Penn State Schreyer Honors College

The SHC Thesis Web Guide

Completing an honors thesis can seem daunting at first. An honors thesis requires a reflective, multi-stage process of consultation with faculty and other experts, active research and/or other creative activities, reflective evaluation, and extensive writing. This Web site is intended to walk you through the general aspects of those stages. Anyone doing a thesis may find the strategies described helpful. Keep in mind that there will be significant variations among the details for thesis work in various disciplines, so please also consult discipline-specific resources, including departmental Web sites and your honors adviser, for details.

Introduction

What is an honors thesis?

That depends quite a bit on your field of study. However, all honors theses have at least two things in common:

  1. They are based on a student’s original research or creative accomplishment.
  2. They take the form of a written manuscript, which presents the methodologies used to complete the project and the outcomes of that research or creative endeavor.

A thesis averages about 40 pages in length and generally consist of two or more chapters. Theses generally range from 20-120 pages—though some have been even longer or shorter than this. In the humanities, the manuscript tends to be at the upper end of this length range. In the social sciences, the manuscript may be shorter, depending on whether the project involves more quantitative than qualitative research. In the natural sciences, the manuscript may be shorter still, sometimes taking the form of an extensive, formal laboratory report.  Ask your honors adviser or visit the Penn State Libraries to view prior theses in your discipline to get a sense of length and format.

Selecting the right honors thesis project

Satisfy your intellectual curiosity
This ought to be the most compelling reason to select a project for your thesis. Whether it's the poetry of Langston Hughes, the study of thermal residual stresses in materials, the elephants of Africa, or the challenges of urban poverty, you've studied topics in college that really piqued your interest. Now is your chance to follow your passions, explore further, and contribute some original ideas and research in your field.

Develop transferable skills
Whether you choose to stay in your field of study or not, the process of developing and crafting a feasible research project will hone skills that will serve you well in almost any future job. After all, most jobs require some form of problem solving and oral and written communication. A good thesis project requires that you:

Work closely with faculty mentors
At large research universities like Penn State, you have likely taken classes where you barely got to know your instructor. A thesis project offers the opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty members – your thesis supervisor and others. Such mentors can enrich your intellectual development and later serve as invaluable references for graduate school and employment.

Open windows into future professions
A good honors thesis project will give you a taste of what it's like to do research in your field. For example, even if you are a biology major, you may not really know what it's like to be a biologist. Writing a biology thesis would open a window into that world. It also might help you decide whether to pursue that field in graduate school or in your future career.

How do you plan an honors thesis?

Choose a Topic

In the world of undergraduate thesis work, topics can be more broadly defined than you might find in some areas of graduate studies.  Topics may range from informational to aesthetic, from factual to inspirational, depending on the discipline you are working in.  Ideally, you should start thinking about topics in your junior year, or even earlier, so you can have a good plan in place before your senior year starts. At the end of your junior year, the Schreyer Honor College requires that you submit a short form called a “Thesis Proposal Report,” describing your honors thesis project, identifying your area of honors, and identifying the faculty who will work with you during the completion of the work.

How should you choose a topic?

What makes a good topic?

Goal-Setting and Time Management

The senior year is an exceptionally busy time for college students. In addition to the usual load of courses and jobs, senior are also applying for jobs and/or graduate schools, preparing for graduation, spending their last few days in college with important friends. These demands are time consuming and often fill up evening and weekend time that a student used to have free!  If that scenario sounds daunting, don't panic! Do start strategizing about how to make time for your thesis. You may need to take a lighter course load or eliminate some extracurricular activities. Even if the thesis is the only thing on your plate, you still need to make a systematic schedule for yourself. To earn credit for your thesis work you will take a thesis independent study course. In it, you and your thesis team should make a plan to guide you through the honors thesis project.  If deadlines are not set for you by the faculty, then set them for yourself. Whether they’re imposed goals or your own goals, get and stay serious about meeting those deadlines.

