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Independent Research & Senior Theses
Students interested in any form of independent study (including Senior Honors Thesis)
must find a supervising faculty member before registering for the course via
SIS. Those
registering for a Senior Honors Thesis (PSY 199) must also fill out a form that can be picked
up in Carol Downing's office in Dowling. Honors thesis students are also strongly encouraged
to take the year-long PSY 195 course, for which 0.5 credits are earned each semester.
All undergraduate research assistants and students doing a senior honors thesis in all
labs that are conducting human subjects research are required to take the Collaborative
IRB Training Initiative (CITI) training and submit their certificate of completion to the
SBER IRB office. The CITI training can be accessed using the following
link:
http://www.tufts.edu/central/research/IRB/main.htm.
Completing a year-long Senior Honors Thesis is one of the most
rewarding as well as time-consuming and challenging endeavors a
Psychology major can undertake. The process typically requires
designing, executing, and analyzing the data from an original
empirical research investigation, writing a comprehensive APA-format
report, and then presenting and defending this work before a
committee of two faculty members (one of whom, the
committee chair, must be from the Psychology Department).
Because chairing a Senior Honors Thesis also requires a great deal
of time and effort on the part of faculty members, only a small
number of seniors can complete a thesis in a given year. Students
are therefore encouraged to contact potential thesis chairs by the
end of their junior year, and preferably even earlier.
Per University rules, students must appear on the Dean's List for at
least two semesters in order to be eligible to complete a
thesis. Faculty in the Department often have additional requirements
for thesis students, including previous experience in their research
lab (PSY 91/92 or PSY 191/192, formerly PSY 21/22 and 121/122). In
sum, students interested in a Senior Honors Thesis should plan ahead
by obtaining independent research experience and by speaking with
potential thesis chairs early during the course of their studies in
the Department. For students already registered to complete a
thesis, additional information regarding expectations for your
project and the bases on which it will be evaluated are best
obtained from your committee chair.
View past senior honors theses >
Resources:
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