Example MS Thesis Outline

  1. Introduction
    1. Problem definition
      1. describe what you trying to do
      2. clearly state the question being addressed
      3. when appropriate formulate a testable hypothesis
    2. Describe the motivation; who is interested in the solution.
    3. Summarize the results and their significance.
  2. Background
    1. Describe current understanding of the problem, existing solutions, and the barriers to these solutions.
    2. Review of the pertinent literature.
  3. Methodology: Describe the approach to addressing the problem
  4. Presentation of Work (Could be more than one chapter)
  5. Conclusions
    1. Summary of results
    2. Recommendations: generalize conclusions to appropriate design decisions, practices and/or procedures
    3. Implications
      1. Implications to existing knowledge/theory
      2. Implications for further study
    4. Future Work
  6. References