The master thesis as a research article: Structure and style

1. The master thesis as a research article: Structure and style December 2008

2. Research (and writing) as communication • Two dialogues: • Researchers talk to phenomena, • and they talk back • In a language the scientist can understand • Researchers then turn around to speak to their peers • About the dialogue with phenomena • In a language their peers understand • Double obligation: Be fair to the sources, but equally fair to the listeners. Write for a fellow student – who knows a lot, except your theme Have the second dialogue in mind already during the first dialogue December 2008

3. Title • Short, 10-12 words (not full sentence) • Informative – not too general • Simple – do not try to cover everything • Understandable – avoid abbreviations and technicalities • Curiosity provoking – invite the right readers • Consider composite title: Use of colon or question mark • Authors • Who should be included • What is their order • What are their affiliations December 2008

4. Foreword Acknowledgements (Author note): • Who has funded the investigation • Who has provided the instruments, data files etc • The supervisor’s role • Who helped and should be thanked December 2008

5. Abstract • Keep it brief (150 – 250 words) • Informative but not crowded • Self explanatory • Avoid references • Avoid redundant and noninformative statements • Short statements about: • What is the background • What we wanted to find out • What we did • What we found • What does it mean? December 2008

6. The structure of a research article • Hour-glass shaped: Starts wide, ends wide • Quasihistorical narrative structure • Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion First level headings, centered • Second level headings Italics, separate line, start left • Third level headings. Italics, continue on same line • Only one kind of paragraph December 2008

7. APA Language and Style • Subdued – focus on content rather than on language; do not attempt to be brilliant and funny • Impersonal – ”the rhetoric of objectivity”, passive form • Careful – take reservations, stick to data • But do not carry it too far! • Collective – cumulative enterprise, not aggressive • Many citations • Few quotes • Many subtitles / divisions • Few footnotes December 2008

8. Language specifics • Use your own words • Paraphrase, don’t quote • Don’t write what you don’t understand • Avoid bad (literal) translations from English • When in doubt, use both English and Norwegian terms (first time both). • Don’t use Uppercase Letters in Headings in Norwegian • Don’t start sentence with numerals (”20 students participated”  ”Twenty students”, or ”Participants were 20 students” • Write in full sentences • But make them short • Make meaningful paragraphs (take a break) December 2008

9. Some Recurrent Errors That are Likely to Drive your Professor Crazy • Half sentences without a verb phrase: ”This because …” • Vague references: ”This means …” • A semicolon - ; - is not a small colon • Participants are not subjects • Avoid sexist language (use ”they”) • One stimulus / more stimuli • A study = en studie (en undersøkelse) • Strawberry jam is not Jordbær syltetøy • ”Evidence suggests” is not ”bevis foreslår” • Rating is not rangering • Temporal order is not temporal orden December 2008

10. References in text • Smith, Jones, and Jones (2002) showed that Master students are smart. • Master students are smart (Smith, Jones & Jones, 2002). • Next time: Smith et al. (2002). • One reference to Smith et al. in the same paragraph is enough • Master students are smart (Smith & Jones, 2002, ref. in Passer & Smith, 2006). • Alphabetical, not chronological order in parentheses • References to platitudes are unnecessary December 2008

11. More about references • Page references only with quotations • Quotations usually in original language (or add: ”My translation”) • Give reference whenever you use somebody else’s ideas, or internet sources • It’s OK that your ideas are not original • But to pretend that they are original, when they are not, is cheating • And could have serious consequences December 2008

12. Introduction Build a platform for your investigation • What is the theme, and where does it belong • How is it treated in the research literature • What we know • What we don’t know • Possible controversies and debates • Citations (references) • What we want to have a closer look at • How we want to study it • Don’t force yourself to produce hypotheses • Suggest results (?) December 2008

13. Methods • No introduction necessary • Provides the recipe (enough details for replicating the study) • But not more details than necessary (dependent on purpose) • Some reasons can be given • The reader should be able to follow the procedures • Participants (not subjects!) • Design • Material / apparatus / tests / questionnaires • Procedure • Statistical methods only if they need special attention December 2008

14. Results • Remind the reader about what you were looking for • Findings are presented in order of importance • And/or in chronological order • Descriptive results before statistical inferences • Give short comments so the results make sense • Consider the relation between results given in text, in tables, or in figures December 2008

15. Results in text • When the results are few • easy to describe • need comments December 2008

16. Results in tables • When there are many numbers • When they need to be compared • When they are referred to several times • When they deserve a nice frame • Always give comment in text • Yet make them as self-explanatory as possible December 2008

17. Table layouts • Title: Informative and simple (above table) • Only horizontal lines • Use a minimum of abbreviations • Organize in rows and columns • Try different organizations • Rows • Questions • Not so easy to compare • Number of rows unlimited • Columns • Answering categories • Easy to compare • Limited number of columns December 2008

18. Figures • Title below figure • Readable • Focus on comparisons • Place data in foreground • Be puritanical (not 3D, never use pie-charts) • Graphical excellence is that which gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space (Tufte) • Maximize data ink / total ink • By removing non-data ink and redundant data ink December 2008

19. Discussion • Repeat main findings (in words, not in numbers) • Interpretations • Collect loose ends • Check against introduction • Alternative interpretations • But be careful about introducing completely new points of view • Limitations • Perspectives (new studies, applications) December 2008

20. Reference list • All citations in text are on the reference list • All items on the reference list are cited in text • Only refer to sources you have seen • If you have not seen the original source, refer to the source that cited it • Organize alphabetically • Use APA guidelines December 2008

21. Appendices • Place questionnaires etc. in appendix • Tests published elsewhere can be omitted • Give reference to appendix in text (methods section) • Do not translate • Not all versions need to be attached December 2008