Thesis
Entry level
1.1. Extent
1.2. Cover and inside
1.3. Contents
1.4. Type of font, lead, margins, size of letters
1.5. Literature in alphabetical order
- The structure of the thesis
- Structural units of the thesis
- The structure of the main body of the text
- Structuring the thesis 3. The layout of the thesis
- Marking works of art
- Graphs
- Paragraphs
- Handling citation
- Citation in the corpus
- Reference in the list of sources
- The language of the thesis
Wording
- Technical terms
- Accuracy
- Vocabulary, style
- The choice of theme/topic
- Defining the extent of the theme
- The title
- The purpose of the thesis
- Questions, hypotheses
- Theoretical founding
- Literature
- Definitions
- Analysis
- Logic, coherence
- Description
- A critical analysis
- Deduction
- The originality of the thesis
- What is plagiarism?
- Declaration of originality
Declaration of originality
Entry level
1.1. Extent
- dance teachers (MA 120), classical ballet artists (MA), folk dance artists (MA):
70.000 characters with spaces included
- dance and coach (BA), choreographers (BA): 50.000-60.000 characters with spaces included
- dance artists (BA): 35.000-40.000 characters with spaces included
1.2. Cover and inside
Cover:
- the inscription THESIS in the upper middle part of the page at its one third
- in separate lines in the right bottom corner: name, university, major, specification, year
Inside cover:
- in the upper middle part of the page at its one third: title
- in the right bottom corner:
Written by:
Zita Kiss
Hungarian Dance Academy
Majoring in Dance and dance coaching
Fashion dance specialisation 2019.
- in the left bottom corner:
Consultant:
Dr. János Szabó
Senior lecturer
1.3. Contents
Indication of titles of chapters, sub-chapters with relevant page numbers
1.4. Type of font, lead, margins, size of letters
The thesis must be prepared as a Word document following the parameters listed below:
- the text should be printed on the right side of the opened thesis
- format: standing A/4 pages, supplements can use unerect charts and graphs
- Times New Roman font
- Size of letters: 12
- quadding
- lead 1,5 throughout the entire thesis
- page numbering: at the bottom, in the middle
- all margins: 2,5 cm, with the exception of the left-side: 3,5 cm (for binding)
- Space should be used proportionally, the maximum gap between two chapters is: two lines.
- The titles of chapters should appear in hierarchical order: titles, subtitles in a decimal distribution (e.g. 1., 1.1, 1.1.1 etc).
1.5. Literature in alphabetical order
- in other words: applied sources
- authors by their surnames in alphabetical order, omitting “dr”
2. The structure of the thesis
2.1. Structural units of the thesis
Cover, inside Contents Text (main body)
- Chapters, subsections
Literature/bibliography Appendix/annex
- A declaration of originality signed by the student is an integral part of the thesis, one is supposed to attach it as annex No.1.
- Annex No.2. to be attached is a document certifying the completion of the entry level.
As supplement / appendix the following elements can be attached to one’s thesis:
- the list of graphs and charts with precise sources
- interviews made by the student and referred to in the main body of the text
- means used in an examination (e.g. questionnaires, observation guidelines etc.)
- charts and graphs larger than one page
- further supplementary graphs, charts
CD/DVD/pendrive
If audio- or audiovisual material is part of the thesis, attach the given data medium onto the internal back cover of both printed and bound copies in an envelope.
2.2. The structure of the main body of the text
Introduction
- the aim of the thesis
- relevance/importance/up-to-dateness of the chosen theme
- what kind of question(s) one seeks an answer to
- what is one’s hypothesis (= pre-supposition in form of a statement) to study how the thesis is organized Exposition
- the theme positioned within its discipline
- the theme in a Hungarian and international context
- possible approaches based on different sources
- a synthesis of available literature
- the description of a phenomenon / work of art
- the interpretation of a phenomenon / work of art
- the empirical study of a phenomenon / work of art in the mirror of research methodology
- the interpretation of data collected
Deductions, summary
- a brief summary of the thesis
- deductions
- answering the questions listed at the beginning of the thesis
- rejection or justification of the initial hypothesis
- proposals, thesis permitting
2.3. Structuring the thesis
- the whole thesis should be clear-cut and organized aesthetically.
- The text should be organized according to the decimal system (1., 1.1., 1.2. etc.).
