MA/MS Program: Degree Requirements and DeadlinesThis document is designed to remind you of a number of matters relating to the completion of your degree work, with particular emphasis upon the preparation and submission of your Master's Thesis or Master's Paper. Please READ CAREFULLY and adhere rigidly to the deadlines provided. The Graduate School normally does not allow any exceptions to these deadlines. Thus, if you miss a deadline, it may mean that your graduation will have to be pushed back a semester. General Information1. You are required to take a total of 33 semester hours for the MA or MS degree. 2. PSCI 655 and PSCI 658 are required. 3. At least 6 hours must be taken in each of the following areas: American Politics, Comparative Politics, and International Relations. 4. At least 15 hours must be on the "600 level." 5. A maximum of 9 transfer hours can apply--at the discretion of the department. 6. A Master's paper is required of those who are to be awarded the MS degree (paper option). The non-paper option requires comprehensive examinations in three subfields of Political Science. 7. A thesis, involving six hours of credit, is required of those who wish to be granted an MA degree--these six hours are included in the total required of 33.
For those of you who plan to complete your work by December, May or August, you need to heed the following (if you have not already done so). A. In consultation with Dr. Erisman, identify a member of the faculty to be approached about serving as the chairperson of your thesis or Master's paper committee. B. In consultation with your chairperson, identify two additional members of the faculty who might serve on your committee. Complete the form, which is available in the Department office. C. Having gained the consent of three faculty members and in consultation with your chairperson, proceed to prepare a thesis or Master's paper proposal. The proposal should contain the following elements: (a) purpose of thesis/ paper, (b) scope of thesis/paper, (c) methodology of thesis/ paper, (d) review of the literature, and (e) bibliography. D. Acquire the approval of your proposal, using the prescribed form (available in the Department office), by the members of the committee and other appropriate persons. E. Acquire a copy (from the bookstore) of the ISU Handbook for Theses and Dissertations and a copy of the Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. TURABIAN IS THE DEPARTMENT'S APPROVED STYLE. You should also check into Guide to the Successful Thesis and Dissertation by James E. Mauch; Bridges to Knowledge in Political Science: A Handbook for Research by Carl Kalvelage; Political Science Research Methods by Janet B. Johnson and Richard A. Joslyn; and Writer's Guide: Political Science by Arthur W. Biddle and Kenneth M. Holland. F. Proceed, consulting regularly with the chairperson of your committee, to the research and writing of your thesis or Master's paper. As you complete the first draft of each chapter, you should hand it to the chairperson for corrections. You should expect to prepare two or more drafts of each chapter. G. The form and style for the Master's paper is the same as that for a thesis. H. The final draft of the thesis or Master's paper must be in the hands of the committee at least ten days before the oral examination. I. If you plan to graduate in December, you must file an application for graduation by early November; all details relating to approval of the thesis must be completed by early December. If you plan to graduate in May, you must file an application for graduation by early February; all details relating to approval of the thesis must be completed by early May. If you plan to graduate in August, you must file an application for graduation by early February; all details relating to approval of the thesis must be completed by early August. J. The deadline for the completion of the Master's paper is ten days before the beginning of final exam week. The oral examination would occur during final exam week. K. Three copies of the thesis and two of the Master's paper are required. It is the responsibility of the student to keep informed of the requirements stated herein and in the Graduate Catalog and to meet the deadlines thereof. You are required to prepare your thesis or paper on a word processor. The Computer Center holds workshops to assist people in using word processing programs in the preparation of theses where you are provided with computer disks that are formatted to satisfy all the stylistic and related requirements of the ISU Graduate School. They also conduct training workshops in the use of the WordPerfect word processing program. The workshops are FREE. Contact the Computer Center for details. Some other helpful resources can be found below: Writing & Presenting Your Thesis/Dissertation Summary of Procedure1. Choose a chairperson and two additional faculty members to serve on your MA or MS committee. 2. Complete the form naming the members of the committee. It is available in the Department office. 3. Prepare the first draft of the thesis or paper proposal.
4. Acquire the approval of your proposal, using the prescribed form, by the members of your committee. 5. Consult the following sources:
6. Proceed, consulting with chairperson of your committee, to the research and writing of your thesis or paper. 7. Present the first draft of the thesis or paper to the members of your committee. Proofread this draft and subsequent drafts very carefully. 8. Revise the draft, incorporating the suggestions of your committee members. 9. The final draft of the thesis or paper must be in the hands of the committee at least ten days before the oral examination. Summary of Guidelines1. December graduation
2. May graduation
3. August graduation
The Research Process1. problem definition (and restriction) 2. literature review (bibliography and note-taking) 3. hypothesis statement or research question (method/technique decisions) 4. gathering evidence (available data) 5. analysis 6. interpretation (revised hypothesis?) 7. test (if applicable) (additional research?) 8. conclusions |