Thesis/Dissertation
Please review the MS/PhD Academic Guide for complete details on the requirements and structure of thesis/dissertation committees and the thesis/dissertation itself. The information listed here simply provides an overview. The MS/PhD Academic Guide also provides detailed information about graduation requirements and warrants, but an overview is also provided online in the Graduation section.
All PhD students must pass the written qualifying exam, oral preliminary exam, and final dissertation defense. All PhD students must complete a PhD minor (link) as well. PhD students must request or submit paperwork for all these stages; please see the MS/PhD Academic Guide for details. The qualifying exam is taken the summer after your first year of required coursework. After you pass the preliminary exam you are officially considered a “PhD candidate” or “Dissertator.” As a dissertator, you no longer can register for any additional academic courses. Thus, you should be sure to plan ahead in taking all the elective courses you need or want (for the purposes of your PhD minor or for your dissertation) prior to taking your preliminary exam and submitting your PhD Minor Agreement Form. Once a dissertator, you register for exactly three credits of PHS 990 research credits each term and are eligible for a reduced tuition fee.
All MS students must pass their final thesis defense. Before proceeding with the work of your thesis, all MS students must submit a Master's Thesis Approval Form. After choosing a thesis topic, MS students are expected to submit a 5-8 page thesis proposal to their thesis advisor and committee members. Once all thesis committee members approve the proposal, the Master’s Thesis Proposal form should be submitted to the MS/PhD Graduate Program Office.
When selecting electives, students will want to consider how their choices help them with their thesis/dissertation, but how they might also help them move closer to potentially completing another degree, a certificate, the Epidemiology Option, or PhD minor.
The thesis/dissertation is a detailed and careful study of a population health problem or methodology. It is a statement of conclusion with the work and logic to back it up. It addresses a research issue of importance and part of your thesis/dissertation is that you defend that your topic is indeed important. Your thesis/dissertation is not a career, but rather the beginning of a career or work. A thesis/dissertation can be new data on an important issue; an innovative data collection method; an analysis of existing data sets in new ways to answer new and important questions; or a derivation of new research methods and a demonstration of their usefulness.
The objective is to help the student learn how to think through and investigate a research question. The thesis/dissertation should show competence in the development, implementation and reporting of a research project. It provides you with experience in conducting research, it helps you obtain advice from very qualified researchers, and it demonstrates your ability to conduct research to future employers. It should be of suitable quality and scope for submission to a peer-reviewed scholarly journal or funding agency.
The biggest step for your thesis/dissertation is deciding on a topic. It should be a topic that interests you and that can demonstrate your abilities. It also should be a topic for which you can find interested faculty with whom you would like to work and who can serve as an important resource for you. Finally, it should be a topic that is feasible in the time allotted. For example, MS students should not plan to collect original data or think they are writing a dissertation. A master’s thesis should be something you can do in a semester.
You should begin thinking about possible topic areas immediately, but there is no need to officially decide until the start of your final year for MS students or around the time of the qualifying exam for PhD students. (It is recommended that PhD students get involved with a dissertation advisor and research early in their career; it is important that your dissertation not be the first research paper that you ever write). MS and PhD students alike should discuss potential topics with current, more advanced students as well as with their academic advisor. Consider writing down your ideas as they become firmer. When you think you have an idea you would like to pursue, you should do some reading on it. Finally, talk with others about your idea as appropriate.
Your proposal write-up to share with your potential thesis/dissertation advisor and committee members should include: a description of the research question; a review of the most relevant existing literature; what format you wish to utilize (research paper, proposal-type, etc.); a description of the data; and the methodology to be used to answer the research question.