- One graph should not take up more than one third of the page, full page or larger charts must be attached as supplement and referred to in the main corpus.
- A passage should incorporate minimum three sentences. Placing charts, graphs should not interfere with the continuum of the text.
- Above and under graphs and charts there should be minimum three lines. Larger graphs (e.g. notations, notes) should appear as supplements referred to in the main corpus.
3. The layout of the thesis
3.1. Marking works of art
The titles of plays, films and dance performances must be written in italics.
3.2. Graphs
- Photoes, drawings, paintings, posters, leaflets, and charts are considered graphs.
- Graphs should fit into the context and not crowd out the text.
- Pictures, graphs in the text should be numbered with separate Arabic numerals and given a title, followed by the source: Figure 1. The Theatre at Bethlen Tér, photo by: Mihály. (Palotai, 2017)
- When using one’s own photos, the indication should be “my own collection”, whereas after a graph composed by the student, the labelling is “my own edition” Graphs should be referred to in the text (Figure 1).
- Numbering and titles come under the picture. This text should be smaller than the main text.
- The list of pictures must be compiled on the basis of their ordinals and placed among the supplements.
Charts
- Charts should also be numbered by Arabic numerals and given a title.
- Charts in the text must be numbered separately with Arabic numerals, given a title, with sources indicated: Figure 2. A Pre-conditions of 1st year fashion dance students in 2015 ( Kiss, 2016)
- In the text, charts are referred to by their numbers (2. chart).
- Applying a chart made by someone else implies a reference to its source; using one’s own chart is marked as “my own edition”.
- Charts and their data should be apt for interpretation by themselves without a deeper insight into the corpus.
- Thus graphs and charts have separate numbering.
3.3. Paragraphs
- No retractions are allowed in the first line of the first paragraph of a given chapter.
- Further paragraphs of the chapter, however, should have a 1cm retraction.
- A paragraph should be longer than a single sentence (min. 3 sentences) but should not exceed the length of a page.
4. Handling citation
4.1. Citation in the corpus
4.1.1 Referring to one item
The name of the author(s) and the year of publication are referred to in the text. ● The names of the author(s) can be part of a sentence:
o … as the results in the study of White (1998) …
- can be put into brackets
o … the interrelation of the two elements had turned up before (White, 1998), therefore …
- a pair of authors: the names of two authors are separated by the word “and” o … the phenomenon is relation with social expectations (Black & White,
1998).
- several authors, one book: in case of several names, those are separated with a comma, the last two ones with the sign “&” (Fekete, Fehér & Barna, 1998). In case of more than three authors, all names occur at the first occurrence (Fekete, Fehér, Szürke and Barna, 1998) at further occurrences, the first author’s name is followed by the abbreviation “co-auth.” (i.e. co-authors) (Fekete and et al., 1998).
Names appear in the text in italics.
- referring to audio- or multi-media sources: (Bergman, 1957, 00:59:45-01:02:34).
4.1.2 Referring to more items/works
- several works of the same author o within brackets when referring to several works of the same author the name is written only once, followed by the different years separated with commas (Bloom, 1955, 1956a, 1956b).
o when referring to different items published in the same year by the same author at different places in the full text, those are identified by the combination of the year and letters (Nagy, 1988a). This is mentioned in the bibliography as well.
- several items by several authors o within the same brackets the items of different authors are separated with semi-colons (;) (Fekete, 1988; Fehér, 1989; Szürke & Barna, 1990).
4.1.3 Quotation
- Word-to-word quotations are placed in quotation marks, with reference to page numbers as well (White, 1998, p. 32.). The quoted section is in italics. When omitting part of the original text the sign. (…) is applied.
4.2. Reference in the list of sources
General rules:
- The major information source is indicated with letters in italics. In case of books it is the title itself, in articles, studies it is the name of the publication/periodical/volume.
- When the source is also available online, the date of downloading should be given after the necessary bibliographic data. Szivák, J. (2003). A reflektív gondolkodás fejlesztése. Oktatás-módszertani Kiskönyvtár, III. volume. Gondolat Kiadó. URL: http://www.nyf.hu/pkk/sites/www.nyf.hu.pkk/files/tanarkepzo_anyagok/tanari_mester kepzes/osszef_szakm_gyak/06_tanari_portfolio.pdf
4.2.1 Individual books
Author(s) (year). Title, publisher, place of publication (town) o Lénárd, F. (1986). Pedagógiai ellentmondások. Akadémiai Kiadó. o Bedő, A. & Schlotter, J. (2008), Az interaktív tábla. Műszaki Kiadó. o Ginnis, P. (2007). Tanítási és tanulási receptkönyv. Alexandra.
