The education of masters is equivalent to higher professional, but the final qualifying work is called not a “diploma”, but a “dissertation”. The scientific significance and the principle of constructing this scientific work are similar to the standard diplomas of specialists or bachelors, but it has its own characteristics that bring this report on research activities closer to dissertations for the candidate or doctoral degree.
Writing graduation thesis of this level begins with the preparation of a master’s thesis plan. Recommendations for compilation are usually described in the guidelines of departments or faculties. Practice shows that in the end it is not always possible to precisely observe all of its points, but this document indicates an approximate structure for future work. The preparation of the plan is the responsibility of the undergraduate himself, but upon completion of work on the outline it is necessary to coordinate it with your supervisor of the research supervisor.
What should include a master’s thesis plan?
It is necessary to start planning after the approval of the topic of the dissertation. First of all, it is important to decide on a range of issues, the coverage of which will help to comprehensively reveal the issues under consideration and to formulate the main goals and objectives of scientific work.
Based on such data, the main parts of the study are formulated, each of which must successively solve the tasks set for the researcher. At this stage, it is important to follow the logic of the narrative: each subsequent paragraph should be a continuation of the previous one. Thinking through sections of the master’s thesis plan, you need to highlight particularly valuable points in separate subsections. This will help to more fully reflect the results of the work and simplifies the formulation of conclusions. However, one cannot be too zealous: in the final version, the number of subsections varies from three to four, and if more is obtained, then it is necessary to find common points in related issues and formulate the name of the paragraphs on their basis.
Design Nuances
Different universities have their own rules for the design of such work, but in any case, the plan should contain the following data:
- full name of the university, faculty and department, at which the dissertation is written;
- full name of the undergraduate, his specialty, indicating the national code and the duration of training;
- full name, academic degree and position of supervisor;
- a block for information on the approval of the plan, in other words, who approved the work and when.
If you have difficulty in compiling a master’s thesis plan, examples of predecessors can be invaluable. Ideally, if a graduate student will be able to get acquainted with works of similar content and topics. You can ask about samples from your supervisor, ask at the department or fellow students.