by antonia.muszi -

Analysis of a Master’s Thesis

The Master’s Thesis “Im Abseits oder am Fußball-Thron? Anstoß für eine Debatte über Frauenfußball” is written by Christian Hetzenauer. The Master’s Thesis is an analysis of the reporting and online debates of the Austrian women’s national football team during the UEFA European Championship. There is no practical work. 

Level of Design:

Since there is no practical work, I cannot judge the level of design or the degree of innovation. Instead I will comment on the way the writer has brought football terms into his Master’s Thesis. It starts with the title, where football terms were forced into the title, which can be a nice idea as long as the title still tells the reader, what the Master’s Thesis is about. That was lost in this case seeing as one cannot tell what the thesis is written on, except for women’s football. The subtitle being “Eine Analyse der Berichterstattung und Online-Debatten zum österreichischen Frauen-Nationalteam bei der Fußball-Europameisterschaft 2017” is needed for that. In the eighth chapter the different sub chapters are called “first goal”, “second goal”, “third goal” and so on, which has nothing to do with the content of the chapter. When reading the table of contents it is hard to tell what each chapter is going to be about. The conclusion is called “final whistle”, which I believe is rather unprofessional.

Scope of the Work:

In the empirical research there are 30 online articles from the Standard, Presse and Kurier as well as 150 user comments analysed. This qualitative content analysis has been done in a thorough manner, using common ways of empirical research. The 30 texts that have been sampled, where not simply chosen by the writer, but selected with the help of theoretical sampling. The writer illustrates the results of the empirical research in a clear and comprehensible manner, including all necessary labels. Even the gender of the author of the articles is analysed and illustrated in a graph. 

Independence:

The author has used common ways of empirical research and has based his work on these concepts. He has shown hardly any initiative and has not developed his own ideas. 

Outline and Structure:

The author uses a lot of sub chapters for example 7.2.1.2.1, when most of these chapters are made up of four sentences or less. These sub chapters could have been merged together into one sub chapter, making it easier to follow the outline. The names of the chapters could be more precise, seeing as one cannot tell what the chapter will entail. On the plus side, the chapters go well into each other therefore the structure is logical.

Degree of Communication:

In the beginning of each chapter the author gives an overview what the following chapter will entail. Furthermore the intentions are made very clear in the abstract, which are then proven throughout the Master’s Thesis. It is very plausible to use a combination of articles and user comments, to get a feel of the viewer’s opinions as well as the overall feeling towards women’s football in Austria. 

Orthography and Accuracy:

I have not seen any orthographical faults in the Master’s Thesis. The Master’s Thesis was not gendered, and there was also no disclaimer saying that the male form of the word includes the female form too. That is rather unusual.

Literature:

The bibliography is more than 14 pages long, and the literature is high quality with many academic journals and academic books. 

Overall, I believe the master’s thesis could have been better in stylistic features but the research was done thoroughly. 

Sources:

Hetzenauer, Christian. “Im Abseits oder am Fußball-Thron? Anstoß für eine Debatte über Frauenfußball.” Master’s Thesis, Universität Salzburg, 2019.

by ellen.dressler -

21 | Evaluating the Master Thesis: „How Much Can Social Dynamics and Mobile Applications Help in the Battle Against Climate Change?“ by Markus Janik

(1) Level of Design

The design of the thesis is very straightforward and minimalist. There are no particular visual elements or creative design features that stand out. The thesis is presented in a black-and-white format, with a focus on the theoretical content rather than visual appeal. The design choices give the work a somewhat utilitarian and sober tone. Even the embedded screenshots of the mobile application developed for the project do not suggest a high level of attention to design. The app itself, based on the screenshots, looks functional but not visually appealing, which suggests that design wasn’t a major priority in this project.

(2) Degree of Innovation

While the app developed in this thesis is not groundbreaking in its concept (there are plenty of apps out there aimed at encouraging environmentally friendly behavior), it does have a unique angle. This app is specifically targeted at residents of Vienna, making it more relevant to its local audience. That’s a nice touch, as it shows some thought into who the app is designed for. Nevertheless, I couldn’t really get the glimpse of why it is specifically suitable for people from Vienna, as this was not discussed in detail.

(3) Independence

The author appears to have worked independently on this project, tackling both the research and app development largely on his own. The thesis is based on his insights and decisions, especially regarding the research questions and the app’s functionality. This shows a good degree of independence, though at times the thesis could have benefitted from more guidance, especially when it comes to organizing the content and presenting the findings more clearly.

(4) Outline and Structure

The structure of the thesis is fairly standard, with seven main chapters:

  1. Introduction – This gives a solid overview of the topic, breaking it down into various subtopics.
  2. Background Information – Covers general info on climate change, climate change in Austria, what serious games are, and the role of social dynamics.
  3. Methodology – Introduces the two main research questions: „How Much Can Mobile Applications Reduce the Carbon Emissions of Their Users?“ and „How Much Can Mobile Applications Motivate their Users to Learn About and Engage More in the Battle Against Climate Change?“. The methodology also explains how the author plans to gather data and what results are expected.
  4. Implementation of the App – This chapter has only 4.1 as a subtopic, which is essentially bad scientific practice and makes it feel incomplete. More detailed sections on the app’s development process would have been helpful.
  5. Evaluation of the App – Describes the testing process and results.
  6. Discussion – Analyzes the findings in more depth.
  7. Conclusion – Wraps up the research.

Overall, the structure is logical, but there are some inconsistencies. For example, the table of contents only lists subtopics up to the second level (like 1.1), even though there are more subdivisions (like 1.1.1) in the chapters. More attention to detail in organizing the content would have made the thesis easier to navigate.

(5) Degree of Communication

Communication is probably the weakest part of this thesis. The content is not always well-organized, and there’s a lot of repetition, with similar points being made in different sections. For example, the app is discussed in various parts of the thesis, but it’s never really showcased in a way that gives a clear picture of what it does. The author also jumps between topics, which makes it hard to follow the overall flow of the paper. A more logical and cohesive structure would have made the research easier to digest.

(6) Scope of the Work

The thesis is 84 pages long, with a total of 105 pages including references and appendices. It combines both theoretical research and a practical application, which is a positive aspect. However, while the theoretical part is quite detailed, the practical side feels underdeveloped. Given that the app is a key component of the research, it would have been beneficial to include more details on its design, functionality, and impact.

(7) Orthography and Accuracy

There are quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes scattered throughout the thesis, starting already from the acknowledgments. Furthermore for example, mistakes like “there needs to be changes” (p. 7) and “a extensive survey” (p. 39) show a lack of careful proofreading. Some sentences sound not scientific, like “Fortunately there exists a study” (p. 39) or “Obviously it will not be possible for this paper” (p. 46). It often feels like the text was directly translated from German, resulting in some clumsy phrasing, like “had people in it, that just tired die app” (p. 74). These errors make the thesis less polished and detract from the content.

(8) Literature

The thesis references a wide range of sources, including academic papers, books, and websites. Most of the sources are relatively up-to-date and the variety of resources suggests the author engaged with the literature.

Overall, Markus Janik’s thesis shows a solid effort. The app he developed is a useful contribution, particularly for the local Viennese context, but it lacks broader innovation. In my opinion the biggest areas for improvement are in communication, structure, design and accuracy. The frequent spelling mistakes and awkward phrasing give the impression that the thesis wasn’t proofread. Overall, while the thesis has potential, a bit more attention to detail in how the content is presented and structured would have gone a long way in improving the final product.