General Overview

Should You Do a Thesis?

As you make a decision about whether to undertake a thesis, consider the following questions that describe a thesis and its benefits.

A. What Is an Honors Thesis?

The thesis program, which is administered by the Honors Committee but involves faculty from departments across campus, provides you with the opportunity to engage in a lengthy directed project that involves creativity, critical thinking, research, and writing. You are free to tackle an interdisciplinary subject or one that falls within a specialized area of interest. Much more than a glorified term paper, an Honors thesis involves identifying an area of interest, researching it as fully as possible within two semesters and wrestling with the implications of your investigation on paper and orally before an audience of faculty and students.

Your thesis may take one of several different forms:

1. Primary Research. Some students attempt to create new knowledge by conducting research either of an experimental nature, such as in a laboratory or through surveys, or with documents and texts. For example, a student might design and run a psychology experiment that has never been done before, analyze results, and then write a substantial paper in which he/she lays out the question, reviews the literature, describes the experiment, and presents and discusses results. Others might draw upon primary source materials such as papers in Chester Fritz Library's Special Collections or literary texts to develop an original interpretation or theory. The key here is that you are working in an area that is untapped by previous research, even though you build on work by other researchers or scholars.

2. Secondary Research. A second type of thesis emphasizes synthesis and analysis. Using mainly secondary sources such as works by other scholars or critics, a student might trace the development of an idea or examine a variety of perspectives on an issue in order to offer his/her own interpretation or critique previous theories.

3. Problem-Based Research. In a third type of thesis, the researcher analyzes a clearly defined problem and proposes solutions. For example, such a project might involve studying options for noise abatement at an airport or designing a new piece of equipment. Students in computer science might develop a software program. With this type of thesis, you would also write an introductory essay that explains the project and puts it into a context.

4. Creative Work. Lastly, students might work on a creative thesis (although all theses involve creativity and critical thinking, this category is more closely related to the arts). Examples might include writing short stories, poems or a play; directing, acting in, or designing a theatrical production; putting together an art show of drawings, paintings, jewelry, or photographs; or creating a video or multimedia presentation. Such thesis projects must be accompanied by an essay that defines the project, discusses influences, assumptions, and key issues in creating the work, applies a theoretical framework, and describes the context in which the work was created.

Whichever type of thesis you choose, all involve a significant commitment of time and effort. For that reason, the Honors Program requires that you divide the work over a minimum of two semesters. Additionally, you should begin thinking and reading about your thesis topic the semester before you start the project officially.

B. Who Is Eligible to Do a Thesis?

All students who have been accepted as full members in the Honors Program are eligible and, in fact, required to complete a thesis in order to graduate as "Scholars in the Honors Program." Students who have not been involved in Honors may also apply to do a senior thesis in their junior year through the Senior Honors (also called Departmental Honors) program. To be eligible for Senior Honors work, students must have achieved a GPA of 3.2, completed 75 credit hours, and have their applications approved by their major department and college dean. These students graduate with Senior Honors upon successful completion of the thesis.

C. Why Should I Do a Thesis?

Most alumni who have completed a thesis look back on this piece of work as the most significant learning experience of their undergraduate career. This opportunity offers you the chance to target a project of genuine interest and devote a considerable amount of time to reading, thinking, and writing about that subject. The thesis program is intended to provide able students with a challenge; the satisfactions inherent in meeting a real challenge are the main draw of the thesis program for many students.

But there are other advantages as well. When you write a thesis, you have the opportunity to work closely with the faculty on your committee, each committed to helping you succeed in your project. In effect, you have the benefit of a 2:1 faculty/student ratio (or 3:1 if you choose to have a three-person thesis committee; more on that later) in an individualized class designed around your interests and needs. In addition, a thesis might, depending on the nature of the project, provide you with opportunities not normally available to students, such as the chance to participate in an on-going research project or use resources and equipment (computers, laboratory apparatus, or documents) not otherwise accessible to undergraduates. Lastly, through the thesis program, you can demonstrate your mastery of concepts, writing skills, research methods, and critical thinking to prospective employers, graduate schools, and, most importantly, yourself. Sometimes, theses lead to publications. In any case, this independent project represents a very substantial accomplishment and is recognized as such within the UND community and beyond.

D. How Do I Begin?

First inventory your interests to identify broad subject areas that might be worth investigating further. Remember that a thesis counts as the equivalent of three 3-credit courses. Make sure you select a topic that will sustain your interest over the long haul.

