Guidelines for composition of a Bachelor or Master thesis

Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences Department of Farm Management Prof. Dr. Detlev Möller Guidelines for composition of a Bachelor or Master thesis Contents 1 Introductory wording 2 Composition and contents of the thesis 2.1 Title page 2.2 Structure 2.3 Introduction 2.4 Main part 2.5 Final part 2.6 Bibliography 2.7 Annex 3 Arrangement of the thesis 3.1 Figures and tables 3.2 Sources 3.3 General appearance of the thesis 4 Further literature for preparation of a scientific paper 5 Source reference 6 Annex: Template for title page

Introductory wording / Composition and content of the thesis 2 1 Introductory wording This paper offers guidelines for the composition of a Bachelor/Master thesis, whereby the form especially is dealt with. The thesis s contents should be discussed with the supervisor. Basis for orthography and abbreviations in the English language is the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. If you are working with software, e.g. Microsoft Word, please use the presetting tool language -> English (UK). 2 Composition and content of the thesis 2.1 Title page The title page of the thesis should be designed according to the example given (see annex). 2.2 Structure The structure of the thesis depicts, on the one hand, the overview of contents of the topic in question, on the other hand, it gives reference to the author s main focus points. Regarding the contents, the thesis is to be structured to give an identifiable, logical flow of thought. The structure should show a continuous thread. Chapters should have headings from which an uninformed reader will get an impression of the chapter s content. Title and contents should make sense to the uninformed reader. The individual structural points should be organised in an equal, superior and inferior classification so that the respective points represented are situated on the same objective level. Each step must contain at least two inferior points, if there is a further under-classification. The structural form is according to numerical classification. Attention must be paid that if there is too large an under-classification, the topic becomes too complex and consequently the logical flow of the text and the reader s comprehension of the text can be hindered. More than three structural steps should therefore be avoided; there should be a maximum of four structural levels.

Composition and content of the thesis 3 Example of the numerical classification: 1 1.1 1.2 2 2.1 2.1.1 2.1.1.1 2.1.1.2 2.1.2 2.2 2.3 3 etc. 2.3 Introduction Remarks can be given in the introduction to the following points: Meaning of the topic Justification of the problem Limitation of the topic or problem respectively Aim of the thesis or analysis respectively Overview of the structure of the thesis It is to be recommended to begin by composing the thesis with the introduction (especially the problem to be discussed) with clearly defined objectives and a methodical and textual approach and to discuss these with the thesis supervisor. Subsequently, a draft of the structure should be presented. Modifications can take place as work on the thesis progresses. 2.4 Main part The main part contains the elaborations to the topic chosen. The main part should be structured formally as well as logically as far as the contents are concerned and should convince the reader in this regard. Composition and contents correspond to

Composition and content of the thesis 4 the chosen sequel of argumentation. Suitable titles for the chapters refer to the content of the individual chapters, connecting passages and aid the flow of reading. The text part is characterised by the following criteria: facts, logic, conciseness and objectivity. A presentation free from valuations is absolutely necessary, avoiding the I-, one- and we-form is preferable. A breakdown of the text in several textually relevant paragraphs makes the text clearer. Avoiding the passive of verbs increases the liveliness of the text. Please use the active form of the verb where possible. 2.5 Final part The final part is to round off the thesis. As a rule it includes the conclusions which can be drawn from the results, and in a separate chapter there should be a summary of two to four pages of the whole thesis. The conclusions are portrayed by a critical reflection of the thesis contents and results, the facts can be discussed as well as a review or perspective be taken. In the summary, objective, approach, contents, results and conclusions of the thesis are illustrated in short form. These are to give the hurried reader an overview on the whole thesis in short. Neither in the conclusion nor in the summary should new data or facts be given. This takes place in the main part. 2.6 Bibliography The bibliography comprises all titles given in the thesis. Each title is to be given with the essential bibliographic data (name of the author, title of the publication, edition, place and year of publication) in alphabetic sequence. The first names are not usually written out in full. Monographs Aaker, D.A. (1991): Managing brand equity. Capitalizing on the value of a brand name. New York: The Press. Burns, A.C. and Bush, R.F. (2003): Marketing Research. Online Research Applications, 4. ed., international ed., Upper Saddle River, HJ. J.: Prentice Hall. Foxall, G. (1987): Consumer Behaviour. In: Baker, M. J. (ed.): The Marketing Book. London: Heinemann, p. 115-201. etc. Articles Anderson, E.T. and Simester, D.I. (1998): The Role of Sales Signs. In: Marketing Science. Vol. 17, No. 2, p. 139-155.

