Supervision of theses

Associate Professor Oliver Parts has compiled an overview of the main challenges students face when writing their theses, based on his experience as a defense committee chair and supervisor. Since his area of expertise is not limited to the field of marketing, he decided to share these insights more broadly within the department.

The overview focuses on the key difficulties bachelor's students encounter during the thesis-writing process and highlights aspects that supervisors could pay more attention to. While the primary focus is on bachelor's theses, many of the identified issues are also relevant to master's theses. Naturally, this list is not exhaustive—there are additional concerns and points for consideration—but it presents the most critical topics that frequently arise in practice and require attention.

Referencing

This is the most concerning issue. I personally pay a lot of attention to it during marketing pre-defense sessions and bachelor's seminars, yet every semester there are theses that cannot proceed to defense due to problematic and incorrect referencing. It is common for citations in the text not to match the list of sources or vice versa—where the bibliography includes "bedside reading" that is never actually cited in the text. This usually results from student carelessness, lack of time, or an inability to think about the issue properly.

The supervisor’s role is to ensure that the student pays attention to correct referencing, especially in the final stages of the thesis. However, a supervisor is not a student’s secretary and does not have the time or obligation to check every single reference for accuracy. The student is responsible for this, but it is crucial to remind them of it.

If a source cited in the text is missing from the reference list, or if an entry in the reference list is never cited in the text, this also falls under plagiarism and requires the intervention of the faculty's ethics committee if such errors are significant. While isolated referencing mistakes do not constitute plagiarism, referencing must always be correct, as good academic practices demand.

I should also add that I am the type of committee chair who, in addition to reviewing the content of the thesis, checks every single reference in every submitted thesis for accuracy.

Sometimes, all references are technically used in both directions (cited in the text and listed in the bibliography), but aligning them correctly becomes "rocket science." There have been cases where many references in the bibliography do not start with the same first word as when cited in the text. If a source is listed by its title or an organization's name in the bibliography, the citation in the text must begin exactly the same way as it appears in the reference list.

Some students completely lack reading comprehension when compiling their list of sources. For example, the same source may be listed three times in a row, and similar redundancies appear repeatedly with different sources.

The Research Problem and Its Formulation

More attention should be given to this aspect during supervision. In some theses, the research problem is missing entirely, or it is phrased so unclearly that it is impossible to understand, even with the best intentions. In other cases, the research problem is too broad to be adequately addressed in a thesis.

From a defense perspective, this is a significant issue, as failing to address the research problem means the thesis is fundamentally incomplete.

What is Theory and What is Not?

The theoretical chapter must and can only include theories related to the subject field. While this is not a major issue, in some theses, market overviews or historical background are included in the theory section. History, in most cases, is not suitable for inclusion in a thesis. A market overview may be very necessary, but it is not theory and should be placed in a different chapter.

Coherence Between Theory and Empirical Research

In some theses, theory and empirical research seem like two separate worlds, with no connection between them. In worse cases, the research is conducted first, and only afterward does the student start thinking about which theory might fit. Sometimes, it turns out that the research does not align with any relevant theories at all.

In such cases, it is likely that the supervisor never saw the research beforehand, and the student conducted it without supervision. If the supervisor was not involved in the research process before it was carried out, they are under no obligation to accept it. The supervisor has the full right to demand a new study that has been pre-approved and ensures a meaningful connection between theory and empirical research.

Focus of the Thesis

In some theses, the content is overly broad and does not remain within the framework of the research problem, objectives, research questions, and title. This once again highlights the importance of formulating a precise and objective research problem (see above) and defining relevant research questions accordingly.

Methodology

It is crucial to closely examine what the student plans to do and how accurately they have formulated questions in surveys, interview plans, etc. If the methodological aspect is flawed, the final thesis will not be usable, and a new, properly designed study will be required. While this is not a widespread issue, it does occasionally occur.

Analysis

Students tend to underestimate the importance of qualitative data analysis, although in the field of marketing, qualitative data analysis has improved significantly in recent years. Sometimes, only quotations are presented, but actual analysis is missing, and an appropriate analytical method, such as content analysis, is not applied. Fortunately, pre-defense sessions often uncover such issues, allowing students to correct their work.

For quantitative data, the main issue is the ability to interpret statistical findings. A student may be able to identify a correlation coefficient and determine whether the relationship is strong or moderate, but they often struggle to explain what the coefficient (e.g., 0.71) actually means in the context of their research. Interpretation is necessary in both statistical and practical terms. Many students struggle with the latter, and I have frequently had to point this out to them because they do not realize its importance. The same issue extends to interpreting results from other statistical data analysis methods.

Recommendations for Organizations and Future Research

Reading some theses, it seems that the recommendations have been pulled out of thin air or are extremely trivial. This is often an area where we spend a lot of time during pre-defense sessions.

This was a brief reflection on theses. Of all the issues mentioned, referencing and analysis are the most problematic. Of course, each student also requires a different level of supervision.

Improving the Efficiency of Supervision

Supervision becomes significantly more effective when the supervisor sends their students a timeline at the beginning of the semester, outlining key deadlines for submission. For example:

• The week when the thesis proposal is due

• The deadline for the theoretical chapter

• The final deadline for the research plan review

• The week when students must submit their thesis with at least 80% completion so the supervisor has time to review and provide feedback before pre-defense

• The final deadline for submitting the corrected thesis, incorporating pre-defense feedback

I have been sending such schedules to my students for the past 15 years, and it works for 90% of them. It also helps ensure that students graduate on time—something universities value greatly, as graduation rates impact funding.

For students who fail to submit their thesis proposal or theoretical chapter on time, I usually wait a few days and then email them, asking where the missing section is. I add a polite reminder that I am expecting it as soon as possible. This gentle push is often enough to get procrastinating students started, and most of them comply. Following up is crucial for some students, especially in the early stages of supervision. However, in practice, I rarely need to do this, as the submission schedule itself effectively disciplines most students.

Additionally, the schedule provides students with an indication of whether they are on track with their writing and helps supervisors manage their workload more efficiently.

Author: Associate Professor Oliver Parts