Sociology Honors Introduction The honors program provides an opportunity for the motivated student to conduct original, rigorous analytic work. It requires her to engage in an analytic exercise to show how theory, conceptual frameworks, and evidence can be integrated to support a creative, well-supported scholarly argument. The most important components of an honors program are the quality of the research, the originality of the author's thinking, the author's ability to link her work to theoretical issues of importance in the field, and the quality of the writing. The completed thesis in Sociology or Anthropology is generally 75-100 pages long. Submission of the thesis is followed by a one-hour oral examination by a faculty committee. The oral examination is designed to test the student's command of the subject and to see its significance as part of the field. In accordance with college policy, work conducted under the honors program remains independent work until it is accepted by the student's advisor, examining committee, and members of the discipline in the department as honors work. Honors work that does not receive approval for "honor" is designated on the student's transcript as independent study, after either the first or second semester as the advisor deems appropriate.
GUIDELINES ON THIS PAGE SUPPLEMENT BUT DO NOT SUPERSEDE COLLEGE CRITERIA. Therefore, students should also consult college eligibility criteria and Guidelines for the honors program and honors thesis. a. The completion of a theory course (Sociology 223 or Anthropology 235) and a methods course (Sociology 225 or Anthropology 275 or an equivalent) by the end of the junior year is a pre-requisite for participation in the honor's program for all students. b. Defining a topic is one of the most important steps of the honors program. A student hoping to register for the honors program should discuss her ideas with faculty members. She must submit a 1-2 page (300 word) proposal to the Chair of the department in the spring semester of her junior year (by the Monday of the last full week of classes; this year, April 30, 2007). Students who are off campus must submit the proposal by mail, fax, or e-mail. The junior year proposal must include: [1] a tentative/working title; [2] a description of the research problem or research program; [3] a proposed methodology or research design, for example, guided reading, participant-observation, survey analysis, ethnographic interviews, a library research project (Note: students planning to collect data should include a timeline for the fall semester. All data collection should be completed by the end of the fall semester); [4] a copy of completed IRB form, if necessary, with advisor's signature (note that the student is responsible for getting her completed IRB form to the Office of Sponsored Research); [5] a completed background information form (listing name, class, advisor, major and minor fields, courses taken in the major, relevant research experience); [6] name of preferred advisor; [7] a transcript. c. At the end of Spring semester, the department will review all proposals and decide whether to accept the student's proposal. If accepted, the department will assign an advisor to work with the student. At this point, the student will enroll for independent study for the Fall semester —the honors program requires a minimum of 8 credits distributed between two semesters. Usually, the student registers for two semesters (usually fall and spring of the senior year) of 4-credit 395 (independent study).
This timetable gives dates for completion of specific stages of the project. We recommend strongly that the student attach specific dates to each item listed below. I. Junior year, spring semester i. Submit a 300-word proposal for participation in the honors program by the Monday of the last full week of classes; this year, April 30, 1997. ii. Register for 4 credits of 395 (independent study) in anthropology or sociology for the fall semester of the senior year. II. Senior year, fall semester i. During the first week of classes, the student should meet with her advisor to discuss expectations for the fall semester and to set a meeting schedule. Meeting bi-weekly is common but sometimes meetings are more regular. Exact details are left to the students and faculty members involved. We would emphasize, however, that regular, ongoing communication with the advisor is vital to a successful honors program. ii. In consultation with her advisor, the student should register for 4 credits of 395 (independent study) in anthropology or sociology for the spring semester of their senior year. iii. The student should submit a formal thesis proposal to her advisor by the Monday of the last full week of classes; this year, December 4, 2006. iv. In consultation with the other members of the department, and before the end of fall semester exam period, advisors will inform students if their proposals are approved for continuation during the spring semester. III. Senior year, spring semester i. The student should meet with her advisor during the first week of classes to discuss expectations for spring semester and to set a meeting schedule. ii. Constituting a thesis committee. No later than 3 weeks after the beginning of Spring semester classes, the student should recommend appropriate committee members to her advisor. If approved by her advisor, the student asks prospective members of her committee if they will serve. It is important (and courteous) for the student to keep the committee members apprised of her progress throughout spring semester. The thesis examining committee is comprised of at least three faculty members: two or more members from the department, including the advisor (who normally acts as Chair of the examining committee), another department member, and an outside evaluator. The outside evaluator may be from another department or program on campus, or from another Five College campus. Additional committee members can be added at the discretion of the student and advisor. iii. The COMPLETE first draft of the thesis must be submitted to the advisor on the Monday following spring break. (A complete draft means everything -- no holes! -- including references.) iv. The advisor will return the draft with comments no later than 10 days after receiving it. v. The revised second draft is due 10 days after the advisor returns the first draft. The second draft should be distributed to the examining committee. vi. Committee members -- at their discretion -- offer comments on the second draft. At that point, the advisor lets the student knows whether the thesis is of sufficient caliber to go before an oral examining committee, or whether it will remain independent work. vii. The oral honors examination is one hour long. It must be taken early enough for the grade to reach the Registrar by senior grade deadline, spring semester. At any point through the oral examination, committee members may suggest or ask the student to make corrections or rewrite certain portions of the thesis before turning it in to the Library. After the examination is over, the advisor may tell the student whether she has passed but not what level of distinction the committee will recommend. Levels of distinction and eligibility criteria for each level are listed in the College Guidelines for the Honors Program and Honors Thesis. A thesis which does not result in a recommendation for a degree with distinction will be recorded on the student's transcript as independent study.
