8 Writing the Thesis Plan
The MA Thesis Plan (sometimes called the Exposé) is the first formal deliverable of your thesis project. It is due at the end of Period 4 and should be a minimum of two pages. Think of it as a working blueprint: it does not need to be polished or complete, but it should show that you have done serious preparatory thinking.
8.1 What the Thesis Plan needs to contain
8.1.1 1. Literature overview and research gap
Begin by summarizing the state of knowledge in your topic area. You do not need an exhaustive review — focus on the core literature directly relevant to your research focus. Then clearly articulate the research gap: what is not yet known, understudied, inconsistent, or unresolved?
A good research gap statement follows this pattern:
“While prior research has shown that X, relatively little attention has been paid to Y. In particular, it remains unclear whether/how/to what extent [gap]. This matters because [theoretical/societal reason].”
Typical length in the plan: 1–2 paragraphs.
8.1.2 2. Research question
State your central research question explicitly. At this stage it may still be somewhat provisional — you can refine it in the Research Proposal. A good research question is:
- Specific about the constructs involved
- Empirically answerable
- Clearly connected to the gap you identified
Example:
“To what extent does the framing of climate change news as a political versus scientific issue affect readers’ policy support, and does this effect depend on prior environmental attitudes?”
8.1.3 3. Hypotheses or sub-questions
List your expected hypotheses (quantitative research) or sub-questions (qualitative research). At this stage, these can be tentative. You should be able to provide at least a brief theoretical rationale for each.
For quantitative research, a hypothesis predicts a specific directional or non-directional relationship:
“H1: Exposure to politically framed climate news will be associated with lower policy support than scientifically framed news.”
“H2: This effect will be moderated by prior environmental attitudes, such that the framing effect is stronger among politically non-engaged readers.”
8.1.4 4. Research design
Describe how you plan to answer your research question. Be concrete — specify the type of research and the key elements. For example:
“I plan to conduct a 2 (news framing: political vs. scientific) × 2 (headline valence: positive vs. negative) between-subjects online experiment. Participants will be recruited via Prolific. The main dependent variable is policy support, measured with an established 5-item scale.”
or
“I will use semi-structured interviews with 15–20 journalists at Dutch national news outlets to explore how they perceive and enact editorial independence norms in the context of audience metrics.”
8.2 What makes a strong Thesis Plan?
| Strong | Weak |
|---|---|
| Research gap is clearly derived from the literature | Gap is vague or asserted without evidence |
| RQ is specific and names constructs | RQ is too broad or not researchable |
| Hypotheses follow logically from the theoretical argument | Hypotheses are not justified |
| Design is clearly matched to the RQ | Design is described only in general terms |
| Writing is clear and coherent | Writing is unfocused, ideas are scattered |
8.3 Common mistakes
- Describing an area of interest rather than a gap. “Social media and mental health is an important topic” is not a gap. What specifically is unknown?
- Overly broad RQs. If your RQ could be a book, it’s too broad. Narrow down to one specific relationship or phenomenon.
- Missing the connection between design and RQ. Your design must be capable of answering your RQ. If your RQ asks about causal effects, a cross-sectional survey alone is insufficient.
- Writing the plan after the fact. The plan is meant to guide your proposal, not just describe what you decided already. Use it to think through whether your project is feasible.
8.4 Practical tips
The Thesis Plan is due at the end of P4, but the earlier you start reading and writing, the better your plan will be — and the easier your Research Proposal will become.
- Use Zotero from the start: track every paper you read with a brief note on its relevance to your project
- Write in parallel with reading: don’t wait until you’ve read everything to start writing
- Discuss your gap with me early: I can quickly tell you if your gap has already been addressed in literature you haven’t found yet
- Keep it focused: two pages forces you to be precise — that’s the point
8.5 Template structure
A two-page Thesis Plan might be organized as follows:
Title (working title of the thesis)
Name | Student number | Supervisor | Date
1. Introduction and research gap (approx. ½ page)
Brief overview of the topic; what is known; what is the gap
2. Research question (1–2 sentences)
3. Hypotheses / sub-questions (bulleted list with brief rationale)
4. Proposed research design (approx. ½ page)
Type of study; participants/corpus; key variables/concepts; method
[Optional: preliminary reference list]