How to write a master's thesis / Yvonne N. Bui, San Francisco State University.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"This is the best textbook about writing an M.A. thesis available in the market." -Hsin-I Liu, University of the Incarnate Word The Third Edition of How to Write a Master′s Thesis is a comprehensive manual on how to plan and write a five-chapter master's thesis, and a great resource for graduate students looking for concrete, applied guidance on how to successfully complete their master′s degrees. While research methods and statistics courses may teach students the basic information on how to conduct research, putting it all together into a single project and document can be a challenge. Author Yvonne Bui demystifies this process by integrating the language learned in prerequisite methods and statistics courses into a step-by-step guide for developing a student′s own thesis or project.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Students' Master's Theses (p. xv)
• Preface (p. xvii)
• About the Author (p. xxi)
• Chapter 1 Overview of the Master's Degree and Thesis (p. 1)
• The Master's Degree (p. 2)
• What Is a Master's Thesis? (p. 3)
• The Benefits of Writing a Master's Thesis (p. 4)
• The Difference Between a Master's Thesis and a Term Paper (p. 4)
• The Difference Between a Master's Thesis and a Doctoral Dissertation (p. 5)
• Selecting a Thesis Chairperson and Committee (p. 6)
• How to Read and Use This Book (p. 7)
• Components of a Master's Thesis (p. 8)
• Chapter 1 Introduction (p. 9)
• Chapter 2 Literature Review (p. 9)
• Chapter 3 Methods (p. 10)
• Chapter 4 Results and Findings (p. 11)
• Chapter 5 Discussion (p. 11)
• Quantitative, Qualitative, or Mixed Methods Research? (p. 12)
• Quantitative Research (p. 12)
• Qualitative Research (p. 14)
• Mixed Methods Research (p. 15)
• Style Form (p. 16)
• Summary (p. 17)
• Resources (p. 18)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 18)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 18)
• Try It Exercises (p. 18)
• Key Terms (p. 20)
• Suggested Readings (p. 20)
• Web Links (p. 21)
• Chapter 2 Selecting a Research Topic (p. 23)
• Important Factors to Consider When Selecting a Topic (p. 24)
• Personal Significance (p. 24)
• Critical Issues in the Field (p. 25)
• Existing Research Literature (p. 26)
• Search Engines (p. 27)
• Electronic Databases (p. 30)
• Ethical Considerations (p. 30)
• How to Narrow and Refocus Your Topic (p. 31)
• Feasibility (p. 32)
• Accessibility (p. 33)
• Time and Resources (p. 34)
• Developing Answerable Research Questions (p. 35)
• Answerable Questions (p. 35)
• Defining Terms (p. 36)
• Creating a Realistic Timeline (p. 38)
• Time Management (p. 41)
• Reserving Time (p. 41)
• Chunking Method (p. 42)
• Summary (p. 43)
• Resources (p. 44)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 44)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 44)
• Try It Exercises (p. 45)
• Key Terms (p. 46)
• Suggested Readings (p. 46)
• Web Links (p. 46)
• Chapter 3 Using the Literature to Research Your Problem (p. 47)
• Benefits of Conducting a Literature Review (p. 48)
• Meeting With a Reference Librarian (p. 49)
• Sources of Data: Primary Versus Secondary (p. 50)
• Primary Sources (p. 50)
• Secondary Sources (p. 51)
• Selecting Keywords (p. 52)
• Conducting Searches in Electronic Databases (p. 54)
• Basic Search (p. 57)
• Search Modes (p. 57)
• Limiters (p. 60)
• Expanders (p. 61)
• Advanced Search (p. 63)
• Using Subject Terms (Thesaurus) (p. 63)
• Conducting Searches on the Internet (p. 66)
• Different Types of Articles (p. 67)
• Refereed Versus Non-Refereed (p. 67)
• Staying Organized (p. 68)
• Summary (p. 70)
• Resources (p. 71)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 71)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 71)
• Try It Exercises (p. 72)
• Key Terms (p. 73)
• Suggested Readings (p. 73)
• Web Links (p. 74)
• Chapter 4 Conducting Ethical Research (p. 75)
• Legal Regulations and Ethical Standards (p. 76)
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) (p. 80)
• IR8 Protocol Review Process (p. 81)
• Ethical Behavior (p. 83)
• Plagiarism and Paraphrasing (p. 84)
• Summary (p. 86)
• Resources (p. 87)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 87)
• Reflection/Discussion Question (p. 88)
• Try It Exercises (p. 88)
• Key Terms (p. 89)
• Suggested Readings (p. 89)
• Web Links (p. 90)
• Chapter 5 How to Write Chapter One, Introduction (p. 91)
• Writing Style (p. 92)
• Chapter One Sections (p. 93)
• Introduction (p. 94)
