structure of scientific text
Abstract
Introduction
Literature review (MSc thesis)
Methods
Results
Discussion
6
Basic structure of a MSc thesis
  • The basic structure is ILMRD
  • Introduction
  • Literature review (theoretical background title
    according to content)
  • Material and methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • It is a good standard that makes the paper easier
    to write and read, and to absorb its contents
  • Texts may commonly be approached by readers in
    the order of I?D?R?M?(L)
  • Unless you have a very good reason to structure
    your work otherwise, just do it this way

7
Title
  • This is the most often read part of your thesis,
    thus it should be
  • relatively easy to understand
  • informative
  • interesting
  • reflect the true content of your thesis
  • not too long not too short
  • It may be formulated
  • as a question How does explains
  • in two parts Climate change and vegetation The
    case of
  • as an argument Cartography is essential in
    geography
  • to reflect the study approach Factors
    controlling the distribution of

8
Abstract
  • It is the most often read part of your work
  • It should be
  • short and precise
  • clear to read
  • reflect the entire work in a well-balanced way
  • understandable by its own (considering the
    assumed readership) without requiring the reading
    of any other materials
  • Beginners often include too much of introductory
    elements and too little of the results
  • Its length should not exceed one page
  • No literature references should be included

9
Introduction
  • Three basic tasks
  • raise the attention of the reader
  • present basic facts and other background
    information of the study subject
  • define the purpose and approach or the present
    work
  • Some characteristics of a good introduction
  • It should appear like shaking hands with a strong
    individual it is non-hesitating, clear, direct,
    personal and raises interest
  • introduction should proceed like a story that can
    be rhetoric, problem-setting, or something else
  • it lures readers to dive into the depths of this
    piece of research
  • Technical specifications
  • length in MSc works is normally 2-4 pages
  • references to the most relevant theories and
    literature should be included
  • work hypothesis or research questions may be used
    when appropriate

10
  • General structure may be like a funnel
  • from general to specific
  • what is interesting, what is known about it, what
    is not known about it, how will this work
    enlighten the unknown
  • After reading the introduction the reader will
  • know about the general topic and its relevance
  • have an idea of your research approach
  • decide whether (and how) to read it further

11
Formulating the research hypothesis
  • Hypothesis is a statement that comes out from
    scientific theories
  • a good general hypotheses succeeds to pinpoint
    expected dependences between different variables
  • you should have a good basic knowledge about the
    relevant literature sources to build up a good
    working hypotheses
  • The formulation of a working hypotheses is
    typical to quantitative positivistic research
  • causal relationships between phenomena are in
    focus
  • working hypothesis is a researchers expectation
    a priori
  • it should be testable by empirical work
  • Zero hypothesis in statistical analysis is a
    different thing
  • it states that there is no causal relation
    between the studied phenomena
  • if there is one, it must be proven by statistical
    analysis to be a very unlikely occurrence and
    hard to explain by any other means than causality
  • In qualitative research, hypotheses are rarely
    used
  • in consequence, it is by no means a must to
    present any research hypothesis in a MSc thesis

12
Literature review
  • This chapter is typical to MSc thesis works
  • here you will express your knowledge about the
    respective scientific area theories, previous
    studies, related processes, methodologies, etc.
  • in original scientific papers, these text
    elements are usually very short being usually
    shorts sections only in the introduction
  • The contents vary between the different MSc
    thesis works, depending on the chosen topic,
    focus etc.
  • in regional studies, geographical descriptions
    may play an important role
  • in methodologically oriented studies, the focus
    may be in the basics of some key methods, and in
    their historical development
  • This chapter may typically include several
    sub-chapters
  • they help to keep the structure of the thesis
    clear
  • You should not include any of your own primary
    data into this chapter
  • style in all ways as in review articles

13
Material and methods
  • General characteristics
  • anything that is needed to understand your
    methodology should come out clearly
  • the work should be repeatable by someone else
  • cook book these ingredients, this way
  • the reader should get to know what was done by
    myself / us / them
  • diagrams and tables are welcomed, also photos if
    they clarify the texts
  • Often it is good to start with a global
    (strategic) description
  • particularly important if the methodology is
    complicated
  • flow charts are often useful
  • Describe your source data and each method
    carefully
  • all the source data and, their sources for you,
    should be clearly explained
  • typically this way data ? analysis ? means of
    interpretation
  • In geography, the description of the study area
    is important
  • it can be part of MM or in rare cases a chapter
    its own
  • basic formula of regional geography geology ?
    geomorphology ? climate ? ecosystems ? human
    influence (past, present) ? concurrent societal
    facts

