MASTER S THESIS GUIDE. Table of Contents

Transcription

1 1 MASTER S THESIS GUIDE Table of Contents 1. Title Page_ 2 2. General Guidelines Length Submission Process Grading of the Master s Thesis 4 3. Structure Arrangement of Contents Title Page Abstract Table of Contents List of References Appendices 7 4. Format of the Thesis Font Spacing Margins Pagination Justification 9 5. Documentation of References References in the text Quoting directly Citing a secondary source Reference List Style and Language Abbreviations Tenses Verb form Footnotes 17

2 2 Title of the thesis Name of author Master s thesis University of Helsinki Department of Social Research Media and Communication Studies Date

3 3 2. General Guidelines This set of instructions is meant for writing Master s theses. The instructions are consistent with the general writing instructions of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Publication Manual of the American Psychology Association (APA). The Master s thesis forms a significant part of the advanced studies, being worth of 40 credits (40 ECTS). In order to write a Master's thesis, students must take the Research Seminar in Media and Communication Studies. The thesis topic must be in the field of Media and Communication. The primary purpose of the Master's thesis is to demonstrate the student's capacity to conduct research in his or her field. While the thesis is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge in the field, emphasis is placed on formulating research design, searching and using relevant sources of information, demonstrating competence in the application of research method, demonstrating competence in scientific writing and the ability to draw conclusions. A literature review can be an acceptable Master s thesis if it develops a new overview of existing material. Historical studies are also acceptable provided that the topic is within the field of Media and Communication and the student has a sufficient understanding of historical methods. 2.1 Length The normal length of a Master s thesis is from 60 to 80 pages, but also longer or shorter works can be considered. However, the length of the Master s thesis should not exceed 120 pages. 2.2 Submission Process The Master s Thesis is to be submitted in two identical copies (including two copies of the abstract) to the Study Office of the Faculty (Unioninkatu 37, room 1105) by a certain deadline (please see the submitting dates on the webpage of the Faculty). The thesis must be submitted before 11 A.M. The copies are to be submitted in a binder-case (if this is unclear, there are examples of these at the Study Office).

4 4 The Dean will appoint two examiners for the work delivered after hearing the head of the department of the work delivered. One of the two examiners will act as the main examiner. When submitting the Master s thesis, the student has to show that she or he is a majoring student in the field and also that the she or he is currently enrolled at the University. This can be indicated with the student card with a valid sticker or an up-to-date printout of the registry. 2.3 Grading of the Master s Thesis The grading of the Master s thesis is the following, from the highest grade to the lowest (information about the criteria of Master s thesis grades available from 1. Laudatur 2. Eximia cum laude approbatur 3. Magna cum laude approbatur 4. Cum laude approbatur 5. Non sine laude approbatur 6. Lubentur approbatur 7. Approbatur 8. Improbatur (failed) The student can not graduate if his or her Master's thesis is graded as failed (Improbatur). The Council of the Faculty will decide on the approval and the grading of the Master s theses in its so-called scrutinium -meetings. The proposition regarding the grade will be made by the examiners appointed by the Dean. The main examiner will make a written statement of the work. If the examiners do not agree on the grade proposed to the student, the Council of the Faculty will appoint a third examiner for the work in question. The candidate who has submitted his or her Master s thesis may read the statement given by the examiner and the proposition for grading one week before the grading will be taken to the Council of the Faculty. The statement is to be seen at one s home department s office.

