Timeline for Can a project be "too good" for a Master's?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 22, 2016 at 8:38 | comment | added | Maarten Buis | In my experience many master students propose projects that would take two or three PhD project to complete. It is the job of the advisor to help students come up with more realistic plans, and they can do so as they have the experience the master students lack. So it is a huge problem which can and should be prevented. | |
| Jun 22, 2016 at 4:47 | comment | added | ff524 | Yes, we don't know everything ahead of time, and we can do some damage control if we turn out to have misjudged a problem; but we use our experience and judgement to identify problems that have a high probability of having something meaningful to show for the work after N years. I would definitely discourage the OP from taking on a thesis project if he knows a priori that there is a very small chance he will get meaningful results in the time given. There's a difference between "we can deal with this outcome if it happens" and "I don't see a problem, no need to try to avoid this outcome". | |
| Jun 22, 2016 at 4:40 | comment | added | Forever Mozart | @ff524 that is always a possibility with a research project. You can't know ahead of time if you will have any success, even with a problem that seems easy on the surface. But even if no substantial progress is made, you can demonstrate a good knowledge of the background material, previous work in the area, and describe your own (failed) attempts. This can produce a passable thesis. | |
| Jun 22, 2016 at 3:18 | comment | added | ff524 | (a) can be very, very bad if it's not a project for which one can report meaningful intermediate results. On what basis would the masters degree be awarded? | |
| Jun 22, 2016 at 3:00 | history | answered | Forever Mozart | CC BY-SA 3.0 |