honours dissertation

Honors Theses

What this handout is about.

Writing a senior honors thesis, or any major research essay, can seem daunting at first. A thesis requires a reflective, multi-stage writing process. This handout will walk you through those stages. It is targeted at students in the humanities and social sciences, since their theses tend to involve more writing than projects in the hard sciences. Yet all thesis writers may find the organizational strategies helpful.

Introduction

What is an honors thesis.

That depends quite a bit on your field of study. However, all honors theses have at least two things in common:

• They are based on students’ original research.
• They take the form of a written manuscript, which presents the findings of that research. In the humanities, theses average 50-75 pages in length and consist of two or more chapters. In the social sciences, the manuscript may be shorter, depending on whether the project involves more quantitative than qualitative research. In the hard sciences, the manuscript may be shorter still, often taking the form of a sophisticated laboratory report.

Who can write an honors thesis?

In general, students who are at the end of their junior year, have an overall 3.2 GPA, and meet their departmental requirements can write a senior thesis. For information about your eligibility, contact:

• UNC Honors Program
• Your departmental administrators of undergraduate studies/honors

Why write an honors thesis?

Satisfy your intellectual curiosity This is the most compelling reason to write a thesis. Whether it’s the short stories of Flannery O’Connor or the challenges of urban poverty, you’ve studied topics in college that really piqued your interest. Now’s your chance to follow your passions, explore further, and contribute some original ideas and research in your field.

Develop transferable skills Whether you choose to stay in your field of study or not, the process of developing and crafting a feasible research project will hone skills that will serve you well in almost any future job. After all, most jobs require some form of problem solving and oral and written communication. Writing an honors thesis requires that you:

• ask smart questions
• acquire the investigative instincts needed to find answers
• navigate libraries, laboratories, archives, databases, and other research venues
• develop the flexibility to redirect your research if your initial plan flops
• master the art of time management
• hone your argumentation skills
• organize a lengthy piece of writing
• polish your oral communication skills by presenting and defending your project to faculty and peers

Work closely with faculty mentors At large research universities like Carolina, you’ve likely taken classes where you barely got to know your instructor. Writing a thesis offers the opportunity to work one-on-one with a with faculty adviser. Such mentors can enrich your intellectual development and later serve as invaluable references for graduate school and employment.

Open windows into future professions An honors thesis will give you a taste of what it’s like to do research in your field. Even if you’re a sociology major, you may not really know what it’s like to be a sociologist. Writing a sociology thesis would open a window into that world. It also might help you decide whether to pursue that field in graduate school or in your future career.

How do you write an honors thesis?

Get an idea of what’s expected.

It’s a good idea to review some of the honors theses other students have submitted to get a sense of what an honors thesis might look like and what kinds of things might be appropriate topics. Look for examples from the previous year in the Carolina Digital Repository. You may also be able to find past theses collected in your major department or at the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library. Pay special attention to theses written by students who share your major.

Choose a topic

Ideally, you should start thinking about topics early in your junior year, so you can begin your research and writing quickly during your senior year. (Many departments require that you submit a proposal for an honors thesis project during the spring of your junior year.)

How should you choose a topic?

• Read widely in the fields that interest you. Make a habit of browsing professional journals to survey the “hot” areas of research and to familiarize yourself with your field’s stylistic conventions. (You’ll find the most recent issues of the major professional journals in the periodicals reading room on the first floor of Davis Library).
• Set up appointments to talk with faculty in your field. This is a good idea, since you’ll eventually need to select an advisor and a second reader. Faculty also can help you start narrowing down potential topics.
• Look at honors theses from the past. The North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library holds UNC honors theses. To get a sense of the typical scope of a thesis, take a look at a sampling from your field.

What makes a good topic?

• It’s fascinating. Above all, choose something that grips your imagination. If you don’t, the chances are good that you’ll struggle to finish.
• It’s doable. Even if a topic interests you, it won’t work out unless you have access to the materials you need to research it. Also be sure that your topic is narrow enough. Let’s take an example: Say you’re interested in the efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and early 1980s. That’s a big topic that probably can’t be adequately covered in a single thesis. You need to find a case study within that larger topic. For example, maybe you’re particularly interested in the states that did not ratify the ERA. Of those states, perhaps you’ll select North Carolina, since you’ll have ready access to local research materials. And maybe you want to focus primarily on the ERA’s opponents. Beyond that, maybe you’re particularly interested in female opponents of the ERA. Now you’ve got a much more manageable topic: Women in North Carolina Who Opposed the ERA in the 1970s and 1980s.
• It contains a question. There’s a big difference between having a topic and having a guiding research question. Taking the above topic, perhaps your main question is: Why did some women in North Carolina oppose the ERA? You will, of course, generate other questions: Who were the most outspoken opponents? White women? Middle-class women? How did they oppose the ERA? Public protests? Legislative petitions? etc. etc. Yet it’s good to start with a guiding question that will focus your research.

Goal-setting and time management

The senior year is an exceptionally busy time for college students. In addition to the usual load of courses and jobs, seniors have the daunting task of applying for jobs and/or graduate school. These demands are angst producing and time consuming If that scenario sounds familiar, don’t panic! Do start strategizing about how to make a time for your thesis. You may need to take a lighter course load or eliminate extracurricular activities. Even if the thesis is the only thing on your plate, you still need to make a systematic schedule for yourself. Most departments require that you take a class that guides you through the honors project, so deadlines likely will be set for you. Still, you should set your own goals for meeting those deadlines. Here are a few suggestions for goal setting and time management:

Start early. Keep in mind that many departments will require that you turn in your thesis sometime in early April, so don’t count on having the entire spring semester to finish your work. Ideally, you’ll start the research process the semester or summer before your senior year so that the writing process can begin early in the fall. Some goal-setting will be done for you if you are taking a required class that guides you through the honors project. But any substantive research project requires a clear timetable.

Set clear goals in making a timetable. Find out the final deadline for turning in your project to your department. Working backwards from that deadline, figure out how much time you can allow for the various stages of production.

Here is a sample timetable. Use it, however, with two caveats in mind:

• The timetable for your thesis might look very different depending on your departmental requirements.
• You may not wish to proceed through these stages in a linear fashion. You may want to revise chapter one before you write chapter two. Or you might want to write your introduction last, not first. This sample is designed simply to help you start thinking about how to customize your own schedule.

Sample timetable

Avoid falling into the trap of procrastination. Once you’ve set goals for yourself, stick to them! For some tips on how to do this, see our handout on procrastination .

Consistent production

It’s a good idea to try to squeeze in a bit of thesis work every day—even if it’s just fifteen minutes of journaling or brainstorming about your topic. Or maybe you’ll spend that fifteen minutes taking notes on a book. The important thing is to accomplish a bit of active production (i.e., putting words on paper) for your thesis every day. That way, you develop good writing habits that will help you keep your project moving forward.

Make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself

Since most of you will be taking a required thesis seminar, you will have deadlines. Yet you might want to form a writing group or enlist a peer reader, some person or people who can help you stick to your goals. Moreover, if your advisor encourages you to work mostly independently, don’t be afraid to ask them to set up periodic meetings at which you’ll turn in installments of your project.

Brainstorming and freewriting

One of the biggest challenges of a lengthy writing project is keeping the creative juices flowing. Here’s where freewriting can help. Try keeping a small notebook handy where you jot down stray ideas that pop into your head. Or schedule time to freewrite. You may find that such exercises “free” you up to articulate your argument and generate new ideas. Here are some questions to stimulate freewriting.

Questions for basic brainstorming at the beginning of your project:

• What do I already know about this topic?
• Why do I care about this topic?
• Why is this topic important to people other than myself
• What more do I want to learn about this topic?
• What is the main question that I am trying to answer?
• Where can I look for additional information?
• Who is my audience and how can I reach them?
• How will my work inform my larger field of study?
• What’s the main goal of my research project?

Questions for reflection throughout your project:

• What’s my main argument? How has it changed since I began the project?
• What’s the most important evidence that I have in support of my “big point”?
• What questions do my sources not answer?
• How does my case study inform or challenge my field writ large?
• Does my project reinforce or contradict noted scholars in my field? How?
• What is the most surprising finding of my research?
• What is the most frustrating part of this project?
• What is the most rewarding part of this project?
• What will be my work’s most important contribution?

Research and note-taking

In conducting research, you will need to find both primary sources (“firsthand” sources that come directly from the period/events/people you are studying) and secondary sources (“secondhand” sources that are filtered through the interpretations of experts in your field.) The nature of your research will vary tremendously, depending on what field you’re in. For some general suggestions on finding sources, consult the UNC Libraries tutorials . Whatever the exact nature of the research you’re conducting, you’ll be taking lots of notes and should reflect critically on how you do that. Too often it’s assumed that the research phase of a project involves very little substantive writing (i.e., writing that involves thinking). We sit down with our research materials and plunder them for basic facts and useful quotations. That mechanical type of information-recording is important. But a more thoughtful type of writing and analytical thinking is also essential at this stage. Some general guidelines for note-taking:

First of all, develop a research system. There are lots of ways to take and organize your notes. Whether you choose to use note cards, computer databases, or notebooks, follow two cardinal rules:

• Make careful distinctions between direct quotations and your paraphrasing! This is critical if you want to be sure to avoid accidentally plagiarizing someone else’s work. For more on this, see our handout on plagiarism .
• Record full citations for each source. Don’t get lazy here! It will be far more difficult to find the proper citation later than to write it down now.

Keeping those rules in mind, here’s a template for the types of information that your note cards/legal pad sheets/computer files should include for each of your sources:

Abbreviated subject heading: Include two or three words to remind you of what this sources is about (this shorthand categorization is essential for the later sorting of your sources).

Complete bibliographic citation:

• author, title, publisher, copyright date, and page numbers for published works
• box and folder numbers and document descriptions for archival sources
• complete web page title, author, address, and date accessed for online sources

Notes on facts, quotations, and arguments: Depending on the type of source you’re using, the content of your notes will vary. If, for example, you’re using US Census data, then you’ll mainly be writing down statistics and numbers. If you’re looking at someone else’s diary, you might jot down a number of quotations that illustrate the subject’s feelings and perspectives. If you’re looking at a secondary source, you’ll want to make note not just of factual information provided by the author but also of their key arguments.

Your interpretation of the source: This is the most important part of note-taking. Don’t just record facts. Go ahead and take a stab at interpreting them. As historians Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff insist, “A note is a thought.” So what do these thoughts entail? Ask yourself questions about the context and significance of each source.

Interpreting the context of a source:

• Who wrote/created the source?
• When, and under what circumstances, was it written/created?
• Why was it written/created? What was the agenda behind the source?
• How was it written/created?
• If using a secondary source: How does it speak to other scholarship in the field?

Interpreting the significance of a source:

• How does this source answer (or complicate) my guiding research questions?
• Does it pose new questions for my project? What are they?
• Does it challenge my fundamental argument? If so, how?
• Given the source’s context, how reliable is it?

You don’t need to answer all of these questions for each source, but you should set a goal of engaging in at least one or two sentences of thoughtful, interpretative writing for each source. If you do so, you’ll make much easier the next task that awaits you: drafting.

The dread of drafting

Why do we often dread drafting? We dread drafting because it requires synthesis, one of the more difficult forms of thinking and interpretation. If you’ve been free-writing and taking thoughtful notes during the research phase of your project, then the drafting should be far less painful. Here are some tips on how to get started:

Sort your “evidence” or research into analytical categories:

• Some people file note cards into categories.
• The technologically-oriented among us take notes using computer database programs that have built-in sorting mechanisms.
• Others cut and paste evidence into detailed outlines on their computer.
• Still others stack books, notes, and photocopies into topically-arranged piles.There is not a single right way, but this step—in some form or fashion—is essential!

If you’ve been forcing yourself to put subject headings on your notes as you go along, you’ll have generated a number of important analytical categories. Now, you need to refine those categories and sort your evidence. Everyone has a different “sorting style.”

Formulate working arguments for your entire thesis and individual chapters. Once you’ve sorted your evidence, you need to spend some time thinking about your project’s “big picture.” You need to be able to answer two questions in specific terms:

• What is the overall argument of my thesis?
• What are the sub-arguments of each chapter and how do they relate to my main argument?

Keep in mind that “working arguments” may change after you start writing. But a senior thesis is big and potentially unwieldy. If you leave this business of argument to chance, you may end up with a tangle of ideas. See our handout on arguments and handout on thesis statements for some general advice on formulating arguments.

Divide your thesis into manageable chunks. The surest road to frustration at this stage is getting obsessed with the big picture. What? Didn’t we just say that you needed to focus on the big picture? Yes, by all means, yes. You do need to focus on the big picture in order to get a conceptual handle on your project, but you also need to break your thesis down into manageable chunks of writing. For example, take a small stack of note cards and flesh them out on paper. Or write through one point on a chapter outline. Those small bits of prose will add up quickly.

Just start! Even if it’s not at the beginning. Are you having trouble writing those first few pages of your chapter? Sometimes the introduction is the toughest place to start. You should have a rough idea of your overall argument before you begin writing one of the main chapters, but you might find it easier to start writing in the middle of a chapter of somewhere other than word one. Grab hold where you evidence is strongest and your ideas are clearest.