Here are a few suggestions for goal setting and time management:

Start Early

Keep in mind that many departments will require that you get your thesis to your thesis readers about halfway through your final semester—for Spring graduation that is sometime late March, so don't count on having your entire last semester to finish your work. Ideally, you'll start the research project early enough so that the writing process can begin early in the fall.  For some people that will mean starting the research in the sophomore year, for most others it still means getting started on the project while you are still a junior.

Set Clear Goals

Some goal-setting will be done for you if you are taking a required class that guides you through the honors project. If that is not done for you, do it for yourself.  Any substantive research project requires a clear timetable.

In making a timetable:

Here is a sample timetable. Use it, however, with two caveats in mind:


Early exploratory research and brainstorming; talk with faculty

Sophomore and Junior Years

Prepare basic statement of topic, goals, expected outcomes; get approval by supervisor and adviser

End of Junior Year
(file Thesis Proposal Report)

Complete the majority of primary and secondary research, analysis, and/or other project work

Summer / Early Fall

Introduction Draft

September

Chapter One Draft

October

Chapter Two Draft

November

Chapter Three Draft

December

Conclusion Draft

January

Revising

February-March

Formatting and Final Touches

Late March

Presentation and Defense

Early April

Sample Timetable

Avoid falling into the trap of procrastination

Once you've set goals for yourself, stick to them!  Don’t let indecision or distractions permit you to delay in your progress.  It is easy to consider the thesis work “extra-curricular” and in a sense, optional; however, it is important to realize that a well-crafted thesis needs time and attention.  Consistent progress towards intermediate goals is critical to being able to finish on time with quality work.

Keep up consistent production

It's a good idea to try to squeeze in a bit of thesis work every day—even if it's just fifteen minutes of journaling or brainstorming about your topic. Or maybe you'll spend that fifteen minutes taking notes on a book. The important thing is to accomplish a bit of active production (i.e., putting words on paper) for your thesis every day. That way, the creative juices keep flowing.

Make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself

Some of you will be taking a required thesis seminar, so you will have deadlines. Yet you might want to form a writing group or enlist a peer reader, some person or people who can help you stick to your goals. Moreover, if your supervisor takes a "hands-off" approach to your project, don't be afraid to ask him or her to set up periodic meetings at which you'll turn in installments of your work.

Writing

A thesis has one author but at least three people who will contribute to the completion of the final document.  It is critical to involve the faculty because they will be the ones who approve it as an honors thesis.  That’s why this part of the thesis writing is called the drafting process.  The faculty members will require you to provide various drafts along the way, as they evaluate your writing and you all come to an understanding of what the written work should look like.

Drafting requires synthesis, one of the more difficult forms of thinking and interpretation. If you've taken thoughtful notes during the production phase of your project, then the drafting should be far less painful. There is no single right way to accomplish the drafting process, but discussions with the faculty you are working with are crucial. 

Keep in mind that many things may change after you start writing. A senior thesis is big and potentially unwieldy. If you leave the writing too little time, you may end up with a tangle of ideas.

Divide your thesis into manageable chunks

Sometimes the job looks too big, so smaller chunks can help you untangle your ideas.

Just start! Even if it's not at the beginning

Sometimes, its hard writing those first few pages. Sometimes the introduction is the toughest place to start. You should have a rough idea of your overall argument before you begin writing one of the main chapters, but you might find it easier to start writing in the middle of a chapter of somewhere other than word one. Grab hold where you evidence is strongest and your ideas are clearest.

Keep up the momentum!

Assuming the first draft won't be your last draft, try to get your thoughts on paper without spending too much time fussing over minor stylistic concerns. At the drafting stage, it's all about getting those ideas on paper. Once that task is done, you can turn your attention to revising.

Revising

The drafting stage focuses on creating, while revising requires criticizing. If you leave revising to the last minute, then you've left out a crucial stage of the writing process.
Some specific advice for revising an honors thesis:

Juggling feedback from multiple readers

A senior thesis may mark the first time that you have had to juggle feedback from a wide range of readers, including:

Sometimes faculty may give you more advice than you can digest. If so, don't be afraid to approach them—in a polite and cooperative spirit, of course—and ask for some help in prioritizing that advice.

