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Revised
September 14, 1998
INTRODUCTION
The
traditional academic finale to graduate work is the
presentation of a dissertation or thesis that serves as
evidence that the student has performed significant and
acceptable research in the field. The thesis is a
public and permanent communication of that research for
the use of anyone interested in the field. It may
stand on its own or it may serve as the starting point for
additional research. The preparation of a thesis
should, therefore, be a source of pride not only for you,
the student, but also for the College of Nursing and the
Graduate School as well. The purpose of these
guidelines is to assist you in the preparation of a thesis
that is consistent with the high standards of appearance
and communication that represent scholarly excellence.
PURPOSE
AND DESCRIPTION OF A THESIS
A
thesis is an empirical investigation of a problem, which
relates to a theoretical or conceptual framework.
The individual research or scholarship should demonstrate
the capacity of the student for sustained investigation
and intellectual curiosity. The thesis is expected to
address a problem of relevance for nursing and to be based
upon a conceptual framework. It should demonstrate
that the writer has the capacity for research, facility in
the use of language, and the ability to review appropriate
background material, organize investigative information,
and draw logical conclusions.
Theses
are conducted as independent research under the direction
of graduate faculty thesis advisers (the Thesis
Committee). The committee members assume major
responsibility for guiding the students through the
investigation. It is the responsibility of these
advisers (the student's chairperson and committee) to
ensure that the thesis content, conduct, and form are
acceptable to the Graduate School. For formatting
questions, please refer to the Student Handbook and the
Graduate School Regulations for Master's Theses.
Topics
for graduate theses should be directed research toward
meaningful clinical problems to improve nursing practice.
Suitable topics for investigation include: a) exploration
of patterns of behavior surrounding particular nursing
phenomena, b) analyzing nursing situations or processes,
c) examination of new relationships between and among
variables d) measurement of variables in new
circumstances, e) testing of predictive outcomes through
manipulating variables, and f) discovering conditions that
achieve a projected goal or desired situation.
Replication studies may be appropriate for theses at the
Master's level.
Currently,
there are a variety of quantitative methods and
qualitative methods that are used in nursing research.
Examples of qualitative methodologies, which are used in
nursing research, include: grounded theory methods,
phenomenology, ethnographic studies, and historical
research. Experimental design, surveys, secondary
data analysis, replication studies, and development and
testing of an instrument are examples of quantitative
methodologies. In all cases, the students should seek
thesis committee members with expertise in the research
methodology, which is most appropriate to the research
question. Additionally, when a graduate student uses
another investigator's data as a basis for the graduate
student's thesis, there must be an understanding that the
student's work must be original in that new questions must
be examined in the data.
COMPOSITION
OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE
Graduate
students should realize that the selection of an
appropriate thesis committee is critical to the
development of the thesis. The student should
carefully select a chairperson who should have expertise
in the programmatic and functional focus of the thesis.
The chairperson bears primary responsibility for
decision-making in the event of committee disagreement.
Initial exploration of a thesis topic and selection of a
second and, optionally, a third committee member should be
conducted in collaboration with the chairperson.
The
thesis committee shall consist of a chairperson and one
other member, both of whom have doctoral preparation and
graduate teaching experience. The chairperson must
be a tenure-track academic faculty member of the College
of Nursing, and is selected by the student in consultation
with the student's academic advisor. A third member
of the committee may be selected to meet content or
methodological needs. The chairperson shall have
primary responsibility for the guidance of the research.
The other members of the thesis committee shall serve as
consultants during the development of the research and
writing of the final document. It is the
responsibility of the thesis committee to approve the
proposal, examine the student, and approve the final
thesis product.
PREREQUISITES
TO THE THESIS
The
student may not begin work on the thesis until they have
completed NURS 700, 790, statistics, and at least one
clinical course in the major. Students who have
prior coursework in nursing research at another University
will need to submit syllabi and any other evidence to the
Office of Academic Programs and Student Services to seek
transfer credit.
APPROVAL
OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE
The
Department Chair and Graduate Director of the College of
Nursing shall approve the membership of the committee.
After the thesis committee has been selected, and there is
acceptance of the topic, the student must complete the
Approval of Thesis Committee form (See Appendix A) that is
to be signed by the committee members, Departmental Chair,
Graduate Director of the College of Nursing and the
student's advisor.
