SOAN 453B Fall 2004 What is a Thesis?

SOAN 453B: SENIOR SEMINAR:
Senior Seminar: Issues in Contemporary Sociology:
Social Problems in Global-Historical Perspective
WED 2:45-5:15 AL 432
Colgate University
Fall 2004 Professor Thomas Hall
Office: 408 Alumni, x7083, email: tdhall@mail.colgate.edu
OFFICE HOURS: Tu 2:45-4; W 1:30-2:30 & 5:20-6, Th 12-1, & by appt
What is a Thesis?
Last Updated 8-9-04

A thesis is generally something more than a long term paper. For some of you, though, that is exactly what it will be. The key to a thesis is in its name: you are presenting a thesis, a position or proposition that you are defending by argument supported with evidence. In this class each thesis will be a claim about social problems which you support on the basis of your investigations and relate to global processes. Since theories of globalization are still relatively new, you will be inventing theory as often as applying it. We have more theories of social change to deal with historical contexts, but even here you may be plowing new ground. Each thesis typically will argue that there is a global component to each social problem. Sometimes as a source, other times as a consequence, and still others as associated social problems, or as important contextual components. It is even possible that one of you will argue that your social problem is entirely local. Finally, given the structure of this course, you should address in your conclusions how your case and your thesis sheds light (or not) on the following two questions:

1. Can any social problem be studied EXCLUSIVELY as a local problem?
2. What do we learn about the social problem you studied by taking a global-historical perspective that canNOT be learned from an a localized study of that problem?

You should also address the limits of your findings. How are the conclusions you draw limited by the specific problem you have chosen? You should then suggest what types of problems you would study to further refine your conclusions, either by more clearly specifying their limits, or by expanding their generality. You need not study these problems, but you should specify what you would look for in other social problems.

Since many of you are concerned with action and plan careers that will be directed at change (medicine, law, social work, etc.) I encourage you to consider what lessons you can draw from your study of a social problem in terms of policies that might ameliorate that problem in the future.

STRUCTURE OF A THESIS:
Your thesis should be between 40 and 60 pages of text, with bibliography extra. For some of you that will seem very long. Others will find it difficult to keep it that short. It should be organized something like this:

I.  Introduction:   5 pages +/- 2
    What social problem are you studying?  Why is it a social problem?  For WHOM is it a social problem?  Why is
    it important to study it from a sociological perspective?

II. Discussion of the problem 15-20 pages
    For some cases this will be longer, for some shorter.  You should include
    basic description of the problem, social ramifications of the problem, and
    finer specification of the problem.

III. Analysis 15-20 pages
     In this section you support your thesis on the basis of material
     presented in II.  Here you may want to use material from the course books,
     and/or from other presentations.  [citation to another student's
     presentation should be:  blah, blah, blah (Smith, seminar).  In the bib it 
     would be: Smith, John. 2003.  Social Problems in Global
     Perspective Seminar presentation, date.]

IV.  Conclusions 5 to 10 pages
     This will include your conclusion about your thesis, assessment of its
     generality, tentative answers posed above, and other social problems that
     might shed light on the global aspect of all social problems.

V.   Amelioration of the social problem 5 to 10 pages.
     Here you can add some policy guidelines or implications from your study on
     how to lessen this social problem and some of the social, political,
     cultural, and economic barriers to such implementation.

TOTAL LENGTH:  40 to 60 pages.

Further comments: You are NOT REQUIRED to follow this outline, but it is a good model. Part II could run longer, depending on the material and how descriptive you are.

How to decide what goes in the case description.
The decision is shaped by your thesis: Does this information need to be present for a reader/listener to understand why you have drawn your conclusion? If the answer is yes, include it; if not, do not! This is where questions from LISTENERS during PRESENTATION can be most helpful. If LISTENERS are not understanding your point, you may need to include more description. Keep in mind for most of you, YOU will be the expert on your case, and may well know more about it than anyone in the seminar--including me, the prof!--so you are the expert.

The draft of your introduction and discussion is DUE NYP. However, plan on rewriting them later, when you know what you actually did and concluded.

Send comments or questions to tdhall@mail.cogate.edu
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