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HAT IS A THESIS?

The thesis option for Sociology/Anthropology involves the execution of a major, individual project of sociological or anthropological research and analysis, culminating in a paper of approximately 50 pages. Such a project may be a study of a particular group or social situation; it can be comparative or not; it can be done through library research, analysis of existing data, or original field work and/or survey; it can be a deliberate test of one or more theories or hypotheses; or it can be an analysis of theories themselves in a socio-anthropological framework.

While the range of appropriate topics is broad, not all topics are feasible for a senior thesis. During the fall term, students wishing to write the thesis must develop a convincing proposal. Students must submit an initial proposal to the department no later than the end of the third week of fall term. A fully-developed research proposal must be submitted by the end of the eighth week of fall term. This proposal must be accepted by the department before students can proceed to write the thesis.

The bulk of the writing of the thesis should be completed by the middle of winter term, and a final version of the thesis must be submitted by the due date early in spring term. Students completing the thesis option will also be required to present their work in a talk open to the public, to be scheduled during spring term.

Students are expected to turn in all proposals, drafts, and the final thesis by the deadlines given below. Unless prior approval is obtained, failure to meet these deadlines will mean that your thesis will not be considered for distinction.

The goals of the thesis

The main goal of the thesis is to give the student an educational experience of a different sort from any he or she is likely to have had before. Unlike most other projects you have undertaken, writing a thesis is not bounded by having to conform to the goals of a course nor must it be completed in a few weeks' time. Rather, it is meant above all to give each of you the opportunity to think up and work out the investigation of a topic that deeply interests or concerns you. In addition, with the length of time and the care you will be taking on the study, many of you will be able to produce an essay that can be fairly evaluated by the standards that practicing scholars in Sociology and Anthropology use to judge each other's work.

Thus a thesis should not be thought of as just another paper, or a lengthy independent study. It places a greater responsibility on the students than that. While you will be working closely with your advisor, nonetheless you are the primary person responsible for conceiving the project, exploring its ramifications, and completing it in a way that both fulfills your goals and measures up to sociological and/or anthropological criteria applicable to the issues and data you are working with. Accomplishing such a task can benefit you in a number of ways. Perhaps the most important of these are that (1) you get a feel for what it takes to carry out a piece of research from start to finish; (2) you get the confidence of knowing you can do it; (3) you become an expert on something.

The thesis achieves these goals by two principal means: first, the freedom you have to choose your topic helps ensure that you will have the interest and excitement necessary to carry you through the inevitable hard times; second, it gives you enough time to make mistakes and false starts. Odd as it might seem at first, this is crucial.

Unfortunately, Carleton's not-quite ten-week terms almost never give students a chance to learn from their mistakes, yet such learning is probably more meaningful and useful than any other kind. In doing papers you undoubtedly have had the experience of making mistakes -- if only that of reading material that turned out not to be relevant -- but you have rarely if ever had time to do more than patch it up somehow at the end. With comps, enough time is built into the process so that after discovering an inadequacy in your approach you have the opportunity to develop and use a more satisfactory one. Thus you learn by doing and also do objectively better work. A copy of recent distinction theses are on reserve in the library. Also, all the theses of the last three years plus distinction theses of recent years are available in Susan Quay's office.

The point of professors (and fellow students)
Professors have been there before and can warn of dangers ahead, can make suggestions, can help you find out how what you are attempting to do or study fits into the ongoing currents of research in sociology and anthropology. Both they and fellow students can, above all, question you -- not to confuse you, but to strengthen your understanding of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Finally, they can offer moral support in the difficult times when you feel you are floundering around or nothing is going right.

Feel free to draw on any of the faculty -- Soc/Anthro and others as well -- for advice about your study. Remember, however, that what we professors generally do when asked for help is say what we would do in your place. Since your advisor is the one who will be most familiar with what you are trying to do, you should also consult with him or her as to how best to utilize such ideas and suggestions from other sources.

Students have often found it helpful to form writing groups. Students in a thesis writing group read and comment on each other's drafts, provide encouragement and moral support, and help you through those final revisions and proofreading. Your writing group members need not be working on topics similar to yours; in fact, it may be more interesting and fun if they aren't!

Theoretical Orientations
The conceptualization and theoretical orientation of your thesis is crucial to its success. Theoretical orientations will help you interpret, describe, explain, measure, or otherwise approach your topic. For example, to study social movements you can use theories of resource mobilization, collective behavior, or frame alignment, among others. Or, to look at questions of ethnic identity you can follow primordial, constructed, or strategic models (each with several subtypes). These are only illustrations. Your thesis may be conceived as an application or test of a particular theory (e.g., strategic model of ethnic identity), or may draw upon several. You may focus on "mid-range" theories, or draw upon broader, foundational theoretical orientations (such as functionalism, conflict theory, etc.).

Developing and defining the theoretical orientation constitutes the hard part of your thesis work. Indeed, it is the hardest part of doing any sociological or anthropological work, and the ability to do it well is what distinguishes prominent, creative scholars from others. Get a sense of it by thinking about how scholars have analyzed things in the courses you have taken, by further reading in the area of your thesis project (making full use of library sources, such as Annual Reviews, Sociological Abstracts, and other specialized bibliographic tools), and by talking with faculty and other students. Or, take your favorite, most inspiring article on your thesis topic and look at how explanation and interpretation, or some other kind of analysis emerges from and/or is supported by the data. These are invaluable aids and strategies, but there is no simple, cookbook guide for this sort of thing, nor can anyone else do it for you. In the final analysis you yourself must do the very hard work of thinking through and struggling with the analytical and theoretical issues your topic raises.

Manuscript style and style of citation and references
You should use one of the standard forms of citation used by anthropologists or sociologists in preparing your final project. The Final Checklist provides an overview of manuscript preparation requirements. Refer also to the Citation Guide. It provides basic citation information and links to sites with more detailed citation and other formatting guidelines. The AAA (American Anthropological Association) guidelines include detailed information on use of block quotes, section headings, and other manuscript preparation issues, as well as citation guidelines. Copies of these guidelines are available in the Department lounge; they can also be accessed on the AAA web page, for which a link is given on the Department's citation web page.

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