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

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Structure of the course

• Writing as a process
• MSc Thesis
• Scientific papers

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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

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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

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Hour glass structure of scientific text
Abstract
Introduction
Literature review (MSc thesis)
Methods
Results
Discussion
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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

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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

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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

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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

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• 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

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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

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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

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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

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• Example of flow chart in a MSc thesis

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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)

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• 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

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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)

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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

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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

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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