During the fall semester, the student collects data (where appropriate), conducts a review of the relevant scholarly literature, and prepares a formal thesis proposal for submission to the department. Thesis proposals are generally 10-12 pages (2500-3000 words) long not including the bibliography, tables, figures, or other technical appendices. Copies of previous thesis proposals are available for consultation upon request in the department office. The thesis proposal is due on the Monday of the last week of classes of the Fall semester of the senior year. Thesis proposals should include the following elements. [1] A title page including a tentative/working
title, and the student's name, class, advisor, major and minor fields,
courses taken in the major, and relevant research experience.
1. The spring semester is generally spent writing the thesis. The student should establish a regular relationship with a writing assistant at the College writing center early in the spring semester, to help with composition, editing, and formatting. The student should also consult with LITS to see whether they will support her computer program. 2. The finished thesis should include the following elements. [a] A title page, 3. The body of the thesis should cover following points (not necessarily in this order) a. A statement of the problem. This section includes a review of all important and relevant background literature, including both theoretical and empirical reports published in the field pertinent to the study. b. A methodology and data section. This section describes the research procedures, study design, nature of the sample, data collection techniques, and method of analysis. c. The results section presents the most important findings in enough detail to evaluate their validity and significance. d. An analysis or interpretation of findings. This section discusses the implications, limitations, and significance of the project.
The thesis must be referenced completely, accurately, and according to departmental and disciplinary requirements. Also see the sociology reference materials or anthropology reference materials.
The final version of the honors thesis should be produced on a word processor on a good letter-quality printer, on 20 to 24 pound white bond paper of good rag or cotton fiber content (at least 25% to 50%), 8½ x 11". Printing should be on one side of the page only, and the text should he double-spaced throughout except that footnotes, bibliography, and quotation of five or more lines should be single-spaced. For type, the library recommends Times Roman, Palatino, or Courier, 12 Point; check with your adviser for specific requirements within your particular discipline. The left margin should be two inches wide to allow for binding, the right not less than one inch, and about 1¼ inches should be left at the top and bottom of the page. All illustrations, tables, maps, etc. should come within the limits of the page margins; folding is permissible, but the folded pages should ne narrower than the thesis page so that it will not be caught in the binding. Five spaces indentation is recommended for paragraphs in the double-spaced matter in the text and appendices; for footnotes and bibliography, three spaces indentation is suggested. Page numbers and Arabic figures should appear in the upper right hand corner of the page in line with the text margin. Pages should be numbered sequentially. Pages with charts, diagrams, illustrations or photographs may be assigned lower case letters after the number of pages they follow, e.g., 14a, but the thesis should be internally consistent in its treatment of such pages. Each chapter or division should begin on a new page, the heading and title dropped about two inches from the top of the page, centered and written in full capitals. Number of copies. A student should submit three copies of her thesis to her major department/examining committee who will, in recommendations for summa cum laude, submit all three copies to the Academic Administrative Board for review. These copies will later be returned to the department. In addition, a copy should be submitted to Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS) electronically. See http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/7745.shtml for complete instructions on format specifications and help. Parts of the thesis. Theses presented for honors should include a permission sheet placed within the binding which reads as follow: " I give permission for public access to my thesis and for any copying to be done at the discretion of the archives librarian and/or the College librarian." The permission sheet must be signed and dated by the student at the bottom. Parts of the thesis should be arranged in the following order: permission sheet; title page; acknowledgment; table of contents or outline; tables of charts, figures, or diagrams, if any; preface and/or introduction; main text by chapters or parts; summary or conclusion; appendices, if any; bibliography or literature cited.
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