Keep up the momentum! Assuming the first draft won’t be your last draft, try to get your thoughts on paper without spending too much time fussing over minor stylistic concerns. At the drafting stage, it’s all about getting those ideas on paper. Once that task is done, you can turn your attention to revising.

Peter Elbow, in Writing With Power, suggests that writing is difficult because it requires two conflicting tasks: creating and criticizing. While these two tasks are intimately intertwined, the drafting stage focuses on creating, while revising requires criticizing. If you leave your revising to the last minute, then you’ve left out a crucial stage of the writing process. See our handout for some general tips on revising . The challenges of revising an honors thesis may include:

Juggling feedback from multiple readers

A senior thesis may mark the first time that you have had to juggle feedback from a wide range of readers:

• your adviser
• a second (and sometimes third) faculty reader
• the professor and students in your honors thesis seminar

You may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of incorporating all this advice. Keep in mind that some advice is better than others. You will probably want to take most seriously the advice of your adviser since they carry the most weight in giving your project a stamp of approval. But sometimes your adviser may give you more advice than you can digest. If so, don’t be afraid to approach them—in a polite and cooperative spirit, of course—and ask for some help in prioritizing that advice. See our handout for some tips on getting and receiving feedback .

Refining your argument

It’s especially easy in writing a lengthy work to lose sight of your main ideas. So spend some time after you’ve drafted to go back and clarify your overall argument and the individual chapter arguments and make sure they match the evidence you present.

Organizing and reorganizing

Again, in writing a 50-75 page thesis, things can get jumbled. You may find it particularly helpful to make a “reverse outline” of each of your chapters. That will help you to see the big sections in your work and move things around so there’s a logical flow of ideas. See our handout on  organization  for more organizational suggestions and tips on making a reverse outline

Plugging in holes in your evidence

It’s unlikely that you anticipated everything you needed to look up before you drafted your thesis. Save some time at the revising stage to plug in the holes in your research. Make sure that you have both primary and secondary evidence to support and contextualize your main ideas.

Saving time for the small stuff

Even though your argument, evidence, and organization are most important, leave plenty of time to polish your prose. At this point, you’ve spent a very long time on your thesis. Don’t let minor blemishes (misspellings and incorrect grammar) distract your readers!

Formatting and final touches

You’re almost done! You’ve researched, drafted, and revised your thesis; now you need to take care of those pesky little formatting matters. An honors thesis should replicate—on a smaller scale—the appearance of a dissertation or master’s thesis. So, you need to include the “trappings” of a formal piece of academic work. For specific questions on formatting matters, check with your department to see if it has a style guide that you should use. For general formatting guidelines, consult the Graduate School’s Guide to Dissertations and Theses . Keeping in mind the caveat that you should always check with your department first about its stylistic guidelines, here’s a brief overview of the final “finishing touches” that you’ll need to put on your honors thesis:

• Honors Thesis
• Name of Department
• University of North Carolina
• These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on whether your discipline uses MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago (also known in its shortened version as Turabian) style. Whichever style you’re using, stick to the rules and be consistent. It might be helpful to buy an appropriate style guide. Or consult the UNC LibrariesYear Citations/footnotes and works cited/reference pages  citation tutorial
• In addition, in the bottom left corner, you need to leave space for your adviser and faculty readers to sign their names. For example:

Approved by: _____________________

Adviser: Prof. Jane Doe

• This is not a required component of an honors thesis. However, if you want to thank particular librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here’s the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgments page if you received a grant from the university or an outside agency that supported your research. It’s a good idea to acknowledge folks who helped you with a major project, but do not feel the need to go overboard with copious and flowery expressions of gratitude. You can—and should—always write additional thank-you notes to people who gave you assistance.
• Formatted much like the table of contents.
• You’ll need to save this until the end, because it needs to reflect your final pagination. Once you’ve made all changes to the body of the thesis, then type up your table of contents with the titles of each section aligned on the left and the page numbers on which those sections begin flush right.
• Each page of your thesis needs a number, although not all page numbers are displayed. All pages that precede the first page of the main text (i.e., your introduction or chapter one) are numbered with small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.). All pages thereafter use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.).
• Your text should be double spaced (except, in some cases, long excerpts of quoted material), in a 12 point font and a standard font style (e.g., Times New Roman). An honors thesis isn’t the place to experiment with funky fonts—they won’t enhance your work, they’ll only distract your readers.
• In general, leave a one-inch inch margin on all sides. However, for the copy of your thesis that will be bound by the library, you need to leave a 1.25-inch margin on the left.

How do I defend my honors thesis?

Graciously, enthusiastically, and confidently. The term defense is scary and misleading—it conjures up images of a military exercise or an athletic maneuver. An academic defense ideally shouldn’t be a combative scene but a congenial conversation about the work’s merits and weaknesses. That said, the defense probably won’t be like the average conversation that you have with your friends. You’ll be the center of attention. And you may get some challenging questions. Thus, it’s a good idea to spend some time preparing yourself. First of all, you’ll want to prepare 5-10 minutes of opening comments. Here’s a good time to preempt some criticisms by frankly acknowledging what you think your work’s greatest strengths and weaknesses are. Then you may be asked some typical questions:

• What is the main argument of your thesis?
• How does it fit in with the work of Ms. Famous Scholar?
• Have you read the work of Mr. Important Author?

NOTE: Don’t get too flustered if you haven’t! Most scholars have their favorite authors and books and may bring one or more of them up, even if the person or book is only tangentially related to the topic at hand. Should you get this question, answer honestly and simply jot down the title or the author’s name for future reference. No one expects you to have read everything that’s out there.

• Why did you choose this particular case study to explore your topic?
• If you were to expand this project in graduate school, how would you do so?

Should you get some biting criticism of your work, try not to get defensive. Yes, this is a defense, but you’ll probably only fan the flames if you lose your cool. Keep in mind that all academic work has flaws or weaknesses, and you can be sure that your professors have received criticisms of their own work. It’s part of the academic enterprise. Accept criticism graciously and learn from it. If you receive criticism that is unfair, stand up for yourself confidently, but in a good spirit. Above all, try to have fun! A defense is a rare opportunity to have eminent scholars in your field focus on YOU and your ideas and work. And the defense marks the end of a long and arduous journey. You have every right to be proud of your accomplishments!

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Atchity, Kenneth. 1986. A Writer’s Time: A Guide to the Creative Process from Vision Through Revision . New York: W.W. Norton.

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Elbow, Peter. 1998. Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process . New York: Oxford University Press.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. 2014. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing , 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Lamott, Anne. 1994. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . New York: Pantheon.

Lasch, Christopher. 2002. Plain Style: A Guide to Written English. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Thesis Structure

This page outlines the stages of an honours thesis and provides links to other pages that will give you more information and some examples from past theses.

Stages of a thesis (in order)

Write this last. It is an overview of your whole thesis, and is between 200-300 words.

See writing abstracts for honours theses for what to include in your abstract or see some example abstracts .

Introduction

Usually longer than an abstract, and provides the following:

• background to the topic;
• brief review of current knowledge (Can include literature review in some schools);
• indicates gap in knowledge, states aim of your research and how it fits into the gap;
• can include hypotheses; can include an outline of the following chapters.

See thesis introductions exercises for more information.

• Literature review

Often part of the Introduction, but can be a separate section. It is an evaluation of previous research on your topic, where you show that there is a gap in the knowledge that your research will attempt to fill. The key word here is evaluation.

See literature reviews for more information and examples to get you started on your literature review.

Often the easiest part of the thesis to write. Outlines which method you chose and why (your methodology); what, when, where, how and why you did what you did to get your results.

Here are some sample methods .

Outlines what you found out in relation to your research questions or hypotheses, presented in figures and in written text.

Results contain the facts of your research. Often you will include a brief comment on the significance of key results, with the expectation that more generalised comments about results will be made in the Discussion section. Sometimes Results and Discussion are combined: check with your supervisor and with highly rated past theses in your School.

Here are some suggestions for writing up results .

The Discussion section:

• comments on your results;
• explains what your results mean;
• interprets your results in a wider context; indicates which results were expected or unexpected;
• provides explanations for unexpected results.

The Discussion should also relate your specific results to previous research or theory. You should point out what the limitations were of your study, and note any questions that remain unanswered. The Discussion CAN also include Conclusions/Future Research. Check with your supervisor.

See our theses in discussion page for more information or try these exercises .

• Conclusions

Very important! This is where you emphasise that your research aims/objectives have been achieved.

You also emphasise the most significant results, note the limitations and make suggestions for further research.

Conclusions can include Future Directions. Check with your supervisor.

For more information see conclusions in honours theses or sample conclusions .

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Writing an Honors Thesis

An Honors Thesis is a substantial piece of independent research that an undergraduate carries out over two semesters. Students writing Honors Theses take PHIL 691H and 692H, in two different semesters. What follows answers all the most common questions about Honors Theses in Philosophy.

All necessary forms are downloadable and may be found in bold, underlined text below.

Who can write an Honors Thesis in Philosophy?

Any Philosophy major who has a total, cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 and a GPA of at least 3.5 (with a maximum of one course with a PS grade) among their PHIL courses can in principle write an Honors Thesis. In addition, students need to satisfy a set of specific pre-requisites, as outlined below.

What are the pre-requisites for an Honors Thesis in Philosophy?

The requirements for writing an Honors Thesis in Philosophy include

• having taken at least five PHIL courses, including two numbered higher than 299;
• having a total PHIL GPA of at least 3.5 (with a maximum of one course with a PS grade); and
• having done one of the following four things:
• taken and passed PHIL 397;
• successfully completed an Honors Contract associated with a PHIL course;
• received an A or A- in a 300-level course in the same area of philosophy as the proposed thesis ; or
• taken and passed a 400-level course in the same area of philosophy as the proposed thesis .

When should I get started?

You should get started with the application process and search for a prospective advisor the semester before you plan to start writing your thesis – that is, the semester before the one in which you want to take PHIL 691H.

Often, though not always, PHIL 691H and 692H are taken in the fall and spring semesters of the senior year, respectively. It is also possible to start earlier and take 691H in the spring semester of the junior year and PHIL 692H in the fall of the senior year. Starting earlier has some important advantages. One is that it means you will finish your thesis in time to use it as a writing sample, should you decide to apply to graduate school. Another is that it avoids a mad rush near the very end of your last semester.

How do I get started?

Step 1: fill out the honors thesis application.

The first thing you need to do is fill out an Honors Thesis Application   and submit it to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) for their approval.

Step 2: Find an Honors Thesis Advisor with the help of the DUS

Once you have been approved to write an Honors Thesis, you will consult with the DUS about the project that you have in mind and about which faculty member would be an appropriate advisor for your thesis. It is recommended that you reach out informally to prospective advisors to talk about their availability and interest in your project ahead of time, and that you include those suggestions in your application, but it is not until your application has been approved that the DUS will officially invite the faculty member of your choice to serve as your advisor. You will be included in this correspondence and will receive written confirmation from your prospective advisor.

Agreeing to be the advisor for an Honors Thesis is a major commitment, so bear in mind that there is a real possibility that someone asked to be your advisor will say no. Unfortunately, if we cannot find an advisor, you cannot write an Honors Thesis.

Step 3: Fill out the required paperwork needed to register for PHIL 691H

Finally, preferably one or two weeks before the start of classes (or as soon as you have secured the commitment of a faculty advisor), you need to fill out an Honors Thesis Contract and an Honors Thesis Learning Contract , get them both signed by your advisor, and email them to the DUS.

Once the DUS approves both of these forms, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 691H. All of this should take place no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner).

What happens when I take PHIL 691H and PHIL 692H?

PHIL 691H and PHIL 692H are the course numbers that you sign up for to get credit for working on an Honors Thesis. These classes have official meeting times and places. In the case of PHIL 691H , those are a mere formality: You will meet with your advisor at times you both agree upon. But in the case of PHIL 692H , they are not a mere formality: The class will actually meet as a group, at least for the first few weeks of the semester (please see below).

When you take PHIL 691H, you should meet with your advisor during the first 5 days of classes and, if you have not done so already, fill out an Honors Thesis Learning Contract  and turn in to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) . This Contract will serve as your course syllabus and must be turned in and approved no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner). Once the DUS approves your Honors Thesis Learning Contract, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 691H.

Over the course of the semester, you will meet regularly with your advisor. By the last day of classes, you must turn in a 10-page paper on your thesis topic; this can turn out to be part of your final thesis, but it doesn’t have to. In order to continue working on an Honors Thesis the following semester, this paper must show promise of your ability to complete one, in the opinion of your advisor. Your advisor should assign you a grade of “ SP ” at the conclusion of the semester, signifying “satisfactory progress” (so you can move on to PHIL 692H). Please see page 3 of this document for more information.

When you take PHIL 692H, you’ll still need to work with your advisor to fill out an Honors Thesis Learning Contract . This Contract will serve as your course syllabus and must be turned in to and approved by the DUS  no later than the 5th day of classes in any given semester (preferably sooner).

Once the DUS approves your Honors Thesis Learning Contract, they’ll get you registered for PHIL 692H.

At the end of the second semester of senior honors thesis work (PHIL 692H), your advisor should assign you a permanent letter grade. Your advisor should also change your PHIL 691H grade from “ SP ” to a permanent letter grade. Please see page 3 of this document for more information.

