When I started working on my thesis, I was extremely intimidated by the amount of work that needed to be done and had no clue where to begin. I spent hours scouring the internet for information and probing my friends and coworkers for their advice.
Now that I have finished the first two chapters of my thesis, I thought I’d share with you some tips I’ve picked up along the way to get you started.
1. Pick a topic that you absolutely love.
This can be super difficult, so brainstorming with a mentor is a great way to start. See if you can merge your interests with their research. It’s especially great if you don’t have to collect your own data. That takes a lot of time and can be really hard to do.
Try to merge your personal interests (e.g., animal rights) with your academic interests (e.g., criminology). If you can combine the two you might end up with an awesome topic that will be fun to research. My thesis was on animal rights extremist groups, and my previous interest in similar topics made it fun to research.
2. Choose your committee wisely.
Department politics can be incredibly difficult to navigate. Figuring out who gets along with who can make or break your thesis. Don’t choose two professors that don’t get along if you can avoid it.
You really don’t want a front row seat to their power struggle.
3. Take a thesis writing boot camp or create your own.
A thesis writing boot camp is exactly what it sounds like. It’s just like a fitness boot camp where you have a set amount of time where you are required to workout, except you are writing during that time instead of sweating.
Thesis boot camps are helpful because they provide structure (i.e., set days and times to attend), focused quiet time. They usually provide tips and tricks to help you during the writing process as well. The boot camp I attend also provides access to people who can help me think through my writing.
I encourage you to look on your school’s website and see if a writing boot camp is an option. If not, you can still take part in a thesis boot camp with some planning and discipline on your part.
Creating Your Own Bootcamp:
Pick one day a week (or even once a month) where you dedicate a few hours to writing your thesis. During this time, you should have no distractions and nowhere else to be. Also choose a space that allows you to completely focus on the task at hand.
You can and should write in between your bootcamp days. The bootcamp day simply acts as a check-in day where you really focus on your writing.
4. Make a timeline.
Like most big projects, you cannot start your thesis last minute and be successful. To avoid this, set solid due dates for yourself by making a thesis timeline. I recommend starting from the end (i.e., when your thesis needs to be done) and work your way backwards.
To begin, ask yourself when you plan to graduate. Then determine when you need to defend your thesis in order to graduate on time.
For instance, if you plan to graduate in May of 2020, you most likely need to defend your thesis sometime in April to have enough time to make edits and submit your paperwork. Moving back from that, you’ll want to have your thesis proposal meeting before Fall 2019 semester ends and so forth.
Your exact timeline varies depending on department policies and the type of research you are doing. I had a hard time finding a solid timeline on my school’s website. Instead, I relied heavily on other students and professors within my school to help me craft a reasonable timeline.
5. Take classes that will help you with your thesis.
I know it’s so tempting to take a really cool class on an awesome topic, but if you have to choose between that or a statistics class that teaches you to do the analyses you need your thesis, choose the one that will help your thesis.
6. Don’t start from the beginning.
I know that sounds counterintuitive, but hear me out. You don’t need to start writing your thesis with your introduction or literature review.
It was easier for me to start with the first part of the methods section, so I wrote that and then worked backwards from there.
You need to have your first three chapters (or sections) done before your thesis or dissertation proposal/prospectus, but other than that, you are free to work in whatever order works best for you. In my case, I started with the methods, wrote the lit review, and then hopped back and forth between the intro, lit review, and methods depending on how I felt that day.
7. Make a rough outline of your thesis for notes and thoughts.
I keep two outlines going. The first one is my rough outline and it includes random stuff I think of that needs to go in my thesis. The second is my official outline where I have thought through the stuff I wrote in my first outline, expanded on those ideas, and placed them where they need to go in my thesis.
I use Evernote to keep track of everything so I can access my notes on my phone or any computer. You could also carry around a little notebook as an idea catch-all if you are more a paper and pencil kind of person.
8. Keep track of what you read in Excel.
Create an Excel spreadsheet designed to keep track of everything you read for your thesis. Record the reference citation, the in-text citation, any quotes you might want to use, some keywords to help you remember what the article is about, and whether the article supports or counters you thesis.
If you’re interested in hearing more about this process or getting a glimpse into my system, let me know in the comments below and I’d be happy to write an article on it!
9. Work on your thesis consistently.
Even if it’s only once or twice a week, work on your thesis consistently. If you don’t, you will spend valuable time figuring out where you left off instead of getting work done.
I took the summer off writing and I am struggling to get back into it.
Don’t be me.
If you are in the writing stages, schedule a time each day or week that you dedicate to writing your thesis no matter what.
10. Plan for error.
Finally, you need to give yourself some room to make mistakes.
Give yourself at least an extra month to get your thesis done. Something is going to happen (data collection gets behind, analyses take longer than expected, IRB benches you for a while).
You don’t want to put the next stage of your life on hold because of those things. It is also extremely stressful (and ill advised) to try to rush your thesis, so make sure you are giving yourself plenty of time to get it done.
Final Thoughts
If you ever have any questions regarding your thesis, remember that your professors are there to give you guidance. Your fellow grad students (especially Ph.D. students who’ve written a thesis) are also an excellent resource!
This post was originally published on August 17, 2018 on laramieanne.com (my first blog) while I was in graduate school. Since then, I have successfully completed my thesis and graduated with my master’s in Criminology and Criminal Justice. These tips helped me back in the day, and I hope they will help you!
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