When you’re in your senior year and middle of research after finalizing your topic, you need to work on your thesis. Therefore, you need guidance on how to write a senior thesis?
While writing a research thesis, you just can’t put all your ideas on the paper. It will not engage the reader. Therefore, one needs to format their research into a systematic and cohesive linear argument. The process is challenging and often leads to stress, anxiety, and knowledge paralysis among the researchers.
In this article, you will find hard-earned tips about how to write a senior thesis? Information about how to find a supervisor, choose a topic, and structure your research paper. However, if you need more information more knowledge about writing a senior thesis, then you can visit Senior Thesis Writing for Major Successes ThesisGeek.com
Table of Contents
How to Write a Senior Thesis?
When someone is writing an honors thesis, they need to keep in mind that its length depends on your department. Hence, it can vary from 40 to 60 pages. The process requires a whole year of undergrad and guidance from superiors to write such a long research paper. Some departments require the researcher to have original content through interviews or survey data.
Whereas, some departments don’t have such restrictions and they allow you to use both qualitative and quantitative research methodology. You can even find gaps and conduct a synthesis of existing research on the topic to apply it to the new aspects of your idea.
At the end, you will be required to defend your idea, findings, and conclusion to a panel of professors. Moreover, keep a hard copy of the thesis and submit it to your department as well. Meanwhile, you can take reduced courses or seminars to get enough credits or GPA.
How to Choose a Topic for Research Thesis?
While embarking on your thesis journey, it’s best to choose a topic that you find interesting. Having a personal interest in the topic will keep you motivated and maintain the momentum of the progress. It’s better to focus on your thesis in the final year, rather than hanging out with friends.
Before approaching a supervisor, you need to select a topic and research about it. Then, you need to research professors in your department and narrow down the ones that might show interest in your title (have specialization in similar subjects). They will guide you in transforming your research to the point.
Finding a Supervisor
While you’re trying to come up with your research interests or topic, you can check your department faculty website and search for the research published by your professors. It will synthesize ideas in your mind about the potential topics and ways of researching. You can also take guidance from seniors or Google.
Approach the professors as well as undergrad research advisors in your department to get to know the interests of instructors better. After having narrowed down the processors you want to approach, you can send them an email. You can find their email address on your university website, make sure the email is professional. The email must highlight all the aspects of your interests and eagerness to work with them.
If the professor emails you back in an optimistic tone, ask them to schedule a short meeting with you. So, both of you can discuss the research topic, identify theories, and research methodology, and also get to know each other. After meeting, you will be able to discern whether you both are a good match or not.
If the professor thinks the topic might be of another person’s interest in the faculty, they will recommend you to them. This is because they’re paid to mentor the undergrad students.
Negotiate Your Grading Scheme
Various departments allow the supervisors to decide how they want to grade your project work. Hence, after selecting a supervisor, make sure to ask whether the grading scheme will entirely depend on your thesis or not.
Apart from that, the research work, regular meetings, findings, and all your work will pay off as grades at the finals. In a nutshell, writing a senior thesis isn’t a hard task if you take it strategically and step by step.
Seeking Ethics Approval
If your research is original and has an association with human subjects, you will require approval from your university research ethics board (REBs). You need to write your application one term before you begin your research (ideally) to the four REBs.
They will inquire about research methods, potential risks, and benefits of your thesis. Your superior will sign off the application (which varies from different categories of research ethics). Make sure to get the approval as you can’t start your research without their approval if you’re dealing with human subjects.
How to Write a Literature Review?
A literature review is a background session that contains a brief history of the topic, gaps, and a critical summary. You need to discuss your topic in the literature review section. You can introduce the main theories, critics, theorists, starting point for your research, gaps, and inspirations.
Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography is another way to start your thesis. You list and describe the articles you have read on the topic in a systematic order. This helps you keep track of background information, so you can use it in the thesis with ease.
Research Methodology
Every department t uses different kinds of research methodologies. Some include books and journal articles. Popular media sites, community discussions, podcasts, films, and other such sources. Your research will transform according to the department and supervisor’s guidelines.
How to Create a Thesis Outline?
While writing a thesis, you need to figure out the basic tips of writing a senior thesis available on the web. While writing an extensive thesis, will have several chapters, a tract, an introduction background information, a literature review, methodology, theories, evidence or surveys, a conclusion, a bibliography, and references.
Therefore, one needs to create an outline in a seamless and digestible manner. Your thesis outline will look as:
- INTRODUCTION (2 pp.)
- Broad statements
- Research questions
- BACKGROUND (8–10 pp.)
- History of the topic
- Contemporary context
- CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK (2 pp.)
- Methodology
- Basic principles and assumptions
- LITERATURE REVIEW (10–15 pp.)
- Past studies
- Research gaps
- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION (~20 pp.)
- CONCLUSION (~2 pp.)
- REFERENCES
Drafting and Revisions
At the end of your thesis, you just need to draft, revise, and format the whole document in the style provided by your department. Don’t pressurize yourself to write the whole thesis in a single week or month, rather write two pages daily. Moreover, communicate the progress of your thesis with the supervisor and follow the instructions.
Presenting Your Thesis
Usually, universities require you to present your thesis and give a viva on it as well. During the viva, the professor’s panel asks various questions related to your research. Meanwhile, in the presentation, you present your idea.
You can do this in literary seminars or conferences as well. At campus research events such as FURCA (Festival of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities), you will have to defend your thesis through a poster presentation.
If you’re confident enough to present it at a conference, the Students Union and Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) assist in signing up for national and international conferences. At the end, you can submit your thesis to your university’s peer-reviewed journals.
Conclusion
In the article, the tips about researching your idea, emailing a supervisor, researching your subject, getting ethical approval from the university, writing the thesis and its literature review, formulating the thesis outline, and presenting the idea are extensively explained. Write your best tips on how to write a senior thesis in the comments.
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