The Graduate Course Option

If you and your advisor agree, you may exercise the Graduate Course Option. If you do this, then during the semester when you are enrolled in either PHIL 691H or PHIL 692H, you will attend and do the work for a graduate level PHIL course. (You won’t be officially enrolled in that course.) A paper you write for this course will be the basis for your Honors Thesis. If you exercise this option, then you will be excused from the other requirements of the thesis course (either 691H or 692H) that you are taking that semester.

Who can be my advisor?

Any faculty member on a longer-than-one-year contract in the Department of Philosophy may serve as your honors thesis advisor. You will eventually form a committee of three professors, of which one can be from outside the Department.  But your advisor must have an appointment in the Philosophy Department. Graduate Students are not eligible to advise Honors Theses.

Who should be my advisor?

Any faculty member on a longer-than-one-year contract in the Department of Philosophy may serve as your honors thesis advisor. It makes most sense to ask a professor who already knows you from having had you as a student in a class. In some cases, though, this is either not possible, or else there is someone on the faculty who is an expert on the topic you want to write about, but from whom you have not taken a class. Information about which faculty members are especially qualified to advise thesis projects in particular areas of philosophy can be found  here .

What about the defense?

You and your advisor should compose a committee of three professors (including the advisor) who will examine you and your thesis. Once the committee is composed, you will need to schedule an oral examination, a.k.a. a defense. You should take the initiative here, communicating with all members of your committee in an effort to find a block of time (a little over an hour) when all three of you can meet. The thesis must be defended by a deadline , set by Honors Carolina , which is usually a couple of weeks before the end of classes. Students are required to upload the final version of their thesis to the  Carolina Digital Repository  by the final day of class in the semester in which they complete the thesis course work and thesis defense.

What is an Honors Thesis in Philosophy like?

An Honors Thesis in Philosophy is a piece of writing in the same genre as a typical philosophy journal article. There is no specific length requirement, but 30 pages (double-spaced) is a good guideline. Some examples of successfully defended Honors The easiest way to find theses of past philosophy students is on the web in the Carolina Digital Repository . Some older, hard copies of theses are located on the bookshelf in suite 107 of Caldwell Hall. (You may ask the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) , or anyone else who happens to be handy, to show you where it is!)

How does the Honors Thesis get evaluated?

The honors thesis committee will evaluate the quality and originality of your thesis as well as of your defense and then decides between the following three options:

• they may award only course credit for the thesis work if the thesis is of acceptable quality;
• they may designate that the student graduate with honors if the thesis is of a very strong quality;
• they may  recommend  that the student graduate with highest honors if the thesis is of exceptional quality.

As a matter of best practice, our philosophy department requires that examining committees refer all candidates for highest honors to our Undergraduate Committee chaired by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. This committee evaluates nominated projects and makes the final decision on awarding highest honors. Highest honors should be awarded only to students who have met the most rigorous standards of scholarly excellence.

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Honours Handbook

What is Honours?

Honours is an extra year of study, usually following immediately on from a Pass degree, that combines aspects of undergraduate study with aspects of postgraduate research. It introduces advanced research training through the completion of a 15,000-20,000 word research thesis or of a practice-based research project. Students who undertake Bachelors degrees in Australia typically have the opportunity to complete either a Pass degree or an Honours degree. A Pass degree, the standard program followed by most students, is structured around coursework and is usually completed in three years. In the School of the Arts and Media at UNSW, an Honours degree is available only to students who have achieved a minumum grade average of 70% within a particular discipline of study, involves both coursework and advanced research training, and requires an extra year of university study. 

Undertaking an Honours year will give you your first real glimpse of what being an academic involves. Your thesis or practical project will be of your own devising. It will involve developing your own research questions and answering them through original investigation, practice, analysis and reporting.

For all enquiries, contact the SAM Honours Convenor, Dr Craig Billngham

Below is a comprehensive guide to the school’s honours programs, including why you should consider honours, how to apply, what honours research involves, and what an honours year looks like. .

Students are encouraged to take Honours in one of the major streams that they have completed in the course of their undergraduate degree. However, in some circumstances students can apply for joint supervision in two areas. Honours is typically taken as one-year full-time program of study. 

The School of the Arts and Media (SAM) offers the following plans: 

The Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (code: 4504) 

Creative Writing 

• Dance Studies 
• English Literary Studies 
• Film Studies 
• Media, Culture and Technology
• Music Studies 
• Theatre and Performance Studies 

The Bachelor of Media (Honours) (code: 4510) 

• Communication and Journalism 
• Public Relations and Advertising 
• Screen and Sound Production 

The Bachelor of Music (Honours) (code: 3440) 

• Music Creative Practice 
• Music Inquiry 
• Music Pedagogy 
• Sonic Arts 

Structure of the Honours Plans

With the exception of Honours in Music, each Honours plan consists of 48 units of credit (uoc) comprising two components: 

1. 30 uoc of thesis/practical project. This involves either an original piece of research extending throughout the year and the submission of a 15,000-20,000 word thesis based upon it; or a year-long research project comprising a practical project and the submission of a written thesis of 8,000 to 10,000 words. 

2. 18 uoc of coursework. Students take two courses: 

• ARTS4100 Research Methods and Thesis Writing (6 uoc) 
• ARTS4202 Uses of Theory (12 uoc) 

The Music plan consists of 48 uoc comprising two components: 

1. 36 uoc of the thesis/creative project. This involves either an original piece of research extending throughout the year and the submission of a 15,000-20,000 word thesis based upon it; or a year-long research project comprising a creative project (20 minutes of composition or 40 minutes of performance) and the submission of a written thesis of 8,000 to 10,000 words. 

2. 12 uoc of coursework. Students take two courses: 

• MUSC4101: Critical Investigation in Music (6 uoc) 
• MUSC4102: Critical Practice in Music (6 uoc) 

Prerequisites of the Honours Plans

Students wishing to apply for entry into one of the Honours plans offered by the School of the Arts and Media must meet the following entry requirements: 

• successful completion of a relevant undergraduate degree 
• a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 70 or higher in the major stream or depth component to be studied. 

If you have any questions about the SAM Honours prerequisites, please speak to the SAM Honours convenor. 

You should consider undertaking Honours: 

• if you have achieved good results in the School's programs of study, have a serious interest in furthering your understanding of one of its disciplines, and/or can see yourself undertaking higher-degree research in the future; 
• or if you are an ambitious person who likes to think independently and critically about the world in which we live, who seeks an active and ongoing engagement with developments in social, political and cultural arenas, and who wants to be well prepared for a job that will continue to extend your capacities through your working life; 
• or if you want to work within the cultural industry as a teacher, writer, filmmaker, journalist, arts practitioner, performer, researcher or arts entrepreneur. The advanced knowledge and skills developed in Honours provide an ideal basis for exciting and rewarding employment. An Honours degree will give you experience in research and project management, and is a passport to higher-degree research. 

If you aren't yet quite all of these things, but would like to develop in these ways, then you should think about undertaking Honours. 

Completing an Honours degree brings many rewards. Some particularly notable ones are: 

• obtaining a much deeper understanding of your academic discipline (Creative Writing, Dance Studies, English, Film Studies, Media, Music, or Theatre and Performance Studies); 
• working one-on-one with your supervisor and receiving instruction on reading, writing and critical thinking at an advanced level; 
• developing a sense of collegiality with a select group of Honours students who will be your peers and with whom you will share all the excitement, interests, aspirations and insights that come with a period of intensive study. 

Step 1:  Contact the SAM Honours Convenor, Dr Craig Billingham  to discuss your eligibility, research topic, and Honours program options 

Step 2:  Contact potential supervisors to discuss your proposed research before informing the SAM Honours Convenor of your preferred choice of supervisor and your research topic

Step 3:  All applicants (current UNSW students and external students) must submit an online application via  UNSW Apply Online

Current UNSW students are not required to pay the application fee. 

Admission to Honours is subject to approval of the Honours Convenor, and the availability of appropriate supervision. Candidates should therefore note that the minimum qualifications for entry to the various plans will not guarantee automatic admission. 

UNSW students seeking internal transfer to the Music Creative Practice Honours stream must undertake an audition if their declared major is in a different stream. This should be discussed with the program convenor for Music. 

Students from institutions other than UNSW who wish to undertake Honours in Music may be required to attend an audition if their proposed program includes music performance, or to present a folio of compositions if their proposed program includes composition. This should be discussed with the program convenor for Music. 

The Normal Pattern

The Honours degree is normally taken full-time in the year immediately following the completion of the undergraduate program but without the student taking out the Pass degree. 

For students in Creative Writing, Dance Studies, English, Film Studies, Media, and Theatre and Performance Studies: coursework will run in Term One, with Terms Two and Three devoted to the thesis. 

At the end of Term One, all students participate in the SAM Honours symposium, a two-day mini-conference in which each student delivers a ten-minute talk on their research in progress to an audience of their peers and supervisors, and open to all academic staff, students, friends and family.

For students in Music, MUSC4101 runs in Term One and MUSC4102 runs in Term Two, with Term Three devoted to the thesis. 

Students who are enrolled in Honours must be prepared to work on their thesis or project and on seminar coursework on a full-time basis (meaning, at the very least, the equivalent of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday) throughout the full year of enrolment. 

SAM does not take mid-year enrolments for the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Media Honours program. All students enrolled in these degrees must commence the program at the beginning of Term One. Students who transfer into the Bachelor of Music (Hons) are permitted to commence in Term Three. 

The School endorses the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture policy of not permitting Honours students to suspend enrolment for a term or more during the Honours program, other than in exceptional medical circumstances. 

Variations on the Normal Pattern

1. In special circumstances a student may be permitted to enrol in an Honours program on a part-time basis. In such a case, the program must be completed within a period of no more than six consecutive terms.

2. In special circumstances, and with the approval of both the School and the Faculty, students who studied Honours full-time in Term One can change their enrolment to part-time in later terms. 

The Honours year provides students with the opportunity to engage in modest but substantially independent research on a topic largely of their own choosing within their discipline. Academic research, whatever its approach, generally involves three main activities or 'strands', which tend to run concurrently. These can be summarized as  reading, questioning and arguing . 

When you apply to undertake an Honours year, you will already have identified a topic area of interest to you. This topic may grow out of your previous undergraduate coursework studies in the discipline or it may take you into areas new to you. After meeting with your supervisor early on, you begin your Honours research by generating a reading list through wide reading in this general area. Initially this reading may be in the nature of a survey of the field in which you are interested. If you are preparing a practice-based research project, this would include a survey of related creative works and practices. In the preliminary stages, your reading will be carried out with the aim of identifying precisely what work has already been done and what have been the approaches taken by researchers in that field to date. This will help you to define your own particular interest in the field, and it will take you the duration of Term One. If you are working on a practice-based research project, you will need to begin to devise early forms of the final presentation piece, refining your project prior to its presentation early in Term Three. Reading of secondary material will continue throughout the Honours year. 

Questioning 

The second component of your Honours thesis or project involves posing questions and proposing hypotheses based on the reading not simply of secondary material but also of the primary sources which will come to form the basis of your project. Such sources will, as the project progresses, almost certainly change and their number and nature expand; they might include films, videos, visual artworks, computer animation, scripts, musical scores, performances and their archival documentation, printed texts, manuscript sources ranging from literary texts to diaries, account books, public records, oral material such as recorded interviews, pictorial records, or multimodal material, and so on. What you study and the questions you ask of those materials will be entirely the result of your own observations, hunches, questions, ideas and hypotheses. It is this combination of questioning, comparing, reading, thinking and discussing which constitutes research. In both research theses and practice-based research projects, this process will normally be concurrent with your reading. This work will be supported and extended by assessment tasks in your Honours seminar courses. 

The third component or strand of your Honours research process occurs
as you begin to construct an argument which will answer the questions you have raised, drawing on textual or other sources as evidence. In the case of a practice-based research project this argument takes its first form in the practical presentation. The argument is eventually shaped into a written document, the thesis, which makes available to the academic community your position and your reasons for it. Research is thus almost entirely self-generated. Because it involves forging an original idea by asking and answering questions which are important to you, it cannot be merely a follow-up to suggestions put by a supervisor or by your peers. It involves your constant and active intellectural engagement with the relvant materials. Your supervisor will of course have pertinent questions to ask about, or suggested additions to make to, your hypotheses and ideas: this questioning and suggesting is what supervision is for. But the hammering out of a thesis or argument is naturally, and can only be, your work alone.  

It will help if you have commenced thinking, reading and planning in the area of your thesis topic or practical project over the summer break. You are encouraged to discuss the possibilities of such topics and projects with available staff. 

Identifying a potential supervisor

It is customary for intending Honours students to approach a potential supervisor directly to find out whether that person will be available to supervise the proposed topic at the time the student is intending to enrol. However, this initial, informal contact does not represent formal acceptance of your application nor does it constitute the formal appointment of a supervisor. Final decisions on applications and on the appointment of a supervisor are made by the Honours Convenor in consultation with Program or Stream Convenors and the Head of School. 

