This chapter describes or "This chapter WILL describe?"?

Question

My question is about the use of the present or future tense when describing what the current project being written does/will do: - Should it be "This thesis "will investigate whether...," or "This thesis investigates whether..."? - I'd like to know whether it's ever proper to write (e.g. in a thesis introduction) "Chapter 3 will treat the historical matters...," as opposed to "Chapter 3 treats the historical matters...."

Answer 1

Both are technically correct, so what you choose is simply a matter of stylistic preference. Using the future tense "will" feels a bit more like you're all taking an unplanned journey together wherein you will discover things together along the way, whereas the present tense feels a bit more neutral by showing that it is already written and already there -- the reader simply hasn't seen it yet.

The present tense, however, is a bit more commonly used in academic writing in my experience.

*The important thing is to be consistent. If you use the future tense to discuss what happens further on, use it EVERY time. If you use the present tense, use it EVERY time.