Thesis Evaluation: Viewing Nature A Reception Analysis of Anthropomorphizing in Nature Documentaries by Mardie Vermunt, Science Education and Communication Utrecht University
Level of design
I’m not really quite certain what exactly is meant by that. The „Design“ probably does not refer to the structure of the thesis, since this is aspect is to described and analyzed further down the line. So I assume the actual design of the thesis meant by this. This can be dealt with very swiftly since the thesis is simply not designed at all. Since the thesis was written at university with a scientific focus it was probably required to layout the thesis professionally. Which is most presumably the reason why it is not „designed“.
Degree of innovation
When we look at the publishing date of the thesis it has to be concluded, that the degree of innovation is not particular high. That does not mean the topic is not interesting. However the discussion of anthromorphizing animals in documentaries has been around for some years. And not only in the field of contemporary animals but also in extinct ones such as dinosaurs. That the topic is not freshly invented becomes obvious when we have a look at the described sources which frequently date back more than five years. The thesis tries to summarize previous research in the field while also adding new findings trough independent research.
Independence
This brings us to the next part: Independence: As declared, this thesis was most presumably written independently.
Outline and structure
The Theis well structured and has a clear outline. However It is not particular easy to navigate since it doesn’t have numbered chapters and sub-chapters which makes it harder to skim trough the thesis effectively. In general the thesis follows a clear line of argument/research by presenting general, theoretical information in the beginning and laying out the foundation for the methodology. The findings are presented well. The appendix again is hard to navigate since the individual parts are not numbered and miss distinct headlines.
Degree of communication
I am not to sure how to answer this, but everything in this thesis is communicated well. The objective is clear at any given point and it becomes very obvious there is a lot of sense of purpose involved.
Scope of the work
The objects are clearly defined and spin from personal motivation. The method chosen to accomplish the task is well suited and within the limitations surrounding a master thesis, in comparison to a PHD, the task was accomplished.
Orthography and accuracy
The thesis does not have to seem any orthographical flaws and the style of writing is precise and appropriate.
Literature
The Literature used is curated very well and professional. The sources are mostly journal entries written by field veterans and experts alike. The literature list is not only qualitative but also quantitative. The range of sources is very wide
