Arild Angelsen Common Mistakes in Theses Writing 2014

8/13/2019 Arild Angelsen Common Mistakes in Theses Writing 2014

1/38

Common mistakes intheses writing

(and 20 suggestions for how to write well)

Arild Angelsen

HH, UMB

08.01.2013Outline:

1. Some general rules

2. The structure of a thesis

3. The different chapters


2/38

The Master thesis ...

.... is your first piece of research

The rules for good research (writing)also applies to the Master thesis

Its that simple and difficult


3/38

Rule 1: Be Clear The one genuine rule, a golden one, is Be

Clear (McCloskey) Clarity:

Whats the point?

Test question: What is my main argument?Write it down in simple language!The Grandma test (or taxi driver test).

Be concrete & specific

Focus on the key point (argument) Test question: does this paragraph contribute to my main

point? If no: Delete!


4/38

What is unclear?

The completeness disease Side tracks & distractions

Data dumping & name dropping

(examiners dont get impressed) The risk averse approachPoverty and environment interact in a complex way

where the outcomes are highly context specific.

Ambiguous sentences, vague statements,e.g.: maybe, perhaps, might/could be

Too vague to be right or wrong(economic proverb)


5/38

But dont become a one

armed economist Often contradictory effects: State the effects

Can you quantify them? Under which conditionswill one of

them dominate?

Example: Higher education leads to higher

salary: type of education, economic

conditions, lifetime income?,


6/38

Rule 2: Simplicity

Science vs.journalism Tabloid journalism = simple without

understanding

Science= simple with understanding Example:

weak tenure => less deforestation

Dare to simplifyDo things as simple as possible,but not simpler (Einstein)

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

(Leonardo da Vinci)


7/38

Less is more!

Keep it short & simple

Keep it sensibly simple


8/38

II: A typical structure

1. Introduction

2. Background

3. Theory (framework; literature)4. Data and methods

5. Results and discussion (can split)

6. Conclusion

-> Get the thesis closer to the journal articleformat


9/38

Some practical hints

Use a good style sheet with outline format(e.g., numbered headings and subheadings)

Use subheadings (max 3 levels)

From the start: Get the bibliography right,

choose a standard format (Endnotes; coursesprovided by Library)

Use spell check from the beginning

Number tables and figures by chapter, e.g.,Table 5.1 (easier to add/delete later), or useautomatic numbering


10/38

The paragraph

Use paragraphs as the unit of composition

Each paragraph should have (only) one point Hint: Number the paragraphs in you first drafts

The classical paragraph:

Declaration: its cold in s .....

Elaboration: the temperature this morningwas 6 C .....

Conclusion: this is not unusual, although ...


11/38

Title

The first trigger Informative

Get the keyword in the title

A key result: Not:The effects of reduced impactlogging on water quality, but

Reduced impact logging maintainshigh water quality

Often very boring, can play with words.


12/38

Title (cont.) Have a short catchy title, and a more descriptive

subtitle:

Playing Games in the Forest: State - LocalConflicts of Land Appropriation

Ecuador Goes Bananas: IncrementalTechnological Change and Forest Loss

Or, it can be short and simple: Cocoa and Chaos in Ghana I just ran 4 million regressions The Little REDD book

How sweet is sugar? Or be very pointed question: Does inflation really lower growth? What makes local forest management

successful?


13/38

Abstract

For articles, most people only read thetitle and abstract: What do you want totell them? What was studied, the main finding,

and conclusion (policy implications?) The key argument

Limit description of methods Its the second trigger


14/38


15/38

1. Introduction A good introduction:

Why is the topic important? What is new? Focus on the main argument

Present the research question and what youll do Short (2-3 pages, or max 10 %) A bad introduction

Too long

Either toospecific or toogeneral Long description & background


16/38

Examples

No starters: This thesis discusses . Poverty is widespread in Ethiopia . + long

background of well-known facts .

Better ones are: Does market integration destroy community

management of forests? XX has argued In thisthesis I demonstrate, quite the contrary, that .

Poverty is commonly believed to be a majorcause of tropical deforestation. This thesis givesevidence from Sumatra that questions this view


17/38

Example (Arrow and Lind,

AER 1970)The implications of uncertainty forpublic investment decisions remain

controversial. The essense of thiscontroversial is as follows: . The issueis whether it is appropriate to discountpublic investments in the same way asprivate investments.


18/38

2. Background:Three types of information

1. Geographical: Community, district, country KISS, particularly for the country Whats special & relevant for your topic,

e.g., the sector working on2. Topic: The debate and issues: Ok, but explain

why relevant for your thesis

3. Theory: next sectionGeneral: Link it to the rest of your theses!Tables & figures & maps often useful

3 Th


19/38

3. Theory:a. The structured literature review

Structured and intelligent discussion Organize the discussion by arguments, not

authors

Use general theory, but make it relevant foryour problem

Define concepts

Use box and arrow diagram (flow chart)

1-3 overview articles/reports/books useful

Identify the 5 most important articles/books understand them well!


