While writing your thesis paper it is recommended to start with the experimental chapters. In the process you can gradually progress to the literature review, introduction and conclusions. There are different parts of a thesis paper and in the following article we are going to be exploring the most effective.

Read on to discover elements of a thesis paper and the writing guidelines to a thesis structure.

Introduction

The best thesis introduction needs an attention-grabbing hook that draws in the reader. You need to introduce your topic to the audience through a general statement. It sets the stage for your research with a clear focus, purpose and direction. You get to describe the problem statement and the main hypothesis. You mention the research question along with the objectives you aim to accomplish. This is done while stating the main argument with the help of a thesis statement.

Materials and methods

This is the part of the research where you guide your readers on how the research was conducted. You can also provide details of your samples and locations acquired. It is organized to tell a compelling story of your research. It needs to provide a precise description of

• What was used in the experiments?
• How were the experiments conducted?

The other section is how you conduct the research. Here we explore the steps or procedure you followed in order to achieve the research objectives. This includes the experimental design and data analysis. Including all your materials and methods ensures that your research can be repeated by another researcher.

Results

This section should be a concise presentation of your findings, giving only the data and your statistical analysis. It should not include any data interpretation, not mention what the results mean or how they were obtained. It should be as dry as possible.

The use of past tense in a thesis structure is highly advised as you are writing down things already done. Do not comment in favor of or against your research.

Discussion

Repeating of results already presented is not a sure way to continue with the presentation. It separates contents of a thesis by including alternative explanations for the results. It should be simple or complexly ordered building the anticipation for the conclusion.

You should limit speculation, avoid biased language and above all emphasize what is new, different or important about your results. This is important in thesis planning and execution.

Conclusion

The conclusion’s main purpose is to clearly state the answer to the main research question. It should summarize and reflect on the research while making recommendations for future works on the topic.

Conclusions should be concise and engaging. They should leave the reader with a clear understanding of the main discovery or argument advanced by your research.

Final Take

The thesis paper structure advanced here should be enough to teach you how to write a scientific thesis. For proper thesis planning you need all the above-mentioned information and more.

Since the primary documents under study are works of art, the onus for students is to translate visual info into verbal information. Students are also required to analyze their perceptions of objects according to their cultural and historical concepts.

How to write an art history thesis

Art history theses are often limited to various elements that define your scrutiny of various works of art. These elements include:

Formal analysis

This refers to the visual aspects of the subject under study. When defining this, you should define the features that you can observe and define the techniques employed to develop the art form.

During formal analysis, you should focus on lines, shapes and forms, space, color, and texture. You could also highlight the emotions and symbolisms encapsulated by the artforms under study.

Historical context

For this, you should place the image in its historical context and evaluate the influence of the environment on the art form. These factors may be political, religious, social-economic, or cultural.

Theory and criticism

This element gauges the worth of artwork. Here, you can gauge any influence from other work and expressive theories ingrained in the artwork.

Your criticism based on art theory will help you place the artwork in its right context in terms of style and movements in art history. Some of the major themes to consider are; expressionism, instructuralism, naturalism, postmodernism, Poststructuralism, and social art history.

Tips for writing an art history thesis

1. Choose a topic that you love. This will help you endure long hours of research as it scratches your curiosity itch.
2. Put the artist’s name, work, and date in the first paragraph. Later on in the paper, you can refer to the artwork by its title. However, avoid writing the author’s biography as your focus should be on their artwork.
3. Express your ideas in a logical flow, with each point/ argument taking its paragraph.

Art history thesis ideas

Selecting the thesis topic is the vital and most stressful phase of thesis preparation. If done poorly, it may trigger tons of stress as you go about researching and writing the thesis.

To avoid this, students should use actual art history thesis examples as inspiration for their topics. These examples help students analyze the validity of their perspectives and double as materials to support their arguments.

Some of the history thesis paper topics you might consider include:

1. Stylistic shifts from ancient Romanesque designs
2. A study of the existent gothic paintings
3. An artist’s main influence
4. Futurism and its basic principles
5. A case study of the images in art history and the theme they communicate
6. Definitive theories in history and art development
7. Impact of modern technology in expressing art
8. The more things change, the more they remain the same: a comparative essay of photography and ancient art
9. Modern cartoons as art forms
10. Unusual techniques of (artist’s name) artwork
11. Monumental structures in European cathedrals
12. History of feminism art portrayals
13. Expressionism in art history
14. The role of art in historical study and analysis
15. Graffiti as modern art
16. The stylistic art of disguise

These art thesis ideas are not the only options at your disposal rather suggestions to guide you to brainstorm a relevant topic.

Good topic selection and research are thus essential in securing quality grades in your dissertation. Read on to discover the history dissertation structure and history dissertation examples to inspire your selection of the thesis topic.

History dissertation structure

A history dissertation comprises:

• A title page
• Acknowledgments
• An executive summary
• Table of contents
• Body – consisting of the introduction, literature review, discussion, and conclusion
• References

The introduction covers the main ideas of your paper, helping a reader to determine the scope of your argument. This section should show what you are investigating, why it’s worth exploring, your research aims, and the study’s scope.

