Lecture
Since a research study is a qualification work, it is assessed not only for its theoretical scientific value, the relevance of the topic and the applied significance of the results obtained, but also for the level of general methodological preparation, which is reflected above all in its composition.
Of course, there is not and cannot be any single standard for choosing the composition of a research study. Each author may choose any structure and order of organising the scientific material in order to obtain such an external arrangement and internal logical connection as they consider best, most convincing for revealing their creative concept.
Traditionally, the following compositional structure of a master's thesis has developed, whose main elements, in the order in which they are arranged, are as follows:
1.Title page;
2. Table of contents;
3. List of abbreviations (if necessary);
Introduction;
Chapters of the main part, each of which concludes with brief findings;
Conclusion or findings;
Bibliography;
Appendices (if necessary);
Auxiliary indexes.
The title page is the first page of a master's thesis and is filled in according to strictly defined rules.
The title should be as brief and precise as possible and correspond to the main content of the work. Very brief titles of research studies (one or two words) indicate that the research was carried out with exhaustive completeness. In master's theses, which usually cover narrow topics, the title should be more specific, and therefore more wordy.
The title of the work should not contain vague formulations, for example: "An Analysis of Certain Issues...", nor stock formulations such as: "On the Question of...", "Towards the Study of...", "Materials for...".
If the degree candidate wants to make the title of their work more specific, a subtitle may be given, which should be extremely brief and should not turn into a new title.
After the title page comes the table of contents or contents, which lists all the headings of the structural components of the master's thesis (except for subheadings run in with the text) and indicates the pages on which they begin. The headings in the table of contents must exactly repeat the headings in the text. They must not be abbreviated or given in a different wording, sequence or subordination compared with the headings in the text.
Sections are numbered according to an indexing system, that is, with numerical numbers that, at every level except the first, contain both the number of their own section and that of the section to which it is subordinate.
If the work employs specific terminology, as well as little-known abbreviations, new symbols, notation and the like, a list of them may be given as a separate list, placed before the foreword or introduction.
The introduction reveals the essence and the state of the scientific problem, its significance, and the grounds and initial data for developing the topic. It usually substantiates the relevance of the chosen topic, the aim and content of the tasks set, formulates the object and subject of the research, indicates the research method (or methods) chosen, states what the theoretical significance and practical value of the results obtained consist in, and also notes the points to be submitted for defence.
Thus, the introduction is a very important part of a master's thesis, and so we shall examine the main parts of the introduction to a master's thesis in more detail.
Substantiating the relevance of the chosen topic is the initial stage of any research. Relevance - is a mandatory requirement for any research study. As applied to a master's thesis, the concept of "relevance" has one particular feature. A master's thesis, as already noted, is a qualification work, and the way its author is able to choose a topic and how correctly they understand and assess this topic from the point of view of timeliness and social significance characterises their scientific maturity and professional preparedness.
The treatment of relevance should not be verbose. There is no particular need to begin its description from afar. It is enough, within 1-2 pages of typed text, to show the main thing - the essence of the problem situation, from which the relevance of the topic will become clear.
Thus, the formulation of the problem situation is a very important part of the introduction.
It therefore makes sense to dwell on the concept of "problem" in more detail. Any research is carried out in order to overcome certain difficulties in the process of cognising new phenomena, to explain previously unknown facts, or to reveal the incompleteness of old ways of explaining known facts. These difficulties manifest themselves in their most distinct form in so-called problem situations, when existing scientific knowledge proves insufficient for solving new cognitive tasks.
A problem always arises when the old knowledge has already revealed its inadequacy, while the new knowledge has not yet taken on a developed form. Thus, a problem in science is a contradictory situation requiring resolution. Such a situation most often arises as a result of the discovery of new facts that clearly do not fit within the framework of previous theoretical conceptions, i.e. when not one of the existing theories can explain the newly discovered facts.
