Richard de Neufville's TPP SM Thesis Manual - Title Page - MIT

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have contacts in a specific situation. These kinds of connections give themconfidence with regard to that situation and probably some kind of head start.Fair enough. But these reasons are not intrinsically overwhelming.Anybody planning to construct a thesis around a case study should resist thetemptation to focus their effort on what seems like the easiest place to start. Thecase study must also be completed and, crucially, must be effective in fulfilling itsintended role in the thesis. You must carefully think through what is needed ofthe case study, examine alternative possibilities, and then choose. Theconsidered, best choice may happen to be the first one intended. However, thechoice that was initially obvious may turn out to be undesirable overall, since thedata may prove to be inaccessible (a home country may be quite far away), thecompany may object to one of its former employees discussing its problems, orthe situation itself is too particular, too unrepresentative to provide a good test fora theory you seek to demonstrate.Thesis Definition and Preparation - Richard de Neufville 42
7. CONSTRUCTION OF ARGUMENTThe ultimate point of the research is to substantiate the thesis. Unfortunately,many fail to communicate their results well by either being unaware of, or by notfollowing some fairly elementary guidelines for justifying their results.The object of this chapter is to present some of the principles for constructing anargument, and thus to help you do justice to your work.The General RuleThe general rule is to focus on the overall goal. This has two parts: You need tomake the point, and you need to eliminate clutter that hides your message.Make the point: The presentation -- of the whole, of a chapter, or of a figure ortable -- should be organized around the point to be made. Other organizationsare confusing; overly long and therefore more difficult to follow; and generallyrelatively ineffective.Eliminate the Extraneous: It is wiser to omit material if it is not especiallypertinent. Irrelevant material is not neutral: it is costly; it is a distraction. Aboveall, the thesis is not a lab report covering everything that you have read, thoughtor done. Much -- half or more -- of what anyone does in their research turns outto be beside the point. Not to find what you want when you are looking is anatural part of any research process. It is rarely useful to discuss many, if any, ofthe dead ends your encountered.Many of the details which you went to much effort to define, and which are surelyinteresting in some context, will not really be relevant to the argument, the pointyou finally decide to make. As you progress in your thesis, you almost certainlyshift your topic and redefine its focus, so that much that may seem relevant at thestart is no longer useful to the final argument. These details should be droppedfrom the main text. If absolutely necessary, they can be put into an appendix.To make your argument well, you need to select what is essential and omit whatis tangential. This effort requires a lot of work. Passing from primitive (andineffective) forms of arrangements -- such as an overall account, a chronology, ora description -- to a real thesis requires much thought. In a phrase: a goodargument is constructed through disciplined editing.Thesis Definition and Preparation - Richard de Neufville 43
Page 1 and 2: The following pages were supplied b
Page 3 and 4: Experience validates the usefulness
Page 5 and 6: superficial attributes of a thesis
Page 7 and 8: Judging by what many student resear
Page 9 and 10: Ask yourself first of all: What are
Page 11 and 12: Exhibit 1.1: Basic Checklist for Fo
Page 13 and 14: Titles that do not describe the sub
Page 15: the ‘critical’ technologies. In
Page 19 and 20: Research is Also IterativeReaders m
Page 21 and 22: your effort, you can then determine
Page 23 and 24: 4. LITERATURE SEARCH AND BIBLIOGRAP
Page 26 and 27: A most important remark for anyone
Page 28 and 29: Exhibit 4.1: Ways to Refer to Mater
Page 30 and 31: If the citation has not been publis
Page 32 and 33: instruments, or between observers,
Page 34 and 35: departure lounge. Such a sample wou
Page 36 and 37: • A heterogeneous population (alm
Page 38 and 39: new algorithm or procedure by const
Page 40 and 41: Use of a case study as part of an i
Page 44 and 45: Making the PointTo make your point
Page 46 and 47: 8. DESIGN OF ILLUSTRATIONSAn illust
Page 48 and 49: Exhibit 8.1: The Table to be revise
Page 50 and 51: the point no longer concerns the
Page 52 and 53: LiteratureFirst, draw up a bibliogr

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