Thesis writing and academic support

A bachelor’s or master’s thesis abstract should briefly present its aim, approach, main findings and conclusion. Write it from the completed thesis. The English abstract should convey the same content, preserving the correct terminology and study limitations. Your thesis runs to dozens of pages, but... A bachelor’s or master’s thesis abstract should briefly present its aim, approach, main findings and conclusion. Write it from the completed thesis. The English abstract should convey the same content, preserving the correct terminology and study limitations. Your thesis runs to dozens of pages, but the university’s submission system gives you only a small field to describe it. What should you include? Instead of shortening each chapter separately, identify what readers need to know to understand the subject and outcome of the whole thesis. The example below shows how to combine this information without writing a second introduction. The introduction presents the problem and the foundations of the thesis. The conclusion brings together the findings and answers the questions set. The abstract gives a self-contained, condensed account of the whole thesis, including for someone who does not read the other chapters. Do not copy the first paragraph of the introduction if it only explains the importance of the topic. Nor should you transfer the entire conclusion if readers cannot understand the basis for the findings without knowing the method. For comparison, see the guides on writing an introduction and on the thesis conclusion. In her discussion of the summary as a genre, Anna Dunin-Dudkowska (2023) emphasises its dependence on the source text and the selection of essential content. She also describes the importance of an organised account of the problem, method and results in a research abstract. For a thesis, this means the abstract should not add achievements absent from the work itself. Check your faculty’s guidelines and the fields in the thesis submission system. The limit may be stated in words or characters, with or without spaces. Separate language versions and a specified number of keywords may be required. There is no single length that applies to every bachelor’s and master’s thesis. Before shortening...

An argumentative academic essay requires your own position, supporting reasons and critical engagement with sources. Collecting a few definitions and adding ‘in my opinion’ is not enough. Readers should see the problem you are examining, why you take a particular position and how you address serious objections. The instruction... An argumentative academic essay requires your own position, supporting reasons and critical engagement with sources. Collecting a few definitions and adding ‘in my opinion’ is not enough. Readers should see the problem you are examining, why you take a particular position and how you address serious objections. ‘Write an essay’ leaves considerable freedom, but it does not mean anything goes. First, check what kind of text has been assigned. This guide covers argumentative university essays. An interpretative, reflective or literary essay may have a different structure. We will move from a broad topic to a thesis statement, an outline and a sample paragraph. In an argumentative essay, you organise material around a problem and your own reasoning. A seminar paper may primarily present a particular subject, although it can also include analysis. A summary reproduces the main content of another text. These labels are used in different ways, so your lecturer’s instructions matter more than a ready-made template found online. Check the verbs in the assignment: ‘compare’, ‘evaluate’, ‘interpret’, ‘justify’ or ‘present’. Comparing two positions requires criteria for comparison. Evaluation requires an explanation of the basis on which you judge one approach better. Simply describing authors’ views fulfils neither task. The University of Warsaw’s Academic Writing I syllabus links argumentative writing with thesis statements, constructing arguments, counterargument and working with sources. It illustrates an academic approach to writing skills; it is not a rulebook applying to every university. The topic identifies an area, while the thesis statement expresses a position that needs supporting reasons. ‘The academic library’ is a topic. ‘Libraries are necessary’ is too general a claim to guide a short essay effectively. Narrowing the problem helps you choose arguments and leave out digressions. Topic: organising space in an academic library. Question: should one reading room allow both silent work...

Working with interviews for a thesis involves preparing a transcript, analysing what participants say and reporting findings linked to the research questions. A transcript is material for analysis. A results chapter takes shape when you explain what the accounts show and what supports your interpretation. You have several recordings,... Working with interviews for a thesis involves preparing a transcript, analysing what participants say and reporting findings linked to the research questions. A transcript is material for analysis. A results chapter takes shape when you explain what the accounts show and what supports your interpretation. Do you have several recordings, dozens of pages of text and no idea where to start? You do not need to buy specialist software straight away. First, decide how you will work with the material. The example below shows how to move from an extract to a code and a cautious conclusion, without turning the interviews into a collection of random quotations. In your thesis, identify both how you conducted the interviews and the method you used to analyse them. Thematic analysis, narrative analysis, qualitative content analysis and grounded theory methodology are not interchangeable terms for the same activity. In this guide, we show how to organise work with codes and themes using a simple example. This is not a complete protocol for every qualitative method. If you are analysing how people construct narratives of their own lives, dividing their accounts into themes may not be enough. When you adopt a particular method, apply its assumptions consistently and describe your own analytical decisions. In the study by Mandes and Karlińska (2024), qualitative coding involved reading documents, interpreting extracts and checking their meaning across the whole dataset. The authors also show how this work differs from automated topic modelling. This is a useful distinction: a list of frequently occurring words is not, in itself, an interpretation of interviews. Give participants stable identifiers, such as R01 and R02. Separate their responses from the interviewer's questions. Add paragraph numbers or timestamps so that you can later locate an extract in the recording. Keep the source version separate from your...