Composition and content of the thesis 5 Hanf, J. H. and Kühl, R. (2005): Branding and its consequences for German agribusiness. In: Agribusiness, Vol. 21, No. 2, p. 177 189. If an article from a journal is to be quoted or included in the bibliography, without an author of the article being named, this can be quoted with Anonymous. Anonymous (1989): Brands How much in Dollar? In: Absatzwirtschaft, No. 8, p. 50-54. etc. Internet sources of information Internet sources of information are also to be included in the bibliography. It is important to quote the date (or actualisation date) of the source. The following example is the 15/10/2001. It is also important to add when the Internet source was seen. The date of access was 22 nd July 2005 (the quoted source offers further information for quotation). Armstrong, J. S.: Suggestions for naming products or companies. 10/15/2001. Online in Internet. URL: http://www-marketing.wharton.upenn.edu/ideas/pdf/naming.pdf (State 07/22/2005). An example for published articles in newsgroups: Eddy, John < johneddy@microsoft.com>; RE: Page Layout. 7/12/2005. Online in Internet. Newsgroups: microsoft.public.webreader.general. When quoting emails in the bibliography, please note that a personal email is private. Where archiving of an email address is made public, the permission of the person concerned must be granted. Privateperson, Ellen: RE: Your enquiry. 20.01.96. Online in Internet. Ellen Privateperson s email ellen@private.life.de to Ralf Taprogge taprogg@unimuenster.de. Legislative sources Quoting from legislative sources should be in a separate list after the bibliography. Law on the Protection of Trademarks and Other Signs (German Trademark Act) of October 25, 1994. In: Bundesgesetzblatt I, part 1 1994, p. 3082, as last amended by Law of July 19, 1996, Bundesgesetzblatt, part 1, 1996, p. 1014.

Composition and content of the thesis / Arrangement of thesis 6 Council Directive 89/107/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning food additives authorised for use in foodstuffs intended for human consumption. In: Official Journal, L 040. Literature sources which are not available If a source of literature quoted in another book is to be cited, the original source must be consulted. If the cited source is not available, it should be quoted as follows (example): Kennedy, P. (1992): A Guide to Econometrics. 3. ed. The MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass. Cited in: Gujarati, D. N.: Basic Econometrics. 4. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, p. 349. 2.7 Annex The annex should follow directly after the text, whereby page numbers are continuous. The annex only contains what is not absolutely necessary for text comprehension. It proves to be especially appropriate when the reader is to be given further relevant information. Examples for the annex are the author s own evaluations of the figures shown in the text, overviews and tables or questionnaires for empirical analyses. 3 Arrangement of thesis 3.1 Figures and tables Figures and tables should present facts clearly. The presentation must be comprehensible, i.e. there should be all necessary information for full comprehension. There should always be an explanation however in the text, as well as reference to the presentation, as e.g.: As can be seen in Figure 13 or (cp. Figure 13). Figures and tables must always have a significant title. Reference to a source is a must. Has the author done the figures and tables himself, the source should be quoted as author s own calculations or author s own presentation.

