TITLE
by
Student’s Name
A thesis submitted to the Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Master in Government
Baltimore, Maryland
Month, Year
© Your Name Year
All rights reserved
ABSTRACT
Each dissertation or thesis must contain an abstract immediately following the
title page. It should present a succinct account of the work. The abstract should contain
(1) a statement of the problem or theory, (2) procedure or methods, (3) results and (4)
conclusions. However, the student’s department or program may require additional
contents.
The abstract must be double-spaced and should not be more than 350 words.
UMI editors for Dissertation Abstracts International will edit any abstract over this limit.
Illustrations, graphs, charts or tables are not permitted in the abstract because they are not
permitted by UMI for publication in Dissertation Abstracts International.
The abstract must provide the name of the readers/advisors at the bottom and
conform to all requirements for the printing of the dissertation.
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PREFACE
This is optional. You might instead write an apologia identifying the scope and
limitations of your work. If you don’t have much to say here, skip it.
You will probably want to thank those who helped. People you interviewed, the
boss who was supportive, faculty, family, and friends, all are candidates. This is your
section. Write what you want.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................1
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT .........................................................................................................................2
ISSUE HISTORY ..........................................................................................................................................4
STAKEHOLDERS, PLAYERS, PROCESS ...............................................................................................5
RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................................................................................................6
DATA AND ANALYSIS ...............................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................................................8
FINDINGS .....................................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................................................8
RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................................9
YOUR VIEW .................................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................ 10
APPENDIX A: APPENDIX TITLE .......................................................................................................... 11
CURRICULUM VITA ................................................................................................................................ 12
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LIST OF TABLES
If your thesis has a number of tables and figures, then you should begin the list of
tables and list of figures on separate pages. However, if there are only a few of each,
then put them on a single page. If there are none, then delete the relevant headings.
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LIST OF FIGURES
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LIST OF PLATES
If your thesis has supporting material that is in the form of computer disks or tape,
film, or other physical artifact, it should be attached to the thesis in the manner prescribed
by the university and listed here. In all likelihood, you’ll have no such thing, and you
should immediately delete this section.
However, keep the section break below. It separates the front matter pages with
little Roman numeral page numbers from the main body of your thesis that has normal
Arabic page numbers.
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Introduction
Throughout this handout, a defense reform— perhaps reorganization of the
Office of the Secretary of Defense or a change in roles and missions for the
Armed Services—is used as a running example. It is assumed that master’s
theses are both scholarly in approach and are policy relevant.
Your introduction should contain a thesis statement that is perhaps in the form of
a predicted outcome of some reform proposal. This section should also identify the issue.
Don’t confuse issue with thesis.
Your thesis might be that a particular defense
reorganization proposal would fail due to Service resistance; but the issue is defense
reorganization.
You probably cannot write the thesis statement before you conduct your study.
Take a stab at it in the beginning, and then return when you’ve finished your conclusion.
You’re not writing a mystery novel. The reader shouldn’t have to guess where you’re
going.
When you’re finally ready to write the introduction, check to make sure you’ve
met the following requirements. The issue must be clear. Your thesis must be clear. The
reader must understand that you’re talking about an important problem and that you have
a meaningful contribution to make. A thesis can often be stated as a declaratory sentence
asserting that doing A will cause B.
For example, following a specific policy
recommendation will produce a desired social outcome. An argument, another valuable
part of your introduction, and something that will structure your exposition, is an
elaboration of your thesis. I.e., if your thesis is “doing A will cause B,” then “more of A
causes more of A1, which in turn causes less of A2, which finally causes more of B.”
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Schools of Thought
This section should map out the logic of cause and effect relating to the chosen
issue.
By conducting scholarly research, you will find that respected scholars and
authorities differ on how to approach your chosen issue.
If there is no scholarly
controversy, there is no reason for doing scholarly research. There should be at least two
different schools of thought. “For” and “against” a proposal are not schools of thought.
