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• Thesis template 2003 | 2007 | Title and signatory pages
• Guidelines for data analysis Guidelines for constructing tables & figures
• Guidelines for panel data analysis Guides for probit & logit regression
• Plagiarism and cheating page | Avoid plagiarism | Definition of plagiarism | MIT

• How to make a bad research question?
• Narrowing down to a specific research question
• How to write a thesis (by Charles Lipson)
• Basic research concepts and thesis structure: threats to validity

In the sample outline below, you may switch chapter 2 and 3 and, if necessary, skip discussion chapter. Also you may change chapter titles as you want.

1. CHAPTER 1. Introduction
   • What is the public problem?
   • Why is the problem important and significant?
   • Which aspect of the problem do you want to study?
   • Scope and time-span of the research?
   • State clearly the research question that you want to answer. Be specific!
   • Provide a roadmap of your thesis
2. CHAPTER 2. Background
   • Provide a description of the problem so that audience can understand the situation
   • Think about important factors that are closely related to the research question
   • Basic information about country, organization (government department/agency), or county/city/town of interest
   • This explanation should be consistent with Introduction
3. CHAPTER 3. Literature Review
   • Review previous research that is directly related to the research question
   • Ask yourself, "Which model am I going to use?"
   • "Who already studied topics related to my research question?"
   • Include academic work rather than practical report or Internet resources
4. CHAPTER 4. Data & Methods
   • Describe data: Where did you get? how they were collected? By whom?
   • How did you manipulate data?
   • Provide descriptive statistics of data you are using
   • What are dependent variables and independent variables?
   • Which method are you using? Describe the core logic of the method.
   • Provide your framework if you have
5. CHAPTER 5. Analysis and Findings
   • Describe how well the model fits the data.
   • Interpret and explain the key findings
   • Summarize results you obtained from the analysis
6. CHAPTER 6. Discussion
   • Discuss the results, in particular, surprising, strange, and/or conflicting results
   • Discuss how the results are related to literature review and background information
   • Discuss their implications for management and policy
   • You may make suggestions or recommendations
7. CHAPTER 7. Conclusion
• Summarize your main arguments, limitations of your research, and future study plans

• Prepare 20-30 minute presentation and adjust the number of slides properly. Sample
• Highlights your research question, data, method, and key findings.
• Reviewers will ask questions after your presentation and then make decision.
• After the oral exam, summarize comments, revise the draft accordingly, and email supervisor and examiner to show how their comments were reflected.
• Oral Presentation Advice by Mark D. Hill
• How to give a bad talk

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