1 Distinguish between your research interest and the result of your thesis.
The knowledge interest is the scientific objective of your thesis, i.e. what you want to find out scientifically.
The result is what you want to present at the end of your work, e.g. a concept proposal, a comparison, a checklist, a curricular draft, teaching materials, recommendations for action.
It is important that the aim of your work, in terms of the interest of knowledge, is not to achieve the result.
Both the research interest and the result must be explicitly written down in statements and thus defined. This forms the basis for creating the structure of your thesis.
An example of an epistemological interest and a chosen result:
Epistemological interest:
The aim/interest of the master's thesis is to analyse the motivation and satisfaction of MOOC creators on the basis of VROOM's valence-instrumentality-expectancy theory with regard to the process, Heckhausen's motivation theory with regard to underlying action episodes and taking Herzberg's two-factor model of satisfaction into account, and to compare them for selected MOOCs.
Result: The result of the master's thesis are recommendations for action for MOOC creators as well as an overall analysis model of the motivation and satisfaction of MOOC creators.
2. concretise your research interest through research questions.
Research questions are defined at the beginning of the work and concretise the research interest. They are pursued concretely in the course of the work. Answers to these questions therefore lead in total to the research interest being addressed and this scientific objective being achieved at the end of the thesis. The last chapter (conclusion, summarisation, etc.) comments on each of the research questions as well as on the research interest and its achievement.
3. there is always a chapter focussing on the state of research or science on the topic of the thesis or its sub-areas. As a rule, this chapter is not simply called "State of research", but also has a content-related orientation in the title.
Under state of the art, you should not work in such a general way, but refer to models and theories. These are concrete theories or models, not an overview of general focusses or general terms (e.g. not disadvantages of e-learning).
You should therefore refer here to theories and models, i.e. exactly the state of the art. For example, you could refer to the Baumgartner 2013 approach to microlearning on the educational dimensions of microlearning and the corresponding taxonomy or, for example, to Integrated Microlearning according to Gassler / Hug / Glahn from 2004 or similar.
Chapters such as 'Opportunities and risks' are of a more general nature and mix the state of the art with general assessments. It is certainly more appropriate to present and thematise something like this as an introduction at the beginning of a sub-chapter when introducing the general thematic orientation.
4. separate description from prescription in your work and do not mix them.
Description = descriptive
Evaluation = prescriptive
Separate descriptive elements of your work from reflections. Evaluations and reflections should be included in a separate sub-chapter, e.g. for critical reflection on theories and approaches. Avoid crypto-normativity (i.e. unclear or unidentified reference to a norm), i.e. evaluative parts that are clothed in a descriptive character. A crypto-normative statement to be avoided is therefore a statement that 'pretends' to be a fact, although a norm/judgement exists behind this statement in a hidden, i.e. undisclosed way.
5. choose titles for chapters and sub-chapters in your outline that do not consist of just a single keyword
An outline should help the reader to orientate themselves in your work, to structure the work and to make the central theme of your work visible. Therefore, individual keywords are not very helpful as chapter or sub-chapter titles, as they can be interpreted differently by the reader and may be placed in different contexts.
It is important that the reader understands what a chapter or sub-chapter is about and therefore, on the one hand, all sub-chapters must match the title of the main chapter and, on the other hand, the titles of the main and sub-chapters must make it clear what is happening in this chapter. This is not achieved by a keyword alone, but by a meaningful title that makes it clear what the chapter is aiming to achieve.
6. do not choose titles for chapters and sub-chapters that are organised in the form of questions.
Questions are also unhelpful in the context of chapter titles, as they suggest uncertainty rather than providing a guideline for the course of the work.
7 If you use research criteria in your work, these must be justified.
The justification of research criteria takes place before these criteria are applied. At best, this is done in a separate sub-chapter. The justification is usually based on sources and an argumentation.
8 A chapter on your methodological approach is important.
Justify your methodological approach and present your procedure. As a rule, you refer here to literature in the field of research methods, such as sources in the field of empirical social research.
9. do not create an outline in the sense of introduction / main part / conclusion.
Chapter titles such as introduction, main section or conclusion contradict the requirement that chapter titles should not only specify a keyword. On the other hand, introductions, main sections and conclusions are also ways of structuring texts that divide up existing texts (you may have learnt about this in your German lessons). They are therefore used with existing texts to characterise their components. Accordingly, they can be applied to any text and do not characterise its specificity. Accordingly, they are not particularly suitable as headings in a text or thesis, as they can be placed anywhere above any type of text and therefore offer the reader little orientation.
For an introduction, it is therefore more appropriate to use a title that refers to the topic, as in the following example for the title of an introductory chapter: The importance of MOOCs in the context of digitalisation and for the course of the study in this thesis