Senior Thesis and Honors

A senior thesis is one option for the sociology major's 400-level course or "capstone" requirement. This page answers some common questions about the thesis process.

If you have any other questions or want to discuss the possibility of writing a thesis, please contact our thesis coordinator, Gayle Kaufman, at gakaufman@davidson.edu.

Why Do a Thesis?

It's an opportunity to explore a topic of your own choosing in depth. It allows you to bring together much of your previous coursework, or to link your sociological learning to issues and questions that matter to you.

Who Should Consider Doing a Thesis?

• Anyone who is intrigued by a sociological question and wishes to seek an answer through individualized research rather than through the formal structure of a senior-level class.
• Anyone who is considering applying to a graduate program that has a research emphasis should do a thesis. It will give you valuable experience, it will enhance your qualifications for admission, and it may help you decide if graduate studies are right for you.

Where Do Thesis Ideas Come From?

• Ideas can grow out of previous courses, both substantive and methodological. There may be topics from previous classes that you want to spend more time thinking about, or you might consider using the research done in your methods course as a starting point for your thesis.
• Ideas can also come from your own intellectual concerns and commitments, your volunteer activities, your personal interests, your extracurricular engagements. A thesis can be a great way to explore questions that matter to you but that you have not yet had a chance to research.

The Thesis Process: An Overview

• You decide upon a topic of interest, discusses it with one or more faculty members, and ask one faculty member to serve as the chair of your thesis committee and one faculty member to serve as the secondary reader (two readers if doing an honors thesis).
• You meet with the department thesis coordinator to inform him or her of your thesis plans.
• You sign up for SOC 495, with the chair of the thesis committee as the instructor.
• You meet with the chair of the thesis committee to develop a syllabus and plan for the semester-long independent thesis course. The syllabus and an independent study form must then be submitted to the Registrar's Office to complete the enrollment process.
• You write a thesis based on the completion of original empirical research, present the thesis in an oral defense during the final weeks of the semester, and submit a final version of the thesis to your committee and to the department thesis coordinator so that it may be archived in the department's thesis collection. 
• You also are encouraged to create a poster presentation of your thesis for the annual Social Science Poster Fair.

General Advice for Thesis Writers

• Writing a thesis requires significant commitment and the ability to work independently, to organize one's time appropriately, and to set deadlines for oneself. Be serious about setting weekly work goals and deadlines. 
• Meet with your chair regularly (weekly or semi-weekly) and your reader(s) occasionally. 
• Don't hesitate to ask for help when you get stuck or encounter a problem. We are here to be resources for you in this process.
• Back up your files!  Losing thesis data or drafts can be devastating.
• Get started as soon as possible. Doing some work in advance over the break is certainly not a bad idea.
• Think with others. Talk about your thesis with your friends, your roommates, your family, and your classmates. Doing so can help you clarify your ideas and their questions can lead you to important insights.
• Make sure you are excited about your thesis question, and that you want to spend the semester working with this subject.
• The process can be frustrating and overwhelming at times, but it also rewarding. Stick with it and you'll be amazed at what you can produce.

A Note on Honors

In order to receive honors in sociology, you must have an overall GPA of 3.2 and a GPA of 3.5 in all course work taken in the major.  You must also complete a senior thesis and receive a grade of at least A-, as well as the overall recommendation of the department. Honors theses have a chair and two additional readers.