You’re reading this article right now because you are preparing for your senior thesis but don’t know how to start. The good news is that you’re not the first student who may be confused or unsure of how to write a senior thesis. The better news is that this article will guide you through the process in an easy-to-understand way. By the end of this article, you will have more than enough information on how to write a senior thesis.
What Is a Senior Thesis?
What is a senior thesis? In simple words, a senior thesis is a project that requires research from the student. Usually, the school expects the student to come up with an original idea for their thesis. What is senior thesis? This means that whatever thesis the student will present must be plagiarism-free, and it must not have been published before. While the school expects the student’s thesis to be original, a student must make research concerning his or her topic by consulting previously published works that are related to the topic. In some schools, a satisfactorily done thesis earns the graduating student honours. So, how do you write a senior thesis?
How to Write a Senior Thesis: Writing Senior Thesis Tips
When writing a senior thesis, the first thing you want to do is think about the focus of your thesis. What do you want to write about? It is important to note that whatever topic you chose for your senior thesis must relate to your school curriculum. Writing a senior thesis does not have to be cumbersome work for you. Here are some tips that will help you get started in writing a senior thesis:
- What are your interests? Politics? History? Arts? Cooking? Sports? Clean and renewable energy? Movies? Academics? Mathematics? Science? Technology? Journalism?
- Secondly, identify a problem or a piece of peculiar information that you think is unknown, but people should know. For example, if you think the media in your country portrays teenagers in a negative light, then you should write about that!
- Research by consulting other previously published work related to what you want to write. In those works, you will find information like the historical background of your chosen topic, other key areas that affect your chosen topic, among others.
- Have a good senior thesis outline. How do you do this?
Senior Thesis Format/Outline
Your outline is the structure that your senior thesis should follow. Usually, your outline should contain your senior thesis cover page, senior thesis title page, introduction, abstract, literature review, findings, conclusion, and bibliography. Depending on the method you will use in research, your senior thesis may also have an appendix. In some schools, the supervisor may help the students draft an outline for their senior thesis. However, if your school doesn’t help you, here are the details your outline should cover.
- The Introduction
This is where you should introduce and explain why you have chosen your topic. Your introduction may also contain background information on your chosen topic.
- Review of Literature
This should contain short concise notes on what previously published works said. Remember these works should relate to your topic. You should also do an independent critique of the works to show their limitations. Next, you should show how despite the similarities, your senior thesis differs from previous studies.
- Methodology
This is simply the way or process you use in obtaining data to help you with your work. For example, if you are writing a senior thesis on, “How North Americans Perceive The Media”, you will need to use questionnaires to help you gather data. Also, you may encounter challenges in getting the data. For example, some people may not be keen on taking the questionnaire because they don’t trust you. You may also have a hard time getting interviews with journalists to contribute to your work. Your methodology should note what tools you use in obtaining data and the challenges you faced.
- Findings
This is where you present your data and interpret it. Here, you should also discuss everything if your thesis has achieved its aim. Furthermore, you should give examples to support what you have found.
Conclusion
Here, you should give a summary of everything that you have done in your thesis. Also, you can make some recommendations on how a problem can be solved.
How Long Is A Senior Thesis?
How long is a senior thesis? A senior thesis length depends on the word count your school requires from you. Usually, this is between ten thousand to twenty thousand words that do not include bibliography and appendices.
Bottomline
A senior thesis can be an interesting and rewarding project for a student. There is no need to be afraid when writing one. All you need to do is know your thesis rules and follow the tips outlined in this article.
