1. Master thesis in Master of Educational Studies Karel Joos Study Advice Service November 27th 2013

2. Introduction General approach o Reduction in 1 hour? o Focus on : how to organise thesis work Regulations in faculty o Master’s thesis guide o http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/english/student-portal/masters- thesis/guide/1314 http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/english/student-portal/masters- thesis/guide/1314 o Homepage > Education > Faculties > Psychology and Educational Sciences > Student portal > Master's thesis guide

3. Overview of session Goal Long term planning Choice of topic Brainstorm Library research Temporary table of content (!) Research Analysis of results Writing Rewriting Finishing touch Role of promotor

4. Goal of master thesis Proof you can o Summarize large amount of information, o Conduct scientific research, o Write in academic style o Independent working (limited coaching of promotor) Not : o World shocking new scientific discoveries o Super intelligent insights

5. Goal of master thesis(2) “1.2 Objectives” (p. 4) o conduct independent research within their own discipline provide a theoretical foundation for their research formulate a research question select, apply and evaluate an adequate research method o draw valid conclusions and offer critical reflections report on the research conducted for their Master’s thesis in an academic style.

6. Goal of master thesis(3) “5.2.1 Criteria” (p. 20) Theoretical framework The research question draws on relevant (international) literature. The findings are linked to the (international) literature and the theoretical framework. The student’s own work engages with the existing literature. Research question The research question is relevant and specific. The research is driven by the research question. Research method The research method is adequate and thorough. The student describes his/her reasons for adopting this research method. The data analysis (where applicable) is adequate Conclusions and critical reflection The conclusions are valid and have been critically reflected upon.

7. Long term planning Okt-Nov : o Choice of topic o Brainstorm o Library research o Temporary table of content : word document that is growing Dec : o Writing first draft chapter 1 : literature Jan - Feb : o Monday 10/02/2014 (start 2nd semester): Deadline for submitting interim report o Research o (Statistical) Analysis of results March - April: o Writing : o Rewriting literature part o Monday 28/04/2014 (10 a.m.): Deadline for submitting final title Mai : o Rewriting o Finishing touch o Tuesday 20/05/2014 (12 a.m.) : it’s over

8. Long term planning Thesis = 24 ECTS 1ECTS = 25-30h Thesis = 600-720h = 75-90 days +/- 35 weeks  2,5days/week

9. Choice of topic Facultary organisation : guide How to decide? o Info session (last week of September) o Different rounds Information about other facultary rules o How many pages 40 to 60 pages (400 words/page) o Criteria o Regulations about style : academic reporting quotes and references tables formal aspects (front page, …) … o Deadlines

10. Brainstorm About : o Where to look for information? Relevant aspects (broader scope) Library (search engines) Other thesis, phd research …. o How to conduct your research? o Hypotheses o …

11. Library research Takes time Copy and mark o Avoid reading everything twice o Elements of reference list author(s) name of book, journal year of publication publisher ? quoting from website ?

12. Library research Composing references : o ‘Reference manager’ o ‘End note’ o ‘Wired marker’ o ‘Zotero’ o … Library : search engines o http://ppw.kuleuven.be/english/pbib/manuals http://ppw.kuleuven.be/english/pbib/manuals o Limo, Eric, Web of Science, …

13. Temporary table of content Heart of the matter! Difficulty : o Large amount of information ?trying to have the whole content of your thesis in mind? o Unstructured o Uncertain (results?) The very problem for most students in individual coaching!!!

14. Temporary table of content preface table of content introduction Chptr 1 : overview of literature Chptr 2 : research plan o hypotheses, methodology, … Chptr 3 : research o implementation, results,… Chptr 4 : conclusions and suggestions for further research o Comparison : hypotheses - results list of tabels, figures bibliography – reference list annexes

15. Table of content : exemple Education and Invention 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Literature Study...................................................................................................................................1 2.1 Effect Education on Growth...................................................................................................2 2.2 Effect Universities on Innovation............................................................................................4 2.3 Determinants National Innovative Capacity............................................................................5 2.4 Education and Invention.........................................................................................................6 2.5 Synthesis Literature................................................................................................................7 3. Data and Descriptive Statistics............................................................................................................ 8 3.1 Construction of the Data.........................................................................................................8 3.2 Samples and Descriptive Statistics.........................................................................................9 4. Empirical Framework......................................................................................................................... 13 5. Results............................................................................................................................................... 15 5.1 Total Patents Panel Data Estimation.....................................................................................15 5.1.1 Total Patents Panel Data Estimation without country characteristics.................................15 5.1.1 Total Patents Panel Data Estimation with country characteristics......................................24 5.2 Growth Rates Total Patents Panel Data Estimation...............................................................33 5.3 Arellano-Bond Dynamic Panel Estimation..............................................................................33 6. Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................35 Appendices..............................................................................................................................................37 List of Tables............................................................................................................................................50 Sources.....................................................................................................................................................51

16. Temporary table of content From chaos to structure???? Initial data : ?

17. Temporary table of content How to structure unstructered info: o there’s no structure that perfectly fits the data o structure = tool to communicate with the reader Decide yourself what structure should be o Example 1 : “house” : structure according to : different rooms different looks from the outside different phases in which it was built (first basement,…) different sorts of material used o Example 2 : thesis

19. Temporary table of content Word document o With key words on different levels o Easy to change structure o Write down everything you think of Concepts, formulas, remarks, quotes, theories, articles,… Suggestions Things to do?? = One overview (working paper) o Later on : start from this document to write the same in full sentences

20. Temporary table of content Exercice : o Try to structure the ‘streets of Leuven’

21. Temporary table of content Structure = communication with reader o Who is reader (to focus on) Not professor Interested, intelligent human being with not to much knowledge about your topic o Difficulty : “this is too obvious to write” Always an exception on structure o House-rooms : what with a ‘terrace’ or car port, is it a room or not? This will be the “remarks”

22. Research Interview, experiments,… Takes lots of time Prepare in advance o Appointments for an interview : 3 weeks before?

23. (Statistical) analysis Confrontation with quality of data o Risk to postpone confrontation Also a ‘negative’ result is a result.

24. Writing Final tabel of content o Will be read by almost anyone o Text itself will not always be read from a to z Text o Starting from temporary table of content o 1 page per day

25. Writing Comprehensible o Tell story to someone Academic o Objective : verifyible facts verifyible sources o Clear difference between personal opinion and facts

26. Writing Meta language : o Language about the language o Say what you’re going to say “to summarize” “on the contrary” “I will focus on ….” o Explicitation of links from paragraph to paragraph “the same result was found in…” “on a more general level, the results of …” from part to part

27. Writing Quotes and references o Lots of discussion within K.U.Leuven(!) o Within text + in reference list o Facultary regulations o Plagiarism : http://www.kuleuven.be/plagiarism/ “Turnitin” o What in case of : Paraphrasing Summarizing only the idea of an author Common sense

28. Rewriting

29. Finishing touch

30. What to expect from promotor Differences between promotors Promotor : o Initial indication o Suggestions on content, research o Reading text o +/- 4 appointments Expects you to work independently

31. Contact o Study Advice Service Naamsestraat 80 3000 Leuven 016/32 43 11 www.kuleuven.be/studyadvice o Karel.Joos@dsv.kuleuven.be Karel.Joos@dsv.kuleuven.be

32. Succes