Appointment Procedure

Each Honours student in the School is assigned a supervisor from among our full-time staff. If we are unable to offer you a supervisor, we will not be able to accept your application. In appointing your supervisor, we take into account the following factors: 

• which staff member has the most relevant expertise to assist you in research on your stated topic;
• your preference of supervisor, based on preliminary contact you have made with the staff member, and that staff member's willingness to supervise your work in the nominated area; 
• the availability of a staff member at the time of your candidature; 
• the number of other Honours students the staff member is supervising. 

The Appointment of Two Supervisors

Because of staff leave commitments, you may request or be appointed two supervisors: one in Term One, and one in Terms Two or Three. In this case, the first supervisor will give the second supervisor a short report on your progress at the point of handover. This report, along with the full research proposal completed as part of the assessment for the Research Methods course, will ensure that the second supervisor is fully familiarized with your research area and your progress.

Your Supervsior's responsibilities

Supervision involves a working relationship between candidate and supervisor, and so involves joint responsibilities. Your supervisor will endeavour to assist you with every aspect of your research. A supervisor's specific responsibilities include: 

• having a good working knowledge of the regulations of the degree or program, the conditions of enrolment, and the requirements for the presentation of your thesis or essay; 
• giving you careful advice on the choice of a topic area and the formulation of a specific topic appropriate to the Honours level (in terms of depth, thesis length, etc); 
• offering you bibliographic and organisational advice; 
• arranging frequent consultations with you at mutually convenient times, and devising with you a schedule for the submission of written work; 
• providing, within a reasonable period of time (i.e. three weeks), a written commentary on submitted drafts. Your supervisor will often be obliged, in your best interests, to adopt the position of "devil's advocate" in order to forewarn you of possible adverse criticism by other readers or examiners. The ultimate decision about editing and revision rests with you, and you should understand the risk involved in ignoring a supervisor's advice. 

Your Responsibilities as an Honours Student

You should certainly regard the supervisor as an information resource, but you must accept final responsibility for knowledge of the requirements of the degree or program, and for the content and presentation of the thesis or production and written components that form the end-product of the research undertaken. Some of the candidate's specific responsibilities include: 

• familiarizing yourself with the regulations of the degree or program, the conditions of enrolment, and the requirements for the presentation of your thesis or essay; 
• undertaking initial, broadly based bibliographic work and regularly updating that work (though of course the supervisor will make useful suggestions); 
• choosing (in consultation with the supervisor) a topic area and formulating a specific topic appropriate to the Honours level; 
• keeping appointments with your supervisor for frequent consultations, making relevant preparation for those consultations and, according to a schedule worked out with your supervisor, regularly submitting to your supervisor drafts and other written material; 
• most of all, appreciating that you will not benefit fully from supervision until you begin to organise your thoughts on paper and to reflect on the supervisor's written responses. 

Any student or supervisor who is unhappy about a supervision relationship may at any stage approach the Honours Convenor or the Head of School for mediation. A candidate who is not satisfied may also consult or be referred to the School's Grievance Officer. 

For further details on supervision, see the UNSW's  Higher Degree Research Supervision Guidelines . These guidelines are equally applicable to Honours Research supervision. 

The 15,000-20,000 word research thesis is the largest single component of work you will complete in Honours. Students often begin thinking about their thesis topic in the year prior to enrolling, and it is expected that by the
time you enrol you will have an idea of the topic you want to investigate. You should make an early start on the research thesis by conducting a literature review and some preliminary reading. By the end of your first term you are expected to have completed a full thesis proposal, with a chapter breakdown and a timeline. The second and third terms are devoted to the thesis. 

The thesis should be original in the sense that it develops and presents your own perspective on the topic. It should not merely repeat or synthesize the arguments of others. The thesis should demonstrate your skills in three areas: research, analysis, and the presentation of findings. 

The thesis should engage in any one or in a combination of the following: 

• historical research, or other forms of contextual research, such as investigating the social background to or reception of a work, or studying its relation to other texts and material; 
• theoretical research, in which you develop a reading of the chosen subject in relation to an area of critical or cultural theory; 
• critical research, in which you engage with a critical controversy or situate your own views on the topic within a tradition or problem in contemporary criticism. 

The thesis should demonstrate an ability to perform analytical work on texts, works or objects. This might take the form of close reading, rhetorical analysis, visual or aural analysis or another form of rigorous, detailed engagement with the texture and structure of the work. 

Presentation of Findings

This falls into four parts: 

a) Argument 

  You should present your findings as an integrated, coherent and well-structured argument, which uses evidence in an intellectually honest, convincing way. 

b) Writing 

The thesis should be written in a grammatically correct and fluent style which conveys the meaning intelligibly. 

c) Documentation 

The thesis should correctly employ a standard professional academic mode of documentation. 

d) Presentation 

The thesis must be referenced according to approved conventions of academic writing; written in clear, concise and fluent English; and be grammatically correct and correctly spelt. Very importantly, it must be carefully proof-read. Poor proof-reading, poor expression, poor layout,
and inconsistent or insufficient references, footnotes and bibliography/filmography/discography will attract penalties. Failure to take adequate care in these areas will cause you to lose marks. 

Length of the Thesis

The length of the research thesis is 15,000-20,000 words. This applies to the text of the thesis only, and does not include abstract, footnotes, references or bibliography. 

Thesis Examination

The examination of the research thesis is a test of the plausibility of your argument by others with established reputations for research in your field. The thesis is assessed by two examiners, neither of whom is the supervisor. Each examiner writes a report on the thesis. A copy of each report will be sent to you. 

Honours research theses should demonstrate competence in all the areas outlined in the guidelines above. 

A first-class Honours thesis should represent an outstanding achievement in research, analysis or both. While an examiner may not necessarily agree with the interpretation offered, she or he should feel that the argument is well organised and based on a valid use of evidence. A first-class thesis should not contain any significant or pervasive problems in writing, documentation or presentation. 

To receive a mark of 90 or more a thesis must represent an outstanding achievement in all the areas, and an exceptional achievement in either research or analysis, or both. Occasionally an Honours thesis will be 'original' in the sense of making an original contribution to knowledge in the field, according to international standards of professional achievement. However, it should be noted that this is no longer a requirement for the PhD thesis at all institutions, and is not here imposed as a standard upon Honours theses. If a thesis were 'original' in this sense it would certainly warrant a mark of 90 or more, providing that it were also outstanding in all the areas outlined above.

As an alternative to the research thesis, Honours students in SAM may undertake a practice-based research project. It is important to note the vital respect in which a practice-based research project and the research thesis are similar: both are research programs and, in undertaking them, the student must demonstrate a capacity to proceed to postgraduate work. That is, the student must show that she or he has mastered the research skills required of a candidate for a higher degree. 

Regardless of the discipline in which it is undertaken, a practice-based research project will normally have two components: a written thesis component of between 8,000 and 10,000 words and a practical component. The type of practical component will depend on the discipline and might be, for example, a piece of creative writing, a film, a dance choreography, a performance, a music recital, musical compositions, an animation, a website, a feature article, an advertising campaign or other practical work. The same research question will drive the practical and thesis components of the project. The thesis component should, therefore, be considered a further stage in the research process, rather than a summary, recapitulation or exegesis of the finished practical component. 

It is expected that by the time you enrol you will have an idea of the topic you want to investigate through your practice. You should make an early start on your practice-based research project by conducting a search of related creative works and practices and by doing some preliminary reading. Once you commence your Honours year, your topic will be developed into a well-defined practical project with guidance from your supervisor. By the end of your first term you are expected to have completed a full research proposal, have prepared substantial work towards your practical component and have a draft of the introduction to your thesis component. 

The practical component may be undertaken in any medium for which facilities are available in the School or the University, and for which supervision can be arranged with the School. You should consult with both your supervisor and the School's technical and production staff to clarify what assistance will be available for you. Resources are limited, so all exercises must be conducted in a minimalist frame of mind. No special credit will be given for practical work enhanced by a large expenditure. 

Each candidate needs to be the primary researcher/artist and so must take a lead role in the proposed project. This means, for example, that you will be the performer, director, dramaturge, composer, choreographer, and/or writer. We encourage you to work with other practitioners to realise your work, but you need to ensure that they understand your aims, that they have the skills necessary to best assist your research, and that they are able to offer you sufficient time to undertake your project. 

It is crucial to recognise that practical projects at Honours level are investigative. They are research exercises and, as such, are process- rather than product-oriented. In this way, the student is never undertaking practical work for its own sake. Rather, it should always constitute a practical or physical investigation of theoretical issues. Research and background reading, a clear theoretical framework and cogent analysis are essential components in the realisation of the practical component, as well as the thesis component of a practice-based research project. 

Length of the Practical Component 

The size of the practical component must be negotiated with the supervisor in consultation with the Discipline and Honours conveners before the project is approved. As a general guide, it should aim to match the thesis and constitute the equivalent of 8,000-10,000 words. 

This guide is not easily translated for those students whose projects are time-based. However, as a maximum, music recitals do not usually exceed 40 minutes, composition portfolios do not exceed 20 minutes, live theatre or dance performances do not exceed 20 minutes, and video or media productions do not exceed 15 minutes. These maximums are not presented as figures to strive for. It is worth emphasising that the value of your practical component does not come from its length but rather from the strength of the research thinking that it represents. The length of each project will vary depending on the complexity of the given medium and the research questions that are being addressed. 

Length of the Thesis Component 

The thesis component of practice-based research projects will be between 8,000 and 10,000 words, and may be accompanied by supporting material. You should discuss with your supervisor the ideal or required length for your thesis and have this confirmed in writing by the start of your second term of research. This total does not include abstract, footnotes, references or bibliography. 

Practice-Based Research Project Examination 

In assessing a practice-based research project, both the practical and the thesis components are taken into account. Both components are assessed by two examiners, neither of whom is the supervisor. Each examiner writes a report on the practical component and/or the thesis and a copy of these reports is given to the student. 

The thesis component will be examined with the same rigour and at the same level as any research thesis, and the practical component must be of an appropriate level of technical competence, as well as contribute to the intellectual field of the thesis component. 

In all disciplines except for Music, the two components are of equal weight, and the student receives a single mark for the whole project. 

In Music Honours, the practical component is worth 24 UOC and the written component is worth 12 UOC. 

Further Guidelines for Projects in Dance, Film, Media and Theatre and Performance 

All students need to meet with the staff of the Creative Practice Lab (CPL) and/or the Technical Resources Centre (TRC) early in Term One to discuss their projects, be advised of available support from the School, and arrange access to suitable resources. The CPL and TRC have substantial resources for performances, screenings, installations and interactive works, but these resources are nevertheless limited, and access to resources will depend on availability and the scope of the project. Practical components are normally presented in one half of the Io Myers Studio or in Studio 1, and normally the works must not remain fixed in the space, but be able to be removed immediately to make way for other works. Other arrangements and locations, including outdoor locations, may on occasion be possible, but requests must be made by Week 10 of Term One, and are subject to the approval of the student's supervisor, the CPL staff, and the Honours Convenor. 

The practical component will be judged on its 

• significance and innovation of form with respect to the work's chosen research parameters; 
• evidence of thoughtful experimentation with stated research questions within the creative work; 
• demonstrated awareness (i.e. through formal strategy, dramaturgical decisions, design, etc.) of theoretical, historical and practical contexts that may inform the work; 
• evidence of thoughtful and appropriate consideration of production components and design, as appropriate to the stated research aims and within budgetary guidelines.

The written component should be a clearly and coherently structured document with advanced academic standards of writing and presentation. It should demonstrate 

• an understanding of, and innovation in, the conceptual and aesthetic basis for the creative work, with respect to the work's chosen research questions; 
• an awareness of connections between theoretical, historical and practical contexts as appropriate to the stated aims of the work; 
• an evaluation of the effectiveness of the creative work, and its practical methodology, with respect to its relevant disciplinary context and research aims; 
• a clearly and coherently structured exegesis; 
• advanced academic standards of writing and presentation (correct grammar, punctuation, referencing, bibliography). 

Further Guidelines for a Creative Writing Project 

A Creative Writing project will comprise two parts of roughly equal length: the creative project and the critical component. It is expected that the two will be linked so as to constitute a single thesis. Alternatively, the student can produce a single fictocritical piece. 

Creative project 

The creative project will be a complete and finished piece of creative writing. It may take the form of prose fiction, poetry, a script or screenplay, writing for performance, or a multi-genre hybrid. It may be conceived as a single piece, such as an extended short story, or as a coherent collection of poems or a series of interrelated microfictions, etc. 

Apart from displaying a professional standard of presentation (i.e. proof-read for syntactical, grammatical and spelling errors, with appropriate layout), the creative project should demonstrate a high level of competence in literary technique and structuring appropriate to the genre it is working with. 

The concept of 'publishable quality' is not applied at Honours level, but the creative project should be able to sustain critical scrutiny. In other words, the project should demonstrate a productive attempt to explore, subvert or expand upon the genre, style or discursive regime in which it is working. 

Critical component 

The critical component should demonstrate a critical awareness of the genre in which the creative project is working, of the discursive or cultural field in which the creative project is situated, or of the theories which inform the project. It may historicize and critically examine the genre, movement or tradition that the creative project is engaging with (such as lyric poetry, or feminist writing, etc); it may theorise the genre or conventions being employed, and the student's mobilisation or reworking of them (such as the gothic, or unreliable narration, etc); and it may investigate an area of literary or cultural theory which relates to the creative writing project. 

