HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• DISPOSITION
• WHAT IS AN ACADEMIC STUDY?
• THE FIVE ELEMENT IN RESEARCHPROCESS
• WHAT SHALL A MEMORANDUM CONTAIN?
• A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU WRITE A
  MEMORANDUM
• INVENTORY

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• PROBLEM
• WHAT IS THAT WE WANT TO INVESTIGATE?

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• DIFFERENT TYPE OF PROBLEMS
• EMPIRICAL PROBLEMS
• HOW IS IT? WHY IS IT?
• NORMATTIVE PROBLEMS
• HOW OUGHT IT TO BE?
• CONSTRUCTIVE PROBLEMS
• HOW CAN IT BE? HOW CAN IT BE ACHIVED?

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• THEORY

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• REALISTIC THEORY
• EMPIRICAL THEORY
• NORMATIVE THEORY
• CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY
• HEURISTIC THEORY
• GAME THEORY
• IDEAL TYPES

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• HOW TO USE THEORY
• APPLY
• TEST
• MODIFY
• CREATE

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• METHOD

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• QUALITATIVE METHODS
• INTERVIEWS
• OBSERVATION
• ANALYSIS OF SOURCES
• QUANTITATVE METHODS
• STATISTICS

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• MATERIAL

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• DIFFERENT TYPES OF MATERIAL
• PRIMARY SOURCES
• SECONDARY SOURCES
• A REPRESENTATION OF REALITY

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• RESULTS

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• THE MEMORANDUM
• SHALL
• BE DELIVERED BY E-MAIL TO MIKAEL BAAZ AND THE
  REST OF THE GROUP
• NOT LATER THAN
• 20/9 09.00
• 13/10 09.00
• CONTAING OF 3-7 PAGES

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• AMEMORANDUM IS AN OUTLINE FOR A BIGGER WORK, LIKE
  E.G. A MA-THESIS. IT CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A
  PLANNING DOCUMENT. THE DIFFICULT THING WITH A
  MEMORANDUM IS THAT IS SHALL BE AT THE SAME TIME
  COMPREHENSIVE AND DETAILED. IT SHALL SELL ITSELF
  AND PROMISE INTRESTING RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH IN
  QUESTION.

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• IN THE PROCESS OF WRITING A MEMORANDUM THERE IS
  AN INHERENT CONTRADICTION.
• THE RESEARCHER SHALL PRESENT A YET NOT DONE
  RESEARCHPROCESS A PROCESS THAT IN REASON, IF IT
  IS INTRESTING AND CREATIVE, NOT CAN BE DESCRIBED
  IN ADVANCE, AT LEAST REGARDING THE RESULTS.
• THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO KEEP IN MIND

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• WHAT OUGHT A MEMORANDUM CONTINUE?
• INTRODUCTION AREA OF INTEREST
• FORMULATION OF PROBLEM
• SPCIFICATION OF PROBLEM
• RESEARCH QUESTION
• WHY?
• WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN YOUR FIELD
• CLASSICS - MODELS
• PROMINENT JOURNALS

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• MOTIVATED CHOICE THEORY?
• WHAT THEORY?
• FOR WHAT PURPOSE?
• MOTIVATED CHOICE OF METHODS?
• WHAT METHOD?
• FOR WHAT PURPOSE?
• POTENTIAL PROBLLEMS?
• ALTERNATIVE METHODS?

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• WHAT KIND OF MATERIAL WILL BE USED?
• HOW WILL THE MATERIAL BE COLLECTED?
• HOW WILL THE MATERIAL BE INTERPRETED
• HOW SHALL THE COLLECTED MATERIAL BE USED?
• RESULTS
• WHAT ARE THE ECPECTED RESULTS?
• HOW SHALL THE RESULTS BE USED?
• HOW SHALL THE RESULTS BE SPREAD?
• WHAT KIND OF REACTIONS CAN I EXPECT?

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• OTHER
• TIMEFRAME
• START FROM THE END (January 2005)
• MAKE A SCHEDULE
• BE REALISTIC, EVERY THING TAKES MORE TIME THAN
  YOU THINK

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• SUPERVISOR(S)
• WHO?
• EXPECTATIONS?
• AVALIABILITY?

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• READING GROUP?
• PERSONS TO CONTACT (INTERVIEWS)?
• BOOKS AND ARTICLES
• PROVIDE A READING LIST IN THE MEMORANDUM

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• ETHICS
• ACCESS TO OFFICIAL MATERIAL?
• PERSONS CONCERNED (ANONYMITY)
• SHALL POTENTIAL INFORMANTS HAVE
• A COPY OF THE THESIS?
• DO NOT GIVE ANY POMISSES THAT YOU CANNOT KEEP
• BE HONSET ABOUT THE AIM WITH THE STUDY
• STICK TO YOUR ETHICAL STANDARDS.

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• ABOUT WRITING IN GENERAL
• SIX CRITERIAS REGARDING WRITING
• A) RELEVANCE FOR THE POTENTIAL READER
• THE READER IS KING
• WRITE TO AN EDUCATED/CULTIVATED PUBLIC
• RATHER OVER-EXPLICT THAN UNCLEAR

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS
THE DUSKILY WRITTEN IS THE DUSKILY THOUGHT
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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• B) A TASTEFUL LAYOUT
• LAYOUT
• THE USE OF HEADINGS
• SUBHEADINGS
• 1. AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF
• INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
• 1.1 THE POST-WAR PERIOD
• 1.1.1 E.H CARR

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• C) THE MULTI-MEDIAL TEXT
• USE
• TABLES
• PICTURES
• SCHEMES ...

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• D) EXEMPLIFY
• MAKE ABSTRACT REASONING CONCRETE
• USE EMPIRICAL FINDINGS TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR POINTS
• ATTRACT THE LEFT AS WELL AS
• THE RIGHT PART OF THE BRAIN

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• E) THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS
• CHRONOLOGICAL
• LOGICAL

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• EMPHATIC
• NEWSPAPER PLACARD
• PUT THE MOST IMPORTANT FIRST
• DRAMATICAL
• THE EXCITMENT INCREASES CONTINOUSLY
• DETECTIVE STORY

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• F) KEEP IT SIMPLE (IF POSSIBLE)
• AVOID LONG AND COMPLICATED WORDS
• VARY THE LENGTH OF YOUR SENTENCES

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• THE PROCESS OF WRITING
• 1) THE INCUBATION PHASE
• THE TIME FROM WHEN YOU ARE INFECTED TO THE TIME
  WHEN YOU ACTUALLY BECOME SICK
• 2) DO NOT TRUST YOUR MEMORY
• KEEP RECORDS
• USE A FILE WITH A TABLE OF CONTENT

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• 3) CONCENTRATION PHASE
• CONCENTRATE AND CREATE FLOW
• 4) LET IT FLOW
• EACH SENTENCE DOES NOT TO BE COMPLETLYCOVERED
• ACCEPT WHAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN
• DO NOT READ EVERY SENTENCE YOU HAVE WRITTEN OVER
  AND OVER AGAIN

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• STOP WHEN YOU ARE PERFORMING AS WELL AS YOU CAN

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

• 5) WRITE A NEW VERSION OF THE OLD,
• OR REWRITE THE OLD.
• CATWALK

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HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS

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