Initial Guidance and Advising
Every MSW student is required to satisfy partial graduation requirements by passing the comprehensive examination or by satisfactorily completing a master’s thesis (or by completing the capstone project after the transition to semesters is made). Much of the thesis process rests on your initiative and dedication. While those who opt for the thesis are required to complete at least one thesis ‘course’ (an independent-study type, for a minimum of 3 credits) and may enroll in as many as 9 thesis credit hours total, much of your thesis work will be done outside of your course load.
No later than spring quarter of your first year in the two-year MSW program, explore who on the social work faculty will be a good match for you as a thesis adviser. Meet with prospective advisers—tenure track professors with whom you have become acquainted and whose research interests you--to discuss whether the thesis is a good fit for you given your academic and professional goals. The
faculty directory webpage highlights faculty members’ research interests, and may be a good initial resource. The
MSW Program Director is another resource, and could connect you to current MSWII students who are completing their thesis projects.
A Spring Quarter class, “Thesis Research,” is regularly offered to MSW students and BSSW students. For full-time students pursuing a thesis, this class should be taken in addition to your other required courses during the spring quarter one year prior to graduation. It does not serve as a substitute for any other required course, but it can be counted as an elective toward the MSW degree. Students who complete the course will be guided through the process of writing their thesis proposals.
To view examples of previous social work student thesis projects, you will find their abstracts on the
CSW Research Office webpage. To view completed theses, conduct a search for previous social work students using
OhioLink.
Note: The MSW Program Office requires that your academic adviser be the same person as your thesis adviser. You will need to complete a
Change of Adviser form if your thesis adviser is not your current adviser.
Next Steps
By the end of Winter Quarter the year before graduation:
· Formalize an advisee relationship with a faculty member
· Notify the CSW Graduate Studies Committee that you intend to complete a thesis
· Enroll in the Thesis Research course for spring quarter
By the end of Spring Quarter/Summer Quarter:
· Identify a subject area
· Conduct an initial literature review
· Finalize your research question
· Complete the Thesis Research course and draft your thesis proposal
· Submit paperwork to the MSW Program Office for Thesis credit hours over the summer and autuamn quarters as needed.
By Fall:
· Determine the data necessary to answer your research question.
It is important that you determine your data source as soon as possible, particularly if you intend to conduct original research or qualitative research with human subjects. Even if you choose to use secondary data, it may take time to gain access to the data.
· Submit IRB application
All social science research that involves human subjects must be reviewed and approved by OSU’s
Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB monitors all social science research to insure that no human subjects are harmed by participating in studies. It can take several weeks for the IRB to process your application, and often times the IRB requests modifications to your application that will require additional time for approval. Thus, it is recommended that you initiate the IRB application process as far in advance as you can. See the IRB section below for more details.
By the start of Winter Quarter:
· Have your data collected and begin your analysis.
Statistical software like SPSS (e.g. for quantitative data, SPSS) as well as recording and transcription equipment (e.g. for qualitative data) are available through University OIT and the CSW Research Office. The OSU Office of Information Technology offers a variety of public domain, bulk purchase, and
site-licensed software programs to students. You can download SPSS for free onto your computer by contacting IT to receive download instructions via email. SPSS is also available in a variety of on-campus computer labs, including room 235 of Stillman Hall. If you need access to software that is not available through OIT or if you need recording/transcription tools, contact the
CSW Research Office.
· Assemble your thesis committee.
By winter quarter of your second year, assemble your thesis committee. You are required by CSW and the OSU Graduate School to have a minimum of two social work faculty members on your committee. One of those people must be your adviser. The College of Social Work defers to the rules and guidelines posted by the OSU Graduate School which govern master’s thesis examinations. View the
Graduate School website for more information. Your adviser may ask that you meet with members of your committee throughout the process, in which case your interaction would begin earlier than Winter Quarter.
By the start of Spring Quarter (or the quarter in which you intend to graduate) and no later!
· Begin to write the third, fourth, and fifth chapters of your thesis.
Note: Broadly, the chapters of a thesis are as follows:
Chapter 1—Introduction
Chapter 2—Literature Review
Chapter 3—Method
Chapter 4—Results
Chapter 5—Discussion and Conclusion
Monitoring and meeting deadlines
It is important to make sure your timeline matches the policies and procedures mandated by the Graduate School. Each academic year the Graduate School publishes the
official deadlines (pdf) for submitting thesis-related forms and documents. Schedule your defense no later than mid-May for a spring quarter graduation.
Note: Unlike the PhD program, it is not required that you submit a form of intent two weeks prior to your scheduled defense.