20/38

b. Mathematification of the

arguments Using math to present some keyarguments and hypotheses

Example: Based on the above discussion,the probability of starting agro-business (P)can be written as:

P = f(Income, Age, Education, Land, )

Then you have a discussion of expectedsigns and why (the economic mechanisms)


21/38

c. A (new) formal model

One possibility: a simple optimization model adaptedto the problem

Dont just replicate a standard textbook model, e.g.Chayanov or profit-max

A newformal model probably not appropriate formost theses

Note on references: Cite paper with original idea

Too much internet sources (use Wikipedia?)


22/38

Derive testable hypotheses

The theory section should normallyconclude with a set of hypotheses.

Its key to link theory and empiricalfindings.

Testable:

Defined and quantified all relevant variables Sufficient variation in data to permit testing

The following table is useful:


23/38

Tool

Variable Indicator/proxy Expected sign

Poverty Income per adultequivalent

Negative

Land holdingsper household

Negative(amongfarmers)

Forest access Distance fromhouse to forest

Positive

Forest cover (%)of village

Negative


24/38

4. Data and methods

Three parts: Methods for data collection:

describe data collection methods,sample, etc.

Data collected/used definitions, problems

Methods for analyzing the data

only descriptions of whats (to be) done,not the results

justify methods


25/38

Typical mistakes

Too much on basic methodologies

There are textbooks on OLS!

Too much on general problems in datacollection (validity, reliability,...)

Too little on the actual data collection

Too little on the empirical strategy (howhypotheses are to be tested)


26/38

5. Results and discussion

Focus on findings relevant to the topic& hypotheses

After a broad introduction (descriptive

stuff), organize the chapter based onthe research questions andhypotheses (and possibly also

methods used)


27/38

Example

CHAPTER 5: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

5.1 Descriptive information about respondents

5.2 Factor analysis: Identification of developmentpathways

5.3 Econometric analysis of the determinants ofdevelopment pathways

5.4 Welfare implications of development pathways

M j i t k


28/38

Major mistake:Little economics,

lots of econometrics Start with a simple descriptive analysis:

tables, graphs, .... Get to know your data!

Example of a useful table (from a study

of determinants of forest income)

Total Forest Pct forest


29/38

Totalincome

Forestincome

Pct forestincome

Income 1. quintile

2. quintileLand holdings 0-0.5 ha

0.5-1 ha

Sex Male head.Female h.

Education Primary

Secondary

Age groups

Villages


30/38

Causation vs.correlation

Tables and simple statistics detectcorrelation

Regression triesto detect causation(if all relevant exogenous variablesincluded)

Distinguish between the two! Using theory necessary to identifycausation


31/38

Tables and figures

Tables are often overloaded Extract the big picture (trends, major

findings) and interpretations in the text people can read the details in the

tables Use appendices, particularly for large

tables Figures are generally better than tables


32/38

Interpretations

Avoid verbal math;Dont write whats already in the tablesThe variable CREDIT has value of 6.0567 and a t-statistic of

2.2876, and is significant at the 95 % level. The analysisshows that an increase in the CREDIT variable increases

maize production by more than 6 units. Economic significance

The findings suggest that providing credit to farmers increaseproduction by 24 %, and overall income by 17 %. Providing credit to all farmers will make the share of

population below the poverty line will drop from 56 % to 42%.


33/38

Discussion of results

The broader interpretations. What explainsthe findings?

Relate findings to hypotheses & theory!

Not doing so is a common mistake! Avoid ad-hocreasoning (its easy to

contradict oneself, and not linked to theory)

A new table comparing expected and actualsigns? Why different?


34/38

Look for alternativeexplanations (hypotheses)

The Wason card problem

4 cards on the table with a letter on one side anumber on the other

The cards show: A, B, 2, 3 Hypothesis: All cards with a vowel on one side has

an even number on the other

Question: Which 2 cards should you draw to test the

hypothesis?Falsification as a scientific method

look for evidence to prove yourself wrong


35/38

7. Conclusion

Main findings brought together Implications & recommendations

Research (but dont beg for moreresearch)

Policy Typical mistakes:

Repeat introduction & abstract

Unfounded conclusions and policyimplications


36/38

References

Paper with the original idea

Too much internet sources (use

Wikipedia?) Use standard format and reference

programme


37/38

Summary:The common mistakes

No clear research question (and testablehypotheses)

Lack of focus throughout the thesis on the

topic (irrelevance) Background: too general Theory: repeating textbooks Method: general and repeating textbooks Results and discussion: jumps to the

regression, and little link to theory


38/38

The good thesis

has a research question

and answers that

using sound theory and methods and presents and discuss the results

in a clear and structured way!

Its that simple!

Documents

Arild Angelsen Common Mistakes in Theses Writing 2014