Next, cover the ideas supporting your main ideas within the body while providing primary sources to support your argument. In conclusion, highlight the main points that address your dissertation question and the limitations of your research.

Selecting a dissertation topic

As you address your dissertation, you need to select a topic that piques your interest and can be covered with the available resources. To navigate this, chunk your writing process into a planning stage and a writing stage.

Planning

Here, you should analyze the topics you are interested in and the resources at your disposal. When selecting a topic, brainstorm multiple ideas and jot them down for investigation.

It would help if you selected up to four history dissertation topics before delving into research. Next, search for journals and thesis related to each field and register the materials available for each issue.

After this, settle for a topic you can sufficiently cover within the confines of the resources you have amassed. While at this, you may consult your advisor and peers on various platforms to determine the relevance of your selected topic to the thesis.

Writing

After selecting your preferred topic, categorize your resources into sections, developing your principal argument. However, do not rush into writing your paper in a bid to beat the deadline.

First, read thoroughly on the topic at hand to find a fresh argument that you could develop. Doing this helps gauge weak views and estimates the completeness of various perspectives before the final piece.

Familiarizing with the topic also helps you to examine each idea and determine the influences behind various occurrences.

How long is a history dissertation?

The length of history dissertations may range between 100 to 200 pages. However, this may vary depending on the instructions provided by your supervisor.

When working on long papers, consider starting early enough to do thorough research and save time for editing. You may also opt to delegate some tasks, therefore, sparing ample time to develop a unique argument.

Interesting history dissertation topics

Here are some topics for history dissertation to inspire your selection.

1. Analyzing the events behind the American revolution
2. The impact of religion on innovation
3. Exploring the leading causes of the first world war
4. Effect of the cold war on the world. What was the root cause of the cold war?
5. How women influenced colonial America
6. The impact of geography on ancient cultures
7. What caused the failure of the crusades?
8. The history of Nationalism
9. Impact of communism on modern-day societies
10. Origins of the French revolution
11. The role of Japan since the end of the cold war
12. The driving forces of the cold war and its impact on the USSR
13. Influence of cold way on the filmography
14. The role of Otto Von Bismark in the unification of Germany
15. How world war I worsened the 1918 influenza pandemic outbreak
16. Driving factors behind the stock market crash of October 1929
17. How imperialism influenced the first world war
18. Patterns between the alliances in WWI and WWII
19. Role of technology in Crimean wars
20. Causes of Lena massacre
21. Role of women in Crimean wars and its impact in subsequent warfare
22. Factors that led to Nazi popularity in Germany
23. The changes that caused a shift of balance among allies in WWI and WWII
24. Post-world-war reconstruction
25. Analyzing the impact of French colonization
26. Evolution of IRA
27. How industrial revolution impacted gender roles
28. Political violence in South Africa after independence and its current implications
29. Strategies with which Nelson Mandela secured African freedom
30. Impacts of the slave trade in Africa

Writing a history dissertation is a fitting challenge for scholars with ambition and determination. These topics for history dissertation should come in handy when preparing for your thesis. Good luck!

A thesis proposal, on the other hand, is a document that outlines the thesis topic. It defines the issues that the thesis will be addressing and explains why the topic warrants further research. This article will explore tips carefully collected by DissertationTeam professioanls on how to write a thesis and various elements to consider.

Read on to discover easy steps on how to write a senior thesis proposal.

Framework

This is the part of your paper where you discuss and evaluate the theories relevant to your research problems. Its main point is to define key concepts, evaluate and combine relevant theories and models.

Here you get to brainstorm ideas on what you consider to be key variables in your research. You review related literature to find answers to your questions, list the contrasts and variables relevant to your study.

Structure

The generic structure of your thesis should have the following elements in the following order:

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Table of content
• Introduction
• Thesis statement
• Approach/methods
• Preliminary results and discussion
• Work plan including your time table
• Implications of research
• List of references

Listed above are all the essential elements of a proposal. They give the best instructions on how a thesis proposal outline should be structured. Each element of the structure needs to be explored individually and explained to the best ability of the researcher.

Order in which to write the proposal

To get the best out of your thesis, you need to break it into defined stages. The details of each stage will vary slightly depending on your fields. But the most common stages are:

• Idea collection – This is where you collect as many ideas as possible without judging, editing or formatting your document.
• Data collection – This is the collection, measuring and analyzing of accurate insights for research using standard validated techniques.
• Editing – By the end of the editing phase you should produce a manuscript that has clear structure and a logical flow arguments.
• Polishing – In the polishing phase you read and listen to see if your writing makes sense. This is where you find out if you left out a word or if you need it to explain more.

Resources and Acknowledgements

Students don’t want to explore the different resources available to them. Most will ignore the most important form of resource and only stick to the easy work. For most it leaves those feeling under-loved as their research is limited. There are enough resources for those willing to put in the time and invest in proper research.

Tips

For a proper thesis you need to have proper grammar/spelling, and well-presented figures in cases where they are required. Pictures communicate multiple ideas. Poor grammar distracts the reader from the content of the proposal.

Final take

The above instructions should come in handy when working on a senior thesis paper.