Given the range of work that might constitute a thesis project, consider these questions as you narrow down your list of possibilities:

1. What kind of thesis do you want to write? Do you want experience in a lab or art studio? A chance to work with primary historical documents? Do you want to design a survey? Should you write a computer program, collection of poems, or a novel? Would you rather immerse yourself in the literature of a particular subject and develop your own analysis? Do you want to study a particular social or institutional problem in order to develop a new solution?

2. Do you want to write a thesis that relates to your professional interests or would you prefer to use this opportunity as a last undergraduate effort to expand your horizons? Is your goal a portfolio to show off to prospective employers, a publishable essay to enhance your application to graduate school, a paper that answers some tantalizing intellectual question that you long have wanted to study, or a foray into some new area that you’ve always wanted to explore but couldn’t before now? All are legitimate goals for this project.

Here are some examples from the past: a geology major planning on law school who put together an exhibit of photographs; a journalism student who always wanted to know more about the World Bank; a history major who was intrigued by the question of how the Republican Party achieved success over the last thirty years; an English major whose drive to write poems was pressing; another English major whose interests in theology, history, and literature combined in a study of Jewish theological responses to the Holocaust; an accounting major who evaluated computerized accounting programs; a psychology student who administered a survey to North Dakota judges to determine how they responded to polygraph evidence in courts; a music/philosophy major who traced changing notions of the harmony of the spheres; and an engineering student who designed an audio system.

3. With which faculty members would you prefer to work and what are their areas of expertise? Given that the thesis is an opportunity to, in a sense, apprentice yourself to a faculty member, who would you choose as a mentor? Would you like to work both with a thesis chair and with an additional faculty member whose background or interests will enrich the project?

4. What kinds of papers/projects have you enjoyed working on in the past? Could a project from the past serve as the nucleus for a thesis? What have you been reading, watching, listening to, attending, and thinking about lately?

5. Looking through the collection of Honors theses in the Honors library in Robertson/Sayre (which primarily houses theses written by Honors Program students) or those in the Special Collections of Chester Fritz Library (the complete collection), which theses interest you the most? Which strike you as possible models for your own work?

E. What Costs Are Required to Complete a Thesis?

All courses require some expense. If texts for a typical class average cost about $100, and a thesis counts as the equivalent of 3 courses, expect to pay in the neighborhood of $300 in various research expenses including: ILL charges, photocopying, books, binding, and, in some cases, additional expenses such as travel, reimbursement to experiment subjects, or video/film/photography costs. Obviously, budget depends on project. The fixed costs are photocopying and binding fees for the final written document. Set aside at least $50 to $100 for high quality printing, bond paper, and library binding. You must deposit at least two copies, one in the Chester Fritz Library, and the other in the Honors library in Robertson/Sayre. Most students choose to bind additional copies for themselves, committee chairs, Mom, etc.

For students in the Honors Program, a gift fund exists to cover up to $100 of thesis expenses in excess of the expected student contribution. To apply for financial support from this fund, prepare a budget and submit a copy together with your prospectus and Memorandum of Agreement to the Honors Coordinator. Grants are awarded by the Honors Committee.

F. How is a Thesis Graded?

Your thesis will be jointly evaluated by your thesis committee, which will then recommend a grade to the Honors Program. Grades for a thesis project will be based on the following principles:

1. An undergraduate thesis is more than a term paper or independent study but less than a master’s thesis or dissertation. Students are evaluated primarily on the basis of the learning they demonstrate in the written work and in the oral presentation rather than their ability to create new knowledge or contribute to a particular discipline.

2. In a thesis, students should analyze, critique, and synthesize information from a number of sources as they master a complex subject. For creative theses, students should both have proficiency in the art form and be able to place their work in a context, acknowledge influences, comment on process, and define key terms.

3. Students should be actively engaged in designing their projects and should have a firm grasp of the broad theoretical underpinnings to the particular framework they’ve chosen for their thesis. In the case of collaborative projects, either with faculty or another student, they must articulate how their own contributions fit into the on-going research of others.

4. The thesis itself should be well written, organized effectively, and well documented. The needs of a lay reader should be addressed in at least a portion of the thesis. Similarly, students should be able to discuss their projects articulately and knowledgeably at the conference presentation.

5. For graduation as a Scholar in the Honors Program or with Senior Honors, you must receive a grade of “A” or “B” on that thesis. A portion of the final grade (20%) will reflect the quality of your presentation at the Undergraduate Research Conference (or Thesis Defense).

G. What Special Recognition Do I Receive for Completing a Thesis?

Your accomplishment will be noted on your transcript and the commencement booklet for the semester in which you graduate. In addition, a gold seal is affixed to your diploma that states either "Scholar in the Honors Program" or "Senior Honors."