mitm-webserver/documentation/thesis/notes/style_baseline_bachelor_thesis.md

Bachelor Thesis Style Baseline

Source: Marcus Jan Almert, "An Investigation of the Security of Smart Doorbells", bachelor's thesis, 2022.

Use this note as the baseline when drafting or revising the master's thesis. The goal is not to copy sentences from the bachelor's thesis, but to preserve its academic voice, explanatory rhythm, and technical clarity.

Overall Voice

• Formal, technical, and objective.
• Prefer an impersonal academic perspective: "this thesis", "the present thesis", "the analysis", "the developed system".
• Avoid first-person singular. First-person plural is rare and should only be used when the surrounding section genuinely calls for it.
• Use present tense for general concepts, protocols, system properties, and chapter purpose.
• Use past tense for performed experiments, observations, implementations, and measurements.
• Use cautious language when evidence is partial: "could", "may", "potentially", "was not proven", "was observed".

Chapter and Section Openings

The bachelor's thesis often starts chapters with a short roadmap:

• State what the chapter or section explains.
• Then list the sequence of topics with "First", "Next", "Then", "Lastly", or "Thereafter".
• Keep the opening practical and close to the technical purpose of the chapter.

Preferred pattern:

The following chapter explains essential concepts used in this thesis. First, ..., Next, ..., Lastly, ...

For the master's thesis, prefer this direct roadmap style over broader phrases such as "foundational concepts underlying the research".

Paragraph Rhythm

• Begin paragraphs with a clear topic sentence.
• Follow with mechanism, implementation detail, or evidence.
• End with consequence, relevance, or transition to the next point.
• Background paragraphs are medium length and explanatory.
• Analysis and evaluation paragraphs are more compact and evidence-driven.
• Use lists only when they make capabilities, attack effects, requirements, or result categories easier to scan.

Common Transitions

Useful connective phrases matching the bachelor's thesis style:

• "For this purpose, ..."
• "Using this setup, ..."
• "As described in Section ..."
• "In the following section, ..."
• "Furthermore, ..."
• "Additionally, ..."
• "However, ..."
• "In contrast, ..."
• "Consequently, ..."
• "Therefore, ..."
• "Lastly, ..."
• "This allows ..."
• "This is evidenced by ..."
• "An example of ... is shown in ..."
• "Similar to ..."

Use these naturally; do not over-stack them in every paragraph.

Technical Explanation Style

• Define a concept before relying on it later.
• Introduce acronyms on first use, then use the acronym consistently.
• In LaTeX, introduce acronyms with the acronym package using \ac{...} or \acp{...}. Do not write acronym short forms manually in running text when an acronym entry exists.
• Write tool names, command names, kernel symbols, hook names, protocol constants, and code-level identifiers in \texttt{...}. This includes names such as \texttt{nftables}, \texttt{tc}, \texttt{sk_buff}, and \texttt{AF_PACKET}. Acronym short forms such as NFQUEUE should still be produced with \ac{NFQUEUE}, because the thesis settings render acronym short forms in typewriter font automatically.
• Prefer exact technical nouns over stylistic synonym changes.
• When explaining protocols or implementation paths, move from general role to concrete fields, functions, tools, or messages.
• Use listings, tables, and figures to make protocol messages, APIs, measurements, and system paths concrete.
• Mention tool names and versions when they matter for reproducibility.

Evidence and Claim Strength

• Tie claims to observations, measurements, listings, figures, tables, or cited sources.
• Avoid unsupported adjectives such as "robust", "novel", "seamless", or "powerful" unless the section proves them.
• Distinguish clearly between demonstrated findings and plausible implications.
• For security-related statements, state the adversary capability or system assumption before the impact.

Citation Style

• Use numeric citation style through LaTeX references.
• Place citations near the factual claim they support.
• Standards, protocol details, and external tool behavior should be cited.
• Implementation descriptions and own measurements usually do not need external citations, but should reference the relevant listing, figure, table, or section.

Analysis Section Pattern

The bachelor's thesis uses a repeatable analysis rhythm:

1. Introduce the investigated object, version, setup, or scope.
2. Describe the observed behavior.
3. Explain the technical mechanism.
4. Demonstrate the issue or result with concrete evidence.
5. State the impact or relevance.
6. If appropriate, compare to earlier sections.

For the master's thesis, this maps well to platform features and evaluation sections:

1. Introduce the component or measurement scenario.
2. Describe where it sits in the packet path or application architecture.
3. Explain how it was implemented or measured.
4. Show the relevant data, interface, figure, or listing.
5. State what this means for correctness, timing, usability, or security analysis.

Summary and Future Work Pattern

The conclusion style is concise and retrospective:

• Restate the thesis goal.
• Summarize the method.
• Summarize the main findings or contributions.
• Name limitations or unresolved questions.
• Present future work as concrete continuation paths.

Prefer "A future work possibility would be ..." or "Another future work possibility would be ..." when matching the older style, but use it sparingly to avoid repetition.

Phrases to Prefer

• "The goal of this thesis was ..."
• "To achieve this, ..."
• "The analysis considered ..."
• "It was shown that ..."
• "It was discovered that ..."
• "The following section focuses on ..."
• "For the present thesis, ..."
• "This is particularly important because ..."
• "In preparation for ..."
• "The captured data was then examined for ..."

Phrases to Avoid or Reduce

• Marketing-style claims: "seamless", "cutting-edge", "state-of-the-art" unless cited and justified.
• Overly abstract openings: "This chapter establishes the theoretical foundation for ..."
• Personal narration: "I implemented", "we wanted to".
• Unqualified certainty for uncertain findings: use cautious modality where appropriate.
• Long rhetorical motivation before the technical problem is clear.