There is no single number of respondents that is sufficient for every survey in a bachelor's or master's thesis. Sample size should reflect the aim of the study, the recruitment method and the planned analysis. Collecting 100 responses alone does not mean that you can draw conclusions about all students, teachers... There is no single number of respondents that is sufficient for every survey in a bachelor's or master's thesis. Sample size should reflect the aim of the study, the recruitment method and the planned analysis. Collecting 100 responses alone does not mean that you can draw conclusions about all students, teachers or employees. Have you prepared your questionnaire and want to know when to stop collecting responses? Start with what you want to establish from the data. Describing the experiences of people on one course calls for a different sample from comparing several groups. Below, you will find a way to organise these decisions and an example showing why the number of submitted questionnaires can be misleading. None of these numbers is a universal threshold for a valid study. A lecturer's requirement may set a practical minimum for a particular assignment. It does not replace a methodological justification. If you are comparing groups, the number of people in each group matters too, not just the total number of responses. Imagine two surveys with 100 respondents each. In the first, only members of a student research society respond; in the second, participants have been randomly selected from a list of a defined population. The numbers are equal, but the sampling methods and possible limitations on inference differ. In his paper on large samples, Mirosław Szreder (2022) explains why increasing the sample size does not automatically remove bias arising from non-probability sampling. The population is the group to which the research question relates. The sample consists of the people included in the study. “Students” is usually too broad a term if the questionnaire only reaches friends on one degree programme. Instead of: “How do students assess their work placements?” More precisely: “How do third-year education students at the university being studied...

A bachelor’s or master’s thesis defence presentation should show what you did, why you chose that approach and what you found. You do not need to put every chapter on the slides. First, check your programme’s time limit and presentation rules, then choose material that makes your contribution clear. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis defence presentation should show what you did, why you chose that approach and what you found. You do not need to put every chapter on the slides. First, check your programme’s time limit and presentation rules, then choose material that makes your contribution clear. Gather the final thesis text, presentation requirements and any university template. Check the time limit, permitted file format and required title-slide details. A presentation may form part of the examination, but whether and how it is used depends on your programme’s rules. A general guide cannot replace them. On a separate sheet, write one sentence: ‘In my thesis, I examined, compared or developed...’. Complete it in your own words. If this is difficult, return to the aim and conclusion. The sentence will help distinguish essential information from details you can leave out of a short talk. Piotr Wasylczyk’s guide treats presentation preparation as choosing a purpose, organising material, design and delivery. This division is a reminder that finishing the file does not complete the preparation: you still need to rehearse how you will present it. Below is an original six-slide outline for a talk with an illustrative seven-minute limit. This is not a required structure or compulsory slide count. If your faculty expects a different arrangement, follow the rules provided. Include the title, author and details required by your university. In your talk, identify the thesis problem. Do not read the entire title page aloud or start with a long story about choosing your degree programme. Show the main question and the limits of the work. Explain what you analysed and what lay outside the scope. For an empirical thesis, you can identify the most important research question; you do not need to reproduce the complete list of specific objectives. Present the...

When checking a bachelor’s or master’s thesis before submission, start with its substance and completeness. First, check that you address the aim and provide material supporting your conclusions. Then review sources, language and file layout. This order avoids polishing paragraphs that still need restructuring. When checking a bachelor’s or master’s thesis before submission, start with its substance and completeness. First, check that you address the aim and provide material supporting your conclusions. Then review sources, language and file layout. This order avoids polishing paragraphs that still need restructuring. A thesis audit is a structured diagnosis: what needs improvement, why and where to start. Receiving a list of comments does not mean the document has been revised. When commissioning a check, agree whether it covers assessment of specified areas, comments on the text or subsequent revisions as well. Keep a copy of the document. Gather the current university guidelines, approved outline, supervisor feedback and material underlying the analysis. Record the name of the file to be checked. If some chapters are in other documents, combine them or state their order unambiguously. Note unresolved issues separately: a missing source, an unclear comment or calculations awaiting verification. These are easy to miss once draft markers have disappeared from the finished file. Also mark the sections already accepted so the revision plan respects earlier agreements. Open the introduction, contents page and conclusion side by side. Write one sentence stating what the thesis was meant to establish. Then identify the passage giving the answer. If you must search across several disconnected places, the argument may need reorganising. A theoretical, review-based or design-based thesis also needs a clear outcome. Do not add a survey merely to make it resemble empirical research. Check whether your approach to comparing sources, analysing a case or evaluating a solution can answer the questions posed. For chapters that repeat content or head in different directions, use the guide to organising your thesis structure. The final check is primarily about identifying these problems and prioritising them. Not every problem needs the same response. The original example below illustrates how to organise comments....