Arrangement of thesis / Further literature 7 Example: Figure Figure 1: Organic production and consumption shares in the EU in 2001 Source: Schmid et al. (2004): Organic Marketing Initiatives and Rural Development, p. 24. Example: Table Table 6: Assessment of course of study in agriculture by students (in percentage of those interviewed) applies completely applies more or less partly applies more or less applies completely boring (n=380) 7.2 27.3 42.4 19.7 3.4 interesting one-sided (n=379) high expectations (n=375) theoretical (n=377) large learning effort (n=378) unimaginable for me (n=380) 3.4 14.5 28.2 43.3 10.6 many sided 8.8 32.3 42.4 15.2 1.3 low expectations 2.2 9.5 32.6 36.9 18.8 practical 7.4 32.8 46.6 11.4 1.8 43.4 25.3 16.6 11.3 3.4 small learning effort imaginable for me Question: I shall now give you several word pairs to the course of study of agriculture. You must decide according to this table how you would assess. Source: Hamm, U. et al. 1999, p. 55 (translation from German).

Arrangement of thesis / Further literature 8 3.2 Sources The use of external thoughts and presentations is in principle to be indicated by an exact quotation source. Attention is to be paid that quotations are not falsely quoted in that they are taken from their context. All sources, published in whatever way, are quotable. General knowledge which can be taken from any general thesaurus does not have to be quoted in a scientific paper. The same goes for any relevant technical and general terms. A word for word quotation from a source in the author s own text is to be indicated as a direct quotation by inverted commas. These texts are not to be modified, are to be written letter for letter and character for character. Small omissions within the direct quotation are to be indicated by full stops. The use of direct quotations is to be done as little as possible. Example: We define marketing as a social and managerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. (Kotler; Armstrong 2003, p. 5). An indirect quotation is the case if external ideas have been used in the author s own words. Example: According to Kotler and Armstrong (2003, p. 5) marketing is a social and managerial process. Sources can be cited either in the text ( Harvard-System ) or as a footnote. A footnote makes further comments possible compared to quoting in the text itself. Footnotes are numbered either by page, chapter or in a continuous way throughout the text. Source indications should always contain the page number of the citation. If the text is referring to two or more pages, this is indicated by e.g. p. 15f (15 and 16) or 15ff (15 and more than one following page). 3.3. General appearance of the thesis Single paged print. Margin: left ca. 3 cm, right ca. 2 cm. Character size for text, structure, bibliography: 12, footnotes: 10. Spacing for text, structure; 1.5 line spacing; bibliography, footnotes: 1 line spacing. Size of the written work depends on the focus (literature or empiricism) and which degree is aimed (compare table 1).

Arrangement of thesis / Further literature 9 Table 1: Page number and working time for degree theses (ca. data) Intended degree Page number from to Working time Bachelor 40-50 8 weeks Master of Science 60-100 20 weeks 4 Further literature for preparation of a scientific paper Alley, M. (1998): The craft of scientific writing. 3. ed., New York: Springer. Anderson, J. and Poole, M. (2001): Assignment and thesis writing. 4. ed., Brisbane: Wiley. Booth, V. (1995): Communicating in science: writing a scientific paper and speaking at scientific meetings. 2. ed., Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Day, R. A. (1998): How to write and publish a scientific paper. 5. ed., Westport: Oryx Press. Holtom, D. and Fisher, E. (1999): Enjoy writing your science thesis or dissertation: a step by step guide to planning and writing dissertations and theses for undergraduate and graduate science students. London: Imperial College Press. Lindsay, D. (1994): A guide to scientific writing: manual for students and research workers. Melbourne: Longman. Turk, C. and Kirkman, J. (1998): Effective writing: improving scientific, technical and business communication. 2. ed., London: Spon. Wagenen, R. K. van (1991): Writing a thesis: substance and style. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 5 Source Reference These guidelines are based on an original from Prof. Dr. T. Becker, University of Hohenheim and Prof. Dr. U. Hamm, University of Kassel.

Annex 10 6 Annex: Template for title page University of Kassel Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences Department of Farm Management Prof. Dr. Detlev Möller Bachelor/ Master thesis (Title of the thesis) Presented by Sam Samplestudent Dorfstr. 1 37213 Witzenhausen Witzenhausen, November 2005