The critical component and the creative project should be read as two complementary elements of the overall Honours submission. However, there should not be a hierarchical relationship between primary creative text and secondary critical explanation. The essay should be more than a supplementary justification or explanation of the creative dissertation. 

The relationship between these two components can take a variety of forms at the discretion of the student and supervisor. This relationship should be envisaged in dialogic rather than hermeneutic terms. 

The same scholarly expectations for academic dissertations (relating to referencing, footnoting, bibliographies and critical insight) should apply to the critical component. 

Fictocritical theses 

The thesis may consist of one component only if the methodology is fictocritical and incorporates an investigation of theoretical issues within the creative project. Such theses may make use of non-essayistic conventions, authorial modes, narrative and poetic devices and linguistic registers. The student will need to provide adequate explanation or signposting of their methodology. 

Further Guidelines for Projects in Music 

All students need to meet with the staff of the Creative Practice Lab (CPL) and/or the Technical Resources Centre (TRC) early in Term 1 to discuss their projects, be advised of available support from the School and arrange access to suitable resources. The CPL and TRC have substantial resources for performances and recitals, but these resources are nevertheless limited, and access to resources will depend on availability and the scope of the project. Music performances and recitals are normally presented in Io Myers Studio, Clancy Auditorium, or Robert Webster 334. Other arrangements and locations, including outdoor locations, may on occasion be possible, but requests must be made by Week 10 of Term 1, and are subject to the approval of the student's supervisor, the CPL staff and the Honours Convenor. 

The practical component (usually in performance or composition) should demonstrate high-level technical and stylistic competence and awareness (through musical decision and execution) of theoretical, historical and practical contexts that inform the work. Performances should demonstrate evidence of appropriate consideration of performance-production requirements and appropriate skill in performance presentation. 

The written component, a thesis of 8,000 to 10,000 words, should follow the requirements for a research thesis outlined above. 

An Honours project in composition will demonstrate the student's awareness of compositional techniques, and their ability to create a portfolio of compositions that represent the student's own personal musical style (or at least the beginnings of a development of a personal musical style). 

The Composition portfolio for Honours projects can be comprised of any number of works, although the total duration of the portfolio should be approximately 20 minutes. It is expected that the student will organise a recital performance of the original works in the portfolio. 

The Honours thesis can be linked to the Honours project in that students could complete an analytical paper examining selected works of a particular composer, detailing the methods and techniques used by that composer. Subjects (composers) and works to be analysed must be discussed with the student's supervisor. 

The date of submission of theses will be 4:00 pm on the Thursday of Week Nine, Term Three. This submission date applies to all students completing Honours in Term Three. 

Practice-Based Research Project Due Dates 

Practical component - dance, media, film, theatre and performance studies .

Live performances, screening, and installations will take place in Weeks two and three of Term Three. Any documentation of live works, or practical component which can be submitted in electronic form, must be submitted at the same time as the thesis component, by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, week nine of Term Three. 

Students making films should submit a preliminary version to the staff of the Creative Practice Lab by the Monday of Week One in Term Three for the purposes of technical testing before screening in Week Three. Final versions should then be submitted to the Honours Convenor by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, week nine of Term Three. 

The creative project must be submitted at the same time as the critical component by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, week nine of Term Three. 

Music recitals and composition performances will be scheduled in Week two or Week three of Term Three. Composition folios must be submitted on the same day that the music is performed.

Thesis Component 

All students undertaking a practice-based research project must submit their written thesis component by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, week nine of Term Three.

Number of Copies 

Two copies of the thesis must be submitted in hard copy to the Honours Convenor or to the SAM office, and a third, electronic copy must be emailed to the Honours Convenor by the thesis due date. 

Where a thesis requires illustration (e.g. photographs, sketches, charts, plans, etc.), both copies must contain the necessary illustrations. 

Format and Order of Parts of the Thesis 

The thesis should be printed on A4 paper with single-sided pages. Each page should be numbered consecutively. Font size should be 12-point in a legible font, such as Times New Roman. Lines should be double-spaced, including for indented block quotations. The bibliography may be single-spaced. Margins should be a minimum of 2cm on each side, as well as top and bottom. 

1. Title-page: This must contain the title of the thesis, the full name of the student, the degree for which the thesis is submitted and the date of submission (month and year). See the sample title-page that follows. 

2. Abstract: This should be a concise and accurate summary of the argument of the thesis. It should consist of 200-250 words of continuous prose. 

3. Table of contents and list of illustrations: Titles must agree exactly with their wording in the main text. The listing of subdivisions within chapters is not normally necessary. A list of plates, charts, diagrams, etc. should follow the table of contents and also give page references.

4. Acknowledgements: This is optional, however it is common to acknowledge the input, advice and support of supervisors, family, friends, librarians, fellow researchers, and anyone else whose general assistance facilitated the thesis.

5. List of abbreviations: Abbreviations (of titles, etc.) regularly used in the text should be listed, with a key, immediately before the first page of the main text. 

6. Text: Page numbers should begin on the first page of the main text and continue to the end, and should be placed at the top of each page.

7. Notes and references: The School does not stipulate which system
of referencing a student should use, but it is vital that the treatment of notes, references and bibliographies be consistent and of an approved scholarly standard.

8. Bibliography: This should include all works referred to or cited in the text. It should be formatted consistently according to whichever style guide you are employing. 

9. Appendices: Material such as lists, tables, copies of documents, and other supporting information, which would constitute too great an interruption of the main text and is too extensive to be included in foot- or end-notes, may be offered in one or more appendices. Proliferation of appendices, however, and the inclusion of material of doubtful relevance is to be avoided. 

10. Creative Writing theses: students may decide whether to present the creative project or the critical component first, depending on the nature of their work and the relationship between the two components. Both must be listed in the contents page, and be separated by their own internal title page. The bibliography will typically appear as part of the critical component, however, if both parts of the thesis draw upon and reference the same sources, it may be listed at the end of the thesis. 

The following statement should be included at the beginning of the thesis, before the abstract: 

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgment is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. 

I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, even though I may have received assistance from others on style, presentation and linguistic expression. 

Sample title page 

Alternative phrasing could be:

A thesis submitted to the School of the Arts and Media

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for

the degree of Bacher of Arts (Honours)

* or, the Bacher of Media (Honours); the Bachelor of Music (Honours)

Referencing systems 

The most common referencing systems in the humanities are the MLA and Chicago styles. The official guide to these systems are: 

The MLA Handbook , 8th edition (Modern Language Association of America, 2016) 

The Chicago Manual of Style , 17th edition (Chicago University Press, 2017) 

You will find online multiple sites which outline these styles and provide examples. 

Thesis Binding

Hard copies of the thesis should be secured with ring binding or comb binding.

Extensions and Late Penalties 

Please note that the School of the Arts and Media has strict guidelines for the submission of work in the Honours program. This is both to provide equity for all students and to ensure effective administration of the program. 

With the exception of work that has been officially granted an extension (this means that an extension has been granted formally through the Special Considerations process) for a specified period, the following penalties shall apply: 

• late work shall attract a penalty of 5% of the highest possible mark for the piece of work for each day overdue; 
• work submitted more than three weeks after the deadline, without appropriate, officially granted extensions, may not be accepted. That is, the mark for such work will be entered as zero. 

Extensions for the Submission of Work Granted for Illness or Misadventure

Staff and students should note that extensions, if granted on the basis of documentary evidence, are for a specified length of time. After this length of time the same penalties will be applied for the late submission of work as above (i.e. 5% of the highest possible mark for the piece of work for each day overdue, and the possibility that work submitted more than three weeks late will not be accepted). Any additional extensions shall require documentation of further instances of illness or misadventure. Again, this is in the interests of equity and practicality. 

1. If the difference between the two examiners' marks is 10 or less, the Honours Convenor provides each examiner with the other's report and mark, and advises them of the average mark. The examiners then have the option of revising their marks. This can take the form of a face-to-face meeting if the examiners wish. 

2. If the difference between the two examiners' marks is more than 10, the Honours Convenor calls a meeting with the two examiners and attempts to mediate. If the examiners are unable to resolve their different views and bring their marks to within 10 marks of each other, a clean copy of the thesis is sent to a third examiner, who is asked to provide a mark and brief justification. The Honours Convenor then averages the two closest marks. If the three marks are separated by the same difference (e.g. marks of 70, 80 and 90), the Honours Convenor averages all three marks. 

3. When the examiners have agreed on a final mark, the Honours Convenor sends the mark and reports to the supervisor. The supervisor may raise concerns with the Honours Convenor. If the thesis mark is found to differ by more than 10 from the student's WAM, the Honours Convenor may appoint a third marker. 

4. The Honours Convenor convenes a subcommittee to read and rank any theses awarded 90 or more. 

Your final grade is a combination of the results from your two Honours courses and your research thesis or practice-based research project. Although the research thesis or practice-based research project has the highest credit-point weighting, you will need to achieve strong results in all three areas to do well in Honours. 

The grades awarded in Honours are: 

Hons. Class I (85 or higher) 

Hons. Class II division 1 (75-84) 

Hons. Class II division 2 (65-74) 

Hons. Class III (50-64) 

As a guide to your expectations for Honours, consider your overall WAM and your third-year average for your discipline subjects. If your third-year average is at a high credit level and you have maintained this level of performance throughout your three years of study, it would be reasonable to expect to achieve a distinction level in Honours (75-84) provided that you work hard and maintain a high standard in all aspects of your work. 

Plagiarism consists of appropriating the words and ideas of someone else and presenting them as your own. It is intellectual theft. It can take many forms, ranging from reproducing published material without acknowledgment and documentation, to submitting an essay written by someone else as your own work. Generally, we do know when we are indulging in some form of deceit such as this, but there may be cases when, because your own thoughts coincide closely with those of someone else, you are unsure of where you stand on the matter. In such circumstances, discuss the dilemma with a member of staff. Plagiarism is regarded very seriously as a violation of the objectives of a university education. It carries heavy penalties, including failure of the course and possible exclusion from Australian universities. 

A full explanation of plagiarism, with examples of correct and incorrect procedure, can be found on the Learning Centre.

Students whose research involves human participants must meet the requirements for ethical research. Activities which may require ethics approval include conducting interviews, taking surveys, accessing others' personal documents, and observing and recording others' behaviours. In the first instance, students should discuss the issue of ethics permission with their supervisor as early in their candidature as possible. 

The university's Human Ethics Team is available to guide students in deciding whether or not to apply for ethics approval, and in lodging an application. Further information can be found at  Applying Ethics Approval , or by contacting the  Human Ethics Team  on (02) 9385 6222 or (02) 9385 7257. 

Students whose research involves working with animals, whether alive or dead, must obtain animal ethics approval. 

Practice-based students whose practical components incorporate others' published or unpublished works may require copyright permission. This can be the case, for instance, when including someone else's musical recording in a film. Students should discuss the issue of copyright with their supervisor as early in their candidature as possible. 

The  Australian Copyright Council  provides information sheets for educational institutions about the copyright issues involved in using audiovisual materials and in staging concerts, plays and musicals.

Students whose research involves working with materials from particular cultures and traditions may find that specific protocols govern the writing, performance, and dissemination of those materials. This can be the case, for instance, when working with Indigenous Australian materials or with Maori materials. Students should discuss the issue of cultural protocols with their supervisor as early in their candidature as possible. 

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies provides information about  ethical protocols .

Screen Australia provides information about  working with Indigenous people, culture and concepts .

The Australia Council provides protocols for  working with Indigenous artists .

Dissertation and honours project

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LAW 6006 - Honours Dissertation

North terrace campus - semester 2 - 2023, course details, course staff.

Course Coordinator: Dr Colette Langos

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Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy and the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures , grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

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• comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
• automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
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Sample Honors Proposals and Theses

Sample honors proposals.

The following represent a sampling of outstanding English honors project proposals.

Disrupting Stereotypes: A Usability Report on Inclusive Design for Invisible Disabilities, including ADHD and Anxiety (PDF)

Author: Abby Wing Thesis Type: Independent Thesis Approved By: Janine Solberg, English Department Published: Spring 2023

Sir Lancelot Portrayed in Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur , Chretien de Troyes's Lancelot du Lac and T.H. White's The Once and Future King (PDF)

Author: Taylor Wise Thesis Type: Independent Thesis Approved By: Jenny Adams, English Department Published: Expected Spring 2017

Jane Austen’s Male Characters Through A Feminist Critical Lens (PDF)

Author: Anastasia Armstrong Thesis Type: Independent Thesis Approved By: Heidi Holder and Suzanne Daly, English Department Published: Expected Spring 2017

Sample Honors Theses

The following represent a sampling of outstanding English honors thesis projects.

Author: Abby Wing Thesis Type: Independent Thesis Approved By: Janine Solberg, English Department Published 2023

Abstract: In the Spring 2023 semester, I recruited students and faculty members with disabilities to test the usability of UMass Amherst financial aid web pages. The purpose of my testing was to learn more about the accessibility needs of people with disabilities. I conducted six remote usability tests with participants using Zoom. Each participant completed five tasks and shared their responses to a series of open-ended questions at the end of each test. These tasks involved finding information related to the cost of attending UMass Amherst for prospective students (i.e., total cost of attendance, net cost of attendance, housing costs, dining costs, and scholarships). Afterward, I generated inclusive personas that reflected the diverse characteristics of the participants. These personas, which are further discussed in the conclusion, offer insights into the accessibility needs of students with disabilities.

