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CNSA Style Manual
Chapter IV -- The Thesis Writing Process
Chapter 01 | Chapter 02 | Chapter 03 | Chapter 05 | Style Manual Index
Thesis Requirements | Thesis Committee | Choosing a Topic | The Topic | The Proposal
Form 2 | IRB | Thesis Writing Procedure | Common Fears and Helpful Hints
Writing Summary Paragraphs | Table of Contents | Editorial Process | Turnaround Rate
Sample Schedule | Final Details
This chapter covers a number of areas related to the actual process of writing your thesis. The first sections walk you through some procedural matters, from choosing a topic to submitting the paperwork necessary to proceed with your research. There is also a section on writing your research proposal, along with a sample of an acceptable proposal.
Following are sections designed to help you deal with particular problem areas. These sections discuss some common fears, and include hints and guidelines for dealing with these problem areas.
The final sections take you through the last stages of your thesis, and include a sample schedule, and outline the final tasks you need to accomplish in order to graduate.
This chapter will help you approach the task of writing your thesis in a logical, organized manner. Use of this guide should make the whole process more understandable and less daunting. Following the guidelines and advice included here will help you produce a well-written and substantive thesis.
The thesis course (CNSA 699) is taken for four credits, and is an original research project. The thesis paper usually includes a hypothesis or hypotheses, sometimes experimental and control groups, the collection of data to confirm or deny the hypotheses, and the statistical analysis of the data.
Theses follow the traditional five chapter format below. At least three copies of your thesis are bound and given to the director, your advisor, and the library. Of the many theses in the library, those by Jaci O'Connor, John Orcutt, and Kara Gravley are good examples.
References should be current (within the last 7-10 years) unless they are seminal studies or uniquely appropriate (such as providing historical overview of a topic).
A committee will oversee your research and final thesis paper. Thesis committees are made up of the three program faculty and one member from outside the CNSA program and the education and counseling units. This committee generally meets twice, once to approve your topic (and to sign Form 2) and once for your final oral examination (and signing of Form 4). Consult your advisor for suggestions regarding faculty who would be appropriate members of your committee.
The first step in writing a thesis is choosing a topic. This may seem like an overwhelming task when you think of the world of possibilities, but it is really only as difficult as you make it.
It definitely helps if you choose your topic early. If you have a topic in mind from the beginning of your course work, then every paper, journal article review, and literature review required for class can be used as a step toward your thesis. You may use the research you do for these assignments as part of your thesis.
Your thesis topic does not have to be very complicated. Students often become overwhelmed with trying to choose a topic, because they believe they have to come up with something completely original and complex. This is not at all the case. Much important research is merely a duplication or extension of previous research.
There are many places you can get ideas for your thesis topic:
Once you have chosen a thesis topic, then it is time to write your thesis proposal. The proposal is a report outlining what you propose to do for your thesis. In format, it is a short version of Chapters I, II, and III of your eventual thesis paper. The proposal literature review is much shorter (only 4-5 pages, instead of the 20 pages required for the thesis), and the methodology chapter is written in the future tense.
Form 2, Examining Committee Topic Approval
You must complete Form 2 (available from the web, your advisor, or the Graduate Studies Office) before you begin your research. It requires the signature of your advisor, four committee members, director, and the Academic Dean.
You should schedule a meeting of your committee before you do much work on your thesis to ensure that all members are in agreement about your topic before you proceed. Usually, your committee meets the first time to review the 2-10 page proposal before signing Form 2.
If you choose to use human subjects, you must also have the approval of the Institutional Review Board (IRB). IRB forms are available on the web or from your advisor or the department secretary. The IRB meets between the tenth and twentieth days of each month. You must submit seven copies of the IRB form to the chair of the Board ten days prior to its meeting. Expedited reviews require two copies. See the Directions sheet that accompanies the IRB form
Copies of Form 2 and the IRB form are also included on the web and in the CNSA handbook.
You will work closely with your advisor in writing your thesis. The procedure is for you to submit drafts to your advisor, who will critique them and offer suggestions for improvement. You will continue to submit drafts until your advisor decides the thesis is ready to go to your thesis committee. Committee members then review the draft and recommend changes. When all committee members have no more changes, you may schedule your final oral examination meeting.
Always allow at least two weeks for any faculty member (your advisor or committee members) to read and critique proposals or thesis chapters. Thus, if you plan to graduate in May, you will need to begin giving drafts to your advisor in the Fall semester. This will allow you to submit the draft you both consider final to your committee by November 1 or March 1. You will then have time to make changes suggested by committee members, schedule your final oral examination, and make arrangements to have your thesis copied and bound by the November or April deadline set by the Graduate Studies Office. See also the section on theses in the Graduate Studies Bulletin.
