Senior Honors Thesis
Why do a Senior Honors Thesis?Honors research can be among the most significant and rewarding activities of any undergraduate career. Successful completion of an honors research requires a substantial, sustained effort, but can repay that effort many times over. In carrying out an honors project, a student has a chance to make good use of a great many skills acquired in classrooms, laboratories, and libraries. An honors project also gives the student a chance to acquire many new, valuable skills, including (i) knowledge of how to manage a large, in-depth study of a single, challenging problem; (ii) an understanding of what it means to work as part of a research team; (iii) sharpened organizational and communication skills; and (iv) an appreciation of how real scientific inquiry is carried out.
Most students who successfully complete honors in psychology report that this process was the most valuable part of their academic training at Brandeis. The following is meant to explain honors' prerequisites and mechanics.
Qualifications for Undertaking Honors
Psychology concentrators who wish to do honors research must have both an overall and a psychology concentration GPA of 3.3 at the end of their junior year. The statistics and experimental psychology course requirements for concentrators should be completed by the end of their junior year. Students doing honors research in the Group I or Group II areas may be required to take two semesters of Calculus in addition to or in place of the Statistics and Experimental courses. To be awarded honors, students must have an overall grade point average of 3.3 by the end of their senior year and a psychology concentration GPA of 3.3. PSYC, NPSY, some LING and cross listed courses are used in the computation of the psychology GPA. Psychology courses listed in the 90s are not included in the computation.
Procedures for Undertaking Honors
Typically more students want to do honors than there are professors available to advise them. Therefore, students should start their search for an advisor early. It is wise to find a potential primary advisor by the end of the sophomore year and identify a topic by the end of the junior year. In this way, students can begin their literature reviews in the summer and start work on the project early in the senior year. A student who has found a willing advisor should sign up for PSYC 99 both semesters of their senior year (advisor's signature required). Additionally you will need to obtain a second Psychology faculty member as a second reader and one expert reader from outside the department, a total of three, who will serve on the final evaluation committee. On rare occasions, a primary advisor outside the Psychology Department is approved; however, a psychology professor must be willing to chair the honors committee.
Honors projects must be empirical studies. A research proposal must be submitted by December 1st of the senior year to a committee comprised of the two department faculty members whom you have chosen as your readers. The proposal includes journal-style introduction and methods sections. Both members of the committee must approve the project as a viable honors study before data collection can proceed. Failure to obtain such approval will serve as a basis of the first semester honors grade. An Evaluation of Honors Proposal form should be filled out and signed by your advisor and turned into the Psychology Office by the December 1st deadline. Before collecting data from human subjects, honors students must work with his/her advisor on human subject protocol that will be reviewed by the BCPHS (Brandeis Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects). Forms are available online at the Office of Sponsored Programs. Additional timetable guidelines:
· According to the present schedule, students who wish to apply for research support through the Dean's Office must submit brief proposals by October 15th . Please be sure to plan ahead if you anticipate any research costs. The psychology budget does not support honors research.
· Students who wish to participate in the Greater Boston Research Conference must submit brief reports of their research by March 15th.
· Students should allow at least one month before the thesis due date for data analysis and thesis writing. This means that data collection should be completed by April 1st.
The thesis must be completed by the day before final exams begin. It must be written in professional journal style (see Copies below). It is presented to the student's thesis committee of three people; two Brandeis psychology professors and one expert reader outside the Psychology Department. Each of the three readers should be given a Reader's Report on Senior Honors Thesis Form to complete, according to the assessment that each reader is asked to make. In addition the Major Advisor must complete the Rating of Initiative of Honors Work form.
MAJOR ADVISOR:
· Comments on each section of the thesis
· Ratings of the overall quality of the thesis
· Letter grade for the honors work
· Rating of initiative in the student's work
· Recommendation of the level of honors (if honors is recommended)
SECOND READER IN THE DEPARTMENT:· Comments on each section of the thesis
· Ratings of the overall quality of the thesis
· Letter grade for the thesis
· Recommendation of the level of honors (if honors is recommended)
OUTSIDE READER· Comments on each section of the thesis
· Rating of the overall quality of the thesis
The Letter grade for the honors work will be determined by the major advisor, who will take into account the entire year's work, as well as the letter grade assigned by the psychology department reader.The level of honors (honors, high honors, or highest honors) will be determined by the Psychology faculty in a special meeting during Senior Week.
As a minimum requirement, a GPA in psychology courses of 3.3 is required for Honors, a GPA of 3.5 for High Honors, and a GPA of 3.7 for the Highest Honors.
Copies
A total of six copies of your final Senior Honors Thesis must be made. In addition to submitting one to your primary advisor and each of your readers, you must also submit one to the Psychology Department, the Archives Department in the Goldfarb Library, and one for yourself. The Archives & Special Collections Department also requires that you submit a completed Senior Honors Thesis release form along with your thesis. In addition, they have specific requirements for the formatting of their copy. The cover sheet should contain the following information in this exact order: 1) Title; 2) Author; 3) Senior Honors Thesis; 4) Department of Psychology; 5) Brandeis University; 6) current year. In addition, they ask that you submit a loose, unbound copy since they will be bound in hard-cover by the library (do NOT hole-punch). Ideally, your thesis should be printed on acid-free paper to ensure its longevity, however, we recognize that not all students are able to do that. You may bind your other five copies any way you prefer.
Oral Presentation
As a culminating experience for all honors students, each student will give a convention paper style presentation of the thesis to the entire faculty immediately after finals (usually the Thursday or Friday before Senior week). Students will usually be allotted 20 minutes, 10-15 minutes for their presentation with the remaining time for answering any questions from the audience. You will be notified when a date for presentations is chosen.