How to Write a Master's Thesis Review

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(More customer reviews)I thought this book was a bit pricey, but since I was having a hard time finding a decent book on writing a Master's thesis (there are plenty on Ph.D. dissertations), I bought it anyway. I failed to notice that the book description said it was "intended for graduate students across the social and behavioral sciences undertaking a traditional five-chapter thesis." I am in a formal science field, not in a social and behavioral science field, but I found this book helpful for the most part. It is organized well, provides a clear overall approach to thesis writing, and has a nice "Resources" section at the end of each chapter that contains questions, exercises, references, and Internet links.
My main qualm with this book is the discussion on the literature review. First, the author neglects to mention major journal search sites such as Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge. Not a big deal, but for a book published in 2009, I was surprised at the omission. Second, the author does not tell you how to properly read a journal article. Some points are mentioned, but I had to go online to find out how to read articles properly. Third, the author states that the body of the literature review should contain research syntheses on at least nine articles, where each synthesis contains ten components which essentially amount to a detailed summary of the article. Are you kidding me? First of all, a proper literature review is NOT just a summary of articles, and second, at what school can you get away with a thesis containing just nine references? I need at least 40 references, and if I wrote a one-page summary for each one as the examples in the book show, my advisor would laugh me out of his office.
Also, one brief section of this book that I found laughable was the part on statistics. Very basic descriptive statistics are mentioned, and only t-tests are mentioned for inferential statistics. If you need to do quantitative analysis, get a real statistics book, or better yet, take a course.


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Yvonne N. Bui'sHow to Write a Masters Thesis is a step-by-step guidebook that demystifies a process that can often prove to be overwhelming and confusing to graduate students. The tone and format of the book is reader-friendly and includes practical suggestions that go beyond informing what 'should" be done. It is chock full of detailed explanations, examples, and supplemental materials that have been used successfully in advising students in completing their master's theses. Key Features

Provides detailed explanations of the various components of the master's thesis
Presents concrete strategies on how to conduct a literature review, write each chapter of the master's thesis, and apply the American Psychological Association (APA) editorial style
Covers both quantitative and qualitative research methods
Includes sample excerpts adapted from students' completed master's theses in each chapter
Contains a comprehensive resources section that features 'Try It" exercises and reflection/discussion questions designed to help students work through the thesis process
Presents numerous figures and captured screen shots from relevant Web sites, ERIC electronic database, and SPSS software integrated with the text

Intended Audience The book is intended for graduate students across the social and behavioral sciences undertaking a traditional five-chapter thesis as part of the requirements for a master's degree as well as the university faculty who advise them.

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