Honors Student Kaley Keefe: Insight on Crafting an Excellent Thesis
Writing a thesis is often demanding. Tough, even. All of the researching, collaborating, and eventual writing/editing can be grueling processes, especially when done in tandem with school or work. That said, the hard work will certainly pay off because a thesis not only opens the door for some amazing graduate opportunities and job advancements, but is also personally satisfying to have done. From start to finish, your thesis is the embodiment of your perseverance. Kaley Keefe, an Honors student at CU Boulder, couldn’t agree more. Kaley just completed her honors thesis on childhood trauma and executive function in adolescents; while she now has her eyes set on post-grad opportunities, she remains appreciative of her thesis-building experience. Take a look below to explore some of Kaley’s personal methods for 1) tackling thesis creation and 2) overcoming any roadblocks along the way.
Kaley’s Process on Thesis Creation
- Narrow down some topics that pique your interest. Again, writing a thesis takes a lot of time and dedication. If you do not find your topic appealing, then you will likely lose interest and get burned out long before the finish line. Choose something that you are genuinely curious about and use that passion to drive your thesis to completion. It’ll make for an easier (and more enjoyable) experience.
- Dig into relevant literature. Some of the best research items for your thesis will be literary pieces relating to your topic. Find as many of these as you can and verify their credibility, then ask yourself: what do these authors and researchers reveal about my topic? Are there any gaps in their research? If there are gaps, consider crafting a topic that fills them in or provides additional insight into the field of study! Whether you’re an advanced researcher or not, it is always a good idea to explore experts’ opinions on your subject matter before committing yourself.
- Ask yourself some research questions. Always. Ask. Questions. This is especially important if your are exploring a potential thesis topic because it may pique your interest or even redirect your entire thesis to a more accurate and feasible path. If you aren’t asking questions, then you aren’t looking for improvements in your research. It’s all about filling in every little nook and cranny of your thesis topic; as close to perfection as possible. This is also a great time to make inferences about what conclusions your studies will draw.
- Build a conceptual framework. If you’ve been asking yourself a lot of questions as you narrow down your topic and begin researching, then you’ll likely have a lot of hypotheses. Just take a step back and consider: if these hypotheses are accurate, what would the data look like? What implications does this reveal? This is a surefire way to get a sense of what your experimentation process would like and, more generally, verify that there is enough research out there to prove/disprove your hypothesis.
- Analyze your data according to your hypotheses. When your research and experimentation phases have concluded (yay.), you probably won’t want to include all of it in your thesis. Odds are, there will be some irrelevant chunks of data that add nothing but fluff to your thesis study. The best way to filter this out from the useful data is by circling back to your hypothesis. Is this data truly relevant to my hypothesis and does it work to prove or disprove it? If not, you can probably omit it from the final product. But make sure to back it up in a different file just in case it comes in handy in the future.
- Write the paper. This is probably the step that people dislike the most. Writing such a massive and formal document can be a daunting task, but approach it as if you are telling a story about what you discovered and why it matters. This mindset will not only make your writing time less strenuous, but will also let your personality and passion shine through in every word.
- Defend Honors Thesis and present findings. You’re almost done! The last step is to brainstorm viable questions that may be asked about your study and prepare some great answers. Don’t approach the defense or presentation as an interrogation, but rather as an expert (you) sharing what you learned about this fascinating topic. Odds are they will be impressed with your studies and congratulate you for completing your thesis to such a high standard!
Useful Tips to Overcome Struggle
- Enroll in HONR 3220: Advanced Honors Writing. Dr. Andrea Feldman is the instructor for this class, and she covers a plethora of processes, resources, and tools you should explore to create a great thesis. This is a good opportunity for those who have lost direction in their thesis creation or are stressed about the process overall.
- Lean on friends or peers. It is always great if you have friends who have already undergone the thesis creation process. They can share with you some great tips that you would otherwise be clueless to and, yes, they can make some pretty great editors.
- Plan ahead. If there’s one thing you should NOT do when creating a thesis, it’s procrastinate. The workload is already so dense that, if you fall behind, it is going to be extremely difficult to catch back up and produce your best results. To stay on top of your game try 1) planning ahead, 2) using tables and calendars for organization, and 3) anticipating potential problems and solutions.
All in all, I wish you the best in your college endeavors, whether you are creating a thesis or not. But if you are, good luck and happy writing. You’ve got this!