• Statement of the Problem (p. 99)
• Background and Need (p. 102)
• Three Parallel Ladders Strategy (p. 102)
• Purpose of the Study (p. 106)
• Research Questions (p. 108)
• Significance to the Field (p. 109)
• Definitions (p. 110)
• Limitations (p. 111)
• Ethical Considerations (p. 111)
• Summary (p. 112)
• Resources (p. 113)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 113)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 113)
• Try It Exercises (p. 114)
• Key Terms (p. 115)
• Suggested Readings (p. 115)
• Web Links (p. 116)
• Chapter 6 How to Write Chapter Two, Literature Review (p. 117)
• Preparation and Organization (p. 119)
• Chapter 2 Sections (p. 122)
• Introduction (p. 122)
• Advance Organizer (p. 123)
• Body of the Review (p. 124)
• Research Synthesis (p. 124)
• Section Summary (p. 130)
• Chapter Summary (p. 131)
• Summary (p. 132)
• Resources (p. 133)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 133)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 134)
• Try It Exercises (p. 134)
• Key Terms (p. 135)
• Suggested Readings (p. 135)
• Web Links (p. 135)
• Chapter 7 How to Write Chapter Three, Methods (p. 137)
• Research Designs and Research Methods (p. 138)
• Preparation and Organization (p. 139)
• Chapter 3 Sections (p. 140)
• Introduction (p. 141)
• Setting (p. 144)
• Participants (p. 145)
• Intervention and Materials (p. 147)
• Measurement Instruments (p. 149)
• Validity and Reliability (p. 153)
• Procedure (p. 155)
• Data Analysis (p. 158)
• Summary (p. 161)
• Resources (p. 162)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 162)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 164)
• Try It Exercises (p. 164)
• Key Terms (p. 165)
• Suggested Readings (p. 165)
• Web Links (p. 166)
• Chapter 8 How to Write Chapter Four, Results and Findings (p. 167)
• Preparation and Organization (p. 168)
• Chapter Four Sections (p. 169)
• Quantitative Data (p. 169)
• Descriptive Statistics (p. 171)
• Measures of Central Tendency (p. 171)
• Measures of Variability (p. 173)
• Additional Ways to Report Data Descriptively (p. 176)
• Inferential Statistics (p. 178)
• Tests of Significance (p. 178)
• Independent-Samples t Test (p. 178)
• Paired-Samples t Test (p. 181)
• Qualitative Data (p. 183)
• Major Themes and Patterns (p. 183)
• Research Questions (p. 186)
• Validity of Findings (p. 189)
• Mixed Methods Data (p. 190)
• Summary (p. 191)
• Resources (p. 192)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 192)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 192)
• Try It Exercises (p. 193)
• Key Terms (p. 194)
• Suggested Readings (p. 194)
• Web Links (p. 195)
• Chapter 9 How to Write Chapter Five, Discussion (p. 197)
• Preparation and Organization (p. 198)
• Chapter 5 Sections (p. 199)
• Introduction (p. 199)
• Discussion (p. 200)
• Limitations (p. 204)
• Recommendations for Future Research (p. 206)
• Conclusion (p. 207)
• Summary (p. 211)
• Resources (p. 212)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 212)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 213)
• Try It Exercises (p. 213)
• Suggested Readings (p. 214)
• Web Links (p. 214)
• Chapter 10 Wrapping It All Up (p. 215)
• Preparation and Organization (p. 217)
• APA Style (p. 217)
• Levels of Heading (p. 218)
• Citations in Text (p. 221)
• Direct Quotes (p. 222)
• Paraphrasing (p. 222)
• One Work, One Author (p. 222)
• One Work, Multiple Authors (p. 223)
• Two or More Works (p. 223)
• Reference List (p. 224)
• Order and Format (p. 224)
• Tables (p. 226)
• Tables in Text (p. 229)
• Placement and Spacing (p. 229)
• Title (p. 231)
• Headings and Body (p. 231)
• Notes (p. 232)
• Figures (p. 232)
• Figures in Text (p. 233)
• Placement, Size, and Font (p. 233)
• Captions and Legends (p. 233)
• Graphs (p. 234)
• Final Formatting (p. 235)
• Appendixes (p. 235)
• Appendixes in Text (p. 235)
• Placement and Cover Pages (p. 235)
• Front Pages (p. 236)
• Title Page (p. 236)
• Signature Page (p. 237)
• Acknowledgments (p. 237)
• Abstract (p. 237)
• Table of Contents (p. 239)
• Lists of Tables and Figures (p. 239)
• Final Tips and Checklist (p. 239)
• Copying and Binding (p. 241)
• Next Steps: Presenting at Conferences and Getting Published (p. 241)
• Summary (p. 243)
• Resources (p. 244)
• Common Obstacles and Practical Solutions (p. 244)
• Reflection/Discussion Questions (p. 244)
• Try It Exercises (p. 245)
• Key Terms (p. 245)
• Suggested Readings (p. 245)
• Web Links (p. 246)
• Appendices (p. 247)
• Glossary (p. 275)
• References (p. 282)
• Author Index (p. 286)
• Subject Index (p. 288)