# Non-academic publishing a theory **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227 "2012-07-14T18:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227/41 "2012-07-19T16:49:54Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > In the speed sense, not the brains sense. 😃 Yeah, that’s what I figured in the end. Don’t think I’ve heard the term pokey used that way in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227/42 "2012-07-19T16:50:52Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > (I’m not knocking getting a Masters. If that is your end goal, it’s a good thing to do. But if you’re getting a PhD, a lot of people won’t care.) On the other hand, it is a good safety net if something unexpected happens like your adviser dying. Writing a Masters is also good practice - much shorter and simpler than a dissertation, and usually on a simpler topic. Most of the CS / EE resumes I see for people with PhDs have masters also, but I agree it is not essential. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227/43 "2012-07-19T22:04:47Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > On the other hand, it is a good safety net if something unexpected happens like your adviser dying. Writing a Masters is also good practice - much shorter and simpler than a dissertation, and usually on a simpler topic. Most of the CS / EE resumes I see for people with PhDs have masters also, but I agree it is not essential. Like I said, you usually can get a Masters if you can’t make it all the way thru a PhD program. E.g., at most places I was at it was just credit hours + passing the qualifying exams (for PhD track folk). If I decided to quit during my thesis years, I would have paid the $50 and taken the degree. (And head to Silicon Valley and become rich and … Oh, right. Fantasies don’t count.) BTW: Writing a Masters thesis isn’t all that common. I never supervised one. Most profs I knew didn’t have the time to deal with them. So the students just did courses and exams. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227/44 "2012-07-19T22:22:49Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Writing a Masters is also good practice - much shorter and simpler than a dissertation, and usually on a simpler topic. Well, like I said, I had to write a thesis for my honours, so I had that experience already without doing a Masters. But I can’t imagine going straight from an Bachelors to a PhD without real research experience. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227/45 "2012-07-19T22:27:34Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > BTW: Writing a Masters thesis isn’t all that common. I never supervised one. Most profs I knew didn’t have the time to deal with them. So the students just did courses and exams. Must be a local thing. My daughter is in a Psych/business PhD program, and her adviser bugged her to do one. Only took her a month or so, since she had lots of studies done already. And I can’t recall seeing a resume for someone with a PhD who didn’t have a Masters. Anyhow, Masters can be significant - look at [Claude Shannon - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon)]Claude Shannon’s. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227/46 "2012-07-19T22:36:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Like I said, you usually can get a Masters if you can’t make it all the way thru a PhD program. E.g., at most places I was at it was just credit hours + passing the qualifying exams (for PhD track folk). During my grad school days, we used to call this “being let off with a Master’s.”🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227/47 "2012-07-19T22:45:41Z")
Must be a local thing. My daughter is in a Psych/business PhD program, and her adviser bugged her to do one. Only took her a month or so, since she had lots of studies done already. And I can’t recall seeing a resume for someone with a PhD who didn’t have a Masters. Anyhow, Masters can be significant - look at [Claude Shannon’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon) (repost to fix link) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-academic-publishing-a-theory/628227.md?page=2)