The Graduate School will send the Thesis Approval Form directly to your adviser. You must have the Thesis Approval Form signed by all members of your thesis committee, after which you or your adviser will deliver it to the Graduate School.
Formatting your final document
The Graduate School also requires that your final document adhere to certain formatting, the rules of which are also posted on their
website. As your document draft progresses, bring a draft to the Graduate School for a formatting check (the Graduate School office is located in 247 University Hall). The formatting requirements stipulate margin measurements, page number placement, chapter headings, etc. that may be different from APA format. It is helpful to familiarize yourself with these requirements early in the draft revision process.
Additionally, you must submit a pdf version of your thesis to OhioLink. The instructions for this process are available online in the Graduate school webpage’s
Submission Process and Requirements.
Additional project assistance
Statistical Consulting
OSU has a
Statistical Consulting Service that offers 15 hours of statistical help during a quarter. Though you do need to register for the service as you would register for a class, ‘Statistics 893’ entails meeting with your consultant regularly (weekly) and making progress on your research to receive a passing grade.
PhD Students
You may wish to pursue the help of a PhD student, particularly with your quantitative data analysis. Often students will be willing to work with you, though you should note that some compensation is traditional. Your adviser may be a good resource for PhD student consultation possibilities.
College Funds
The MSW program has some funds set aside for master’s students pursuing a thesis. These funds can pay for things like incentives for participation, poster printing, or other costs to acquire or work with data. Specific rules may change, so be sure to ask your adviser or the MSW program director about how to apply for thesis funds.
Additionally, there are awards for which MSW students are eligible. The College of Social Work Merriss Cornell Scholarship award recognizes an outstanding
proposal for thesis research (or dissertation for PhD students). To be considered for this award, your adviser must nominate you by the May deadline of the year prior to your graduation year, and you must submit your thesis proposal to the PhD Program Office. Another award, The Merriss Cornell Researcher Award, recognizes an outstanding
completed thesis (or dissertation for PhD students). To apply, submit a copy of your final thesis to the PhD Program Office and have your adviser complete the nomination form and submit it, as well. To read more about the Merriss Cornell awards and how to apply visit the
webpage.
List of good books to read:
Writing your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day (Bolker, 1998)
Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article (Becker, 1986)
Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student’s Guide to Earning a Master’s or Ph.D. (Peters, 1997)
Self-care
A thesis can be overwhelming. If you are feeling lost, anxious, or otherwise distressed, remember that there are resources on campus that can help.
E
nrolled students receive 10 free counseling appointments per academic year. To contact CCS, call 614-292-5766 or email
ccs@studentlife.osu.edu. Crisis support, individual counseling, couples counseling, support groups, psychiatric services, and other information, support, and services are available at CCS. More information is available on the
CCS website.
Student Wellness Center on the main floor of the RPAC (room B130)
All enrolled students have access to the Student Wellness Center and its resources. To learn more, check out the
Wellness Center’s website. You will find information about how to maintain wellness in many different areas of life, including how to identify and cope with stress: http://swc.osu.edu/stress-and-sleep/.
Preparing and applying for research permission
Institutional Review Board: Human Subjects
If you are collecting data yourself, e.g. conducting qualitative in-person interviews or launching an online survey, you are responsible for satisfying all requirements of the OSU Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (IRB), run through the Office of Responsible Research Practices. Your adviser will assist you in preparing and submitting the applications for research. IRB regulates research with human subjects to insure than no individuals are harmed by your research.
A helpful and also mandatory place to get a good understanding of human subjects research is the
CITI program, an online research ethics education course available free-of-charge. The IRB requires that all researchers complete and pass the course before submitting IRB applications. The course will take you several hours to complete, but it is not necessary to complete the entire course in one session. You can log out and then resume the course at your leisure.
The IRB forms and procedure can vary somewhat according to the type of research you are conducting. IRB staff members are more than willing to guide you. You can contact them by phone or email and they also have regular office hours posted on the
ORRP website. There are also guidance resources on the
ORRP website. Elements required for IRB approval include a study protocol, explanations of study methods and purpose, ways in which you are protecting confidentiality and data, etc.
I. Study objectives
II. Background and rationale
III. Procedures
IV. Research Design
a. Sample
b. Measurement/Instrumentation
c. Detailed Study Procedures
d. Internal Validity
e. Data Analysis
Important IRB Note: Watch your timeline carefully. It will take several weeks for IRB to review and process your initial application. Researchers are frequently asked to make changes to the submission, called ‘modifications,’ which must then also go through a review process. If you are collecting data yourself, it is imperative to have IRB approval *no later* than the start of Autumn Quarter (for graduation during the following spring quarter).