4.2.2 Edited books
Author(s)) (year) (Ed.), Title. Publisher, place of publication (town). the title of the book is in italics.
Only the family names of editors are written down (even if they are Hungarians), and after a comma, the initial letter of their first name is used with a dot following it.
o Mandl, H., De Corte, E., Bennett, N., & Friedrich, H. F. (1990) (Eds.), Learning and instruction. European research in an international context. Volume 2.1. Social and cognitive aspects of learning and instruction. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
4.2.3 Book chapters
Author(s) (year). Tiltle of Chapter (or monograph/study). In: Editor(s)’ name (Eds.), Title of book, publisher, place of publishing (town). Page numbers: the first and last page number of the chapter. The title of the incorporating book in italics.
o Neves, D. M. & Anderson, J. R. (1981). Knowledge compilation: Mechanisms for the automatization of cognitive skills. In: Anderson, J. R. (Eds.), Cognitive skills and their acquisition (pp. 57-84). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Publishers.
4.2.4 Articles published in journals
Author(s), (year). Title of the given essay/study. Title of Journal, volume. Number. Page numbers: the first and last page number of the study. The title of the incorporating journal in italics.
- Larkin, J. H. & Simon, H. A. (1987). Why a diagram is (sometimes) worth ten thousand words. Cognitive Science, 9(11), 65-99
If the study has a DOI number, please mark it.
- Fügedi, J. (2016). A Néptánc Tudástár adatbázisának rendszere. Néptánc
Tudástár. MTA BTK Zenetudományi Intézet. DOI:
10.23714/nzntk.ntt.publ.l01771
4.2.5 An odd volume of a book series
Author(s) (year). Title. Title of series, number of volume. Publisher, place of publishing (town). o Petriné Feyér, J. (2004). A problémaközpontú csoportmunka.
Oktatás-módszertani Kiskönyvtár,Vol. VI. Gondolat Kiadó.
4.2.6 An article or interview in a daily, weekly or monthly paper
- daily paper
Author (day of the publication). Title. Title of daily paper, day of publication. Page number. o Ferdinandy, Gy. (June 6, 1993). Csatlakozás. Magyar Nemzet, 20.
If there is no author, the title is the first element. o German Invitation Refused by Dancer (March 3, 1936). New York Times.
URL: https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200154341/
If the article was published on an internet website: Author (year). Title. hvg.hu, the exact date of publication o Gát, A. (Sept. 6, 2012). Ha lehull az álarc, ha elvész a kontroll – Interjú Frenák
Pállal. hvg.hu. URL:
https://hvg.hu/kultura/20120905_magyar_vernasz_frenak_interju
- Monthly (or weekly) paper
Author (year: Title. The name of the weekly/monthly paper. Vol. Number. Page.
o Sáska Géza (2011). Klebelsberg újratöltve. Heti Világgazdaság, 33(46), 96–97.
4.2.7 Indicating earlier publication or translation
If one wishes to refer to the translation, a reprint version or a re-published form of a work in an omnibus edition, it is possible to indicate the original and the later date of publication. In this case there will be two years. The original year is followed by a slash, then comes the second year. Further data belong to the version the writer is referring to. o In the corpus text: (Neisser, 1976/1984). In the bibliography: Neisser, U. (1976/1984). Megismerés és valóság. Gondolat.
4.2.8 Statistical figures
Name of organization (year). Title. Publishing organization, date of publishing, URL o intext reference: (OECD, 2017) o bibliography: OECD: Life Expectancy at Birth. URL: https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm
4.2.9 Educational documents
Name of document (year). Title of incorporating work, date of publication, URL, date of downloading.
o intext reference: (Nat, 2012), bibliography: Nemzeti Alaptanterv (2012).
Magyar Közlöny. URL: http://ofi.hu/sites/default/files/attachments/mk_nat_20121.pdf
4.2.10 Dissertations, theses
Author (year). Title. Type of work. Institution.
o Lanszki, A. (2018). A digitális történetmesélés mint tanulásszervezési eljárás tanulástámogató és kompetenciafejlesztő hatása az oktatási folyamatban [PhD Dissertaton]. Eszterházy Károly Egyetem. DOI: 10.15773/EKE.2018.004
4.2.11 Manuscript
Author (year). Title. Manuscript. Place of publication.