APPROVAL
OF PROSPECTUS OF THESIS
When
the Committee is in agreement that the proposal for the
thesis research is complete, the Thesis Committee signs
the "Approval of Prospectus for Thesis" form.
This form is filed in the student record in the Office of
Academic Programs and Student Services.
SELECTION
OF THE THESIS TOPIC AND METHOD
The
topic of the thesis is expected to relate to the student's
nursing major and/or area of role emphasis and to the
nursing research interests and expertise of the faculty
guiding the research. Normally, the chairperson, in
particular, should possess an expert knowledge related to
the topic of the thesis; however, there may be exceptions
to this policy. Students may find that some faculty
are unwilling to work with theses which are not within
their particular areas of research interest. A list
of faculty research interests is maintained in the Office
of Research in the College of Nursing, is updated
annually, and should be used by students when they are
trying to find a chairperson. Students should also
understand that faculty have the prerogative of refusing
to guide theses which are not within their area of
expertise.
DATA
COLLECTION
Data
collection may not proceed until the student has an
Approval of Prospectus on file; clearance of the Thesis
Committee; Ethics Committee approval; and approval of
human subjects' committee of any appropriate agency.
GRADING
FOR THESIS PREPARATION
Hours
earned in NURS 799 Thesis Preparation are counted in hours
attempted and hours earned; however, they are not computed
in the grade point average. Satisfactory work toward
the thesis is denoted with the grade of "T".
Unsatisfactory work receives a "U". The
grade of "I" for incomplete work may not be
assigned for NURS 799.
CREDIT
FOR THESIS PREPARATION
Thesis
and Special Projects in Nursing Research credits are not
transferable/interchangeable in the Master's program.
Students who begin the research path and subsequently
elect to transfer to the other must take NURS 792, Special
Projects in Nursing Research, in addition to any credits
already accumulated toward the thesis.
Six
credits of NURS 799 (Thesis Preparation) are required for
graduation from the Master of Science program.
Students may not enroll for NURS 799 credit until they
have completed NURS 790 and have an approved Thesis
Committee. Students may enroll for 1-6 credits of
Nursing 799 in a semester and may repeat the course as
often as necessary in order to complete the thesis.
Decisions about the number of hours for which the student
should enroll are negotiated with the Chairperson and the
advisor and may be influenced by practical considerations,
such as maintaining a full-time academic load. The
amount of work to be accomplished in any given semester is
a matter for negotiation between the chairperson and the
student. Students should enroll in NURS 799 for as
long as it takes to complete the thesis and should not
expect faculty to work with them on thesis preparation
unless enrolled for thesis credit. University policy
requires enrollment for thesis credit in order to use
University facilities and to consult with faculty about
the progress of the thesis.
Despite
the relative latitude in credit allocation for the thesis,
students are advised that it is unwise to defer completion
of the thesis.
Six
years is regarded as the maximum time allowed for graduate
credits for Master's candidates. In case more time
than six years is spent on the program, special
arrangements may be made with the Graduate School for
the revalidation of over-age credits in courses given by
the University, if the college or department concerned
approves the revalidation. Any student who fails to
complete a program in a period allowed becomes subject to
changes in degree requirements adopted, to a date six
years prior to the student's graduation (See USC Graduate
Bulletin).
A
risk of loss of Committee members and the need to
renegotiate with a new Committee increases as students
delay progress with the thesis. Students are also
advised to confer with faculty as to their availability
during summers and other holiday periods. Although
faculty may elect to be available, they are not required
to do so. Students should anticipate the absence of
faculty during at least some portions of the summer.
COMMITTEE
CHANGES AND/OR CHANGES IN THE THESIS PLAN
On
occasion, students may find themselves in need of a new
committee member because of faculty illness or because
faculty have left their position at the University.
In most cases, faculty who leaves the University will not
be able to continue on the committee. When the new
committee member is the chairperson, there may be
particular difficulties for the students since the new
chairperson may have different expectations of the thesis.
If committee replacements become necessary, the student
will be required to file a new Approval of Committee for
Thesis form (See Appendix A) signed by the new committee
members and submitted for all the required college
signatures.
In
addition, if any substantive changes are made in the
thesis topic, sample, or data collection methods utilized,
the students will also have to file a new Approval of
Prospectus for Thesis form.
