Research is a journey which typically has hills and valleys. Often researchers go through periods of crisis and discouragement. Sometimes one becomes bored with the topic. These feelings and experiences are normal and should not lead you to give up at the final hurdle. Sometimes it is necessary to focus on something else in your ministry for a few weeks. Time away from the project often invigorates one yet again. It is also important to remember that you are writing a Masters thesis, not a book or a Doctoral Dissertation. At some point you must call a halt to the research and finish the writing. The page limit (no more than 80 double spaced 12 point font pages) will help in this regard. While you will undoubtedly have more than 80 pages of notes remember what a Masters thesis is. It is not usually an original contribution to knowledge. If you are still passionately interested in your topic, that may be an indication of a place to start on a Doctoral Dissertation. Writing the Thesis Most students find that writing from an outline helps them to organize their writing and keep them on task. The outline, of course, is and probably will be, revised as you research and write. Be sure to communicate with your Supervisor when you change your outline in any significant way. The use of note cards or digitalized notes which include all of the Bibliographical information will help you with documentation later on. Documentation in a Thesis Students must carefully and comprehensively distinguish between their own original ideas and those inspired by or originating in the writings of others. Failure to do so is known as plagiarism and is unacceptable in a Thesis or any other writing. Plagiarism is grounds for failure in a Masters thesis and is regarded by the Institute as a serious breach of Christian ethics as well as being illegal in the United States of America. Accidental plagiarism can result from failure to document sources in the early stages of research with the failure of memory later on. This must be guarded against by careful documentation of all quotes and ideas beginning at the earliest stages of research and continuing throughout the process. Quotation marks must be used when the author’s exact words are used. Ideas can be documented in internal parentheses with page numbers (e.g. Marshall, 2004, p. 74) or in footnotes. Guidelines for footnotes and internal documentation are found elsewhere in this handbook and in the standard APA and Turabian handbooks. Examination of the Thesis When the student has completed what they regard as the final draft of the thesis, electronic copies must be sent to the Supervisor and Research Director. The Research Director will forward a copy to the External Reader. All three parties will carefully read the thesis and evaluate it on the basis of the criteria in the Thesis Evaluation Form. The Supervisor and External Reader will electronically or otherwise correspond and seek to come to consensus regarding the thesis. They
33