Department of Sociology

Thesis Option

By the completion of 18 hours, students select either the thesis, the internship, or the comprehensive exam option.  Students selecting the thesis option enroll for 6 thesis hours (SOC 599).  A committee of at least 3 faculty members will evaluate your thesis progress and completed project.

The department has developed these guidelines to assist those who choose the thesis option.  What follows is a step-by-step explanation of how to choose your committee, the purpose of the thesis, the form it should take, and the kinds of subject matter that you should include.  This explanation is meant to guide you and to provide a broad framework for the successful completion of your thesis.  It is also meant to assist your chair and committee by providing a common reference from which to advise graduate students.  Successful completion of the thesis will depend on the mutual agreement and the ongoing collaboration of the graduate student, the thesis committee chair, and the committee.

Choosing a Committee

Students’ thesis committees must comprise of at least 3 graduate faculty members.  Committee chairs must be a member of the graduate faculty in the Sociology department.  One committee member can come from outside this department.

First, when you approach a faculty member about chairing your thesis committee, it is best to come to the meeting with your written proposal.  This way, the chair can understand your plans.  The chair of your committee should be a faculty member who has the most knowledge or experience with the topic/method you are pursuing.

Second, it is best to find a chair and then discuss choices for the other committee members.  You have every right to ask whomever you please, but the chair may have ideas who might best fit with the thesis project you wish to pursue.  Again, when talking to committee members, you should bring along your proposal to allow them the opportunity to understand your plan of action.

Once you have a committee, make sure to fill out the Registration of Thesis Title form and submit it to Graduate Records office.

Third, you will work closely with your chair.  Speak with that person to determine the best way to approach your thesis.  Some chairs might want to meet weekly, while others might only wish to meet after milestones (for instance, after you have completed your literature review, or after you have begun your participant observation or developed the instrument).

Fourth, the committee should be apprised of your progress at each stage of your thesis writing.  You do not want to begin your interviews, for example, unless you have received approval from your committee and the university (IRB approval).  Thus, make sure your committee has given you approval for each major stage of your thesis writing:  literature review, methods section, instrument use, problems with data collection, findings section and so forth.

The Thesis

What is the Purpose of My Paper?

The purpose of the thesis is to pose, examine, and answer a sociological question.  Your thesis will also allow you to apply what you have learned in our Sociology program to an empirical question of your choosing.  This option is also designed for students who have intentions of pursuing a PhD as most doctoral programs require a thesis.

What Should Be the Form of My Analysis?

Your thesis may take various forms depending on the subject matter and whether your project is qualitative, quantitative, or a combination of methodologies.  Completed theses are typically longer than peer-reviewed journal articles.  Regardless of the topic or your chosen methodological approach, your thesis will follow the standard format of most research papers:

1. Introduction
2. Review of relevant literature
3. Theoretical framework
4. Guiding questions (qualitative) or Hypotheses (quantitative)
5. Methods
6. Findings (qualitative) or Results(quantitative)
7. Conclusion (qualitative) or Discussion (quantitative)
8. Bibliography (ASA citation style)
9. Appendices (optional)

Proposal /Outline

To ensure that you are meeting the above expectations and requirements and that you make adequate progress in completing your thesis, select a chair and a committee that will provide guidance toward the successful completion of your project.  Upon accomplishing this task, the committee will ask you to provide a written proposal and outline.  We suggest the proposal feature your research question, a discussion of your question’s sociological significance, a preliminary review of relevant literature, and an outline of your anticipated methodological approach.  Note that a great deal of the paper’s subject matter will be developed as the thesis evolves and develops.

It is essential that you meet with your chair periodically to maintain communication and to ensure a successful outcome.

Parts of the Thesis

• Introduction

Introduce your project by outlining your research question.  You must also elaborate on how your question is sociologically significant.  Then you will provide a brief description of your project (e.g., how you collected data, what you found, etc.).

• Review of Relevant Literature

In this section, you must discuss the relevant scholarly work on your general empirical issue.  Outline how the relevant research has grown and changed over time.  You may also need to address possible ongoing conversations among scholars about your field.  Be sure to organize this section thematically rather than source by source.

• Theoretical Framework

Here you will explain the theoretical concepts you used to frame your project.  You must be sure to make clear connections between the theoretical concepts you used and your research question.

• Guiding Questions (qualitative) or Hypotheses (quantitative)

For qualitative projects, the literature and theories must lead you to guiding questions, which you will explain in this section.  Elaborate on how your literature and theory led you to your guiding questions.  Meanwhile, for quantitative projects, you must explain the hypotheses you are testing.  Be sure to identify how literature and theory led you to your hypotheses.

• Methods

In this section, you must outline how you collected and analyzed your data.  You must describe your sample:  how did you select your sample?  How did you gain access to this sample?  Who made up your sample (number of respondents, age, race-ethnicity, social class, gender identity, etc.)  Next, you will discuss how you analyzed your data:  how did you measure or operationalize your concepts?  Finally, you will address any ethical considerations and how you addressed them.

• Findings (qualitative) or Results (quantitative)

For a qualitative project, you must present the main themes that emerged from your data in this section.  Be sure to provide evidence (direct quotes, observations) to support your argument.  On the other hand, for a quantitative project, you must outline the hypotheses you tested in your project.  Which hypotheses did you accept or reject, and why?  When you discuss whether you accept or reject your hypotheses, be sure to make clear connections to your literature and theory.  Also, here is where you will present and discuss your tables. 

• Conclusion (qualitative) or Discussion (quantitative)

In this final section of your thesis, recap what you did by writing a brief description of your project.  Here you will also identify policy and/or practical implications relevant to your project and your findings/results.  You can also include other issues such as directions for future research or a discussion of what you learned from this project.

The Final Product

You should expect that your paper will go through several revisions before a final go through several revisions before a final draft can be prepared that will serve as the basis for your oral exam.  Upon successful completion of the oral you may expect there to be at least one more round of revisions before the final paper is accepted.

The Oral Defense

After the chair and committee have agreed that your paper is in excellent form, you will establish an oral defense date.  Your chair should establish a mutually agreed upon date for yourself and the committee and then inform everyone of the date and time (lasting anywhere from one-two hours).  The chair should also reserve a room where the defense will take place.

For the oral defense, the student should prepare a 10-15 minute presentation that discusses the purpose of the project, the theoretical context of the paper, major findings and conclusions drawn.  Students should not go beyond the 15 minutes so that faculty have time to address concerns.  The remaining time will be spent with faculty and the student having a conversation about the project.  Faculty may ask students specific questions about the project or questions about theory, methods, or data.  The student should be prepared to address issues in a professional and sound manner.

Deadlines

During the oral defense, faculty may ask students to revise their manuscript before they are willing to approve the student’s graduation.  Please note that if students wish to graduate before the end of the semester, they MUST complete their defense approximately 2 weeks before the last day of the semester.  Final written revisions must be submitted to the Graduate School approximately one week before the end of the semester.

Please refer to the Graduate School for specific deadlines.