Researching and writing a long paper relating to your master’s degree program is now required by some higher education institutions. Requirements may vary from school to school, but the order for planning a master’s thesis paper has similar elements.
What Your Institution Wants
Look at your university or college’s requirements for a master’s thesis. Some college’s only need the written thesis, while other institutions want a more elaborate process including a committee and a defense of your work.
Propose a Topic
Focus on a topic within your discipline which is narrow enough in focus and interesting enough to research. Spend some time doing preliminary research on several questions before choosing one.
Meet with Your Advisor
In most higher education institutions, before you begin major research, you need to have the approval of your advisor or chair of your department. Usually, you need to submit a formal proposal for what you plan to write about before you begin writing.
Research
Brainstorm on your topic and research, research, research. Often, you begin your master’s thesis research in one year and then finished in another.
Form Your Paper
Major papers often include title pages, table of contents, graphs or tables to illustrate research. Also plan on explaining your methods of research, your results and conclusions as well as showing all the research you have done.
Turning It All In
Once you have it written, often you must defend your paper in front of a committee. After your defense, you usually need to rewrite sections of your thesis for a final submission.