Students wishing to pursue the thesis option in the MACJ must submit the required proposal by November 15 for the Spring semester and April 15 for the Fall semester. The faculty will review the proposal and decide if it is acceptable. If the proposal is found to be acceptable, the department will decide which faculty member will be assigned as the student mentor.
Requirements for the Thesis Proposal
Graduate students must submit a proposal that describes the project they want to pursue. The proposal should be a minimum of a 4 page discussion of the topic and it must address the following issues:
- Purpose of the Study
- The research question
- What is the significance of your study to the field of criminal justice?
- Proposed methodology
- Preliminary hypotheses
- IRB approvals that might be required or that you have already obtained
- If your study involves sensitive populations, (juveniles, prisoners, etc.), written authorization permitting access to the subjects
- Literature Review
- A preliminary reference list of at least ten studies. Discuss at least five studies.
- How do you plan to use these and other studies in your thesis?
- Expected findings