State of the thesis

Some figures, for the curious:

Chapter title
Words – including footnotes – target (footnotes included)
Subjective sense of completion

1) Introduction (version 1-1)
5257 – 6271 – 4500, 40% over
80%, some material must be shifted to later chapters

2) Problem identification and investigation (v. 2-1)
7199 – 8502 – 7000, 21% over
80%, moderate editing required

3) Consensus formation in science and politics (v. 0-6)
5108 – 5735 – 7000, 18% under
70%, sections to fill in and editing required

4) Remedy design (v. 0-7)
4581 – 5252 – 7000, 25% under
60%, sections to fill in and editing required

5) Conclusions (v. 0-2)
1663 – 1842 – 4500, 60% under
40%, lessons from chapter 2-4 need to be distilled

Total:
23,808 – 27,602 – 30,000, 8% under
75%

Days left until submission: 7
Times I have listed to Dvorak’s 9th symphony consecutively today: 4
You can get your own copy here. It goes well with thesis writing.

See also: latest structure (PDF) for the three substantive chapters.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.

10 thoughts on “State of the thesis”

  1. This is very true, though one grows skeptical of rhetoric, no matter how well crafted it may be.

  2. When you give yourself a bit of a break, have a look at this video of Barack Obama. The contrast between his speaking ability and those of the current president is astonishing.

  3. I’m told some people who are a bit over just lie. Not that I’d recommend such, of course.

  4. The clever thing to do would be to render a few pages as an image file, then paste it into the document.

    Even if they requested a digital copy and checked the word count, their numbers would still match yours… hypothetically, of course.

  5. I’d never have thought of anything so clever. I’d just have inserted white letters instead of spaces…

  6. Ben,

    That sounds like a lot less trouble, and may be easier to explain if you are caught doing it.

  7. Problem identification and investigation (v. 2-5)
    6318 – 7468 – 7000, 7% over
    95%, virtually finished

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