Good Research Thesis

In most circumstances, this is best accomplished by physically separating statements about new observations from statements about the meaning or significance of those observations.Alternatively, this goal can be accomplished by careful use of phrases such as "I infer ..." vast bodies of geological literature became obsolete with the advent of plate tectonics; the papers that survived are those in which observations were presented in stand-alone fashion, unmuddied by whatever ideas the author might have had about the processes that caused the observed phenomena.

We are looking for a well-reasoned line of argument, from your initial question, compilation of relevant evidence, setting data in a general/universal context, and finally making a judgment based on your analysis.

Your thesis should be clearly written and in the format described below.

Your approach/methods should be carefully designed to come to closure.

Your results should be clearly defined and discussed in the context of your topic. You should place your analysis in a broader context, and highlight the implications (regional, global, etc.) of your work.

The goal is the shortest possible paper that contains all information necessary to describe the work and support the interpretation.

Avoid unnecessary repetition and irrelevant tangents. Necessary repetition: the main theme should be developed in the introduction as a motivation or working hypothesis.If at all possible, start your thesis research during the summer between your junior and senior year - or even earlier - with an internship, etc. then work on filling in background material and lab work during the fall so that you're prepared to write and present your research during the spring .The best strategy is to pick a project that you are interested in, but also that a faculty member or other professional is working on.The first time you read something, you will consciously remember some things, but may subconsciously take in other aspects.It is important to cross check your conscious memory against your citations. Kennedy, 1985, On Academic Authorship Sigma Xi, 1984, Honor in Science Yale University pamphlet on plagiarism Write for brevity rather than length.This is a statement of something sufficiently interesting to motivate your reader to read the rest of the paper, it is an important/interesting scientific problem that your paper either solves or addresses.You should draw the reader in and make them want to read the rest of the paper."Show them, don't just tell them…" Ideally, every result claimed in the text should be documented with data, usually data presented in tables or figures.If there are no data provided to support a given statement of result or observation, consider adding more data, or deleting the unsupported "observation." Examine figure(s) or table(s) pertaining to the result(s).It is then developed in the main body of the paper, and mentioned again in the discussion section (and, of course, in the abstract and conclusions).Some suggestions on how to shorten your paper: Although it varies considerably from project to project, average thesis length is about 40 pages of text plus figures.