Posted: September 19th, 2019
Thesis / dissertation essay
Description
The dissertation (60 to 70 pages) represents real research, in which you report and analyze a terrain using a conceptual and theoretical framework solidly defined and controlled. Your field and its analysis must not be a simple illustration of a concept and a notion: they are the very heart of your demonstration. The Master 2 thesis, especially – but not only – if you want to continue with your thesis, is the result of a process by which you have donned the researcher’s clothes
introduction → 3-4 pages minimum, usually 4-5 pages
1) A catchphrase (a situation, image, text, interview extract, document…) which allows the
the reader to get to the heart of the matter (avoid introductions such as de
all the time men…)
2) Contextualization (especially for history dissertations)
3) Presentation of the theme, the field of research.
4) Presentation of the theoretical and conceptual framework
5) State of the art which situates the contribution of your dissertation to the research in progress
6) Formulation of the research problem and hypotheses ;
7) Presentation of the plan ;
8) Presentation of the sources/field
Warning! these objectives are general; adjustments/precisions must be made according to the discipline.
The body of the dissertation will generally consist of three or four chapters, which should be as balanced as possible. The plan can follow a chronological order, or to unfold the different moments of your logical argumentation. Each end of chapter must include a transition to the next chapter.
The brief will end with a conclusion (5 to 10 pages), which will come back :
– on the main conclusions that can be drawn from the research and analysis carried out ;
– on the contributions and limitations of the work;
– on the possible extensions to be given to it.
Cover of the brief
It will include :
– the surname, first name of the student,
– the title of the dissertation,
– the name(s) of the director(s) of the dissertation and their institutional affiliation,
– the year and the month in which the dissertation was presented,
– the name of your institution (Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3 – IHEAL).
– A photo, map, illustration (with its caption indicated on the same page or the page next) is welcome.
Format
Paper size: A4, print double-sided
Font: Times Roman size 12 for body text and size 10 for footnotes.
Line spacing: 1,5
Margins: 25 mm on each side
Number the pages in the top right-hand corner (except the cover page) and continuously.
Remember to justify (left and right alignment) your text!
Presentation of figures and tables
Figures, maps and tables
The author is completely free to create or add diagrams, figures, tables, maps, photos, plans, etc… taking care to make them legible.
A caption must be added and they must be numbered. It is imperative to indicate the source (own production or external source). A distinction is made between illustrations, figures, tables and cards. At the end of the memory, a summary must be added to list them and indicate their
location (page) in the memory.
Presentation of the bibliography
It must be classified by theme and in alphabetical order. For each title, the nature of the support (individual/collective work, thesis, journal article, etc.) must be taken into account.
They should not be classified by nature (book, article, etc…). The bibliography should always be classified by major themes and, within each major theme, in alphabetical order. It is important to make a clear distinction between what comes under sources (primary and secondary) on the one hand, and the bibliography on the other hand: these are both headings quite distinct from the annexes presented at the end of the memorandum. Organizing your
bibliography implies going from the most general to the most particular. To have identified beforehand the keywords of your subject is essential. Example of the subject: Brazilian cultural diplomacy in the inter-war period
Organization of the Bibliography :
Primary Sources
Secondary sources
Bibliography
– International relations
International relations in the inter-war period
Cultural diplomacy
– Brazil
General History of Brazil
History of Brazil in the period studied
– Brazil in international relations
Brazil’s foreign policy
Brazilian cultural diplomacy
Footnotes are guided by a spirit: in order to make what one proposes for others to think about “verifiable”, one must reference, justify, “prove” WITH PRECISION all that
that one writes, without losing the fluidity of reading. Making this effort to justify everything very often makes it possible to make discoveries. Avoid quotations of the type “according to So-and-so who quotes X…” always try to go to the primary source.
The footnote is part of the periphery of the text; it can improve the text by making it clearer and richer. It is reserved for additional information, for
brackets (small digressions in the reflection), to explanations that do not have a central argumentative value for the text. What is said in notes is not useless but simply secondary to the main thread of the text.
