CREATING THE WRITTEN PART OF THE THESIS

PREPARATION FOR WRITING

First of all, it is advisable to set the goal of the thesis and to define the issues that you want to address, possibly also including the primary and secondary research questions, or the hypotheses that you want to verify in the thesis. It is necessary to select research methods and to clarify what the contribution of the thesis will be. It is always a good idea to consult this preparatory part with your thesis supervisor, who will advise you regarding methodology, useful specialist concepts from the scholarly literature, and the like.

RESEARCH

Research is the search for information and the compilation of a list of scholarly literature on the topic that you intend to write on. This step will enable you to get an overview of the availability of relevant literature, and you will have time to obtain and read it. Conducting research means searching through the available information sources: library catalogues, electronic databases, and other online and offline sources. The AMU faculty libraries provide students with free access to several online electronic databases which provide full-text access to a wide range of periodicals.

Another readily accessible source for full-text versions of newer and older texts is Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/). Your faculty library can help you with the research.

Collecting and reading selected relevant literature is a prerequisite for creating an overview of the current state of understanding in the given field and pertaining to your thesis topic. You will thus collect basic findings and points of departure. And in so doing you will find inspiration for your own work.

THESIS STRUCTURE

In addition to the text itself, the structure of the thesis must contain set formal appurtenances.

You will find the requirements for the structure and formal arrangement of your thesis in Decree of the Rector No. 2/2023, which regulates the rules for the creation and uniform format of the written parts of Bachelor’s theses, Master’s theses and doctoral dissertations at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU).

To prepare the thesis, however, you can use a template which already contains the correct formal appurtenances.

When writing your thesis, you must adhere to the rules of orthography, scholarly nomenclatures, and clear stylistic expression. The text must not be needlessly overloaded with abbreviations. It is always necessary to provide an alphabetical list of abbreviations. If you use terms and concepts which are not commonplace in the field in question, you must explain what they mean.

Plan your successive steps and try to think through the outline of your thesis, as well as the chapters that will logically follow one another. Carefully plan the time that you will need for the individual steps, including consultations with your thesis supervisor and subsequent revisions to the written text according to his or her feedback.

The thesis should undergo thorough proofreading before submission. Be sure to allocate sufficient time for this in your schedule.
Planning the individual steps in advance will make it easier for you to complete your thesis by the submission deadline.

YOU CAN FIND MORE DETAILED INFORMATION IN THE FOLLOWING PUBLICATIONS:

• ČMEJRKOVÁ, S., F. DANEŠ a D. SVĚTLÁ. Jak napsat odborný text . Praha: Leda, 1999.
• ECO, Umberto. Jak napsat diplomovou práci . Olomouc: Votobia, 1997.
• FILKA, Jaroslav. Metodika tvorby diplomové práce . Brno: Knihař, 2002.
• FREI, Jiří a Soňa LOUDOVÁ. Manuál pro zpracování diplomové práce . Plzeň: Západočeská univerzita, 2013. ISBN 978-80-261-0167-3.
• HOLOUŠOVÁ, Drahomíra a Milena KROBOTOVÁ. Diplomové a závěrečné práce . Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2002.
• Jak vypracovat bakalářskou a diplomovou práci . 6., aktualiz. vyd. Praha: Univerzita Jana Amose Komenského, 2015. ISBN 978-80-7452-106-5.
• KAPOUNOVÁ, Jana a Pavel KAPOUN. Bakalářská a diplomová práce: od zadání po obhajobu . Praha: Grada, 2017. ISBN 978-80-271-0079-8.
• MICHALÍK, Petr, Zdeněk ROUB a Václav VRBÍK. Zpracování diplomové a bakalářské práce na počítači . Plzeň: Západočeská univerzita, 2002.
• PLACHETA, Zdeněk. Pokyny pro vypracování magisterské diplomové práce . Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2000.
• SYNEK, Miloslav, Helena SEDLÁČKOVÁ a Hana VÁVROVÁ. Jak psát diplomové a jiné písemné práce . Praha: VŠE, 2002.
• SZOTKOWSKÁ LACKOVÁ, Eva. Bakalářská a diplomová práce je hra, aneb, 10 + 5 tipů, jak napsat závěrečnou práci rychle, efektivně a bez stresu . Písek: Genius Institut, 2019. ISBN 978-80-270-5293-6.