A printing press is not a publisher. After bibliographical data it should be mentioned if the given source is a private edition or a manuscript.
o Gönyei. S. (1951). Beszámoló az 1951.11.03-04-én, a Népművészeti Intézet megbízásából, Bag Pest megyei községben végzett táncgíűjtő útról. [Manuscript]. MTA BTK Zenetudományi Intézet, Néptánc Archívum, Akt. 106.
4.2.12 Private edition
Author (year). Title. Manuscript. Place of publishing (if any). Private edition. o Szabó-Józsa, É. (2016). Magyarország a HAZÁM, de Svájc az otthonom.
[Private edition].
4.2.13 Blog Post
Use the name of the author they use in their blog. (year), title. Blog address, date of publishing. URL. Date of downloading.
o mikrokozmosz (Oct, 14, 2018). Túl minden határon – Interjú Ágnes Noltenius balettmesterrel. Táncblog.
http://tanc.reblog.hu/tul-minden-hataron-interju-agnes-noltenius-balettmesterr el
4.2.14. Lexicon Atricle
Author (year). Title: In: Editor(s), Name of the lexicon. (Page numbers) Publisher. Martin György (2001). Legényes. In: Pálfy Gyula (Ed.), Néptánc kislexikon (pp 95-96.). Planétás Kiadó.
o If there is no author the title comes first.
4.2.15 Conference presentation
Lecturer/presenter (year). Title. Title of conference. Place and time of conference. o Sándor, I. (2017). Rekonstrukció és adaptáció: énekes népi játékok a művészeti nevelésben. Táncművészet és intellektualitás: VI. Nemzetközi Tánctudományi Konferencia. Magyar Táncművészeti Egyetem, 17.11. 2017.
4.2.16 Choreography
The author in this case is the choreographer (director, date, the year of premiere). Title. Participants. Venue, the date of premiere.
- Milloss, A. (Choreographer) (1942). A csodálatos mandarin. Composer: Bartók Béla, Conducted by: Ferencsik János, Performed by: Corpo di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala. Teatro alla Scala, 12.01. 1942.
4.2.17 Stage performances (not choreographies) the author in this case is the director (director, date, the year of the premiere). Title. Participants, venue, date of premiere.
- Pintér, B. (Director) (2016). A bajnok. Using the works of Giacomo Puccini written by Pintér Béla, Music director: Kéménczy Antal, Dramaturge: Enyédi Éva. Katona József Színház, 19.03. 2016.
4.2.18 Dance scores /notation
Choreographer (date). Title. An informant (= notation-maker) is not an author.
Publisher.
o Rábai, M. (Choreographer) (1971). Ecseri lakodalmas. Noted by: Szentpál Mária. Népművelődési Propaganda Iroda.
3.2.19 Music scores
Composer (The date is that of the birth of the music, in absence of that the year of the premiere.). Title. Participants. Place, Date.
Erkel, F. (1861). Bánk bán. Written by: Egressy Benjámin, Conducted by: Erkel Ferenc. Nemzeti Színház, 09.03.1861.
4.2.20 Audio materials
- Author (date of recording if different from the year of copyright). Title. Performer. Type of device. Distributor.
- Bach, J. S. (1984/2003). English Suites. Performer: Gustav Leonhardt. CD.
EMI Records Ltd, Virgin Classics – Veritas.
- Author – who is the performer at the same time – (year of publishing). Title.
- Title of the album. Type of audio- device. Distributor, headquarters.
- Björk (1988). Birthday. The Sugarcubes. One Little Indian Records, England.
- Folk song
Title (year of publication). Performers. In: author of incorporating work: Title of incorporating book. Publisher. Page number.
- Kanásztánc (2010). Performed by: Ferencz Józsefné Balázs Mária, Collected by: Olsvai Imre and Katona Imre, 1978. In: Paksa Katalin: Az ugrós táncok zenéje. MTA Zenetudományi Intézet / L’Harmattan Kiadó. 126.
4.2.21 Moving pictures
- Film
Name of director (director, year). Title. Distributor, headquarters.
o von Trier, L. (Director) (2005). Manderlay (film). Budapest Film, Budapest.
