I think my thesis analysis sucks and I don't know how make it work

Question

I'm writing an undergraduate thesis in linguistics. My topic is about comparing politeness in English to the honorific system in Korean. No one in my school speaks Korean, neither my supervisor, but I wanted to include the language in my thesis to make the writing more fun for me. I think it was a mistake.

I am stuck with my analysis. I've chosen a book in English and the translation of that book in Korean. I chose 4 politeness techniques in English and found around 74 sentences. I wanted to compare them to Korean. However, my analysis has to contain around 100 elements that should be analysed and put into a graph for visual representation. I have no idea how to make this happen so that it makes sense and my supervisor is not helping me. I feel like I've been improvising all the way till now and now I'm stuck

I feel like I'm writing empty work that doesn't make any sense. It's making me very stressed and anxious because I have not even 2 months left, I feel like I'll fail and won't finish my undergrad because I chose a dumb topic. I have a lot of stuff written but everything seems pointless to me, as if my analysis made no sense. I wish someone would give me any advice as to how to progress, how to make this thesis better so that it makes sense. How can I incorporate those graphs, what data should I put in there? I feel so lost. What can I even do with this topic anymore, should I just give up?

Answer 1

There is possibly a way out that is actually interesting. You have undertaken a difficult task that may not be solvable, especially in the time available.

But the reasons that it is difficult or impossible is something that is worth exploring in any case. Perhaps you can write up the various things you have tried and can also write up the reason(s) why each approach fails. As long as it isn't trivial, this adds something to knowledge that may be sufficient for an undergraduate thesis.

You have learned something even if your original target was out of reach. Make that the basis.

Answer 2

In your last paragraph you ask two questions:

... how to make this thesis better so that it makes sense?

and

How can I incorporate those graphs, what data should I put in there?

I think the answer to the first is to write - in English - about the questions you hoped to answer, the relevant things you found out in your comparative readings of the English and the Korean translation, and the conclusions you can draw. You may have discovered that the questions were not properly phrased, or there are no easy conclusions. If so, say so and say why. That's what research is about.

The fact that you have to ask the second question suggests that you have been given a structure you must follow, even if that structure in entirely unsuited to the nature of your research. If that's the case, and your adviser is inflexible, I think you are stuck. Do the best you can to fill in the blanks in the required form. Choose a better advisor for your next project.

Answer 3

... I chose 4 politeness techniques in English and found around 74 sentences. I wanted to compare them to Korean. However, my analysis has to contain around 100 elements that should be analysed and put into a graph for visual representation. ...

[EDIT: changed the flow. otherwise, it's essentially the same content]

Give consideration to the natural language processing levels: phonology, morphology, more importantly, those of syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

Give the following a reading and apply the principles.

• Linguistic Politiness: Japanese, AmEnglish
• Linguistic politiness in Japanese lang
• linguistic realization of politeness: English and Setswana

and this one from a romance language comparison. Romance Languages Comparison Charts

Your theoretical framework might go a long way in shaping 'what' and the 'level' of your comparison and 'graphing'. This book might come in handy for theory and practice.

• Watts, R. J., Ide, S., & Ehlich, K. (Eds.). (2008). Politeness in language: Studies in its history, theory and practice. Walter de Gruyter.

NB: Ensure you get native Korean speakers to work with. At least, one native speaker and one with linguistic knowledge/background.

[addition]
When one get 'stuck' at #analysis stage, an approach is to take a moment, step back and reflect on the #design.
PS: I understand you indicated mini-thesis. The principles and approach of research cuts across all levels. The rigour increases as one advance from one level to the other.

In the absence of indicating what constitutes or what is the rationale for the #100 elements, I can only guide along the line of research approaches.
In Hill et al., (1986), they had 22 sentences with 19 categorisation translated into Swedish. They administered to #300 across American and Japanese schools, followed by a 'ranking of politeness' plot and a correlation graph.

What is important is to approach the 'dead end' from a reflective approach.
Reconsider your elements from linguistic levels indicated earlier: those of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

---

Hill, B., Ide, S., Ikuta, S., Kawasaki, A., & Ogino, T. (1986). Universals of linguistic politeness: Quantitative evidence from Japanese and American English. Journal of pragmatics, 10(3), 347-371.
Ide, S. (1989). Formal forms and discernment: Two neglected aspects of universals of linguistic politeness. Walter de Gruyter.
Drellishak, S. Comparative Linguistics via Language Modeling.
Kasanga, L. A., & Lwanga-Lumu, J. C. (2007). Cross-cultural linguistic realization of politeness: A study of apologies in English and Setswana

Answer 4

My answer here is one applicable to many questions about difficulties during a thesis: Talk to your thesis supervisor! Writing a thesis is supposed to be somewhat challenging and unpredictable — it’s a first introduction to research — and it’s the job of your thesis supervisor (or advisor, or whatever your institution calls them) to help you navigate those challenges.

Issues like what you describe — the original thesis plan meets unforeseen difficulties — are very common, and there are many possible approaches to “damage control” for them. These approaches can be fairly subtle, or very drastic — you can remove some material that wasn’t working, or you can add in some extra material to plug a gap, or you can switch to an analysis of the problems the original plan encountered, or you can switch to a completely different project but drawing on the same background reading, so that you don’t have to re-prepare from scratch… Other answers describe some of these “damage control” measures in more detail, but the person who can best advise you on which strategy is more appropriate is your thesis supervisor — so talk to them!

In the unusual scenario that your thesis advisor is unsympathetic or unhelpful, ask advice from some other mentor-figure or authority figure in your department. You can’t necessarily expect as much time and attention from someone else as you can ask from a thesis advisor, but most academics should be willing to help out a student in that situation.

In the most unfortunate case, if your advisor is unhelpful and you can’t find anyone better to ask, then come back here and ask a different question: “I’m stuck on my thesis, and no-one at my instution is willing to help me… what should I do?” But that’s a last resort: the first port of call is always talk to your supervisor, and listen to their advice!

Answer 5

You need only 24 more Korean sentences. This is not a difficult task at all.

Get on social media, such as Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, etc. to find Korean speakers and then ask for help by using those polite sentences in Korean that you already know. If they help you, it means you can use Korean language to some extent. This would be convincible to your advisor and the exam committee that your thesis is practical and makes sense.

My point is that we are in year 2023 now. Use the modern tools that are available to you to conduct research.

BTW, we do have Korean Language SE. You can also ask users there about how to say polite sentences in Korean and the corresponding sentences in English.

Lastly, don't forget to cite the help that you get from others.