5 5 If the candidate wishes to suspend the grading process, he or she may withdraw his/her thesis. The written statement of the withdrawal must be submitted to the study office by Monday noon preceding the meeting of the Faculty Council, where the grading is to be handled. The candidate who is not satisfied with the grading may submit a written rectification appeal of the grading to the study office of the Faculty by Friday preceding the meeting of the Faculty Council at The Faculty Council will then appoint two new examiners for the work. 3 Structure 3.1 Arrangement of Contents The Master s thesis consists of a title page, an abstract, a table of contents, an introduction, a presentation of the objectives, a literatu review, a presentation of the materials and methods, a presentation of the results, a discussion of the results, a presentation of the conclusions, a list of references, and appendices if any. It thus follows the standard format of a scientific paper. This list indicates the order in which to place the parts of your thesis: Preliminary pages Cover page Abstract Acknowledgments (Optional) Table of contents List of figures or list of illustrations (if included) List of tables (if included) The body of the thesis Text References Appendix (optional)

6 6 3.2 Title Page Select words for the title of the thesis to represent the subject content as accurately as possible. The title can have a subtitle. On the title page, the following information must be given: The title of the thesis The full name of the student, with the name one uses in daily life underlined University of Helsinki Faculty of Social Sciences Major Subject Master's Thesis The year and month of submission of thesis The title page of these instructions can be used as a model for the title page of the Master s thesis (an example of a title page is also available from Abstract An abstract is to be delivered at the same time as the work itself (in two copies). The abstract must contain the following information: the purpose of the thesis, the main source material used and the most important conclusions. The abstract is to be delivered both on paper and in electronic form. Guidelines about the abstract are available from Table of Contents The table of contents provides an overview of the structure of the thesis and the relationships between issues discussed. Main headings and subheadings, including page numbers, are indicated in the list of contents the same way as in the current instructions. The first page number of the list of references and of each appendix should also be cited in the table of contents.

7 7 The table of contents is on a separate page. The text should be structured so that three levels of headings are sufficient (you can also use only two levels) and a hierarchical numbering system is used (for example, 4, 4.2, for these three levels). No heading can be exactly the same as the title of the thesis. No full stop should be used after the heading number or the heading text. When dividing a chapter into sub-chapters you must have at least two subchapters (for example: and 2.1.2). 3.5 List of References The list of references must include the details of all references in the text. All listed references must be cited in the text and all cited references must be included in the reference list. The references are listed alphabetically according to the first author s surname. The general structure of a reference consists of four parts: author, year, title, publication channel or publisher s name and publication place (see instructions below). It is important that the format used is consistent throughout the thesis. 3.6 Appendices You can present large and separate sections connected to your work (such as the questionnaire used in the study, detailed information on the interviewees, or the code list used in analyzing qualitative data) as appendices. They are placed last, after references, and they should be numbered and titled. Do not include any appendices that you do not refer to in your text.

8 8 4 Format of the Thesis 4.1 Font The entire text of the dissertation or thesis, including page numbers and footnotes, must be produced with the same font. Exceptions are made only for tables and figures. The Master s Programme recommends that Times New Roman with a 12-point font size is used. The following fonts and font sizes are also acceptable: Arial 12 Garamond 14 Helvetica 12 Times 14 (Times 12 is not acceptable) 4.2 Spacing In order for the thesis to be easily readable, the line spacing should be 1.5 (i.e. 36 to 38 lines per page). Exceptions: Lengthy tables, quotations and footnotes (not recommandable) may be singlespaced but must be in the same font as the rest of the text. 4.3 Margins The left margin of the work must be at least 4 centimetres and the right margin must be at 2 centimetres. Top margin must be 3.5 cm and bottom margin3 cm. These margins apply to all pages, including those with tables and figures. 4.4 Pagination Use Arabic numbers in the same size font as the text for the thesis. Page numbers are placed at the top of the page, centered between the margins. Page numbers should not appear on the title page, the abstract page and the list of contents. The first page number appears on the first page of actual text. Chapters within the text begin on new pages.

