Considering an Honors Thesis

I. Considering an Honors Thesis

Students interested in and eligible for Honors in Government need to understand from the outset the nature of a social science thesis: it is much more than, and quite different from, a mere report or even a research project. These guidelines are meant to help students decide whether what they have in mind actually is (or can become) a thesis, or whether, instead, they would be better advised to do an independent study. Note: These points do not apply in the same degree to a thesis done in the subfield of political philosophy

1. A thesis is a statement. A student who starts out by saying "I want to examine the thesis that...." is way ahead of one who begins by saying "I want to do a thesis about..."
2. A thesis is, furthermore, a statement of explanation. A student who starts out by saying "I want to examine the thesis that A explains B" is way ahead of one who begins by saying "I want to examine the thesis that A is important, or that B will happen."
3. A thesis statement also assumes some uncertainty about this cause and effect relationship. At the outset, there should at least be more than one possible cause (in social science terms, independent variables) for the effect (or dependent variable).
4. A thesis statement is an argument that some factor(s) or variable(s) best explain(s) the outcome, such as "the condition of the economy is decisive in explaining the election of presidents." It must be a controversial or at least interesting statement, above all one that can be analyzed, tested and shown to be true or false with at least some degree of confidence.
5. But a thesis statement is never tendentious or partisan, such as "I want to show that party X's policy is better than party Y's," or "I want to show that Israel is right to fear Arab invasion."
6.  A thesis statement can not be speculative or predictive (e.g. "I will show that Europe can not be united," or "I want to see if NATO will expand"). Such speculation or predictions can not be tested or examined. A thesis may have some value in helping to predict (see #4 above), but its value in that regard can only be shown by testing it in light of things that have already happened: the latter constitute the empirical analysis or case study(ies).
7. A political science thesis statement helps to explain a cause and effect relationship that has general interest and implications beyond the project topic itself. It helps to shed light on some basic issue--how do states behave? how do voters behave? what effect do certain institutions have? A thesis that is simply a long report about the French National Front fails this test; a thesis that uses the example of that party to help explain which factors best help account for the rise of modern right-wing extremist group passes. Remember: it will be evaluated by two people who may well not share the author's interest in the details of a specific topic, and they will also conduct the oral exam.
8. A thesis should therefore build on or in some way extend existing scholarship in your field. The project itself should thus begin with a brief review of "the literature," that is relevant works of political science. This is not really, or not merely, a bibliography of books and articles about the topic, but a summary of the existing assumptions about the ideas discussed in #7 above. This summary should highlight an ongoing debate or a gap in the literature (what question is not being asked or fully answered by political scientists), a gap the thesis can help to fill.
9. A thesis should also involve some kind of original research, ideally drawing upon "primary materials"--government or party documents, statistics, survey data, news accounts, interviews--to test the argument and to help shed new light on the topic.
10. Students should not start by asking or worrying primarily about the length of a thesis. Plainly a thesis should be more in-depth and thus certainly longer than the average term paper. On the other hand, it is not meant to be a complete analysis of a broad topic (another reason for the caution in #2 above), and thus should never be conceived of as a small book. A better model is a good, substantial scholarly article or chapter in an edited volume. Fifty pages of quality work is probably a good general target.
    

II. Formal Guidelines for Prospective Thesis Students

Once students have decided they are interested in doing a thesis, it is time to think about meeting the formal eligibility criteria for undertaking one and going through the application process:

1) Eligibility Criteria:

• 3.0 overall GPA and 3.3 in Government as of the end of fall semester junior year
• completion of Govt. 301, Research Methods

2) Application Process:

• consultation with/commitment by the proposed director (a faculty member of the Department)
• completion of two forms available online--one for the Department, one for the Charles Center

3) Initial Approval:

• the Department Honors Committee reviews all applications
• the Department issues approvals by the end of junior year spring semester
• the Charles Center registers students for Government 495-96

III. Miscellaneous Suggestions

• Pick a topic in an area in which you have already had courses!

• Plan on getting background reading done over the summer!

• Buy, use and consult an current manual on writing/documentation/format