- referring to a film extract in the text when analyzing the film: 0:12:40-0:12:45
- television programme
name of director (director, time of broadcast: day, month, year). Title. Participant(s).
Broadcasting channel, its headquarters
o Szurdoki, E. (Director) (2011). A rejtélyes XX. század. A programme of Kun, Miklós. Magyar Televízió 1., Budapest.
- Series
Episode (year). Title of series. Season. Episode. Broadcasting channel, date of broadcasting of the given episode.
o Week Zero (2010). Dance Academy. 1. season, 2. episode, TV Tonight,
01.06.2010.
In case of series with an author the director must be identified. Name of director (Director) ( year). Title. Broadcasting channel.
- Woody, A. (Director) (2016). Crisis in Six Scenes. Amazon.
4.3. The language of the thesis Wording:
- clear, logical wording
- using terms and linking words
- checking the correlation of the subject and object of the sentence
- checking the time of the verbs
4.4. Technical terms
The writer of the thesis applies the technical terms of the theme’s discipline discussed.
Available sources and consultants can lend a hand in this.
4.5. Accuracy
- the basic principles of Hungarian orthography
- initials of institutions with a capital letter
- common names with lowercase
- preserving the original spelling /initials of works when citing foreign language sources:
○ using existing translations (with precise reference)
○ in the absence of that: using one’s own translation in accordance with an accurate Hungarian language and terminology (indicating it is one’s own translation)
4.6. Vocabulary, style
- an expected level of language use (conscious style, discipline, technical terms)
● avoid
○ poetic language, the abundance of qualifiers, complex metaphors, emotional outbursts, sighs
○ laxity (e.g. as a matter of fact, isn’t it, as I see it)
○ slang, student language, humorous turns
○ dilogy within the same sentence
○ too long chapter and sub-chapter titles
○ too many highlighted elements – if it is necessary use bold types and use them consistently
○ underlining as a form of highlighting
5. The choice of theme/topic
5.1. Defining the extent of the theme
Students should not undertake the analysis of a too broad topic (e.g: The relationship of film and dance or The impact of ballet from the beginning to our times). This will not enable them to have a deeper insight into the chosen question. Limiting or narrowing a theme can be done in time, in space.
Ideally, a thesis provides a synthesis of the available bibliography, as well as an individual critical approach and thorough examination. Choosing a smaller unit with relevant background material is recommended.
5.2. The title
The title should precisely describe the chosen theme. The main title is general, and broad, it can be a quotation as well. The subtitle is narrowed, and more direct, e.g. “Therpsikore in gym shoes. The history of modern American dance.”
5.3. The purpose of the thesis
The thesis should focus on problems with a few questions asked at the beginning to seek an answer to. The reader should understand the aims and their realization of the work.
5.4. Questions, hypotheses
The student should give an answer to the questions asked at the beginning and/ or attempt to justify or reject initial hypothesis/es – all in accordance with the chosen topic.
6. Theoretical founding
6.1. Literature
The following sources cannot be accepted:
- a Wikipedia entry
- publications from tabloid press
- publications from uncertain sources
6.2. Definitions
On one conceptual notion the student is supposed to present and contrast the viewpoints / definitions /opinions of several authors.
7. Analysis
7.1. Logic, coherence
Fundamental literature referred to (or methodology) should be in accordance with the analysis, deductions, and the aim of the thesis.
7.2. Description
The student is supposed to provide a detailed description of the phenomena discussed and give countenance to them with precise reference.
7.3. A critical analysis
- The analysis should be based on antecedents in literature and/or individual, reliable examination data from the viewpoint of research methodology.
- The student is supposed both to enlist theories, models, and works and to interpret and analyze them with a critical approach.
- Descriptive and analytic parts of the thesis should be well balanced.
7.4. Deduction
- The student is asked to derive conclusions from the analyses and if research permits, make proposals.
- Thoughts and suggestions of the student and those from resource literature should be separated.
- Units of the thesis should show a logical sequence.
8. The originality of the thesis
8.1. What is plagiarism?
Each thought, or quotation which derives from someone else and is used in the thesis without referring to its source is considered plagiarism.
To avoid this:
- The source of something cited literally must be indicated with the relevant page number after the quotation.
- When /while or after/ providing a precis of ideas/thoughts of one or several authors, the source must be indicated.
