A Graduate Thesis: Where to Begin, How to Succeed

A Graduate Thesis: Where to Begin, How to Succeed

So, you are about to start working on the final and the most serious project in your academic career – a graduate thesis. Maybe, at the present moment, you feel overwhelmed and frustrated. You have already done many projects, but none of them is similar to a graduate thesis.

Well, you are not alone, and all other graduate students feel this way. However, if you do not procrastinate, do everything on time, have a good advisor, and some guidelines, the whole process will flow smoothly and will not cause too many troubles.

This article will be a good starting point for you, since here we present all necessary tips for writing graduate theses.

The gist of a graduate thesis

First, you need to have a clear understanding of what a graduate thesis is all about and what you are supposed to do. In a few words, your major mission boils down to producing new knowledge. If a graduate thesis does not make any contribution to science, it is a failure.

Coming up with the main question of your graduate thesis

You may wonder how examiners will define whether your graduate thesis is valuable and presents new knowledge. Actually, they will easily define this by looking at the main question of your project.

Examiners will use the following factors to evaluate the main question of your graduate thesis:

  • whether this question is already answered;
  • whether it is something useful to work on;
  • whether you have provided an adequate answer to your question.

Useful tips for writing graduate theses

Finally, we have listed several tips that will help you prepare an excellent graduate thesis.

  1. Start your work with an analysis of, at least, one sample thesis, better several past projects in your field.
  2. It is extremely important to make an outline or a plan of your project.
  3. Keep the reader in mind. It will help you decide what background information should be introduced in your graduate thesis.

If you are not sure how to organize thesis research, read the next article.