Page 66 - The Human Resource Development - New Student Orientation Handbook (REVISED)

The Human Resource Development
Orientation Handbook and Research Guide

Remember to keep complete notes on where you find any information you use in your thesis. This
is IMPORTANT because when using any material or ideas that are not your own, you must
give credit to the author. This is done at the end of your thesis in the Reference section, which is
a compilation of all the works you cited in the text of the paper.

Getting Started
As mentioned earlier, a department accepted thesis is a requirement for graduation from the BSU
HRD Master’s program. Although you will complete the majority of your thesis in HURD 806 and
HURD 880, you are ultimately responsible for ensuring it is completed to the standards of BSU.

A thesis is completed in a series of steps or processes. Your first step should be to investigate several
topics that interest you. This is important because you want to ensure that you will be able to find
sufficient information on a topic before you invest too much time. Your goal is not to duplicate
someone else’s work but to learn from it so that you can further pursue an important topic and build
on it.

The process of finding a thesis topic, doing the research, and writing the thesis is different from
anything you have probably done before. However, with the help of your advisor and support
network, you will be able to get advice and help in setting directions and goals. Do not isolate
yourself from the world: try to go out and find the resources and support you need from professors,
other graduate students, mailing lists, friends, family, and handbooks like this one.

Graduate students often think that the thesis happens in two distinct phases: doing the research, and
writing the thesis. This may be the case for some students, but more often, these phases overlap and
interact with one another. Sometimes it's difficult to formalize an idea well enough to test and prove
it until you've written it up; the results of your tests often require you to make changes that mean
that you have to go back and rewrite parts of the thesis; and the process of developing and testing
your ideas is almost never complete (there's always more that you “could” do) so that many graduate
students end up ``doing research'' right up until the day or two before the thesis is turned in.

A problem that many graduate students face is that their only goal seems to be ``finish the thesis.'' It
is essential that you break this down into manageable stages, both in terms of doing the research and
when writing the thesis. Tasks that you can finish in a week, a day, or even as little as half an hour
are much more realistic goals. It also helps to start writing basic information and gradually refine
your thesis. Remember:

 Don't sit down and try to start writing the entire thesis from beginning to end.
 First jot down notes on what you want to cover; then organize these into an outline (which
will probably change as you progress in your research and writing).
 When you start drafting sections; begin with those you're most confident about.

th
Understanding Research Methods: An Overview of the Essentials (9 Edition) by Mildred L. Patten
is the text you will use to develop your thesis. It will be your guide as you go through the process.
It provides valuable information on identifying a problem area, finding literature, determining
feasibility, selecting a research approach, organizing and evaluating literature, writing a literature

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