The reader isn’t interested in your opinion here. This isn’t intended for the editorial page.
Honestly and even-handedly describe the major schools of thought.
One of the requirements of the schools of thought section is to prove to your
audience (your thesis committee) that you’ve done your homework. Another requirement
is that you must set the stage for your contribution; you might refute or confirm some
elements of one of the schools. Remember, your thesis must add to the existing base of
knowledge.
While you are researching your issue, you will undoubtedly find these schools of
thought. Make a point to be looking for them whenever you are reading. When you
encounter one, rush to your word processor and make a subsection with a footnote to the
source you are reading.1 Give the heading a name that you can remember. Then capture
the elements of this school’s thinking. You’ll hate yourself if you have to go back and
read a couple of hundred pages trying to find a school of thought you once stumbled
1
In the day of the typewriter, it was quite unrealistic to get footnotes positioned at the bottom of the
page where they were referenced. The response was to collect them all in one place and call them
endnotes. This became the standard for professional journals. Many faculty members expect
endnotes and find footnotes strange. Others, myself included, like to the see the reference right there
2
over. By capturing this material in this fashion, you automatically will be building your
thesis.
Decide early on a consistent style for footnote references and for bibliographic
references. Few things are more laborious than sweeping through your entire thesis at the
last minute trying to impose order on your footnotes and bibliography.
Footnote and bibliographic references are related. Kate Turabian’s classic work,
considered the definitive source by many, describes their similarities and differences.2
The information in each is much the same. They differ in purpose, however, and purpose
dictates their differences.
The purpose of the footnote is to help readers find the
referenced material themselves, down to the page. The purpose of the bibliography is to
list in detail all references used in the thesis. References are ordered alphabetically by the
author’s last name. Therefore, the author’s name is given last name first, followed by the
first name, separated by a comma. In a footnote, the author’s name is given first name
followed by last name. Compare the footnote referring to Turabian’s book at the bottom
of this page to the reference at the end of this paper. Commas separate the “pieces” of a
footnote, while periods separate the pieces in a bibliographic reference.
on the same page. Fortunately, Word makes it easy to go back and forth with a few clicks. Absent
faculty direction, do whichever you prefer.
2
Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press, 1973), pp. 126-127.
3
Issue History
Continuing with the defense reorganization example, the issue history would
probably be a legislative history. Congress has played a strong role in this area. Tell that
story. Major legislation was passed in 1947, 1949, and every few years after until the
most recent round of legislation in 1986. Events in international relations, even wars,
may have precipitated legislative response. Capture that story as well.
If you issue is a single legislative act, you may want to capture previous
legislative attempts, the events that make the legislation ripe now, the dates steps along
the legislative path were taken, and any serendipitous events along the way.
If you can’t find a history for your issue, you probably haven’t identified an issue
rich enough for a master’s thesis. This section, too, serves to demonstrate to your reader
that you’ve done your homework.
As in your schools of thought section, you will undoubtedly encounter elements
of issue history as you read books and journal articles. Don’t make the mistake of
nodding your head up and down saying “that’s interesting, I must remember this when I
start to write my thesis.” Write it down immediately. Make footnotes to the reference.
Capture page numbers. Your thesis is writing itself as you read. The key is to be on the
lookout for issue history.
4
Stakeholders, Players, Process
Stakeholders are those parties who have something to win or lose from the reform
proposal. There may be other players or decision-makers who have nothing to lose or
win but will play a major role in legislating or implementing the reform. And, there is a
process through which the reform will be decided, e.g., authorization legislation,
appropriations, or National Security Council deliberations. There may be a separate
process for implementing the policy. A player in one might be a stakeholder in the other.
If there are two major players, each with a vested interest, you might expect that
they have articulated a school of thought to support their interests.
Under these
conditions, this section might merge with the schools of thought section. Alternatively,
you may find that your issue has been through a process several times and, thus, this
section might be better addressed in the issue history section.