What I found: while participants are able to complete all tasks, they wished that information was more consolidated for greater navigability. Most of the time participants spent completing tasks involved trying to locate the appropriate pages to complete the tasks. Participants also wished that there was a stronger information hierarchy on cost pages for improved readability.

“This Is Hardly the Happy Ending I Was Expecting”: NIER ’s Rejection of the Heteronormative in Fairy Tales (PDF)

Author: Emily Cerri Thesis Type: Independent Thesis Approved By: Caroline Yang and TreaAndrea Russworm, English Department Published 2019

Abstract: Despite the perception they are just entertainment, video games have the potential to present criticisms on aspects of culture such as race, gender, and sexuality. Games such as Gone Home and The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories subvert stereotypes of gender and sexuality or highlight the struggles of sexually marginalized groups in a heteronormative society. However, games often miss the opportunity to subvert expectations or represent racially marginalized communities. The game NIER both creates and overlooks critiques of this lack of attention through its use of the fairy tale genre. NIER ’s destabilization of binaries and refusal to conform to gender roles and performance present a critique of heteronormativity and the gender binary of the fairy tale canon. And yet, NIER also misses the opportunity to fully present criticisms on the topics of race, gender, and sexuality. The game’s presentation of race is especially lacking, particularly through its tacit assumption of whiteness as the “unmarked” race. Though attempts to it dismantle some stereotypical racial imagery, it shuts out the possibility of nonwhite people persisting through the apocalypse. Furthermore, while its portrayal of nonheteronormative characters destabilizes the stereotypes of these characters in other media, censorship and pandering to the male gaze ultimately hinder the representation of these marginalized characters. That is, the localization explicitly alters characters’ identities in favor of heteronormativity and the game uses clothing and camera angles to hypersexualize the female protagonist. Its use of fairy tales, which are typically European tales, sometimes highlights their normalized gender and sexual stereotypes and expectations and sometimes subvert them. In other cases, it misses the opportunity to destabilize these notions and instead maintains the status quo. In such ways, NIER also fails to completely queer the fairy tale canon even as it tries to subvert the genre. Nonetheless, while NIER falls short of being a queer critique, it provides the opening for the critical player to do so.

Using Genre Theory to Understand the Way Opinion Journalism is Changing in Today’s Digital World (PDF)

Author: Tess Halpern Thesis Type: Independent Thesis Approved By: Donna LeCourt and Janine Solberg, English Department Published 2019

Abstract: As an editor of opinion journalism during my college years, I have always struggled to not only articulate but also determine which texts constitute opinion journalism and which are simply opinion. As opinions become more ubiquitous with the rise of the digital era, and as they can now be published on platforms like blogs, podcasts, and social media with no regulation or editorial review, this distinction has become even harder to make. Unfortunately, the blurring of the line between opinion journalism and opinion has happened at the precise moment that the legitimacy of journalism has also begun to be questioned more than ever before in my lifetime. The purpose of this research was to definitively draw that line, separating opinion journalism from opinion. To do this, I first determined the genre norms of opinion journalism by studying the texts, the writers, and the publications that define the genre. Following, I then determined where the genre set of opinion journalism ends by studying articles written for non-reputable, digital-only platforms, and platforms that were self-publishing or otherwise had minimal editing and regulation processes. A total of 63 articles from The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , The Washington Post , The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Odyssey Online , and personal blogs were analyzed for this research. The results of this study allowed me to track the transformation that opinion journalism, and journalism in general, is currently undergoing. Additionally, it clarified the distinction between opinion journalism and ordinary opinion, allowing me to better understand the genre and the texts that are excluded from that genre.

"You Can Be Useful to Us in a Hundred Different Ways”: A Study of Stage and Screen Adaptations of Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby (PDF)

Author: Emma Piscia Thesis/Project Type: Independent Honors Thesis Approved By: Heidi Holder and Suzanne Daly, Department Of English Published 2016

Abstract: Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby has been adapted since 1839, when it was still in the midst of its initial serialized publication. It has since been adapted into plays, films, and television miniseries over 250 times, and the number continues to grow. This thesis investigates the history of Nickleby as adapted for stage and screen from 1838 to the present. While there has been much scholarly consideration of adapted Dickens, there has been little in the way of examination of any particular work across periods and genres; Nickleby, with its varied history on stage and screen, certainly merits such critical examination. Works discussed here range from Edward Stirling’s early farce Nicholas Nickleby: or, Doings at Do-The-Boys Hall (1838), through David Edgar’s marathon stage adaptation The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Royal Shakespeare Company 1980), to David Innes Edwards’s and Joy Wilkinson’s The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby (a 2012 miniseries). This thesis explores the cultural uses and revisions of Dickens’s text. Key topics of discussion include the highly varied representation of the orphan Smike; the portrayal of physical, sexual, and financial violence; and the sociopolitical and economic themes of the novel that allow it to resonate with contemporary audiences down through the centuries. Using reviews, historical context, literary and film criticism, performance history, and gender theory, this thesis endeavors to explain the persistence of an early Victorian novel in popular culture.

Eye on Research (PDF)

Author: Alexandra Foley Thesis/Project Type: Capstone Thesis Approved By: David Toomey and Janine Solberg, Department Of English Published 2012

Abstract: A collection of the newest discoveries and breaking edge research taking place on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. Here is a list of some of the research published in this thesis: a new synthetic material called “Geckskin” which mimics the adhesion power of Gecko feet developed in Polymer Science department; UBot, a robot designed by UMass’s Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics, can learn by interacting with its environment; Gregory Tew, of the Polymer Science department, has found a way to look inside their previously impenetrable membranes of T cells; and Dr. Caitlyn Shea Butler of the Environmental Engineering department has designed a “Microbial Fuel Cell Latrine” that purifies human waste and produces electricity at the same time.

“How could the body politic be made to work in the absence of its head?”: Beheadings, Gender, and Power In Malory’s Morte Darthur (PDF)

Author: Kerry Ditson Thesis/Project Type: Independent Honors Thesis Approved by: Jen Adams, English Department and Sonja Drimmer, Art History Program Published: 2015

Abstract: The Wars of the Roses were without a doubt one of the most transformative and traumatic events of medieval England. This bloody conflict called into question commonly accepted notions of nobility, masculinity, kingship, governance, and violence. The deposition of Richard II in 1399 set into motion aftershocks that would be felt half a century later, as the notion of divinely anointed kingship was called into question—in a world where kings could be gotten rid of, who had the right to rule? The answer came down, in many ways, to one issue: blood.

Closets and Transylvanian Castles: Vampires and Queerness in the Nineteenth-Century Literature and Beyond (PDF)

Author: Maxwell Heath Thesis/Project Type: Independent Honors Thesis Approved by Heidi Holder and Jenny Spencer of the Department of English Published 2015

Abstract: My thesis examines how vampires have been used in literature to depict queer people and explore issues of queerness. Focusing primarily on the nineteenth century with a brief foray into the twentieth, I analyze seven key texts, both well known and relatively obscure, from John Polidori’s groundbreaking “The Vampyre” (1819) to G.S. Viereck’s The House of the Vampire (1907). This wide range is significant: previous work in the field has tended toward individual studies. I track how the depictions of vampirism and queerness evolved over time, focusing especially on the tropes of disorientation of space and narrative structure, complex patterning of relationships between characters, and conflict between humans and vampires for control of narrative. To this end ideas drawn from theorists such as Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick have been deployed in my analysis. I have discovered that from the first there is a degree of sympathy for queerness which is often occluded by gothic tropes. While the vampires themselves only begin to shift from villains towards more ambiguous figures at the end of the nineteenth century, their victims are often figured as queer and portrayed sympathetically. This suggests that vampires have been used as a way to mask queerness in metaphor so that it could be explored and discussed during a time when any explicit examination was forbidden.

Transplanted (PDF)

Author: Michael Sirois Thesis/Project Type: Independent Honors Thesis Approved by John Hennessy, Department of English Published May 2015

Abstract: My honors thesis project is a manuscript consisting of twenty-four poems. This collection of poetry reflects my transition from a working-class upbringing to completing my degree at the university. The many years I spent working in agriculture influence my poetry significantly, so natural settings and elements serve as a prism for my themes of work, the working-class, and the family. The introduction to my thesis project is included to show the departures from my literary influences.

For more information, see  499Y Honors Research (Part I) or  499T/P Honors Research (Part II) .

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Understanding honours

Honours is an additional qualification where you can build on your undergraduate studies by completing a self-directed research project and disciplinary or research-focused coursework. This may be integrated into your undergraduate degree or require an additional year of study.

Overview and types of honours

• Eligibility and preparing for honours
• Honours awards and classes

You can undertake honours either as part of the combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies, or through an appended honours course after your undergraduate degree. Some professional or specialist degrees also have embedded or integrated honours.

Honours provides an opportunity to work on an independent but supervised research project and is usually completed as one year full-time study (some disciplines offer part-time options).

Under the guidance of an academic supervisor, you will choose a thesis topic, create a reading list and identify your method of research.

Academics in your faculty or school will provide supervision as you write your thesis. This thesis will document your research from proposal through to conclusion.

Why study honours?

Completing honours shows you have achieved high academic standards and gives you an honours-level award.

An honours pathway can open the door for further research study, equipping you with the prerequisite research skills to undertake a research degree such as the PhD.

Alternatively, if you decide to only complete an honours pathway without pursuing further research, you will graduate with a robust set of transferrable skills including:

• time management and research skills
• project management and delivery
• showing future employers that you can investigate independently and achieve more complex goals.

What’s involved

Generally, honours will consist of three components:

• an independent research project, mentored by your academic supervisor
• additional units in research design/technical training
• some honours and coursework units.

You will usually complete a dissertation or thesis and attend regular meetings with your supervisor to discuss your research.

Once you complete the requirements for your honours, you will graduate with an honours level award.

You can contact the faculty or school honours coordinator from the area of interest you are considering, for more information about honours. We also hold honours information sessions (usually in September) where you can discuss your options.

Types of honours

The type of honours you undertake depends on your individual study circumstances.

Honours in the combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies

If you are completing a combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies and are eligible, you can elect to complete embedded honours in either of your two majors in the final year of your studies. Be aware that some streams do not allow you to undertake honours in your second major or as an embedded component in the combined degree. Check our applying for honours pages  and your handbook for more information about options available to you. 

If you are completing an eligible degree and commenced your studies in 2018 or later (or transferred to the new curriculum version of your degree in 2018) and are on track to complete two majors by the end of your degree, you can apply to transfer to a combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies up until your penultimate semester of study. This adds an additional year to your single bachelor’s degree in which you will complete your honours, and means you will graduate with two bachelor’s degrees.

Transferring to the combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies

If you are a Commonwealth supported student (who commenced your degree prior to 2021) and you are considering transferring to a combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies degree, you’ll need to apply for a new course enrolment. This means you will be charged the new Jobs-ready Graduates Package fee rates for units you need to complete in your new degree. You won’t be re-charged the new fee rates for any units you already completed under the old rates.

Please carefully check information on our Tuition fees page and consider the implications of transferring courses before you take any action.

For more information regarding the Jobs-ready Graduates Package and fee changes, please visit www.studyassist.gov.au

Appended honours

Appended honours is an additional course that you complete after you have finished your undergraduate degree. Generally, appended honours is available to both current University of Sydney students and external applicants. You’ll find information and eligibility criteria for most appended honours degrees in Find a course .

As a current student, often you'll need to apply through Find a course in the same way that external applicants apply, but may also need to submit an additional application form to your school or discipline. When searching for these on Sydney Courses (Find a course) these degrees will look like the Bachelor of Arts (Honours).

Embedded honours

Some bachelor’s degrees have honours embedded within them. You will complete your honours study in the final semesters of your current undergraduate degree by completing specific units. Honours will not increase the overall time taken to complete your studies.

Generally, you will apply for embedded honours directly to your faculty or school.

Integrated honours

There may be some specialist and professional degrees where you complete honours integrated within the duration of your degree. You won’t have to apply separately to do honours and won’t need to complete specific honours units. An example is the Bachelor of Engineering.

Double and joint honours

In some situations it is possible to complete either double honours or joint honours.

Double honours means you complete two separate honours theses in different subject areas. This normally takes an additional year, extending your studies to two years full time.

Joint honours is when you complete an honours thesis in two subject areas closely related to each other. A special program of study is designed that allows you to complete the course concurrently in one year.

To apply for double or joint honours, you need to meet the eligibility requirements for both honours.

Contact the honours coordinator in your faculty or school to discuss your options.

Related links

• Find a course
• Honours scholarships

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Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings? In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst… there’s more (for free)

This post is part of our dissertation mini-course, which covers everything you need to get started with your dissertation, thesis or research project. 

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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ALHT406 - Honours Dissertation

Credit points, campus offering, prerequisites.

ALHT404 Honours Research Project Implementation

Incompatible

ALHT414 - Honours Thesis for Allied Health

Teaching organisation

300 hours of focused learning.