9 9 4.5 Justification Left-aligned, ragged right margins are preferred. If the left and right margins are justified, the text must be hyphenated. 5 Documentation of References Source references are included in the body of the text whenever specialist information is presented. The objective is that the reader can go to the same article and find the same information as you have presented. References are placed in the text in a way that allows the reader to understand which part of the text is based on the cited source. By using the full stop you show whether the reference refers to one or more sentences. If it refers to one sentence or part of a sentence, place the reference in parentheses in the sentence before a full stop. Example: Risks are social constructions (Beck, 2009, p. 30). If the reference applies to more than one sentence, place the reference after the sentences and after the last full stop. In this case place a full stop inside the parentheses. Example: Disasters are profoundly dependent upon communications. How they are turned into spectacles or rendered silent on the media stage can have far reaching consequences, both for the victims and survivors but also surrounding communities and the wider conduct of social relations and political power. (Bergmann, Egner & Wulf, 2009, p. 1.) 5.1 References in the Text In the field of Communication, references in the text are presented so that the author and year are in parentheses. The page number(s) are also included if there is a direct quote or a specific part of the work is being referred to. For example, (Livingstone, 2007, pp ). When you mention the author in the text and you want to refer to the entire book, only the year is placed in parentheses. Examples: Beck (2000) states that..., or After looking into the issue, Lynch (2007) stated that the findings were not valid.

10 10 When referencing several works, separate publications with a semicolon. The reference information placed in parentheses in the text is ordered alphabetically. For example, (Cottle, 2009, p. 35; Van Zoonen, 1978). If the same author has issued several publications in one year, they should be separated from each other with a lower-case letter following the year of publication (for example, 2003a and 2003b). If a work has two authors, both of them are mentioned (Nieminen & Pantti, 2007). When a source that has three, four, or five authors is cited, all authors are included the first time the source is cited. When that source is cited again, the first author's surname and "et al." are used. For example, (Payne, Bergin, Bielema, & Jenkins, 1991); Payne et al. (1991) showed that... When a source that has six or more authors is cited, the first author's surname and "et al." are used every time the source is cited (including the first time). When you refer to a newspaper article that has an author who is part of the editorial staff, the title of the article is used in place of the name of the author both in the text and in the reference list. Insert the publication date of the newspaper after the title of the article. For example, (Australian Finns watch Brisbane waters rise in bright sunshine, 2011, January 14) When you refer to a newspaper article the author of which is clearly not part of the editorial staff, write the author s name and publication date in the text. For example, (Apunen, 2009, July 21). When you want to refer to an Internet source, you can mark the textual reference in several ways. What is most important is that the reference is clear and can easily be found in the reference list. If you do not know the author of the publication, use the title and year of the publication in the text and begin the corresponding entry in the reference list similarly. Sometimes you can also use the name of the publishing community in the reference, but often the title of the publication gives the reader more information on the content than a reference to the publishing community, for example EU or UN. Personal communications include among other things letters, memos, telephone conversations, personal interviews and s. Give only the name and year of the source in

11 11 the textual reference (Bakker, 2010). Personal communications are also included in the reference list. When referring to legal text, mark only the official or use title of the law and the year, for example, (Communication act, 1990). If no person is indicated as the author of a publication that the writer uses as a source, the corporate author, that is, the organisation responsible for the publication, is indicated. For example, (OECD, 2004). 5.2 Quoting Directly Information that others have published can be included in the text as indirect or direct quotations. In academic writing, indirect quotations (paraphrasing) are preferred: it means that you express the author s information or ideas in your own words. Please note that changing a few words here and there is still considered plagiarism even if you do cite the author. Paraphrases must include the name of the author, the year of publication and the page number of the original source. Direct quotations can be justified only if indirect quotation is impossible or impractical. A short direct quotation must always be indicated with the use of quotations marks. Quotation marks are used when the quote is less than 40 words. Include the page number in parentheses immediately after the direct quote: Beck (1992) coined the phrase the risk society (p. 22). A long direct quotation, so called block quote, is presented as a separate paragraph, indented from the left margin by 1.3 cm. Block quotes are used for quotes of more than 40 words. Do not use quotation marks or include any additional lines or spaces before or after the block quote. Notice that in block quotes, the period goes before the parentheses, not after: [T]he cosmopolitan outlook means that, in a world of global crises and dangers produced by civilization, the old differentiations between internal and external, national and international, us and them, lose their validity and a new cosmopolitan realism becomes essential to survival. (Beck, 2006, p. 14)

