Thesis questions

dickangel · 23-07-2019 3:36pm #1

Hi all,

I'm due to start work on my thesis and have a few questions.

First off, I don't have a Leaving Cert and my course is performance based and I was accepted on ''life experience.'' So, I'm somewhat playing catch up in terms of academic writing. And some of these questions will likely be stupid.

The thesis is considered a minor component of the course and I have my topic and research done and it's almost time to start writing. My supervisor has been good and has said my structure will more of less be : Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Conclusion. And of course the abstract and bibliography etc.

The first three chapters are case studies of individuals, then the fourth chapter is a comparison of their approach. Seemed logical to me anyway and the supervisor seemed to agree and had me write a proposal and table of contents which he was happy with.

Discussing with friends though who have completed Master's in different fields, they said there should undoubtedly be a methodology and lit review included. None of this was mentioned by my supervisor, I know he's not there to hold my hand so maybe he assumes I know this, though he did like my table of contents. The different thesis I've read all have different structures etc. There's a handbook I was given and it does mention these but just says "where necessary include x,y and z."

Basically I suppose my question is, are these absolutely to be included? I'm meeting my supervisor in a couple of weeks again, where I'll ask for clarity. He's away for the summer so kind of don't want to pester him. Just feeling a bit concerned after friends said the layout wasn't correct.

Thanks a mill.

Nelbert · 23-07-2019 6:42pm

Like most things it depends.....

A lit review is intended to show similar work and provide a framework for research approach (by replicating the good and avoiding the bad).

The handbook should provide you with what the college expect and I’d ensure you follow this where possible structure wise as it’s what the people marking will be used to.....

For reference I’m just finishing my MSc thesis and it’s 7 chapters.... intro, lit review, research methodology, implementation, evaluation, discussion, conclusion and future work.
Mine is a Data Analytics one though so the implementation is predictive model build and evaluation is a short chapter show prediction accuracy.

It would depend on the area but I’d be surprised if researching existing similar work isn’t a component, it was a component in all my smaller in module projects too.

dickangel · 23-07-2019 11:18pm

Thanks for the reply.

The area is music and basically a comparison of different musicians to highlight a difference of approach.

The handbook suggests the following layout:

Title page
Declaration
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Chapter Headings
Research Methology

There's a description of each, which is fine. But the description of the research methodology section is confusing somewhat:

Research methodology:

•The are of research needs to be defined
•The sources established (a literature review if appropriate)
•Examine the sources
•Verify the sources
• Interpret the sources and draw conclusions
• Write a research paper which defines the subject, explains the methodology, discusses the finding and presents conclusions

After that the handbook moves on to style and grammar etc.

Nelbert · 24-07-2019 10:29am

dickangel wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

The area is music and basically a comparison of different musicians to highlight a difference of approach.

The handbook suggests the following layout:

Title page
Declaration
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Chapter Headings
Research Methology

There's a description of each, which is fine. But the description of the research methodology section is confusing somewhat:

Research methodology:

•The are of research needs to be defined
•The sources established (a literature review if appropriate)
•Examine the sources
•Verify the sources
• Interpret the sources and draw conclusions
• Write a research paper which defines the subject, explains the methodology, discusses the finding and presents conclusions

After that the handbook moves on to style and grammar etc.

A lit review of any similar projects involving the same or stylistically similar musicians would be relevant I guess. It would help justify your research approach if you can say X reviewed Y using this methodology and found this, the shortcomings of the approach where this etc.

This is my best guess obviously your supervisor should provide specific guidance though.

baby and crumble · 24-07-2019 10:34am

I do think for any thesis it's important to have some type of 'context' included - which sets the scene somewhat for the work you're about to present.

I would always recommend including a background of 'why' and 'how' you did the research in the first place. if you answer those questions using some literature that you can reference, then that's your context.

The 'why' will likely look at past research in the area, and how you saw there was a gap; i.e that no-one had looked at these musicians to date, and that an analysis of their styles or whatever it is would have an impact on the field (sorry my field is social science so I don't know anything about research in music!!).

The 'how' would look at going through the steps you took. That's your methodology. All you need to do it outline how you did what you did. That might be as simple as saying 'I used a comparative method to examine patterns in these 3 stylistic elements' or whatever.

The way the 'research methodology' is written in your last post seems to me like that's what they expect you to do in the entire research process, rather than that be the structure for the chapter in your thesis.

Write a research paper which defines the subject, explains the methodology, discusses the finding and presents conclusions

This is what your thesis should look like.

Defines the subject = lit review, answers why you did the research
Explains the methodology = answers how you did it
Discusses the findings and presents conclusions = answers the question of what you found out and what it means to the field.

I do think you need to outline how you did the research, otherwise you could just sit down and say anything, and make it all up. You know?

dickangel · 24-07-2019 11:26am

Thanks for your posts, very much appreciated.

So having read what you said then I guess my first 3 chapters fall under the definition of a literature review. I'll be breaking down each players technique - a chapter for each player. All of this is coming from the books, theses, footage and recordings I've studied as part of my research.

Chapter 4 will be a comparison of their technique on the performance of the same piece of music, which is my contribution to the topic.

That's a very simplified version of what is happening but basically there is a component of their technique that is often overlooked and my argument is that is plays a more singificant role than existing literature suggests.

Would it be worth finishing each of the first 3 chapters with a critique of the information I've gathered on each player? Rather than just regurgitating existing information? Or will my final conclusion cover that?

Thanks very much.

baby and crumble · 24-07-2019 12:10pm

Honestly I couldn't tell you, because your work is so very different to mine, giving you advice to that detail wouldn't be a good idea. Not doing 'fieldwork' of some description is a bit strange to me. What you're doing seems to me like a kind of content analysis or something, so I wouldn't really know how to pull all that together.

Tom Dunne · 24-07-2019 12:24pm

A couple of pointers here:

your college/institution should be able to provide you with a thesis template - use it
they should also provide you with previous theses in the same area - get at least three of these and look at them
your handbook is your guide - stick to it. Any discrepancies between it and your lecturer should be clarified

Stick to the traditional format - you would want to be in a very specialised field, with exceptionally good reason to go against the standard format.

Also, get to your institution's Academic Writing center - they will have a person there who will know absolutely nothing about your topic (which is exactly what you want), but can objectively advise you on your writing and structure.

Nelbert · 24-07-2019 6:36pm

Agree with Tom.... that is a better version of what I mention about the format examiners expect..... different in each college.....

The description you gave of what’s missing from existing research is your “why”.... no idea if structurally appropriate but the idea you had of critiquing existing research and highlight this gap is an important element... whether you do it all together as a lit review at the start, to finish each section or otherwise depends on typical style....

As mentioned, get your college’s template.... it’s been a massive help for me.

dickangel · 24-07-2019 11:15pm

Thanks everyone. The writing centre is closed for the summer but they emailed me some pointers.

There is a literature review but there's a smaller module that consists of a research proposal and a draft of chapter one. Part of my confusion was I was told to get straight to work on chapter one for this particular module. It's been clarified now that the lit review will come after. I always just assumed that was the first thing you do. Clearer now anyway.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

Thesis questions

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