Writing a Thesis: A Supervisor's Perspective
by Prof Bernard Rudden, former Visiting Professor, School of Law
For the last 20 years, I have held the Chair of Comparative Law in the University of Oxford. Much of this time has been spent in supervising graduates who are writing theses as part of the requirements for a master's degree or a doctorate. Many of the students have come from abroad, are working in a field of study which is new to them, and are writing in a language which is not their own. Over the years I have learned a good deal about the problems which arise, and the following paragraphs offer research students some suggestions as to how common problems may be overcome.
Length and time
For a doctoral thesis, the maximum length to aim at is 100,000 words; for a Master's thesis, 30-50,000 words. Anything beyond that involves an expenditure of time and effort that is rarely justified. As to the time required, a useful assumption is 4,000 hours for a doctoral dissertation, which is about 2 years' work at 40 hours a week.
Supervisor
The supervisor is not your teacher or your examiner. He or she is there to help, to give their students their time and attention. Schedule a regular meeting - say once a fortnight - for discussion of the work in progress. Before the meeting the student should send something written, however rough, however slight. Put your name and the date on it and number the pages. Expect to get it back promptly with comments and any necessary corrections (but keep a copy, just in case).
Research topic
A good way to start selection of a topic is to make lists of areas that do not interest you and of those that do. The second list can then be used for a rapid survey: start with encyclopaedias (immensely valuable aids to learning). Make friends with librarians, who are learned and helpful people. Survey, quickly, the resources of cyberspace. Finally, and most important, send your supervisor a list of possible topics with bibliographical references. Bibliographies will tell you what has been published in a given field but will not distinguish the good books from the bad. Your supervisor should be able to help you here.
Starting research
The way to make research easy is to establish a routine. Form the habit of sitting in the same place at the same time every day, switch on your PC and your mind, and get to work.
A common and dangerous error is that the first year or more should be spent on research, and only then should the research be 'written up'. This may work for some of the experimental sciences, but not for a thesis in the arts or social sciences. For those areas, one should expect to spend about a third of the time in research, a third in thinking and third in writing: though, of course, the last two activities usually go together. This means, first, that the student has much less time for research than may appear at first; second, that, thinking and writing - in small draft sections - should be done along with the research.
A useful way of achieving this is to plan ahead for only a short time: to say, for instance, that by the end of next week you will have researched a particular topic and written a page or so summarising your research and any ideas that have occurred to you, and also - this is most important - you will have articulated in your own words the things you do not understand about the topic you have just studied. If this is repeated, topic after short-term topic, then after a few months much of the ground will have been covered.
Organise your notes
All too often one finds research students in the very last stages of their thesis frenziedly doing research in their own notes: they just know they have the stuff, but cannot find it. To avoid this, give some thought from the very beginning to the organising and cross-referencing of your own notes. Two useful things to remember are: first, you have not read something just because you have photocopied or scanned it; second, if you know you will be citing some source or authority, then get the reference correct and complete right from the start. Consult the appropriate style manual and, if in doubt, ask a librarian.
Find a friend
It is extremely useful to be able to show your work to someone else. Ideally, if you are not writing in your first language, the reader should be a native speaker, who can show you how to say the same thing more simply. And simplicity and clarity are two of the greatest virtues of a good thesis. They should not be an expert in the field: you must learn to write in a way that is both intelligible and interesting, so that even a non-expert will read with pleasure and profit.
Final version
By the time you reach the final draft, you will know a great deal about the subject. Remember that the examiners know much less. Try for a vigorous opening that will interest and attract them; throughout the text do not hesitate to remind them of things that seem obvious to you; make the thesis lucid, coherent, and persuasive. It does not matter that the examiners, in the end, are not convinced: it is enough if they appreciate your argument.
Oral examination
Before your oral examination, read and re-read your own work. If you find mistakes, type a corrections sheet, take it into the examination, and hand each examiner a copy.
Say thank you
When you have graduated, remember the help given you by librarians, your supervisor, and your patient friend. Thank them.