12 12 When using a direct quote, include the exact spelling and interior punctuation of the borrowed words. The author, year of publication, and page number(s) are always included in the text. 5.3 Citing a Secondary Source It is always best to read the original or primary sources, but sometimes this is difficult if the original work was published in another language or was published in a book that is difficult to obtain. In such a case, you would need to cite the original or primary source in the text of the paper, but you would provide a reference in the reference list for the secondary source. Within the Text According the Skinner (as cited in Freud, 1923), Freud took the position. In the Reference List Skinner, B. F. (1974). About behavioralism. New York, NY: Knopf. 5.5 Reference list The reference list at the end of your text gives the information required to identify and find each source you have used. As the reference list is meant to make it easier to find the sources, the references must be accurate and correct. Each entry normally includes the following elements: author, year of publication, title of publication and publisher. When the source in question is a book, in addition to the year give also the publisher and publishing location (location of publishing company). You can leave out the abbreviations concerning company form, for example Oy, Ab,Ltd., Co., & Sons., Inc., Publishers. If the publisher has several places of business, it is sufficient to give the first one or the typographically emphasized one. Not, for example: Oxford, London, New York, Paris. Arrange the publications in alphabetical order according to the author s last name. If a source has more than one author, their names are marked in the reference entry in the order they appear in the publication. A reference entry ends in full stop. Publications by the same author are arranged in order according to their year of publication. If the author is unknown, the reference entry begins with the title of the publication. Sometimes the author may be an organization or an institution. If the author is not mentioned in the publication, begin both the textual reference and the reference list entry with the title of the publication.

13 13 Books Give the author s last name, initial of first name, year of publication, title of book (in its entirety), place of publication and publisher. If the year of publication is unknown, mark n.d. (= no date) in parentheses in the place of the year. Write the title of the book in italics. Example: Alexander, J. (2006a). The civil sphere. Oxford: Oxford University Press. If there is any additional information on the publication (such as edition, volume number etc.), place this information in parentheses right after the title of the publication. If the text has been revised in a new edition, mark the number of the edition. Example: Pervin, L. A. (1984). Personality (4th ed.). New York: Wiley. If the work was published long ago, mark the original year of publication. Example: (Pervin 1970/1984). When you refer to a translated work, you do not need to mention the title of the original. It is sufficient to give the translator s name after the translated title. Example: Freud, S. (1961). Beyond The Pleasure Principle (J. Strachey, Trans.). London: W. W. Norton. (Original work published 1920) If the source is an edited book, give the author of the text (article or chapter), year of publication, title of text, marking that it is an edited book (Ed., Eds.), title of book, page numbers, place of publication and publisher. Following the APA norms insert the page numbers immediately after the title of the book in parentheses. Write the title of the edited book in italics, but not the article/chapter referred to. Example: Liebkind, K. (2001). Acculturation. In R. Brown & S. Gaertner (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Intergroup processes (pp ). UK: Blackwell.

14 14 Unpublished material Source material may also be unpublished. Typically these include Master s theses. Example: Dutta, R. (2008). Influence of nursing unit layout on staff communication and interaction patterns. Unpublished Master's thesis, Cornell University. Articles in periodicals Give the author s name, year of publication, title of article, name of periodical, volume and the article s page numbers. When referring to an article in a periodical italicize the name of the periodical, number and the comma after the number instead of the title of the article. Unlike with an edited book, mark the page numbers last. Example: Rojecki, A, (2009). Political culture and disasters response: The great floods of 1927 and Media Culture & Society, 31(6), When referring to daily newspapers it is important to give the publication date. Write the title of the newspaper in italics. Give the page number or other location at the end of the reference. Example: Brown, C. (2010, October 21). Deadliest Bomb in Iraq is Made by Iran, US Says. The New York Times, p. D1. Audiovisual sources Audiovisual sources include films, television programmes, music recordings and diverse sound recordings. Give the type of audiovisual source in brackets after the title of the work. For example: [Film], [Television programme] etc. Example: BBC 1 (producer). (May 14, 2007). Panorama: Scientology and Me [Television broadcast]. UK: BBC 1. Scorsese, M. (producer), & Lonergan, K. (writer/director) (2000). You can count on me [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

