Prof. Dr. Lorenzen - FAQ on term papers and theses

back to Prof. Dr. Lorenzen

Some notes on the processing of (scientific) works

Beforehand: the following information does not raise a claim for general validity but reflects my personal opinion! If you are writing a term paper or theses for one of my colleagues, please ask them about the following questions.
K.D. Lorenzen

 

Is there an existing list of topics for possible theses?

No. Students whose works I supervise normally select the company (in exceptional cases a theoretical topic) in which they want to write their theses themselves. A small hint: Try to figure out how severe the ‘psychological strain’ is in the company. The more meaningful the problem, the more likely it is for you to find engaged support in practice.

 

Is there a sample solution to the set topic? 

Is that possible? I don’t think so. You surely develop your own associations and expectations while carrying out research for your topic. Since this is context-sensitive, from my opinion there can’t be an objectively right sample solution. This would also contradict my understanding of science. Due to this reason, I expect from you a precise goal definition in the introduction of your work. This means that you should document which use the reader can expect from your term paper and what not (this is also important) in a sense of a value proposition. YOU control the expectations! Therefore, you must complete a difficult balancing act: don’t promise more than you can keep and don’t promise too little, so your work can meet the scientific standards of our university. A hopefully obvious hint: After finishing your work, check if your contents and the expectations, influenced by your goal definition, are compatible.

 

What is characterising a good term paper/thesis? 

Simple: It is

  • competent
  • creative and
  • critical.

;-)
Competent? You know what you are speaking or writing about. That means that you are informed about the current status of the theoretical discussion of your topic, you have documented it and – if relevant for the problem – have processed the company’s situation thoroughly. Creative? A ‘retelling’ or summary of some references is not normally acceptable. The requirements for accomplishment within university study are therefore not met. I expect a creative contribution to scientific practice. (I must admit: The extent of creative performance is strongly dependent to your method of work and your topic.)         Critical? Keep an adequate distance to your own and external statements. Form your own opinion and justify it. A systematic approach and an unbiased view on possible alternatives are an important basis. A very good work should generate the reader’s awareness, not contain mistakes, and answer open questions before they can even be asked by a critical reader.

 

Can such a work even contain one’s own, creative performance while there are already so many written and published books/papers etc.?

No, it can’t ‘CAN’, but it ‘MUST’ contain a creative performance. A kind of describing summary of various text modules of different resources is especially unacceptable for a diploma thesis, but also for a term paper. 

 

Which length should a term paper, a diploma thesis or a thesis have? 

Instead of a number of pages, which is less significant, a statement about the extent of the information to be presented would be a more useful answer to that question. Since this is dependent on the topic and the goal setting (!), it is not possible. Due to this reason, I limit my answer to the following guidance: for a sufficient intensive analysis of the topic, you will need around 15 pages for a term paper and around 70 pages for a thesis (three months of processing time). There is no limit for a higher number of pages. However, you should question your behaviour under economical aspects – especially if you are writing much more. Furthermore, you should consider that extensive texts should preferably be interesting and exciting, so the reader has as much fun as possible while reading your paper.

 

Which requirements are placed for the format and citation?

For my part, there are no existing guidelines for both points. The guidelines on writing a scientific paper/thesis from the Examinations Office of the Faculty of Business Management naturally remain valid. Furthermore, there are some aspects of the format such as for example the font or page numbers and the citation (e.g. stating of references in the text or in footnotes, shortened or full references etc.) that should be consistent. Until now, experience shows that deviations have never led to serious problems.

A wish: if you want to do me a favour, please hand in your term paper printed/copied (double-sided – because space-saving – and perforated) without a (leather-)binding, folder, gilt edge or similar. Thereby you can reduce your use of resources and I don’t have a problem with the archiving. For theses, you have to meet the requirements of the examination office.

 

 

Do I have to indicate sources? 

I always (!!!) expect from you an indication of the sources you have used for already existing knowledge; whether these be books, web pages, brochures, company documents or conversations is irrelevant. An indispensable quality feature of scientific work is a thorough indication of all used sources. Thorough also means that the type of citation (possibly in combination with the bibliography) is enabling the reader to find the corresponding source. Thereby you can achieve various effects:

  • You grant the author of this thought/ information the right to be mentioned as such. (This is already demanded by courtesy.)
  • You document that you have dealt intensively with the current state of knowledge. (The number and variety of your sources and the intensity of your citations are indicators for the intensity of your research and the quality of your theoretical basis.)
  • You prevent the danger of attempting a deception.

 

A summarising note about this topic: Many sources are no harm, but one source missing can be very dangerous for your grade.

 

One last hint:

Don’t believe anything. Do not even believe yourself. Question every piece of information and form your own opinion. This opinion mustn’t but can differ from others and should always be justified. To be self-critical, for example, means that you document the limits of your own work or state which topics should have been addressed but couldn’t be picked up in a more detailed manner.