Writing A Stellar Dissertation For Masters In Any Discipline
The master’s degree thesis is large scale project students must complete before earning their graduate degree in most academic subjects. The exact style and requirements for each depends on the exact discipline, but generally speaking there are some common characteristics you will find across all of them. The main sections of a master’s thesis include: abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, data analysis, discussion, and bibliography.
Develop a Strategy and Work Plan
The first thing you need to do is develop a strategy and a work plan to guide each phase of the project. Because it will likely take you several months to complete, it is important to make a list of all the milestones and tasks you need to reach and finish. You should set some hard deadlines for all of your milestones but be sure you give yourself plenty of “buffer” time to deal with other responsibilities and to give yourself the occasional break.
Conduct Lots of Early Research
Never underestimate the amount of research that is required for this project. In addition to finding background information and looking up resources at the library, you will likely need to request resources from other institutions and conduct original data collection. In a thesis for masters in business administration, for instance, you might need to conduct interviews or surveys and these activities might take several weeks to complete. So prepare ahead and start early.
Discuss Your Project Often
While the graduate dissertation is your personal academic project, you should get as much collaborative help as possible. Your classmates are great for feedback and brainstorming sessions, but the majority of your discussions about your project should be with your advisor. Schedule your meetings early and often. It’s recommended that you discuss your work at least once a week. Prepare to go over drafts and heed any advice that is given to you.
Write Multiple Dissertation Drafts
By now you should realize that this level of academic scholarship requires you to write multiple drafts. A master’s thesis in computer science can be highly complex and your first drafts should be done with the aim of getting your ideas down in a clear and concise manner. The following drafts should be narrow the focus of topic and eliminate unrelated information. Stagger your drafts over several months so that you have plenty of time to think about them critically.
Revise, Edit, and Proofread
Finally, be sure to carefully revise, edit, and proofread your entire dissertation starting several weeks before your submission date. Approach each of these things separately and always get someone else to review each phase. Even if you are confident in your writing abilities there will always be a word or phrase or sentence that can be improved because of someone else’s suggestions, so be sure to get some outside assistance at this late stage in the entire process.
Remember, different institutions and different disciplines will require you to follow specific guidelines when formatting your dissertation for masters degree. We recommend you check with your advisor or department office for these guidelines, and then that you hire a professional writing or editing service to assist you. Because this project is so important in your academic career, it’s essential that you use as many available resources as possible.