Keep your goals in mind

Sometimes criticism can be hard to take.  Stand up for your own ideas, but choose your battles.  Keep in mind your completion goals and the ramifications of controversial changes. Again, don't be afraid to approach the faculty when you disagree with something they have asked you to change.  An open dialogue will help you see what must be changed (for approval) and what ought to be changed (but won’t prevent approval).

Save time for the small stuff

Even though the description of your project is most important, leave plenty of time to polish your prose. At this point, you've spent a very long time on your thesis. Don't let minor blemishes (misspellings and incorrect grammar) distract your readers!

Formatting and Final Touches

An honors thesis should replicate the appearance of professional writing in your discipline. So, you need to include the "trappings" of a formal piece of academic work. For specific questions on formatting matters, check with your thesis supervisor to see if there is a style guide that you should use.

Keeping in mind the caveat that you should always check with your thesis supervisor first about its stylistic guidelines, here's a brief overview of the final "finishing touches" that you'll need to put on your honors thesis.

Title and Signatory Page (required)

The Schreyer Honors College dictates the content, form, and format of the title and signatory pages.  Samples are available here:

Thesis title page check sessions are provided several times during the semester for the Schreyer Honors College staff to assure that your title page is correct.

Abstract (required)

This is a one-paragraph summary of the content of your thesis that identifies concisely the content of the thesis and important results.  Some students like to think of it as an advertisement.  When someone finishes reading it, they should want to read the rest of your work.  Keep it short and include the most interesting points.

Acknowledgments (optional)

This is not a required component of an honors thesis. However, if you want to thank particular faculty, librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here's the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgments page if you received a grant from the university or an outside agency that supported your research. It's a good idea to acknowledge folks who helped you with a major project, but do not feel the need to go overboard with copious and flowery expressions of gratitude. Don’t thank anyone or anything that won’t understand (dogs, cats, plants, etc.) You can—and should—always write additional thank-you notes to people who gave you assistance.

Table of Contents (recommended)

You'll need to do this page at the end of your manuscript production, because it needs to reflect your final pagination. Once you've made all changes to the body of the thesis, then prepare your table of contents with the titles of each section aligned on the left and the page numbers on which those sections begin flush right.

Lists of Tables, Illustrations, Abbreviations, and Symbols (if applicable)

Formatted much like the table of contents.

Page Numbering

Each page of your thesis needs a number, although not all page numbers are displayed. All pages that precede the first page of the main text (i.e., your introduction or chapter one) are numbered with small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.). All pages thereafter use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.). Never show the page number on the title page, even if it is counted.

Text Requirements

Citations/Footnotes and Works Cited/Reference Pages

These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on whether your discipline uses MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago (also known in its shortened version as Turabian) style. Whichever style you're using, stick to the rules and be consistent. It might be helpful to buy an appropriate style guide. Or consult your thesis supervisor or the Penn State Libraries for more information.

Well before you submit your thesis, please use this checklist to ensure you have met your thesis requirements.

Do I defend my honors thesis?

Most Schreyer Scholars do not have to defend their thesis.  Some do, though, so find out if your department requires it. Some Schreyer Scholars are required to exhibit in the Undergraduate Research Exhibition or at a scholarly meeting.  Some Scholars are required to have a professional exhibition of their thesis work.  It is important to the design of your time like to know the expectations on your thesis. Find out early what your department requires.

Deadlines

The signed, approved thesis must be submitted to the Schreyer Honors College’s main office by the published deadline each semester.  Deadlines for upcoming semesters can be found here: shc.psu.edu/students/dates.cfm.

Getting Answers to Questions

Additional information about theses can be found in the SHC Student Handbook.  Schreyer Scholars may also seek advice from SHC Associate Dean Dr. Judy Ozment.