Cultural & Educational Policy Studies:
Preparing the M.A. Thesis
The student should initiate the thesis process by briefing the thesis director on possible topics and gaining the director's reactions. The thesis director is the first recourse for the M.A. student and chairs the thesis hearing. The director guides the overall thesis process. The next step is to write a draft of the proposal and submit it to the director in both hard copy and electronic form, using MS Word tracking enabled. The director normally will furnish reactions to only one draft before the student prepares the final draft for committee review, so the student should carefully and often review and revise drafts before showing one to the supervisor; submission of a poorly prepared draft can delay the thesis process considerably.
Once any needed revisions are made in response to feedback by the supervisor, the student submits a final draft of the proposal to the committee appointed to approve the proposal, and, ultimately, the thesis. A hearing is then held at least six working days from the day the student submits the final draft. If the committee approves the proposal, the student is then free to begin working on the thesis.
There is no minimum or maximum number of pages for the proposal, but typically it is 12 to 16 pages. It should include a cover page with the title and the student's name, information that identifies it as a proposal for a thesis in the Graduate School of Loyola University Chicago, the names of the dissertation committee members, and a date. The proposal must by accompanied by an applicable Graduate School form, which, when signed by the committee, attests to its approval. The committee should consist of two regular faculty members in the Cultural and Educational Policy Studies Program. In special cases, a third member from the School of Education could be added. The proposal must also be accompanied by a draft of (though not yet submitted) IRB forms if human subjects are to be involved. The student should gain reactions from the thesis director before showing it to the other prospective committee member, who should be invited to serve on the committee only after having an opportunity to peruse the proposal.
The purpose of the proposal is to make clear the student's thinking about the research on a topic that he/she intends to pursue. It should be unambiguous about how the thesis will be a contribution to conceptualization in comparative education and to the field's corpus of knowledge overall. It should focus on how the student will use original (e.g., data from a survey, participant observation, ethnography) or primary (e.g., documentary content analysis, historiographic analysis, philosophical analysis) source material to approach the topic. The proposal is not written in "cement;" after it is approved by the thesis committee, the student can, and normally is expected to, make modest adjustments during the research phase. However, any major deviations from the proposal must be approved by the committee.
The thesis should be about 40-60 pages. It should be organized in sections or chapters. Chapters and/or sections should normally have subsections, with appropriate headings and, if appropriate, subheadings. The first section or chapter should be an introduction that clearly defines or identifies the general topic, issue, or area of concern, and thereby establishes a well-reasoned context for reviewing the relevant literature. It should explain the topic's scope and why the student has chosen the topic. Finally, it should lay out the organization pattern of the thesis overall.
The second section or chapter, often entitled "Theoretical Framework," should describe relevant trends in published research on the topic and conflicts in theory, methodology, conclusions, and/or gaps in scholarship. It should review the relevant literature and furnish a synthesis that is to be the platform for a guiding concept. Often it will contain a review of published research both in support of and opposed to a theoretical position the student wishes to address.
The third section or chapter should consist of a thesis or a set of hypotheses, propositions, or questions that the student intends to pursue. It should draw directly upon the previous two sections, so that the basis for addressing the thesis, hypotheses, propositions, or questions is clear.
The fourth section or chapter should focus on a procedure or the methods to be used to address the proposed thesis, hypotheses, propositions, or questions. If the thesis proposes to test hypotheses, this section should describe the quantitative methods to be used for that purpose. If the thesis proposes to address a set of propositions or questions, it should describe the qualitative analytical procedure to be used. If human subjects are involved, the student should outline in this section how he/she intends to satisfy IRB requirements.
The fifth section or chapter should show the findings and furnish an interpretation and discussion of the results. It should furnish a conclusion that encapsulates the previous sections or chapters and that indicates in what ways the thesis is an original contribution to knowledge in Comparative Education. It should also discuss potentially promising directions for further research.
The final section should include a bibliography. When primary sources are to be used, the bibliography should clearly differentiate the primary from the secondary sources the student intends to examine.
The thesis will be judged on the basis of both style and substance. In regard to style, ambiguity should be avoided, especially by using active voice rather than passive voice to establish grounds for making contentions. Clarity of meaning should be emphasized, especially in the way one sentence or paragraph follows from and then leads to another. It is acceptable to use the first person singular when describing what you intend to do and what you have done in your research.
In regard to substance, every contention should be justified by empirical evidence, reference to the literature ― i.e., research by others ― or through logical discourse. The nature and depth of primary sources in particular influence the quality of argumentation. Theory brings power to the thesis, but make sure theory matches the issue or purpose. Do not over theorize or under theorize. The purpose of a thesis is not to recommend policy but to explain and bring clarity to an issue or set of issues. Avoid trying to save the world with your thesis.