Unit rationale, description and aim

Research skills are important for our society as they facilitate change. They are also critical for the development of evidence based practice that ensures quality care of individuals, families and communities requiring allied health services. Honours programs provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to learn how to do research, to develop more advanced professional knowledge and skills, and to enter higher degrees by research at Masters and PhD levels.

This is the third and final unit in the Allied Health 18 month Honours program . In this unit students are provided with the opportunity, time and support for the final analysis of data related to the honours project and preparation of a final dissertation. To complete the dissertation, students are expected to write a research study report inf the form of a journal manuscript. Students will also present their research outcomes at a student conference at the end of the semester. During this semester, students work with their supervisors to complete their projects. In summary, this unit aims to support students to complete data analysis and a final research report.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table. Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact. Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Apply and evaluate appropriate techniques to analyse data to answer research questions (GA3, GA6, GA8) 

LO2 - Critically review research outcomes to evaluate impact on practice and future research in the relevant field (GA6, GA8) 

LO3 - Effectively report research findings in the form of a written journal manuscript using language appropriate to the field of enquiry and the journal guidelines (GA6, GA9) 

LO4 - Present research findings orally and respond to questions from research peers and experts. (GA8, GA9) 

Graduate attributes

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Occupational Therapy Australia Ltd (OTAL) Entry Level Competency Standards developed in this unit are:  

OTAL Competency Standards  

The Competency Based Occupational Standards for Speech Pathologists (CBOS) developed in this unit will involve one of the following range practice indicators

One or more range of practic areas will be addressed: language, speech, swallowing, voice, fluency or multi-modal communication. Additionally, the following generic competencies will be developed: 

Topics will include: 

• Interpretation and reporting of data
• Journal manuscript preparation  
• Professional writing skills and publication process
• Conference presentation skills  
• Applying research skills to professional practice  
• Managing feedback - Honours examination, journal review

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

In order to gain research skills, students need to be actively engaged in the learning process; therefore this unit takes a student centred approach. Lectures and tutorials support students to acquire generic theoretical and technical knowledge and skills for research thesis production, and explore application to individual projects. Workshop presentations enable students to develop confidence in presenting research and gaining feedback from peers and academic staff. A significant portion of time is available in this unit for completion of students’ individual research projects, including data analysis and interpretation, and the final written and oral reports.  

Students are expected to take responsibility for their learning and meet regularly with their honours supervisors who will guide completion of their project reports. This learning and teaching strategy will support students to develop and apply advanced allied health research knowledge and skills to their individual research project with increasing autonomy. This unit involves 300 hours of learning which could include face-to-face, online and independent learning activities, supervision and assessment.

Assessment strategy and rationale

This unit adopts an authentic assessment approach, requiring students to demonstrate application of research knowledge and skills to their individual research project. The assessment format is also designed to support a future research career by requiring the research outcomes to be reported in a journal article manuscript format that may later be revised for publication. Two oral presentations provide students with the opportunity to learn how to prepare and present their research outcomes and to gain feedback on interpretation of these outcomes.  

Key assessments in the Honours program are consistent with the ACU Guidelines for Honours Programs for three thesis components: a) a literature review (from ALHT404), b) an expanded methodology (from ALHT405 and a presentation in this unit) and c) a journal article manuscript which forms the major assessment item for this unit. The journal manuscript will conform to chosen journal guidelines. Students will also deliver two oral presentations. The first presentation will report and evaluate the methodology and progress to date. The second presentation will conform with standard research reporting conventions and present key research outcomes and implications. Both presentations will elicit questions and feedback from an interprofessional audience. Flexibility will be provided for the timing and mode of delivery of presentations for students on placements that clash with scheduled class times.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references.

Carter, R. E., & Lubinsky, J. (2016). Rehabilitation research: Principles and applications (5th ed.) Elsevier Saunders.

Hickson, M. (2008). Research handbook for health care professionals (1st ed.). Wiley.

Liamputtong, P. (2017). Research methods in health: Foundations for evidence based practice (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Polgar, S., & Thomas, S. (2019). Introduction to research in the health sciences , (7th ed.). Elsevier.

Portney, L. G., & Watkins, M. P. (2009). Foundations of clinical research: Applications to practice , (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall Health.

Thomas, S. (2000). How to write health sciences papers, dissertations and theses . Churchill Livingstone.

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Dissertation examples

Listed below are some of the best examples of research projects and dissertations from undergraduate and taught postgraduate students at the University of Leeds We have not been able to gather examples from all schools. The module requirements for research projects may have changed since these examples were written. Refer to your module guidelines to make sure that you address all of the current assessment criteria. Some of the examples below are only available to access on campus.

• Undergraduate examples
• Taught Masters examples

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• You are currently on: Bachelor of Laws Honours (LLB(Hons)) frequently asked questions

Bachelor of Laws Honours (LLB(Hons)) frequently asked questions

On this page you will find:.

• Honours programme overview
• Entry requirements
• Honours seminar
• Honours dissertation
• Resources to assist with research and writing
• Remaining in or withdrawing from Honours

How does the Honours Programme operate in the Law degree?

LLB(Hons) operates alongside the LLB degree. Students complete the LLB(Hons) requirements concurrently with their LLB, which is different to Honours offerings in other University Programmes.

Students who have completed LLB Part I & II may apply for LLB(Hons).

Students who have graduated with the LLB degree cannot be admitted into LLB(Hons).

LLB(Hons) programme includes a full-year 20-point Honours Seminar Course and a 40-point Dissertation in addition to the LLB degree requirements. This is an extra semester of study.

Typically, students enrol for the Honours Seminar in LLB Part III.

Enrolment for the Dissertation is then required in the semester following the completion of LLB Part IV.

When am I eligible to apply for LLB(Hons)?

To be considered for selection into LLB(Hons), you need to have:

• Completed all LLB Part I and II courses
• Have a minimum LawHons GPA of 6.00

Transfer students will only be eligible to apply for LLB(Hons) upon completion of LAW 141 with the minimum grade requirement of C+, LAW 298 alongside LLB Part II courses and any outstanding non-law courses.

Find more information on applying for law transfer from another university .

What are the entry requirements for LLB(Hons)?

Students with a weighted law GPA (LawHons GPA) of 6.00 (B+) and above are eligible to be admitted into the LLB(Hons) programme.

Students must submit an application for LLB(Hons) online through the ‘ Apply Now’ function. Students who wish to continue in their conjoint must apply for the relevant LLB(Hons) conjoint.

We strongly encourage you to apply for LLB(Hons) no later than 1 October of the year prior to which you are applying.

The last date to apply is 8 December and applications after this date will not be accepted .

Please note: Entry requirements may change each year.

Find information on how LawHons GPA is calculated below and LLB(Hons) Overview and Entry Requirements .

Can students who have not completed Part II be included in the selection process by application?

Students must have completed all LLB Part I and II courses to be eligible to apply for LLB(Hons).

How is the weighted law average (LawHons GPA) calculated?

The LawHons GPA is calculated using the points value of the course and the grade achieved.

All completed law courses (Part I-IV) are factored into the calculation. Any failed grades* are included with non-law courses disregarded.

If you have repeated one or more of courses of LLB Part I (LAW 121G, LAW 131, LAW 141), the best grade you have received for these three courses will be factored into the calculation of the LawHons GPA.

* DNS, DNC, W, D+, D. D- grades will be factored into the LawHons GPA calculation. See below the exception for LAW 121G, LAW 131 and LAW 141.

Sample LawHons GPA:

Will my Part I law courses be counted?

Yes, all Part I law courses are included in LawHons GPA for entry to LLB(Hons). See what happens if I have repeated a law course below.

Are my non-law courses counted?

No, non-law courses are not included in the LawHons GPA for entry to LLB(Hons).

Are my law electives counted?

Yes, all law electives are included in LawHons GPA for entry to LLB(Hons). This includes any courses that have been given special permission to be counted as a law elective.

What happens if I have repeated a law course?

If you have repeated one or more of courses of LLB Part I (LAW 121G, LAW 131, LAW 141), the best grade you have received for these three courses will be factored into the calculation.

The other grades you have received for the three courses will be disregarded.

If you have repeated one or more courses from LLB Part II or above, all grades will be factored in the calculation.

What happens if I have failed a law course in LLB Part II or above?

All fails (D+, D, D-, DNC, DNS) and withdrawals are included and weighted as a zero (0) grade in the LawHons GPA for entry to LLB(Hons).

If you can demonstrate that the fails or withdrawal result were due to extraordinary and significant circumstances beyond your control and documentary evidence can be produced, an application needs to be made in writing to the Associate Dean (Academic) by 8 December of the year in which you are applying by emailing postgradlaw@auckland.ac.nz .

What if I have transferred from another University? How is my LawHons GPE calculated?

If you have transferred from another University, law courses which have been credited will be factored into the LawHons GPE calculation.

Find more information on applying for a law transfer from another university .

Are my exchange grades counted in the LawHons GPA?

Exchange grades are not included in the LawHons GPA.

Can I defer my LLB(Hons) offer?

Students cannot defer their LLB(Hons) offer to another year. However, you are welcome to re-apply, but there is no guaranteed admission, and you will need to meet any changes to the admission requirements.

As the Honours seminar is a full-year course, you must have remaining LLB Part IV requirements (includes LAW 498) to complete in Semester Two in the year you are admitted to be eligible for LLB(Hons).

Students undertaking LLB(Hons) later in their degree may have restricted opportunities to go on exchange. Please contact Student Hubs for degree planning advice.

HONOURS SEMINARS - What is an Honours Seminar Course?

The Honours seminar is a full year, 20-point course requiring enrolment in both the A and B components (i.e. both Semester One and Two) before the second Friday of Semester One.

Find more information on LLB(Hons) seminar courses , when to enrol in courses , and changing your enrolment .

How do I know what Honours Seminar Courses are available in any given year?

Honours seminar courses vary year to year and are finalised by the time enrolments open in November of each year.

Find information on Law School Timetables .

If the seminar courses offered this year do not interest me, what are my options?

The Law School tries to ensure that there are a wide range of seminar course topics available each year.

As condition of admission to LLB(Hons), students must enrol in a honours seminar by the second Friday of Semester One. Failure to do so will result in students being withdrawn from the LLB(Hons) programme.

There is no requirement that your Dissertation be written on the same subject area as the Honours seminar that you enrol in.

Find information about the Dissertation below.

How are the places in the Honours seminars allocated?

Students offered a place into LLB(Hons) must accept their offer before they can enrol into a seminar course.

Enrolments for the seminar courses will open after offers have been made and students may self-enrol into their preferred seminar. Enrolments are on a first come, first served basis.

What happens if my first choice of Honours seminar is full?

Once a seminar is full, students must select a different seminar to enrol in or check on SSO if spaces become available.

If you are unable to enrol into the seminar that is most relevant to your planned academic trajectory because it is full, please email postgradlaw@auckland.ac.nz .

What if the seminar course I want to enrol in to clashes with other courses I am already enrolled in?

Honours seminar attendance is compulsory with no timetable clashes permitted. However, often there are timetable clashes with LAW 301 and 306. So long as you can attend one lecture stream without a clash, your concession will be approved.

Students enrolled for a honours seminar co-badged with a LLM course will have timetable clashes permitted. To reduce the number of concessions applied for, please enrol for the honours seminar course once you have finalised your other enrolments.

Find information on how to apply for a concession.

What is the due date for my final Honours seminar research paper?

The seminar research paper is usually due at 12 noon on the Friday of the final day of lectures. However, please check the Canvas Page of the seminar that you are enrolled in.

If the due date is not on the Canvas page, then please get in touch with the Course Director of the relevant Honours Seminar.

HONOURS DISSERTATIONS - What is an Honours Dissertation?

A dissertation is an extended piece of writing divided into chapters, in which an overall argument is developed in response to a research question.

The LAWHONS 789 dissertation is worth 40-points and is 15,000 words in length, including footnotes. It requires the student to find the answer to a research question and to write this answer up in a way where the findings are presented, their significance is discussed, and a conclusion is reached.

Find information about LAWHONS 789 Dissertation .

What is the process for writing and submitting my dissertation?

For a detailed insight into the process, please see the document ‘ Guidelines on the Presentation and Submission of the LLB(Hons) Dissertation ’.

When should I start thinking about a Dissertation topic and finding a supervisor?

You should select and register your topic as far ahead as possible.

If you are intending to submit your dissertation in Summer School, you should have approached a supervisor by the end of the second week of the Semester Two, and you should be working on your dissertation throughout the Semester Two.

How do I choose a Dissertation topic?

You should choose a topic that really interests you. If you don’t, it will make the task of researching and writing a comprehensive and well-argued dissertation more difficult.

How do I find out if my topic has been covered before?

Some pre-2021 LLB Honours dissertations are held in the Davis Law Library and can be viewed in the Library.

Does my Dissertation topic have to be on the same subject area as the Honours seminar?

There is no requirement that your Dissertation be written on the same subject area as the Honours seminar you completed.

Where do I find a topic approval form?

The topic approval form is available at this link .

How do I find a Dissertation supervisor?

Once you have decided on your research area you should discuss it with an academic teaching or working in that field. They will be able to advise you on whether the topic you have chosen is suitable, and whether they are available to supervise you.

