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POLITICAL
SCIENCE HOME
HONORS
PROGRAM
Requirements
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Honors
Requirements
Unlike papers written for most
classes, an honors thesis must be a
substantial piece of research, writing, and argumentation. The thesis
should demonstrate the student’s mastery of a major debate or problematic
area within the discipline of political science, present research that
addresses a major question, and show evidence of the student’s independent
thought about and evaluation of a significant issue.
Most theses in Political Science will combine an analysis of theoretical
literature with some sort of empirical research, though some students
may choose to focus solely on theory. All acceptable theses will be well
organized and will have clear framings of the problem or issue they set
out to address at the very beginning. They will also present a credible
argument supporting their approaches and using evidence effectively to
bolster their reasoning.
Why Write an Honors Thesis?
Writing an honors thesis will take students at least an entire
academic year, in addition to the preparatory seminar on research that
you will have taken in the spring of your junior year (Political Inquiry).
It will often be a frustrating process, since you will not have the companionship
and support that come from taking classes together with others who are
going through the same experiences. Although we will do what we can to
ensure some camaraderie and shared experience among you , writing is also
intrinsically a lonely business. Why should you nonetheless undertake
the challenge of writing a thesis?
Graduating with honors tells future employers and educators that you
have undertaken a major research project with minimal guidance from faculty
and followed it through to the end. It shows that you can do more than
follow instructions and do well on bluebook examinations; it attests to
your critical and organizational abilities in a convincing way. It demonstrates
initiative and commitment, something employers and graduate schools look
for in recent graduates. Finally, you will have a strong writing sample
to send to prospective employers and educators.
The professional advantages
to be gained from writing a thesis,
however, only scratch the surface of the many reasons why you should accept
the challenge. Once you have gone through the experience, you will find
that your writing abilities have improved to a great degree. You will
be better able to formulate interesting questions and to carry out large-scale
research projects. Your analytical skills will be sharper. On a broader
level, you will learn a lot about how to motivate yourself to accomplish
things when there is no immediate deadline and when no one is forcing
you to do something. You will be able to work more independently and with
less supervision as a result of the experience. You will also most likely
get to know your advisor well and will find in this person a wealth of
information and experience that will benefit you no matter what you go
on to do. Last but not least, you will learn a great deal about a topic
that you find provocative and interesting, leading to the personal satisfaction
and self-confidence that arise from having accomplished a major goal that
you’ve set for yourself.
Suggestions for Developing the Topic for the Honors Thesis
The question that will form the basis for the thesis should be
developed carefully in consultation with a faculty member. Upper-division
courses in political science are often good resources for getting ideas
for
theses and provide opportunities to get to know potential thesis advisors.
In addition, pay attention to what you find compelling in the world. We
can almost certainly craft a project around it. We have had students write
about community mobilization around an environmental problem in North
Denver, about the meaning to teachers of the grading of schools, and on
community mobilization concerning transportation. We have also had a student
write on community service organizations for refugee resettlement. In
other words, many topics are possible. You will live with this project
for a year; make sure you have found something that interests you. I would
encourage students to find initial ideas in the junior year; then connect
with an advisor and do some reading and thinking over the summer between
the junior and the senior year. Writing a good
thesis is a year-long project, so getting an early start on the process
of
formulating the research question is vital to ensure success.
PLSC 3990 Honors Thesis
Students writing theses in the department of political science must
enroll in PLSC 3990which is worth ten credits spread throughout the year,
usually taken for 4 credits in the fall. The focus in the fall is on framing
suitable topics, conducting preliminary research, and writing a prospectus,
or an in-depth description of their topics and plans for researching and
developing their arguments.
The Thesis Advisor and the Second Reader
Each student writing an honors thesis will work with the honors advisor
and with one other primary advisor, usually in the department of Political
Science. . The primary advisor could be the honors advisor, but need
not be. The student should choose someone who has worked in the field
in which the student is interested. The department may approve a primary
advisor from another department if the topic of the thesis warrants going
outside of Political Science. The thesis advisor is the principal faculty
member with whom the student will work. For an oral defense in the spring,
each student will need to choose an outside reader, someone not in the
department but whose interests are related to the student’s.
Both advisors help the student formulate a workable research
question, often suggesting materials to read and places to go to find
empirical information. This faculty member then oversees the process of
writing, helping the student to develop a schedule for completing drafts
of sections. The advisor will also read the thesis as the student is writing
it, providing feedback along the way to keep the student on track. In
selecting a thesis advisor, the student should try to find someone who
knows a lot about the thesis topic and who will have the time to give
the student adequate feedback. Planning in advance is helpful in securing
a good thesis advisor, as most faculty members are unable to supervise
more than two theses in any given quarter. The second reader has a more
limited role in the process. The student should keep the second reader
informed about his or her progress on the thesis throughout the time that
she or he is writing, but the second reader does not need to see drafts
as frequently as the advisor. At a minimum, however, the second reader
should receive a full outline of the thesis early in the writing process,
the second-to-last draft of the thesis, and the last draft of the thesis.
This will enable the author to deal with any problems that the second
reader raises before time becomes a serious problem.
