The first step in a thesis is the selection of a topic. Typically, students start with an idea that ends up being too big; the lesson from this is to narrow the topic. For example, the criminal justice topic "juvenile delinquency" is unmanageable for a thesis and should be narrowed to something like "early intervention options to prevent juvenile delinquency." One strategy for narrowing a topic is to frame it as a problem. In this example, the problem is: "Do early intervention options work in preventing juvenile delinquency?" Other strategies include brainstorming topic ideas with advisors, professors and other students and to define critical terms and identify inconsistencies to narrow the topic into sub-topics one of which may be more manageable for the thesis.
Students only have a certain amount of time to complete a thesis. Successful completion of a thesis involves realistic strategies for completing the task within the allotted time. Trade offs with other activities need to be made, for example, time spent working, playing sports and attending social functions will go toward the thesis. Discussing these trade offs with family and friends early in the thesis project leaves less room for changing the time schedule. Time must be allocated daily for research or writing with a clearly-defined goal such as reading four chapters. During this time ban company, emails and phone calls.
Critical work may get lost in the mountains of work involved in a thesis. Keeping a journal to record research notes, reactions to research, ideas to explore and new directions to take is an effective strategy for preventing such loss. The journal allows the researcher to go back and trace the evolution of his ideas. It may be important at a later date, for example, to figure out why he went in a particular direction. For example, his advisor may ask him to explain a change in the direction of his research and he may not easily remember because he has done so much other work since that time. Used in conjunction with a structured work plan, the journal helps keep him on task.
Early in the thesis, students should compose a 2- to 3-page outline identifying the problem to study, explain why it is relevant and describe how it will be analyzed. This outline helps to narrow the topic and becomes the research proposal which may be further revised in consultation with an advisor. Regular review of the proposal helps keep students on task. Further, when the student organizes the mountain of information he has acquired, he can use the proposal to organize his thoughts. Other strategies for organizing information include using tools such as mapping and flow charts. Mapping involves identifying key concepts on a piece of paper, circling them and drawing links between them. Flow charting is similar although it is more linear: a leads to b.