CONFLICTS
BETWEEN THE STUDENT AND THE COMMITTEE
Students
and faculty are normally expected to resolve conflicts
within the Committee. In the event of serious
differences within the Committee, grievance channels are
always open to students; however, a joint conference of
the student and the committee may resolve differences of
opinion. It is possible and/or necessary, in some
cases, for the student to name a new committee and begin
again on the thesis.
WRITING
THE THESIS
The
USC College of Nursing requires students to comply with
the regulations for completing Master's Theses Developed
by the University of South Carolina Graduate School.
In addition, the College of Nursing requires the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association, (4th Ed.) (1994), as the style manual.
In
regular semesters the first draft of the master's thesis
must be in the hands of the major professor at least 60
days before the end of the semester. Final copies of
the thesis are to be submitted to major professors at
least 30 days prior to the end of the semester.
Copies signed by the professors are to be filed with the
Graduate School at least 20 days prior to the end of the
semester (See the USC Graduate Bulletin).
All
students are required to make two appointments for
"format checks" with a Graduate School staff
member before the submission deadline and before copies of
the thesis are made and distributed. The purpose of
the meetings is to assure that the thesis meets Graduate
School guidelines.
ORGANIZATION
OF THE THESIS
A
suggested organization of the thesis is found below (see
your committee for possible variations to this format
which may be appropriate to your study). All pages
should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers
beginning with Chapter I The Introduction. The APA Style
Manual (4th ed.) (1994) should be consulted for greater
specificity. The sequence of content is:
Title
Page
Abstract
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter
I Introduction
Introduce the Problem
Develop the Background
Present the Theoretical Framework
State the Purpose and Rationale
Chapter
II Review of the Literature
Chapter
III Method
Subjects, Sampling, Setting
Apparatus/Materials
Procedures - Ethics, Data Collection, and Data Analysis
Procedures
Chapter
IV Results
Tables and Figures
Statistical Presentation
Chapter
V Discussion
Interpretation of Findings
Implications for Nursing
Implications for Further Research
References
APPENDICES
The
following are requirements of the USC Graduate School:
Candidates for the MSN degree are required to submit the
original copy of the thesis and two copies. The
original is kept on file in the Caroliniana Library.
One copy is kept on file in the Cooper Library for use of
inter-library loans and one copy is returned to the
College of Nursing to be kept on file in the Information
Resource Center. The original plus the two copies,
signed by all thesis committee members, are to be
deposited with the Graduate School not less than twenty
(20) days before the date of graduation. (See
Graduate School Bulletin).
REFERENCES
ON STYLE, ORGANIZATION, AND WRITING
Students
are expected to use the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association
(4th ed.) (1994) as a guide for preparing the thesis.
It is expected that grammars, spelling, sentence and
paragraph structure, punctuation, and format of the paper
will be correct when the final report is submitted.
STYLE
MANUAL
Publications
manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.)
(1994). Washington: The American Psychological
Association.
STATISTICS
Hatcher, L. (1994). A step-by-step approach to using
the SAS system for factor analysis and structural equation
modeling. Cary, NC: SAS Institute.
Hatcher, L.,
& Stephanski, E.J. (1994). A step-by-step
approach to using the SAS system for univariate and
multivariate statistics. Cary, NC: SAS
Institute.
University
of South Carolina
College of Nursing
APPROVAL OF THESIS COMMITTEE
Name
of Principal Investigator
Telephone
________________
Address
Graduate
Major
Proposed
dates for data collection:
to
Thesis
Topic
Student's
Signature
Date
Thesis
Chairperson’s Signature
Date
Approval:
Department
Chair
Date
Committee
Member
Date
Graduate
Director
Date
Committee
Member
Date
(if 3rd member applicable)
Student Advisor
Date
Submit form to the Office of
Student Services for student file.
University
of South Carolina
College of Nursing
APPROVAL
OF PROSPECTUS FOR THESIS
The
prospectus of (Student's name)
entitled
has
been approved by:
1.
Thesis Chairperson
Signature
Date
2.
Second Committee
Signature
Date
3.
Third Committee (if applicable)
Signature
Date
File
this completed form with the Office of Student Services
before proceeding with the study.
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