How to Write a Thesis Like a Pro: Your Practical Guide

There are plenty of guides and step-by-step instructions on the topic of “theses,” but how do you actually put all of that into practice effectively and efficiently while juggling a full-time or part-time job?

It sends a chill right down your spine—and no, we’re not talking about Halloween night. For most students, the witching hour of fear and dread begins right here: with THE bachelor’s or master’s thesis. The fear of having to pull all-nighters with panda eyes because you won’t finish in time. The fear of not having planned enough breaks, or suddenly getting sick due to the fall temperatures, which would set you back in your schedule. Better leave your worries in the Chamber of Horrors, because with our practical guide, you’ll have valuable, practical toolkits at your disposal designed to make your final year at FERNFH easier.

Toolkit for Getting Started

Choosing a topic for your bachelor’s or master’s thesis is like reaching into a candy drawer: you’re spoiled for choice. That makes it all the more important that—even before you start thinking about timelines, research methods, and so on—you try to clearly define your topic and formulate your research question as precisely as possible. This means:

• Topic Check: Arethere any unusual phenomena in your surroundings that pique your interest and that you’d like to explore further? Were there any topics during your studies that captivated you more than others? What do you want to focus on professionally after graduation, and can your bachelor’s or master’s thesis help you delve deeper into this topic? Is there something worth researching at the company where you work?And most importantly: Isit a clearly defined topic that offers new insights and is novel?
   
• Research Question Checklist: Doesit meetall the key requirements? Have you narrowed it down or refined it enough? For example, you could narrow it down by age groups, generations, channels, etc., to make the research question more precise. This will make it easier for you to answer the question because you’ve narrowed it down effectively and know exactly where you’re headed.
   
• Literature Review: Isthere enough literature on this topic? Which fields can you draw on—for example, psychology? What content from your courses can you incorporate? Which sources can you use for what? What really helps answer your research question, and what’s just fluff? Often, people tend to let their attention wander too far in other directions and forget to stay focused on the research question.
   
• Theory Check: If you’re writinga master’s thesis, you should also keep the theory in mind. What theories have you encountered during your studies—for example, theoretical impact models, and much more? There is a wide range of theories here that you can use to support your research. In your master’s thesis, you should then base your approach specifically on the selected theory—for example, on a specific model such as the Source-Credibility Model.

Are you worried about losing focus right from the start? To help you keep your research focus in mind at all times, we recommendthe followingtip:
Take a sheet of A4 paper and write down your research question, your sub-questions related to the research question, the academic discipline, and—if applicable—the theory or theories you plan to base your paper on, as well as exactly what you want to find out and which data collection and analysis methods you’ll use. Keep this sheet handy while writing your paperto double-check that all the content you’re creating truly contributes to your work.

Toolkit for Setup & Schedule

It’s not always easy to get started on time, especially if you’re working full-time on the side. This is mainly because it’s difficult to estimate how much time to set aside for the theoretical and empirical parts of your bachelor’s or master’s thesis. Here are some helpful practical tips:

• Using Excel Templates:To stay on schedule, it’s helpfulto keep track of your work, personal, anduniversity appointments inasingleExcel calendar, using different colors to distinguish them. This way, you can plan when to take vacation or days off from work. You can also break things down into phases to tackle specific tasks on your to-do list (e.g., writing the literature review, conducting interviews, analyzing interviews, bachelor’s and master’s exam dates, etc.). This way, you can keep track of all your deadlines while also allowing yourself some downtime.You can find templates here…
• Think Through the Structure:Before you start writing like crazy, think through an initial structure for your paper: introduction with the problem statement, state of the research, research question, data collection method, data analysis method, etc.—how should each section be organized? What subchapters will there be? Which topics will you cover exactly in your literature review section (e.g., definitions of terms, etc.)? It’s important to maintain a consistent thread throughout the topics. For example, does this particular definition of a term fit better after the relevant topic or before it?
• Final Check at the End:Of course, before you turn in your final draft, you need to go over everything thoroughly one more time: consistent use of gender-neutral language, the bibliography, citations, figures, tables, structure, and clarity—so that everything is clearly understandable and it’s evident how the research process unfolded.

Toolkit for the Writing Process

How can you save time and reduce stress during the writing process? Here's how:

• Zotero Help:With the freeZoteroprogram, you can quickly and easily create and manage your bibliography without having to edit your thesis Word file. In-text citations and creating the bibliography are almost entirely automated with Zotero. You can keep track of the sources you’ve used and organize them. 
   
• Citavi Help:You can install theCitaviprogramforcreating bibliographies directly on your computer. This allows you to manageallyourreferences in one place. Advantages: You can change the citation style at any time and configure it directly within the program; you can import references into the bibliography using ISBN, DOI, or ISSN numbers—without the hassle of typing them in manually; and you can automatically export the bibliography from the database into a Word document.
   
• Create placeholders:You don’t have to fill out every chapter of your thesis completely right away during the writing process. You canwork with placeholders, especially when it comes to the literature review. Just start by writing a placeholder at the end of the chapter that lists what you still want to include in that chapter but haven’t yet written out or researched—for example, “The difference from authenticity will go here.”Highlight it in a bright color in Word so that the next time you open your thesis, you’ll know exactly where you left off or where content is still missing.