It’s important to note that there is limited availability for academics on the number of students they may supervise and may be away on leave, so we recommend you contact early.

Find research supervision areas and a list of supervisors .

How often should I be meeting with my supervisor?

You should confirm this with your supervisor once your topic has been approved.

It is your responsibility to ensure you complete work at a suitable standard and meet the LLB(Hons) requirements. Your supervisor is there to assist you to achieve the best results.

What do I do if I am struggling to find a supervisor?

If you are struggling to find an available supervisor, please email postgradlaw@auckland.ac.nz for advice.

If I can’t find a supervisor in the Law School, can I be supervised by someone externally?

Only under exceptional circumstances will such requests be granted. Please email postgradlaw@auckland.ac.nz for advice.

When do I enrol for my Dissertation?

Students must enrol for the dissertation in the semester following completion of LLB Part IV (includes LAW 498).

Regardless of which term you are intending on enrol for the dissertation, you should aim to finalise your topic and supervisor as soon as possible.

Please see the topic approval form for due dates .

How do I enrol for my Dissertation?

You must first register your Law Honours Dissertation topic for approval. Following approval, enrolment instructions will be sent.

Please see the topic approval form .

When should I start working on my Dissertation for Summer School submission?

Given the shorter nature of Summer School, it’s advised that you begin work on your dissertation in Semester Two. The dissertation is a large piece of work that will require considerable time dedicated to research and writing.

You can begin working on your dissertation as soon as you have confirmed a topic with your supervisor.

When should I submit a draft to my supervisor?

This should be agreed upon between you and your supervisor. It’s your responsibility to obtain these dates from your supervisor and to work within them.

Some suggested timeframes according to the final submission dates for each semester are indicated below. It’s important to note that these are only suggested timeframes. The earlier that you begin the process, the better your final submission will be.

Summer School

Selection of supervisor and approval of topic: September

Submission of completed draft to supervisor: November

Final Submission: End of January/early February (depending on how Summer School dates fall)

Final Submission: End of January/early February (depending on how the Summer School dates fall)

Semester One

Selection of supervisor and approval of topic: March

Submission of completed draft to supervisor: April

Final Submission: June (last day of lectures)

Semester Two

Selection of supervisor and approval of topic: July

Submission of completed draft to supervisor: September

Final Submission: October (last day of lectures)

Can I defer my Dissertation?

No, LLB(Hons) regulations require students to formally enrol for the dissertation in the semester following completion of LLB Part IV. In exceptional circumstances, a period of suspension from enrolment not exceeding two consecutive semesters may be approved.

Please email postgradlaw@auckland.ac.nz for advice.

Find information on the LLB(Hons) regulations and General Regulations – Bachelors Honours Postgraduate Degrees .

What is the due date for my Honours Dissertation?

The due date is usually the final day of lectures in the given semester. Please check the LAWHONS 789 Canvas page for confirmation of the due date for the semester in which you are enrolled.

How do I obtain an extension for my Honours Dissertation?

The longest informal extension is the last day of the term. For this to be approved, we just need confirmation from your supervisor of an agreed upon date and completion of the extension form .

Extensions beyond this date would be considered a formal extension with an AS-503 needing to be completed and supporting documents provided for approval.

There must be extenuating and/or unforeseen circumstances with approval needed from the Assistant Dean (Academic). If approved, 2 months from the last day of term will be given. Students will need to enrol for an additional 10pt course and pay the respective fees. Supervisor approval is not needed for this.

It’s important to note that it may not be possible to graduate in the next graduation ceremony if you have received an extension for your Dissertation regardless of the duration. 

Find information on Bachelor Honours regulations and Academic Dates .

Will I still be able to graduate in the upcoming ceremony if I have received an extension for my Dissertation?

Due to the Honours Dissertation being a lengthy piece of work a reasonable timeframe is required for the marking and assessment to take place.

The Law School endeavours to process results as quickly as possible, and in time for students to graduate. However, students who receive extensions for Dissertations cannot be guaranteed to receive their result in time to meet the deadline for graduation application, no matter how long the extension.

Find information on applying to graduate .

Will I be able to graduate in the autumn/winter (May/June) ceremony if I complete my dissertation in the Summer School?

This is not guaranteed. However, the Law School will do the best it can to get Summer School dissertations marked and final grades processed in time for students to apply for autumn/winter graduation.

If you have received an extension for a dissertation in Summer School, it is less likely you will be able to graduate in autumn/winter.

Can I do my Dissertation while I’m working?

It’s not recommended to complete your Dissertation while working. You should not underestimate the time required to complete this comprehensive piece of work.

How do I submit my dissertation?

Dissertations must be submitted electronically to Canvas by the due date.

Instructions on how to submit electronically can be found on the Canvas page closer to the due date. You will submit the electronic version to Canvas and it will automatically be run through Turnitin.

What grading/marking criteria will be used to mark my dissertation?

Please see the grading criteria for research-based work , which is applicable to dissertation marking.

RESOURCES - What resources does the University offer to assist with research and writing?

Libraries and Learning Services provides workshops, online resources and advice on most aspects of the writing process including research analysis, literature review and self-management.

The Law Subject guides , the Legal Research and Writing Skills hub, and Learning Essentials will be particularly relevant. For further assistance with finding information for your Dissertation topic fill out the Ask Us form.

The IT essentials guide contains useful advice around IT and software.

What is required of me to maintain my place in the Honours Programme?

Students must maintain a minimum LawHons GPA of 6.00 (B+) to graduate with LLB(Hons).

Find information on how the LawHons GPA calculated above.

Please note, students admitted into Honours prior to 2023, eligibility will be based on your law marks instead of grades. Students must maintain a weighted average of 75 or above to graduate with Honours.

How do I know if I’m maintaining the 6.00 (B+) LawHons GPA?

If you are concerned about your eligibility to continue in LLB(Hons), and graduate with Honours, you can check what your LawHons GPA is by applying for a GPA calculation . It is advisable to discuss your individual situation with the Student Hubs before making a final decision to withdraw from Honours.

Will the Law School let me know if I drop below the required LawHons GPA to graduate with Honours?

Students’ LawHons GPA is only calculated upon admission and completion of the programme as we know students GPA can dip when taking LLB Part III courses. It’s your responsibility to ensure you meet the LawHons GPA requirement upon completion.

Students who do not meet the minimum LawHons GPA of 6.00 (B+) upon submission of their dissertation will not be eligible to graduate with LLB(Hons) and be reverted to the LLB.

Students interested in whether they have maintained their 6.00 LawHons GPA before beginning their dissertation may request a GPA calculation.

Find information on how is the LawHons GPA calculated above.

After submitting my dissertation, if my LawHons GPA drops below the requirement to graduate with Honours, will my LAWHONS 789 enrolment be deleted?

If you complete LLB(Hons) with a LawHons GPA less than 6.00, the LLB(Hons) will be discontinued and your programme will be reverted to an LLB. The LAWHONS 789 enrolment, and the grade, will remain on your academic transcript.

If my LawHons GPA is below 6.00, will it be rounded up so that I’m eligible to graduate with Honours?

Rounding is permitted to one decimal place in determining the overall GPA (i.e. a minimum of 5.95 is required to graduate with Honours).

Please note, students admitted into Honours prior to 2023 with a minimum weighted average of 74.5 will be eligible to graduate with Honours.

I no longer wish to be in the LLB(Hons). How do I withdraw?

If you change your mind about doing the LLB(Hons) prior to commencing the seminar course (and before the add/drop enrolment deadline) please drop the seminar course by the enrolment deadline. You can then contact Student Hubs so they can advise the next steps to take.

If you have completed the seminar course and wish to withdraw from LLB(Hons) please email postgradlaw@auckland.ac.nz so your change from the Honours Programme back to the LLB can be facilitated.

Please see deadlines to add/drop courses with refund of fees .

If I withdraw from the Honours Programme after completing my Seminar Course can that course count towards my LLB?

Yes, if you withdraw from LLB(Hons) after you have completed your honours seminar, it will be counted as a 20-point law elective. A manual exception needs to be added – please email postgradlaw@auckland.ac.nz to process this.

Related links

• Law Honours Programme (LLB(Hons)) Entry Requirements
• Declining, deferring, remaining, and withdrawing from the LLB(Hons)

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• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Ten things I wish I'd known before starting my dissertation

The sun is shining but many students won't see the daylight. Because it's that time of year again – dissertation time.

Luckily for me, my D-Day (dissertation hand-in day) has already been and gone. But I remember it well.

The 10,000-word spiral-bound paper squatted on my desk in various forms of completion was my Allied forces; the history department in-tray was my Normandy. And when Eisenhower talked about a "great crusade toward which we have striven these many months", he was bang on.

I remember first encountering the Undergraduate Dissertation Handbook, feeling my heart sink at how long the massive file took to download, and began to think about possible (but in hindsight, wildly over-ambitious) topics. Here's what I've learned since, and wish I'd known back then…

1 ) If your dissertation supervisor isn't right, change. Mine was brilliant. If you don't feel like they're giving you the right advice, request to swap to someone else – providing it's early on and your reason is valid, your department shouldn't have a problem with it. In my experience, it doesn't matter too much whether they're an expert on your topic. What counts is whether they're approachable, reliable, reassuring, give detailed feedback and don't mind the odd panicked email. They are your lifeline and your best chance of success.

2 ) If you mention working on your dissertation to family, friends or near-strangers, they will ask you what it's about, and they will be expecting a more impressive answer than you can give. So prepare for looks of confusion and disappointment. People anticipate grandeur in history dissertation topics – war, genocide, the formation of modern society. They don't think much of researching an obscure piece of 1970s disability legislation. But they're not the ones marking it.

3 ) If they ask follow-up questions, they're probably just being polite.

4 ) Do not ask friends how much work they've done. You'll end up paranoid – or they will. Either way, you don't have time for it.

5 ) There will be one day during the process when you will freak out, doubt your entire thesis and decide to start again from scratch. You might even come up with a new question and start working on it, depending on how long the breakdown lasts. You will at some point run out of steam and collapse in an exhausted, tear-stained heap. But unless there are serious flaws in your work (unlikely) and your supervisor recommends starting again (highly unlikely), don't do it. It's just panic, it'll pass.

6 ) A lot of the work you do will not make it into your dissertation. The first few days in archives, I felt like everything I was unearthing was a gem, and when I sat down to write, it seemed as if it was all gold. But a brutal editing down to the word count has left much of that early material at the wayside.

7 ) You will print like you have never printed before. If you're using a university or library printer, it will start to affect your weekly budget in a big way. If you're printing from your room, "paper jam" will come to be the most dreaded two words in the English language.

8 ) Your dissertation will interfere with whatever else you have going on – a social life, sporting commitments, societies, other essay demands. Don't even try and give up biscuits for Lent, they'll basically become their own food group when you're too busy to cook and desperate for sugar.

9 ) Your time is not your own. Even if you're super-organised, plan your time down to the last hour and don't have a single moment of deadline panic, you'll still find that thoughts of your dissertation will creep up on you when you least expect it. You'll fall asleep thinking about it, dream about it and wake up thinking about. You'll feel guilty when you're not working on it, and mired in self-doubt when you are.

10 ) Finishing it will be one of the best things you've ever done. It's worth the hard work to know you've completed what's likely to be your biggest, most important, single piece of work. Be proud of it.

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• Theses and dissertations completed at the NWU since 2004 are available electronically via Boloka .Theses and dissertations before 2004 will be considered for digitisation upon request from users.
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Did you mean..., diploma of arts and social sciences, art/science collaboration wins waterhouse natural science art prize, unit of study swrk4003 social work honours thesis i (2024).

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Unit snapshot, credit points, faculty & college.

Faculty of Health

Pre-requisites

SOCI2006 - Doing Social Research

Enrolment restriction

Students must be approved to enrol.

Unit description

This is the first of three Honours Thesis units which collectively provide students with an opportunity to engage in academic research in social work through the completion, under guidance, of a thesis.  In this unit, students will be supported to develop their understanding of the requirements for successfully completing an Honours thesis, identify a suitable topic of enquiry and undertake a literature review for their research project.

Unit content

With guidance from an academic supervisor, students will cover the following topics in this unit:

• Introduction to Honours
• Exploring areas of enquiry and reviewing literature
• Research and social work practice
• Planning and conducting an Honours research project
• Introduction to research theory and methodology
• Working with a supervisor

Availabilities

Learning outcomes.

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes . The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

recognise the requirements for successful completion of an Honours research project

synthesise a body of disciplinary knowledge to identify an appropriate area of research enquiry

critically review research literature

propose a project timeline

Teaching and assessment

Gold coast (dual term), online (dual term), prescribed learning resources, dual term 4.

• Prescribed text information is not currently available.
• Prescribed resources/equipment information is not currently available.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.

Fee information

Commonwealth Supported courses For information regarding Student Contribution Amounts please visit the Student Contribution Amounts .

Fee paying courses For postgraduate or undergraduate full-fee paying courses please check Domestic Postgraduate Fees OR Domestic Undergraduate Fees .

International

Please check the international course and fee list to determine the relevant fees.

Courses that offer this unit

Bachelor of social work (2025), bachelor of social work (2024), bachelor of social work (honours) (2025), bachelor of social work (honours) (2024), any questions we'd love to help.