Common Fears and Helpful Hints
After your thesis proposal has been approved by your committee, and your Form 2 and IRB Form have been signed, then you may begin the actual work on your thesis. The most common fears of graduate students regarding their theses are: a) What if I get bored with my topic? b) What if I never get it done? c) How will I ever organize all my information? and d) What if I don't have any significant results?
Following are some helpful hints that may alleviate your fears and help you feel less overwhelmed about your thesis project.
Non-significant results are still important. Even if you did not get statistically significant results from your research, you can still write a GREAT thesis. Non-significant results may tell just as much as significant results. Explore the possible reasons for the results, and you will still have plenty to write about.
One common problem students encounter in working on their theses is writing acceptable summary paragraphs in the literature review. Summary paragraphs must include your own personal evaluation of the topics discussed. You should share your thinking with the reader.
The most common mistake in writing summary paragraphs occurs when the author simply lists the topics he or she wrote about in the section or chapter. An example of an unacceptable summary paragraph is:
Here is an example of an acceptable summary paragraph:
Although the reviewed studies showed relationships between certain coping strategies and physical health, generalizations cannot be made. It would seem that the use of certain coping strategies would lead individuals to better physical health. However, few of the researchers cited above used consistent instrumentation to measure coping strategies. Of the studies listed, none used the most recent version of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). Even though the earlier versions of the Ways of Coping instrument are based on the same constructs as revised versions, the Coping Strategy subscales are different. Although Problem-Focused Coping, measured by the old Ways of Coping Checklist, is similar to Planful Problem Solving in the revised WCQ, they are not identical. Therefore, it is difficult to determine if the studies reviewed are actually showing similar results.
Another common problem many students encounter is creating a correct table of contents for their thesis. The dots that run from the text to the page numbers are not a line of periods strung together. If you just type in a line of periods, the dots will not line up with each other.
These rows of dots are created using tabs and leaders. In most word processing programs, you can choose to include leaders (usually dots or dashes) to fill in the spaces between tabs. Do this in the same step you use to set tabs.
You must learn how to set tabs in the program you are using, because programs vary widely. If you don't already know how to set your tabs, check the manual that came with your software, or ask for help from someone in the computer labs.
After you finish writing your first thesis draft, give it to your advisor, who will critique it and offer suggestions for improvement. You will continue to give drafts to your advisor until he or she decides it is ready to present to your committee. The committee then reviews the draft and also recommends changes. When all of the committee members have no more suggested changes, then you may schedule your final oral exam (by completing Form 3).
At the oral exam, committee members will ask questions about your thesis, and may suggest more changes. The committee members will sign a Form 4 when you have passed the oral examination of your thesis.
Each time you submit a draft to anyone (advisor, committee member, etc.), expect a two week wait before you get it back with suggested changes. It takes many hours to read and edit a thesis draft. Therefore, it is to your advantage to have drafts in the best condition possible before turning them in to your advisor or committee members. Make sure they are in correct APA style, and edited for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
In order to graduate in May, you must have all of your chapters fairly complete and edited, and to your advisor by the beginning of Spring Semester.
The schedule below assumes that you have all of your chapters fairly well completed prior to submission to your committee. It also assumes one week for you to revise the drafts and that you will have only two major revisions.
First draft to committee to read |
Feb. 18 |
Committee considers first draft, returns to you |
March 4 |
Second draft to committee to read |
March 18 |
Committee returns draft to you |
March 25 |
Final draft to committee to read |
April 1 |
Last date for Oral Exam |
April 15 |
Last day to submit thesis to Library |
May 1 |
You must have your final draft in very, very good shape and to the committee by April 1 if you with to graduate in May.
After your committee signs your Form 4, your advisor will approve your final copy and sign Form 4 (on a separate line from the committee approval). Other signatures needed on your Form 4 in order to graduate include a) verification of passing comprehensive exams, b) academic dean, and c) Library/Department Chairperson.
Then you must have your thesis printed on thesis quality paper, getting it ready for binding. Most local copying and printing businesses carry the 100% cotton paper used for theses (See the Graduate Bulletin for details.). You will need one bound copy for the library, one for the director, one for your advisor, one for you, and possibly one for each committee member. After the copies are printed, take them to the library for binding. The Library/Department Chairperson will then sign your Form 4.