14
  • Example of flow chart in a MSc thesis

15
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16
Results
  • It is important to present your findings in a
    logical order
  • consider your research plans specific objectives
  • it is common to start with global observations
    (statistics, general descriptions), then proceed
    toward specific data analyses and finally go into
    advanced analyses where interdependences between
    the studied phenomena are in focus
  • sometimes in geographical research, the early
    texts describe the studied phenomena in a large
    area, and then they will zoom into some
    localities with more specific data
  • remember that this section should cover all the
    study questions that were introduced in earlier
    parts of the research
  • Writing should be short and precise, not trying
    to explain too much of any specific detail just
    shown your findings as they are
  • Use tables and figures in good interaction with
    the main body text
  • Typical problems of beginners
  • returning back to describe methods once more
  • including too much discussion into this section
  • too long texts, non-efficient use of space
    (including tables and figures)

17
  • Tables and figures sgould be well prepared
  • clear to understand
  • needed in the context of the present work
  • well prepared in all possible ways (everything
    that is necessary are incluced and nothing in
    vain)
  • also maps are figures try to reach as good
    cartographic quality as possible
  • Tables and figures sgould be well prepared
  • usually in smaller font
  • figure captions below, table above

18
Discussion
  • This is perhaps the most critical part of your
    research
  • here you should see the relevance of your own
    work
  • you should discuss your findings with other
    researchers (by means of written texts)
  • your maturity as a researcher comes clearly out
    from this chapter
  • Overall structure from the new results to their
    implications
  • 3-5 subtitles can be helpful
  • first, your own data, methodology and findings
    are in focus
  • then, selected topics are discussed more in
    detail
  • the final part will give some take home messages
    to the reader therefore it is important to
    consider carefully what you really want to say
  • often, the final texts come close to the ones
    that started the introduction
  • If your work included hypotheses, they should not
    be forgotten
  • Some typical problems of beginners
  • lack of focus repetition of results, presenting
    new data analyses, long descriptive texts of
    small details of your work
  • blaming my methodologies and findings, making
    them suspicious
  • genuine scientific discussion is just missing or
    it is non-mature
  • no dialogue with the introduction chapter, weak
    correspondence to the promised
  • the writer does not seem to realize the value of
    her/his own work
  • conclusions are missing (however, only in rare
    cases they need a chapter of its own)

19
Other remarks
  • Appendices
  • may be used to show details of your raw data,
    some specific calculations, used questionnaires
    of other space demanding elements that do not fit
    well into the main body of your thesis
  • 2 copies should be delivered
  • one folded, one with loose pages
  • Presentation of your thesis in MSc thesis seminar
    when it is close to final
  • some comments received during the seminar may
    still be taken into account
  • Consult your supervisor as often as needed

20
Evaluation of MSc thesis works
  • Two readers, one is the supervisor and the other
    one independent
  • Short evaluation report will be written,
    reflections will also be provided in the MSc
    thesis seminar and during the course of
    supervision
  • Marks are as follows  
  • Laudatur  
  • Eximia cum laude approbatur  
  • Magna cum laude approbatur  
  • Cum laude approbatur  
  • Non sine laude approbatur  
  • Lubenter approbatur  
  • Approbatur

21
Study tasks
  • Write one page long evaluation report of one of
    the MSc thesis that you have read, also
    suggesting a mark for it
  • please do not include the students real name
  • e-mail the evaluation report to the teacher
    before the next meeting with subject Gradun
    arvostelu tutkielmaseminaarissa / Thesis
    evaluation in MSc thesis seminar
  • Search three scientific papers to examine, one
    from Nature or Science, and the two others from
    any other publication that is relevant to
    geographers
  • do slow reading of the publications by analyzing
    also how the paper has been constructed, what is
    the purpose of the study, what are the methods
    used, how were the conclusions derived, what is
    the take-home-message of the paper, do you write
    the style of writing
  • e-mail the relatively shortly formulated
    evaluation report to the teacher before end of
    February
  • be prepared to present and analyze the examined
    papers in our next meeting and to discuss about
    their writing
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