This section demonstrates to the reader that you have a grasp of the pragmatics of
the decision making process and that you are qualified to draw conclusions and make
recommendations. This is a stronger requirement in a policy relevant thesis than in a
purely theoretic research thesis.
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Research Design
At this point, you’ve set up the problem for the reader.
They believe you
understand what’s gone on before. Now you’re shifting to what will become your
original contribution. The requirement is to describe precisely what your research seeks
to show, and how you have proceeded to gather information in a way that suggests the
reliability and validity of your conclusions. Don’t be afraid to identify your weaknesses.
This section is often titled simply “Methodology.”
If, as is suggested in the Methods of Social Inquiry class, you took the time to
create a project prospectus or research plan, you may be able to plug it in here as a first
cut. No doubt your research plan will fail you in some way. Things never work out the
way we plan. Bring this section in line with the research, data collection, and analysis
that you actually did.
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Data and Analysis
In a full thesis, data might be best presented in an appendix. Make a judgement
call. Either put it here or put it in an appendix and summarize it here. The analysis might
be highly quantitative or just pure deductive logic. Analysis might also be conducted
through several case studies.
You may find that the evidence gathered supports one school of thought and
refutes another. Since policy issues tend to be quite complex, another common outcome
of analysis is that the evidence is inconsistent, contradictory, and inconclusive. Say so.
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Conclusions
Your conclusions should follow directly from your analysis. Restate you thesis,
recall your evidence, and summarize your logical argument.
If you can write the
conclusion before doing the research, you are not writing a scholarly thesis, you are
writing a large editorial.
I often find it convenient to separate what I learn in research and analysis into
three categories: findings, conclusions, and recommendations. If it helps, use it, but don’t
feel compelled to leave the structure in your final thesis.
Findings
Some things are findings of fact. No reader should be able to argue with findings
of fact. They may not like them, but you’ll have all of your sources identified, and your
disapproving reader will have to attack someone else. Make sure your sources are good
ones.
Conclusions
Solid, clear logic is used to weave together findings to produce conclusions. One
might expect another to arrive at a different conclusion, but your logic should be
supportable. Those inclined to put aside their preconceived notions should find your
conclusions reasonable. If another reader can refute your conclusions, that’s just fine.
That’s what scholarly work is about. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis, as Hegel would say.
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Recommendations
Based on findings of fact, logically derived conclusions, and credible causal
relationships, you may be able to move into the world of the predictive thesis. That is,
based on everything you’ve presented so far, you can predict a certain outcome, e.g., the
eventual collapse of the social security trust fund. Then the title of this subsection
wouldn’t be “Recommendations” but something else.
If your work justifies it, you may be able to produce a prescriptive thesis. That is,
you can prescribe a course of action that will achieve a desired social outcome, e.g., what
policy action should be taken now to prevent the collapse of the social security trust fund.
Your View
You have now earned the right to say what’s on your mind. If your analysis says
the reform will fail, but you can make an argument why it should pass in the interest of
national security, this is the place to say it.
Now go back and write your introduction, the part I always struggle with the
most.
Do not assume that this outline and these heading titles will be right for your
final product. It is offered as a point of departure. As indicated above, some of
these sections might profitably be combined and reordered. You won’t be able
to tell how to communicate your results until fairly late in the process. You can,
however, be confident that the order you followed conducting research is the
wrong order for final exposition. The final product must be structured for the
consumer (reader), not the producer (writer).
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References
Van Evera, Stephen. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press, 1997.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 4th
ed. University of Chicago Press, 1973.
White, Louise G. Political Analysis: Technique and Practice. 4th ed. Harcourt Brace &
Company, 1999.
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Appendix A:
Appendix Title
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Curriculum Vita
The final page of the thesis should contain a brief biographical sketch. This
“scholarly life” or “curriculum vita” should record the data and location of the author’s
birth and the salient facts of his or her academic training and experience in teaching and
research.
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