Thesis

thesis guide cover

A Guide to Writing a Senior Thesis in Social Studies answers many of the common questions students have about the thesis-writing process. You may want to read this guide once through before beginning your thesis process, so that you know what’s in store. Then, we suggest that you refer back to the guide while working on your project, using the table of contents to identify questions that come up once your work on the project has begun.

 

Writing a Social Studies thesis is a significant academic project. A Social Studies thesis needs to be between 20,000 and 30,000 words long, roughly equivalent to 100 double-spaced pages. It must incorporate a substantial amount of primary source data and make an original argument supported by that research.

Our goal is to make the thesis process manageable and to help support you as best we can. Along with the guide above, we have numerous ways that we provide support through all phases of your thesis work. Additionally, our thesis supervisor database can be a good starting point to begin your thesis supervisor search. These methods resources may help fill some gaps as you conceptualize your project. You may also want to read through some of our past thesis titles to get a sense of the wide variety of past student projects or read a sample thesis on the Social Studies 99 website. Of course, you can also reach out to our concentration advisers with any questions you have at any stage of your process—from project conception to research to writing.