How do I write a thesis?

I have encountered this question countless times since 1993, first as a student and then as a university and college lecturer. After hundreds of thesis consultations, I consider the following steps to be followed and useful. The invested work pays off.

I. Choosing a research topic
It should be a topic that arouses personal interest, because the overload, fatigue and lack of time that occur during the research are less likely to cause loss of interest. If I work for a company, the workflow there may be interesting. If I am interested in solar panels, I am curious about legislation. The relationship between the railway and the economy, or the development of the automotive industry, may be interesting. Primary research will also be easier, because I will have someone to interview and someone to show me the first serious questionnaire of my life. At this point, I should write this down, and the introduction to the thesis is ready.

II. Problem statement, research question
The problem statement is the research question I am looking for an answer to. It can be an open question, it does not have to require a yes/no answer. It can start like this: What, How, Why. It should reflect the researcher's interest. For example, How did China become the second largest power in the world? How can the ecological footprint be reduced? What do I really want to find out? This often comes up during consultations when I ask the student: You have written a lot about the problem statement, but what are you really curious about? Then when they tell me, I answer: Write this down quickly! The second chapter of the thesis is ready. p. Is it worth experimenting with alternative fuels? How does Tesla stand up to the dominance of the Otto engine? Why are SMEs afraid of green investments? (There is a hypothesis hidden in this.) What economic policy effects are affecting the hospitality industry? How do the opinions of employees influence management decisions?

III. Formulating hypotheses
A hypothesis is a statement that we do not know whether it is true or not. It is nothing more than 3-5 assumptions. "China became a great power because 1. the EU and Russia weakened. 2. it gave credit to the USA." These are good hypotheses because at the end of the research I either accept or reject them. I do not prove or disprove them, as that would be unscientific, but I decide on them as a result of my investigation. "Energy would be cheaper for industry if we spread solar panels among the population." "If we know our own ecological footprint, we can reduce it." "Increased railway capacity increases GDP." "When oil runs out, oil companies will switch to alternative fuels." "With the establishment of kiosks, hospitality revenue decreased." "SMEs only invest in green investments in the short term and little."

IV. Writing a table of contents
At the beginning of the research, I need to determine the length limits. The main titles of the chapters should be as specified in the regulations of the given university/college, for example:
1. Introduction, topic selection
2. Problem statement, hypotheses
3. Research methods
4. Research results
5. Conclusions, suggestions

The available page numbers should be divided between the chapters. If the thesis is at least 50 pages long, then for example:
2 pages 1. Introduction, topic selection
3 pages 2. Problem statement, hypotheses (5 pcs)
5 pages 3. Research methods
35 pages 4. Research results
5 pages 5. Conclusions, suggestions

Once this is done, chapters 3 and 4 should be divided into:
2 pages 3.1 Secondary research methods
3 pages 3.2. Primary research methods

4.1 Results of secondary research
10 pages 4.1.1 Books, articles
5 pages 4.1.2 Online sources
4.2. Results of primary research
5 pages 4.2.1 Results of observation
5 pages 4.2.2 Results of interviews
10 pages 4.2.3 Questionnaire survey

It can be seen that the titles are not unique or individual, but the content will be. I suggest devoting half of the thesis, 20 pages, to your own research; within that, emphasize the interviews and/or questionnaires, 10-15 pages in length.

V. Planning research methods
We also plan the time required for the research in the above ratio, so the secondary:primary ratio is 1:4. This means that if I had to spend 10 days reading and browsing the internet, it will take me 40 days to do my own research.

At this point, I need to prepare the questionnaire (10 questions) and the interview questions (5 questions). I need to figure out how to get 100-200 respondents for the questionnaire and 3-5 respondents for the interview. I need to take into account that not everyone will be willing to participate. Out of 1000 acquaintances, 100 will respond. Not everyone is available for an interview either; 3 subjects can be found from 10 invitations.

I recommend using Google Forms to prepare the questionnaire. Pay special attention to the fact that 3 out of 10 questions should be demographic (gender, age, income, place of residence, education), and place these at the end of the questionnaire. At the beginning, indicate the purpose of the survey, and at the end, thank you for your response. Let's promise to share the results. When choosing the answer options, make sure that if someone is, for example, 35 years old, they don't have two answer options (25-35, 35-45). This is a common mistake.

In the case of an interview, use open-ended questions. This is also good for the questionnaire, so out of 7 professional questions, 2 can be open. If there are more open questions than this, processing is more difficult, as summarizing qualitative information is more laborious. Let's do a test recording with 4-5 friends to find out any mistakes or misunderstandings.

VI. Conducting research
After such careful preparation, the only stumbling block of research is time. If the preparation was 4 months, then 1 more month will be enough. If the preparation was only 1 month, it can take another 4 months.

VII. Processing results
When processing the literature, pay attention to the exact source designation. For Internet sources, indicate the download time. Follow the format of the policy by accurately identifying the author, date, and place of publication. (www.mtmt.hu)

In the case of self-observation, indicate the place and time of collection. In interviews, we indicate that the data is verbal communication. Google helps a lot in summarizing the questionnaires, except for the qualitative information and the processing of cross-tabulations. For this, we use the Excel table of the results.

VIII. Writing a thesis
When writing the thesis, do not forget the citation rules indicated in the regulations. Short references are placed in the text, longer ones in footnotes or at the end of the thesis. We edit a lot of lists and illustrations (tables/figures/pictures) because they are easier to read. The larger tables should be placed in an appendix, and all additional illustrations and the questionnaire itself will be placed here. Do not fit all the illustrations into the text, because it will be difficult to scroll and less readable.

IX. Presentation of results
When presenting the results, we always interpret them, we do not leave it to the reader to uncover the reasons behind the percentage distributions or to uncover the connections. We indicate our own assessment, right at the results in chapter 4, and then summarize it in chapter 5, adding our professional recommendations on the subject or our further research proposals for the future.

X. Defense
During the defense, let's focus on raising the issue, the primary results, and the opponent's questions. Let's prepare fresh data, showing what has happened since the research was carried out. Let's make a 10-page presentation, but don't present everything, just what they ask for. Our font size should be 18-24 and use a lot of illustrations (50%).

The presentation should be made with black letters on a white background. If you are preparing using prezi.com, download it in advance in case there is no online connection at the presentation. Each page of the presentation should have illustrations (50%) and short explanatory texts (50%). Presentation of one slide takes 2-3 minutes.

Perhaps this also shows that we will be able to maintain the momentum of the semester process if we choose a topic close to our hearts, for which resources are also available. The rest is just a matter of good form timing.