One of the goals of the Schreyer Honors College is to improve the thesis process for students and faculty. Toward that end, each department is asked to provide a guideline document to clarify key aspects of the thesis process and requirements for students and faculty in that department.
The Schreyer Honors College also provides a good general thesis project guide that is not discipline-specific.
We highly recommend that students read both the general Schreyer guide to the thesis project, and our specific departmental guide to the thesis.
Requirements for Honors in Sociology or Criminology
In addition to the requirements of the Schreyer Honors College, the Department of Sociology and Criminology has these additional requirements for honors students:
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Requirements for the Major:
- You must be a major in sociology or criminology.
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Required Thesis Preparation Seminars (2 credits):
- All sociology and criminology honors students are required to take two, one-credit thesis preparation seminars during their third/junior year. These help students develop research ideas, find a thesis adviser, design an analysis, and write a proposal.
- These 1-credit seminars are sequential. In fall of their third/junior year, students take SOC 381H/CRIM 480H (1 credit). In spring of their third/junior year students take SOC/CRIM 481H (1 credit). These seminars operate like regular classes and students receive a grade in both.
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Required Thesis Research Hours (6 credits):
- All sociology and criminology honors students are required to take 6 thesis research credit hours, usually during their fourth/senior year. These research hours guarantee that students block out time in their schedules to complete data analysis and writing for the thesis.
- Usually, 3 credit hours are taken in fall semester of their fourth/senior year and 3 hours in spring semester of their fourth/senior year. In rare cases, such as when a student is graduating a semester early, a student may take 6 hours in one semester with permission of their thesis supervisor and the Honors advisor.
- Students receive a grade for thesis hours from their thesis supervisor based on their effort and progress on the thesis work. This is not an automatic ‘A’. To count towards completion of the major, students must earn a C or better for these credit hours.
- Some students may be asked by their thesis faculty supervisor to take an additional course to assist with their thesis (e.g. statistics, coding, etc.)
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SOC 400W requirement:
- Sociology majors take 400w as part of their coursework. We recommend that students complete SOC 400W before fall of the fourth year.
- Students should discuss with their SOC 400W instructor and their thesis supervisor how to use SOC 400W to overlap with the thesis, if possible.
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Benefits and Adjustments
- Scholars are sought after for departmental teaching and research assistantships. Talk to the department’s Honors advisor or a faculty member if you’re interested.
- The Soc/Crim department allows an honors student to substitute their six (6) honors thesis credits for Eng 202 and one 400-level elective Soc or Crim class. This means that you do not have to take those courses to complete the Sociology or Criminology major. Your advisor will help to make these substitutions in your course planning. However, if you leave the Honors program, you will have to complete those courses.
- Students who want to study abroad need should immediately talk to the Honors advisor because some students struggle with the thesis workload. It is possible to study abroad in the spring of the third/junior year or during the summer. Students who miss the one-credit hour seminar from the spring will have to complete an additional honors credit.
- It is extremely difficult to graduate early and complete an honors thesis in the department. Contact the Honors advisor to discuss.
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Leaving the Schreyer Honors College:
- A student who decides to leave the Schreyer Honors College becomes a ‘regular’ sociology or criminology major and may lose any special arrangements and substitutions they received as a Schreyer student.
- If you are thinking of leaving please discuss this with the Honors adviser well in advance of graduation.
Expectations for The Honors Thesis
All Schreyer Honors Scholars are required to complete a thesis. The goal of the thesis is for the student to learn about the research process by conducting an independent research project under the close supervision of a faculty member, who is their thesis supervisor.
The thesis is a demonstration of what the student has learned and it is where they will stretch their abilities by working more independently than in a classroom setting. The thesis demonstrates that the student understands at a basic level how to think about, plan, and conduct research in sociology or criminology and gives them a chance to practice those skills on a topic that they care deeply about. The thesis is also a contribution to previous scholarly research on the topic and it tells future employers and graduate or law admission committees something about the student’s interests, intellectual abilities, and work ethic.
The honors thesis is typically the first major research project a student conducts. As such, the thesis should be on a much smaller scale than an master’s degree thesis. Experience suggests that simpler thesis projects are usually best. For example, quantitative projects that use multivariate regression techniques with 1 dependent variable, one main independent variable of interest (with a small number of control variables) and two hypotheses are appropriate for an honors thesis. Theses using qualitative methods or content analysis should be on a similarly limited scale.
All thesis projects, including qualitative projects, must be empirical, that is they must have a clear research question and use and analyze some form of existing data or data collected by the student. Literature reviews and theoretical pieces are not acceptable as thesis projects in sociology or criminology.
Honors theses are evaluated on student effort, learning, and basic research ‘literacy’. Theses are not evaluated on the specific findings (or lack thereof), or potential for meeting presentation or publication.
Policy on IRB Evaluation of Honors Thesis Research
Some students seek to collect their own data or use a new dataset. Faculty honors thesis supervisors are expected to guide their students in fulfilling all IRB requirements. The rules for submitting students’ Honors thesis research to the Penn State IRB are the same as for faculty research:
- IRB approval is not required if the student is using de-identified, previously collected secondary data, such as an existing survey that contains no private, identifiable information.
- IRB approval is required if the research project involves original, primary data collection by the student or if the data being used contains private, identifiable information. Supervisors who are unsure should contact the Penn State Office for Research Protections for assistance.
- The 330 Building, Suite 205, Innovation Park
- 814-865-1775
- orp@psu.edu
- https://www.research.psu.edu/irb
Thesis Formatting and Writing Style
The thesis should follow the format and writing style of an academic journal article in sociology or criminology. Your thesis adviser will provide guidance on specifics such as writing style, headings, and references.