After several years of experience working with honors thesis students, I have reflected on the process, and have come to the conclusion that everyone will be happier if we can agree to some of the crucial conditions. Thus, to facilitate the process, the following represents a kind of handbook and contract for doing a thesis, either in the lab or in the field. Think of it as a self-help pamphlet, one designed to help you through the process in the most enjoyable way possible. I guarantee that if you follow these suggestions, you will not only enjoy the work more, but will also produce a better product.

1. Prerequisites

In order to carry out a thesis in my lab, or at my field sites, you will have to spend at least one semester working in the lab prior to the start of your own project. What this means, minimally, is that you should be working in the lab in the fall of your junior year so that you can begin carving out a project in the spring term of your junior year, starting it in the summer. I think this order works best. In some cases, it may be possible to do a thesis if you do your preparatory work in the spring of junior year, but my experience suggests that it is much harder to pull together a project in time.

During this preparatory phase, you will be acquiring many of the technical skills needed to conduct honors research. You will also be reading the relevant literature.

2. Timing Issues

Everyone always underestimates how much time things take. The best way for me to put this is as follows: A thesis is not an extended term paper. It is a suite of original observations and experiments, followed by detailed statistical analyses, presentation and interpretation. Each thesis coming out of my lab is expected to include the following ingredients:

1. Introductory chapter.
In this opening chapter you will introduce the reader to the main problem. This should be written for a general audience, providing background on what has been done in the literature thus far, what problems exist, and how your particular work will fill in the gaps. This is the only part of the thesis that is term paper-like. It is, however, much more, because you have to wrestle with the problems in the field, critically evaluating what is out there and why your thesis is important.

2. Specific Aims.
I like students to map out a specific aims section, one that lays out in a concise way, what the thesis is specifically about and what it will accomplish.

3. General Methods.
Here, you should provide all the general background information on the subjects and methods you used. Use this section to provide information that is likely to be important for all of your empirical chapters. Describe the subjects, their natural history (if they are animals), their environment, how they were housed, tested, etc. Also, describe the kinds of statistics you will be using and why.

4. Empirical chapters.
For each chapter, provide a short introduction telling the reader what the relevant literature is, the literature that underlies the current work. The methods' section should read like a handbook. I should be able to take your methods section and rerun the observations or experiments. I should also be able to reconstruct any equipment you used, the specs, the apparatus, and so forth. A good test of the handbook idea is to give the methods section to your roommate, someone who is unfamiliar with the details of what you did. Ask them to work through the protocol and figure out what you did. Can they replicate it? If so, you are in good shape. The results section should consist of detailed statistical analyses of your data. Keep this section devoid of interpretation. Lay the data out in a neutral fashion, saving interpretation for the discussion. Statistics are difficult, so start early in case you need help. Furthermore, illustrate your results with figures. Figures also take a long time, so don't wait until the end. In the discussion, tell the reader what you found, discuss problems with the experiments, alternative explanations, and where you might go next (i.e., in terms of future work relevant to this set of observations).

5. General Discussion.
This is the place for synthesis, for you to reflect upon what you found, why it is important, how it helps the field, and where, in a more general sense, the work might turn.

As you can see, that is a lot. But, there is an easy way to keep things moving in a simple and unstressful way. Here's the deal, as they say. First, most of you will have finished data collection by early to late fall. By this time, you will have read the relevant literature, will have carried out a number of experiments, and will know where you are going. Consequently, the first deadline for me is a detailed outline that I would like to have from you by November 1. This should include all the material that will go into your intro, methods and empirical chapters. By Dec. 15, just before you leave for spring break, I would like you to hand in a first draft of the intro chapter and general methods. I will have comments for you by the time you return for Reading Period. By February 1, I would like a complete revision of your introduction and methods, intros and methods for all of your empirical chapters, plus preliminary analyses and presentation. By March 1, and no later, I would like a complete draft of your thesis, including the final discussion chapter. I will get this back to you within a week, giving you time for one more revision and resubmission to me by March 10, and then several days to put the final touches on.

3. Grants

Many of you will want to apply for grant funding. Each of the departments will have the requisite information. Please find out the deadlines as soon as you know that you will be doing a thesis. If I need to write a letter on your behalf, let me know at least one week before the deadline.