I always thought... 10 myths surrounding the bachelor's or master's thesis

As a rule, the thesis for your master’s or bachelor’s degree is usually written only once. No wonder there are myths about it. Here are a few of them at a glance and tips on how to deal with them.

1. I always thought I should keep the topic of the thesis as general as possible.

At first glance, this seems to give certainty, according to the motto: "The broader the subject, the more I can write about it." This is obviously a trap. One simply writes as much as possible with information from external sources and does not insert his or her personal contribution. In the end, you have practically no time left for your own insight and then you combine the already written content once again, shuffle it a bit and hope that it will convince the supervisor. Maybe it will work, but the grade will be low.

It’s better to formulate the topic clearly at the beginning and then to search consistently for the appropriate sources. When you find enough, everything fits. If you can’t find enough sources, you should change the topic.

2. I always thought Google is not a good source for the thesis.

Google is not a good source. For the simple reason that Google is not a source at all. Google is a search engine in which many references to sources can be found. The sources themselves cannot be found on Google, of course. Google is the starting point for the search. However, you should not use the simple google search. Use scholar.google.com.

Here you will find more information, tips and tricks on how to use Google to quickly find acceptable sources for your master’s or bachelor’s thesis.

3. I always thought I'd go to my library first.

In the age of digital catalogs, you could start by going to the online catalog of your own library. However, we also recommend using other catalogs such as Google Scholar, Worldcat or a major national library, such as the British. Library. You will find a complete overview of scientific catalogs in the Thesis Guide.

4. I always thought I wasn't allowed to use Wikipedia for my thesis.

Wikipedia should not be quoted in a scientific paper. The reason for this is that the origin of the information on Wikipedia is difficult to verify. Anybody can enter content into Wikipedia and then quote themselves ... However, Wikipedia is a good starting point for research on your bachelor’s or master’s thesis.

5. I always thought I shouldn't use old theses for my thesis.

Old theses should not be quoted. However, they are a good source of inspiration if the quality is good. But always keep in mind: Old theses are often a compilation of contents from other old theses, i.e. "old bones". This is already evident in the question: "How do I cite sources that are cited in other sources?” If you formulate a current thesis using sources from the last ten years, you can go ahead and assume that these quotes are more likely to be from other old theses ... So it’s better to visit the original sources. Otherwise, you could be at risk of plagiarizing.

6. I always thought I'd have to read a lot first.

Of course, you have to read when you’re in the beginning stages of your master’s or bachelor’s thesis but this should not take weeks or even months. You must make a certain contribution of your own in your final work. This contribution must come from your head. Therefore, it won’t be easy to find the solution in existing texts. If that was the case, your work wouldn't be necessary.

The solution is to think about what you want to find in the sources before reading them and searching them specifically. Of course, you have to have the basics down. The basic literature is useful for this task. But keep in mind that evaluating these sources requires a matter of days, not weeks.

7. I always thought models were only mandatory for a doctorate.

Models play a central role in academic writing and in scientific texts as well as in a doctoral theses. They help people to communicate and are ultimately the form in which new findings are presented. Models come in a variety of shapes and styles. They can be formulas, organization charts, tables, mind maps or any kind of graphics. Even fully formulated texts can be a model. If you refer to models in your master’s or bachelor’s thesis, you will get a better grade. You will make progress faster. If you are writing an empirical thesis, you definitely need to use models.

8. I always thought that the proposal only contains the motivation for the thesis.

The motivation for a topic is extremely important. You must be personally aware of this. Ultimately, however, academic writing is about finding answers to questions that are not personal. These questions have absolutely nothing to do with you. The proposal is a blueprint for the work. It contains bullet points such as the descriptions of problems, research questions, approaches to the work, outlines, first sources and  clarification of terms. The proposal is practically a preview or miniature version of the final work. A proposal is not written overnight and many sources are vital to proving your thesis.

You can find detailed instructions, templates and examples to create your proposal in our Thesis Guide.

9. I always thought that the outline of the thesis would change often.

An outline is of course your first draft made in the beginning phases of your thesis. However, this draft should be so well-thought-out that you don't have to question the entire work again and again. Depending on the topic, there are certain patterns for chapter headings. In the Thesis Guide you can find sample outlines and example outlines depending on the type of thesis, such as empirical, practical or literature thesis. You can use this as a guide.

10. I always thought that internet sources should not be used for the thesis.

Internet sources can look very different. You should not use simple websites where no author can be found. But if you find a scientific article on the internet, you can definitely use it for your text. However, in this case you would not specify the web page / link as the source, but rather the metadata of the article.

Enjoy writing your text with the interactive Guides from Aristolo!

Silvio and the Aristolo Team

PS: Check out the Thesis-ABC and the Thesis Guide for writing a bachelor or master thesis in 31 days.