Correctly posing and clearly formulating new problems is often no less important than solving them. In essence, it is the choice of problems that determines, if not entirely then to a very large extent, the strategy of research in general and the direction of scientific inquiry in particular. It is not by chance that it is considered that to formulate a scientific problem means to show the ability to separate the essential from the secondary, to find out what is already known to science about the subject of the research and what is not yet known.
Thus, if the researcher manages to show where the boundary lies between knowledge and ignorance about the subject of the research, it will not be difficult for them to define the scientific problem clearly and unambiguously, and consequently to formulate its essence.
A specific feature of a problem is that solving it requires going beyond the limits of the old, already attained knowledge, unlike a question, for answering which the old knowledge is quite sufficient, i.e. for science a question is not a problem.
A brief literature review reports on the state of development of the chosen topic and shows that this particular topic has not yet been covered (or has been covered only partially or not in the right aspect) and therefore needs further development. If the researcher cannot draw such a conclusion, they deprive themselves of the right to develop the chosen topic, since, figuratively speaking, there is no point for them in reinventing a wheel that has already been invented.
A review of the literature on the topic should demonstrate the researcher's thorough familiarity with the specialised literature, their ability to systematise sources, examine them critically, single out what is essential, assess what has previously been done by other researchers, and identify the main features of the current state of knowledge of the topic. The material of such a review should be systematised in a certain logical connection and sequence, and therefore the list of works and their critical analysis need not be given only in the chronological order of their publication.
Since a master's thesis is usually devoted to a comparatively narrow topic, the review of predecessors' work should be carried out only on the questions of the chosen topic, and not on the whole problem as such. Nor is there any need in such a review to set out everything that the master's student has learned from what they have read and that has only an indirect bearing on their work. But all publications of any value that have a direct and immediate bearing on the topic of the master's thesis must be named and critically assessed.
Sometimes a degree candidate, not finding the necessary information in the literature available to them, takes the liberty of asserting that it is precisely they who have the first word in describing the phenomenon under study, but this is later not confirmed. Of course, such responsible conclusions can be drawn only after a thorough and comprehensive study of the literary sources and consultations with one's academic supervisor.
From proving the relevance of the chosen topic it is logical to move on to formulating the aim of the research being undertaken, as well as to indicating the specific tasks that will need to be solved in accordance with this aim.
Purpose and objectives of the research are usually set out in the form of a list (to study..., to describe..., to establish..., to identify..., to derive a formula... etc.). These tasks must be formulated as carefully as possible, since the description of their solution should make up the content of the chapters of the master's thesis. This is also important because the headings of such chapters arise precisely out of the formulations of the tasks of the research being undertaken.
A mandatory element of the introduction is the formulation of the object and subject of the research. Within the object, that part of it is singled out which serves as the subject of the research, and it is precisely to this that the researcher's main attention is directed.
A very important stage of scientific research is the choice of research methods, which serve as the instrument for obtaining factual material, being a necessary condition for achieving the stated aim.
Research methods serve as an instrument for obtaining factual material and are a necessary condition for achieving the aim set in the work.
The introduction also describes other elements of the scientific process. These include, in particular, an indication of the specific material on which the work itself was carried out. It also gives a description of the main sources of information (official, scientific, literary, bibliographic), and also indicates the methodological basis of the research carried out.
Description of the research process is the main part of the master's thesis, in which the procedure and technique of the research are described.
The chapters of the main part of the research study present in detail the following material:
a review of the literature on the topic and the choice of directions for research. Concisely and critically covering the work of predecessors, the author must touch upon questions that remain unresolved and determine their own place in solving the problem;
a presentation of the general procedure and the main methods of research;
the experimental part and research procedure;
information on the theoretical and/or experimental research carried out;
analysis and generalisation of the results of the author's own research.
A concise conclusion is given at the end of each section.
The content of the chapters of the main part must correspond exactly to the topic of the research study and reveal it fully. These chapters must show the researcher's ability to present material concisely, logically and with sound argument, and its presentation and formatting must meet the requirements imposed on works submitted for publication.
