7 Steps Towards a Thesis

By Eduard Hovy

USC Information Sciences Institute

1. The idea

   1. • Is there a claim?

      • Is the claim clear?

      • Is the idea large or small?

      • Is the idea as large as it can be? Can you generalize it, or apply it elsewhere?

• 1. Motivation, Use, or Application

     • Why should we care?

     • How can the claim be used? Are there other applications?

  2. Details of the Idea

     • What are the basic items/elements /representation units of the idea?

     • What are the rules or types of interrelationships between them?

     • How elaborated are these items and rules/relationships?

     • How much of the phenomena do they cover?

  3. Data

     • Is there enough data in the study?

     • Is it representative? trustworthy? applicable?

  4. Discovery Methodology

     • Is the method of investigation clear?

     • Is it appropriate? Does it ignore phenomena that look relevant?

     • Is it well-reasoned? no biases or mistakes?

  5. History

     • Is prior work recognized? used?

  6. Proof

     • Is there an evaluation?

       • If so, is it adequate? Complete enough?

         • Does it speak to the claim?

         • Does it actually prove the claim?

       • If not, why not?

         • Is there a discussion of how one might try to test or prove the claim?

         • Can one make predictions and (easily) test them?