In general, students should
note that faculty tend to be quite busy,
particularly at the beginnings and ends of terms. Do not expect an advisor
or second reader to read a lengthy draft and provide comments unless you
give that person at least a week. It is also much easier to get comments
quickly if you work out a firm schedule with your advisor and stick to
it – most faculty members can read drafts much more quickly if they
know when to expect them and can set aside time from their schedules in
advance. Faculty members are generally very willing to help you if you
are organized and motivated. Know your advisor’s office hours and
make use of them!
Requirements for Argumentation,
Formatting and Length
An acceptable senior thesis will be properly formatted both in terms
of the way that the argument is structured and in terms of the technical
set-up and look of the document. While theses written in different fields
may vary greatly in the way they are organized, they will have certain
features in common as persuasive pieces of argumentative writing. Each
student writing a thesis is responsible for ensuring that the final draft
fulfills the requirements for argumentation, formatting and length. Bear
in mind that it is much easier to fulfill these requirements if you are
thinking about them and applying them throughout the process of writing
your thesis.
Argument
An honors thesis in any field of Political Science has three basic
parts. The first is a clear and concise explanation of the main argument
of the thesis itself. The second, which comprises the bulk of the thesis,
is a
presentation of the argumentation and evidence that will convince the
reader that the argument is valid. The final part is an explanation of
the
implications of the argument. The first section of the thesis will be
the most difficult to write for most people because it requires that you
have a complete understanding of what you will do in the thesis. Most
people write a draft of the introduction to their thesis and return to
it to sharpen their insights after they have written up the argumentative
section. In the first section of the thesis, the author should identify
the problem or issue with which she or he will be dealing and sketch out
his or her answer or solution. This section should also demonstrate the
student’s mastery of the academic literature associated with the
problem or issue. Here, the student explains both what other analysts
have had to say about the issue or problem and differentiates her or his
approach and analysis from others’ approaches and analyses. The
student should also explain here what methods he or she intends to use
to support the analysis she or he
will undertake. The second, or argumentative, section is the heart of
the thesis. In this section, the student presents the argument and evidence
promised in the first section. Careful organization is crucial to the
success of this section; arguments and evidence should be presented to
flow logically toward the conclusion the student wishes the reader to
endorse. The student should also ensure that she or he is arguing rather
than merely presenting evidence. Pieces of empirical data should be placed
in their proper contexts and their relationship to each other should be
clearly outlined. The inclusion of all evidence and arguments must be
justified by direct relationship to the main point of the thesis. The
student should avoid mere description or recitation of facts in favor
of in-depth analysis. Finally, the student should deal effectively with
counter arguments or contrasting cases that might tend to persuade the
reader that his or her main point is invalid. The final section of the
thesis should summarize what the student has accomplished. In addition,
it should explain what implications the student’s findings have
for the field in which she or he is writing. How should scholars and readers
think about the main question differently after having encountered the
thesis?
Formatting
Typing or word-processing should be on one side of the page only.
The thesis must be double-spaced with standard (1”) margins, except
for
quotations of more than 50 words. All footnotes must be single-spaced.
Pages must be numbered. For citations, consult the Chicago Manual of Style
and use that format unless you and your advisor mutually agree that another
citation format would be more appropriate. The thesis must include a complete
bibliography of works consulted. Given the nature of a thesis as a major
research project, it should include numerous in-text citations to theoretical
works and empirical evidence. You must cite any information of which you
do not have personal knowledge, whether or not you are quoting this information
directly from the source.
No special formatting is required
for the headings of sections within the thesis, but the headings should
be formatted consistently throughout
the text. Given the length of a typical thesis, students are strongly
encouraged to use headings or chapters within the text. The author should
also prepare and include a table of contents. The table of contents should
appear immediately after the title page of the thesis. An example of the
proper formatting for the title page of the thesis is included at the
end of this document as Appendix A.
Length
An honors thesis in political science should range between 16,000
and 30,000 words (approximately 45 to 60 standard double-spaced pages
of text). Your thesis should not fall substantially below 16,000 words
or significantly exceed 30,000 words unless your advisor has approved
an exceptionally short or long thesis. Theses that fall outside of these
limits run the risk of not being accepted by the readers or the honors
committee.
Departmental Process for Evaluation and Deadlines
During the spring term, the
university sponsors a day for the
presentation of undergraduate research. Students may either present their
material as a poster or they may present it in a panel discussion with
other students. Students should practice their presentation, and take
the time to make a poster of which they can be proud. We can have practice
sessions in the spring. Students generally find this experience to be
very rewarding; they can talk with interested people about what they have
been doing for the academic year. By the ninth week of the spring term,
the student should have provided her/his final draft of the thesis to
the three readers. The student should also schedule an oral defense of
the thesis for the tenth week or finals week. That defense should take
about an hour. In it, the student will have the opportunity of presenting
the thesis, explaining how s/he came to it and what s/he did. The members
of the committee will then ask the student questions, generally questions
concerning the conceptual framework and evidence supporting
it. At the end of the defense, the three readers will decide whether to
pass the thesis, fail it, or grant high honors. The department is then
responsible for passing this information on to the university honors program.
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