15 15 The Internet When you refer to an Internet source you should note two things: the address you refer to must function and you should direct the reader as close to the information referred to as possible (rather than for example general home pages). Often you need to refer to an organization s home pages. In this case you can make the reference as follows: United Nations. Retrieved April 23, 2004 from At a minimum, an Internet source reference should include; document title or description, date of publication or retrieval, and an Internet address (i.e. a valid URL, or uniform resource locator). When possible, identify author name(s) as well. The URL must be working, or your paper or argument will suffer. The best way to avoid a typo in a URL is to copy it directly (with your word processor) from the address/location field when you are actually at that particular Web page that you want to cite. That is the unique identifier for this one particular page of information that differentiates it from all of the other billions of pages online. Following are example citations for some of the more common citations of online sources. (Retrieved January 14, 2011, from Internet Published Article Based On Printed Source Article: Waterston, F., Dixon M. (2007). Cuisine as a cultural and religious marker [Electronic version]. National Journal of Anthropology, 7, Internet Article in an Internet-Only Journal Wiltshire, R. D. (2006, May 5). Changing thinking patterns to reduce depression. Psychology For the Future, 3, Article Retrieved March 15, 2007, from Internet Report Posted Online Montreal Region Task Force On Crime, Interim Report Number Two. (2006, November). Statistics and trends in crime. Retrieved February 12, 2007, from

16 16 Message Posted To A Newsgroup Frentzen, W. (2006, December 15). The money is in the list [Msg 127]. Message posted to news://imf.internet.marketing. Message Posted To A Web Log (Blog) Gravely, S. (2007, June 12). Re: Letter writing for small businesses. [The Write Place blog]. Message posted to 6 Style and Language Scientific text must be matter-of-fact, but it need not be dull. You should also avoid expressions that are too informal. Do not use informal language, or language that is difficult to understand. A text that is easy to read gives the impression that the author has understood their subject matter. Correct punctuation makes your text clearer and easier to read.the text should be divided into paragraphs consistently and you should avoid having paragraphs that are too short as well as ones that are too long Abbreviations Abbreviations should be used sparingly in a thesis as well as in any other scientific text. For stylistic reasons, it is better to write The phenomenon is mentioned, for example, on page 21. than to use abbreviations: The phenomenon is mentioned e.g. on p. 21. Numbers from one to ten as well as the numbers one hundred, one thousand, one million and one billion are written as words. Numerical values are presented without commas. For example, the distance between Chicago and Denver is 1600 km (not 1,600 km). 6.2 Tenses The past tense is especially well suited for describing your results and the source literature used. You should use the past tense when you refer to prior research, the progress of your research and to your and other researchers results. The present tense is good for explaining terms, definitions, presenting theories and propositions derived from theories, referring to various tables and figures, discussing research results and presenting conclusions.

17 Verb form As a general rule, use the active voice rather than the passive voice. Using the passive voice will not make your study more scientific, but over-using the passive can make your expression stiff and too complex. The pronoun we refers to more than one researcher and it is therefore not recommended. 6.4 Footnotes Sometimes it is justified to give information that is not strictly pertinent to the text but which you nonetheless want to bring to the reader s attention. In this case you can use footnotes. Endnotes are not recommended. Content footnotes are numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript using superscript Arabic numerals and typed at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced.