Thesis Guidelines

Read all thesis guidelines:

Ÿ The student reads all of the thesis guideline information available:

o Manual of Basic Requirements for Theses and Dissertations provided by the Graduate School, available at www.ecu.edu/gradschool/.

o Information pertaining to the thesis in the Graduate Student Handbook, available at www.ecu.edu/psyc/grad/grhndbk.html.

o Thesis information provided online by Dr. Wuensch, including: Thesis Tips for Students in Psychology at ECU at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/thesis.htm; Department of Psychology Thesis Requirements at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/Thesis-Requirements.doc; Thesis End-Game at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/thend.htm; Surviving Your Thesis with Your Sanity Intact: Tips for ECU Psychology Students Using Microsoft Word at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/th-word.doc; Thesis Authorship at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/thauth.htm; and Thesis Errors at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/therr.htm.

o Dr. Brown’s Thesis Guidelines provided online by Dr. Brown, available at personal.ecu.edu/brownmi/THESIS.htm.

o Daryl Bem's online article Writing the Empirical Journal Article, available at psychology.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?once=true&site=http://comp9.psych.cornell.edu/dbem/writing_article.html.

Identify appropriate thesis chair:

· Near the end of the first year, the student identifies a potential chair for the thesis project based on their area of interest and that of the faculty member.

· The student arranges a conference with the faculty member in the department who has had extensive training the area of interest to discuss possible thesis topics (this faculty member is the most appropriate person to serve as the thesis chair).

· The student asks if that faculty member is willing to serve as the thesis chair.

Choose thesis committee members:

· The thesis committee should have two additional Psychology Department faculty members (one of these may be outside of psychology if appropriate).

· The two thesis committee members are chosen mutually by the student and the thesis chair.

· The two thesis committee members are chosen because of their competencies in the area of the thesis topic, research design or statistical expertise, or other relevant expertise. The thesis committee members provide resource and evaluative functions during the thesis project.

· The student arranges a meeting with each of the faculty members identified as potential thesis committee members to discuss the thesis topic and ask if they willing to serve as thesis committee members.

Obtain approval of thesis topic:

· The student finalizes a thesis topic and obtains approval by the thesis chair.

· The student obtains approval of the thesis topic by the other thesis committee members.

· Students typically enroll for thesis hours across two consecutive semesters (3 hours each).

· Graduate students are required to be enrolled during every semester (except summer sessions) from the time they start to work on their degree until the time they graduate.

· The course used to maintain continuous enrollment is PSYC 7000: Thesis, even if the student has already completed the required six hours.

· Thesis hours in excess of six do not count towards graduation, they just satisfy the continuous enrollment requirement.

Prepare thesis proposal:

· Once a thesis topic has been identified and approved by the thesis committee, the student works with the thesis chair and committee members as necessary to prepare a proposal.

Ÿ The proposal includes an Introduction, Literature Review, Proposed Method, and References. Dr. Brown’s Thesis Guidelines has a suggested thesis proposal content list, and is available at personal.ecu.edu/brownmi/THESIS.htm.

· It is a good idea for the student to go ahead and start adhering to the form required by the Graduate School (following specific criteria for type, spacing, margins, and pagination) for their thesis proposal. This will prevent having to redo these sections in this format later.

· Students in psychology must use the APA manual of style. Helpful information about APA style is available at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/APA.htm.

· Early drafts should be developed by the student in close consultation with the thesis chair. Early drafts are usually not shared with other committee members unless the student needs specific advice or help.

· Once a draft of the thesis proposal has been completed to the satisfaction of the thesis chair, it may be circulated among committee members by the student.

· Once the thesis proposal has been completed to the satisfaction of the entire thesis committee, the student submits copies of the final thesis proposal to each committee member.

Schedule thesis proposal defense:

· The student schedules their proposal defense with the thesis chair and committee members.

· The student places a copy of the proposal for public review in the graduate seminar room (Rawl 303) at least 7 calendar days prior to the proposed defense.

· The student posts a notice identifying the time and location for the proposal defense. This notice is usually done via email notification to all faculty and graduate students. The recommended method for sending this notice is via the ECUPSY-L listserv. Simply address the email to LISTSERV@ECUMAIL7.ECU.EDU.

Defend thesis proposal:

· The proposal defense is open to faculty and students within the psychology department.

· The student gives a formal presentation of approximately 20 minutes.

· The presentation includes a brief review of the research topic, its relevancy, and the proposed study. In short, the student presents what they want to do, how they plan to do it, and why it is important to do the study. The student should be aware of the limitations of the proposed study and be able to explain what the limitations are and how they can minimize them. The student should be prepared to explain why they chose the statistics they chose.

· Following the presentation, the thesis committee chair entertains questions of the student from the thesis committee and then from other individuals in attendance.

· The thesis committee then deliberates in private regarding the acceptance of the proposal.

· If approved, the student begins work on the thesis. The student does not begin data collection or analysis until the thesis proposal has been approved by the thesis committee.

· If not approved, the student must make the substantive changes requested of the thesis committee and go through the thesis proposal process again.

· When the thesis proposal is approved, the student completes the departmental form identifying the thesis committee members and thesis topic and submits the form for approval to the Psychology Department Chair and then the Dean of the Graduate School. The form is available at the following website: http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/Th-Topic.doc.

· The student provides copies of the signed form in the following manner: two copies of the signed form go to the Graduate School, one to the department, one to the student, and one to the thesis committee chair.

· The student meets with the thesis chair to discuss incorporation of any changes or advice from the proposal defense into the thesis.

· The student incorporates these changes into the written thesis as well as the research design in conducting the thesis project.

Obtain IRB approval:

· If the student is planning to use human or animal subjects in the thesis research, they are required to obtain IRB approval for the research prior to collecting data.

· The IRB will not grant approval of the research if it involves human subjects until the student has successfully completed an online educational program. This educational program can be found on the ECU IRB webpage at http://www.ecu.edu/irb/education.html. More information about the online educational program is available at http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/IRB-Educ.htm.

· The student prepares and submits an IRB application to the IRB office. All of the forms and instructions are available on the ECU IRB webpage http://www.ecu.edu/irb/FormsListCRC.htm#BehavioralForms.

· The student is required to include a copy of the IRB approval as an appendix in their final thesis manuscript. The Graduate School’s review will look for the documentation of the IRB’s review and approval of the thesis research as an appendix in the final thesis manuscript.

Conduct thesis project:

· Following the proposal, completing the thesis usually takes at least one semester.

· The student keeps the thesis chair informed of their progress.

· The student is to conduct the thesis project exactly as described in the approved thesis proposal.

Prepare thesis manuscript:

· Once the thesis project is completed, the student begins preparing the thesis manuscript.

· The student ensures that the thesis adheres to the form required by the Graduate School. They must follow specific criteria for paper, type, spacing, margins, and pagination; and must include the required parts: abstract, cover sheet, preliminaries (title page, signature page, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, list of symbols or abbreviations), text, references, appendices, cover sheet. Dr. Brown’s Thesis Guidelines has suggested content for a thesis manuscript, and is available at personal.ecu.edu/brownmi/THESIS.htm.

· The student is required to include a copy of the IRB approval as an appendix in their thesis. The Graduate School’s review will look for the documentation of the IRB’s review and approval of the thesis project.

· Students in psychology must use the APA manual of style. Helpful information about APA style is available at core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/APA.htm. Graduate School guidelines override APA style guidelines.

· The student prepares the thesis in final manuscript form. Final manuscript copy must be as readable as possible, so it should not be prepared in exactly the same manner as would be a copy manuscript. For example, Tables may be more readable if they are single spaced rather than double spaced, and they may be inserted in the text.

· Early drafts are developed by the student in close consultation with the thesis chair. Early drafts are usually not shared with other committee members unless the student needs specific advice or help.

· Once a draft manuscript has been completed to the satisfaction of the thesis chair, it may be circulated among committee members by the student prior to its submission to defense.

· Once the thesis draft has been completed to the satisfaction of the entire thesis committee, the student submits copies of the final thesis manuscript to each committee member.

Schedule thesis defense:

· The student schedules the thesis defense with all thesis committee members.

· The student schedules the defense at least two weeks prior to the deadline for delivering the thesis to the Graduate School.

· The student provides each committee member with the thesis draft at least 7 calendar days prior to the thesis defense and oral examination.

· The draft should be on economy paper as it is nearly certain that corrections will be needed.

· The student places a copy of the thesis draft in the graduate seminar room for public review (Rawl 303).

· The thesis defense and oral examination may not be scheduled until the final draft has been distributed and must be at least 7 calendar days after its submission.

· The student posts a notice identifying the time and location for the thesis defense. This notice is usually done via email notification to all faculty and graduate students. The recommended method for sending this notice is via the ECUPSY-L listserv. Simply address your email to LISTSERV@ECUMAIL7.ECU.EDU.

· The student defends their thesis during the final oral examination period. Check the Graduate School Bulletin for exact times.

Defend thesis:

· The thesis defense and oral examination is open to students and faculty.

· The student is expected to make a formal presentation of approximately 30 minutes.

· The student brings to the defense a signature page on 100% rag. Sample signature pages can be found in the appendix of the Manual of Basic Requirements for Theses and Dissertations or at http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/SigPage.doc.

· The presentation focuses on the research problem, hypothesis, methodology, analysis and interpretation of the data, and implications of the findings. The student should be prepared to answer questions about all parts of the thesis, and defend their conclusions. The student should be able to explain what they did and why it is significant.

· Following the presentation, the thesis chair entertains questions of the student from the thesis committee members and then from other individuals in attendance.

· The thesis committee then deliberates in private regarding the approval of the student’s thesis.

· Each member of the thesis committee evaluates the defense using the form available at http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/Thesis-Scoring.doc. These forms are then delivered to Dr. Bolen, who compiles the data for use in satisfying those who accredit ECU.

· If approved, the student makes any requested changes and submits the final thesis for appropriate signatures.

· If approved, the thesis chair will fill out the form which indicates that the student has passed the defense. The form is available at http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/Th-Orals.doc.

· If the student brings a signature page on 100% rag, all the committee members (except the chair) may sign it at this time.

· If not approved, the student must make the substantive changes requested of the thesis committee and go through the final thesis manuscript process again.

Make requested changes to thesis:

· The student makes the required corrections to the thesis.

· The student obtains the proper signatures for the thesis (chair of the thesis committee, chair of department).

· The Department Chair should be given sufficient time to read the thesis before signing it. Allot at least a week.

· The student ensures the thesis adheres to the form required by the Graduate School. The thesis must follow specific criteria for paper, type, spacing, margins, and pagination; and must include therequired parts: abstract, cover sheet, preliminaries (title page, signature page, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, list of symbols or abbreviations), text, references, appendices, cover sheet.

· The student uses the manual of style prescribed by the Psychology Department (APA style). Helpful information about APA style is available at http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/APA.htm. Graduate School guidelines override APA style guidelines.

Submit thesis to the Graduate School:

· The student delivers the properly signed original thesis (still on economy paper, except for the signature page on rag) to the dean of the Graduate School no later than 10 days prior to the last day of classes during the semester in which they plan to graduate.

· The thesis must remain in the Graduate School at least 5 working days.

· The Graduate School will contact the student when the review has been completed. If they have not gotten back to the student within 5 working days, the student should call the Graduate School and ask to speak with Dr. Paul Tschetter. He can tell the student the status of their thesis.

· The student may need to meet with staff of the Graduate School to review any changes they suggest. The student should inform the thesis chair of the changes that were requested.

· If the Graduate School requires corrections, the student should make those corrections and resubmit the thesis to the Graduate School. One of the deans will meet with the student and verify that the corrections have been made.

· The Graduate School will want an extra copy of the thesis abstract, so the student should take one along.

· When the Graduate School has decided that the thesis is in the appropriate form, the student will receive a “Dissertation/Thesis Acknowledgment” form signed by one of the deans.

Copy and deliver thesis:

· Five copies on 100% rag (including of the original) of the thesis must be prepared and submitted to Joyner Library by the student after approval by the Graduate School. One copy for the department, one for the library, one for the Graduate School, one for the thesis chair, and one for the student. There is no charge for the three copies that go to the library, Graduate School, and department. The other copies cost $10 each.

· The student should ask other committee members if they would like an unbound copy. If so, the student should make those copies and deliver them to the thesis committee members.

· The student delivers the required number of copies of the thesis to Joyner Library for binding. They should be delivered in boxes (bond paper box size) or brown envelopes and identified as “Original Copy,” “Copy #1,” “Copy #2,” etc.

· The student pays for the binding there.

· The student gets to choose the color of the binding and the printing on the binding for the copies that go to them and their thesis chair.

· The student delivers to Joyner Library the “Thesis/dissertation certification form” signed by the dean of the Graduate School. The library representative signs the acknowledgment form.

· The student distributes signed, completed copies of the “Thesis/dissertation certification form” as directed on the form (to the Registrar’s Office, to the Graduate School, the department, and the thesis chair).

· The student should make an extra copy of the form and give it to their program director so that they will know the student has finished.