The final stage of a research study is the conclusion or findings, which contain what is new and essential and which constitute the scientific and practical results of the master's thesis carried out.
Like any conclusion, this part of the research study serves as an ending dictated by the logic of the research, taking the form of a synthesis of the scientific information accumulated in the main part, i.e. a consistent, logically coherent presentation of the results obtained and their relation to the overall aim and the specific tasks set and formulated in the introduction. It is necessary to note the qualitative and quantitative indicators of the results achieved, to substantiate their reliability, and to set out recommendations regarding their further use. It is precisely here that the so-called "conclusive" knowledge is contained, which is new in relation to the initial knowledge. It is this that is submitted for discussion and assessment by the scientific community in the course of the public defence of the master's thesis.
However, this conclusive knowledge must not be replaced by a mechanical summation of the conclusions at the end of the chapters, which represent a brief summary; instead it must contain what is new and essential and constitutes the final results of the research, which are often set out in the form of a certain number of numbered paragraphs. Their sequence is determined by the logic of the construction of the research. In doing so, it is necessary to indicate, as following from the final results, not only their scientific novelty and theoretical significance but also their practical value.
The number of conclusions in the work should correspond to the number of tasks set and, ideally, represent the solution of these tasks.
In some cases it becomes necessary to indicate the directions for continuing the topic under study, the forms and methods for its further investigation, as well as the specific tasks that future researchers will have to address first.
A concluding part drawn up according to such a plan supplements the description of the theoretical level of the master's thesis, and also shows the level of professional maturity and qualification of its author.
After the conclusion it is customary to place the bibliography of the literature used. This list constitutes one of the substantial parts of a master's thesis and reflects the master's student's own independent creative work.
The list of sources used contains scientific publications of various levels and archival sources that the author has used to substantiate the positions of their work. The bibliographic description of the sources is compiled in accordance with the current standards.
Every literary source included in such a list must be reflected in the manuscript of the master's thesis. If the author refers to any borrowed facts or quotes the works of other authors, they must be sure to indicate in a footnote reference where the material cited was taken from. Works that are not referenced in the text and that were not actually used should not be included in the bibliography. It is not recommended to include encyclopaedias, reference books, popular-science books or newspapers in this list. If it is necessary to use such publications, they should be given in footnote references in the text of the master's thesis.
Auxiliary or supplementary material that clutters up the text of the main part of the research study and is not vitally important for understanding the solution of the research problem is moved to the appendix.
It is advisable to include in the appendix auxiliary material necessary for the full perception of the work. In content, appendices are very varied, and in form may contain tables, figures, graphs, questionnaires, tests, observation programmes, interview questions, methodological materials, copies of original documents, excerpts from reporting materials, production plans and records, individual provisions from instructions and regulations, previously unpublished texts, correspondence, and the like. Supplements are placed in the order in which references to them appear in the text.
The bibliography of the literature used, auxiliary indexes of all kinds, and reference comments and notes may not be included in the appendices, since they are not appendices to the main text but elements of the reference and supporting apparatus of the master's thesis, helping the reader to use its main text.
Appendices are formatted as a continuation of the work on its last pages. If the volume or format is large, the appendices are formatted as a separate block in a special folder (or binding), on the front of which the heading "Appendices" is given, followed by a repetition of all the elements of the title page of the research study.
Each appendix must begin on a new sheet (page), with the word "Appendix" indicated in the upper right corner, and must have a thematic heading. If the work has more than one appendix, they are numbered with Arabic numerals (without the "No." sign), for example: "Appendix 1", "Appendix 2", and so on. The numbering of the pages on which the appendices are given must be continuous and carry on the general page numbering of the main text.
The connection of the main text with the appendices is made through references that use the word "see"; it is usually abbreviated and enclosed together with the reference code in round brackets in the form: (see appendix 5).
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