[Fall] Thesis document feedback

[dluman]

Hi, @lukel43 -- these comments are directed toward revision of your first two chapters with much more attention paid to developing your Introduction, though both chapters are due some reworking.

• The Current State of the Art section of the Introduction is somewhat light, especially concerning an industry that is larger and more complex than one might expect; revise this to reflect the business, and general growth in of the practice and popularity of sports betting.
  • Here, you don't really have "competitors," per se, but you do handle competing sports books; for example, the layperson probably doesn't understand multiple books, multiple odds, and what a sports bettor (hobby or professional) really does
• The Ethics section of the first chapter represents the issues, however there's probably more to say about the ways that multiple sports books, their APIs, and similar services are basically caveat emptor.
  • Here, it might do to place this as a first-order concern, though, as you note, we can't eliminate it.
• Sections of Related Work are somewhat built around (essentially use) only one source; there is a lack of direct research here, but the amount of sourcing is probably something we can work on.
  • Given that the literature of this field is probably driven by blogs and forums, those are admissible to a point -- that point being where it's any thread rather than, perhaps, the series of posts written by a person who has what the industry (or members of the community) would confer as expertise or a credential. These people have to exist, and there are likely more and less authoritative forums for sports betting that we could explore.
  • As to Related Work, as well -- are there more case-study-like examples? These sources are the strongest for you, though -- again -- they're likely not exactly what you're doing. The Lack of Knowledge section is strong, and there's likely much more research out there about what bettors know and when they know it.

While the above aren't remedial (i.e. "go fix it now"), these points are significant in developing a stronger version of your first two chapters as you prepare to implement their findings and indications in your Methods chapter.