How to analyse a recent good example of a thesis in your area
Posted by Julia Hobson on August 26, 2008
The point of this particular task is to focus on the structure of the document so don’t get caught up in close reading for meaning and information.
Start with the map of the document: the contents page.
How is the contents page structured ? Are there different sections? how many chapters ? Are there subheadings included in the contents page? Is a numbering system used?
Consider the Abstract, How long is it? Where is the key point of the research stated? How much detail on the results is given? Does it motivate you to read more of the thesis?
Look at the Introduction: where is the background/context of the research given? Is there a separate review of the literature or is it part of the Introduction? How long is this section? How has the author avoided the ’shopping list’ syndrome of a literature review? Does the introduction set out a ‘map’ of the overall thesis?
