School of Arts and Sciences
Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

Senior Honors Thesis

A Senior Honors Thesis gives qualified students an opportunity an opportunity to extend their work in the field of Child Study and Human Development in a capstone project. The thesis can be an opportunity for students to do research, either by participating in ongoing research being conducted by a faculty member or a lab or, in certain cases, by collecting and analyzing original data. Undertaking an honors thesis gives a student an opportunity to get to work closely with a faculty member, integrate courses that have been taken throughout the major, build upon and extend learning in new directions.

Students completing an honors thesis are strongly encouraged to participate in the annual Eliot-Pearson Student Presentation Day, held in April.

The Senior Honors Thesis (CSHD 198)

The Senior Honors thesis in Child Study and Human Development is a project students should begin planning in their junior year. Students will register for CSHD 0198, which is a two semester, 8 SHU course in the senior year; all credits are received in the second semester, but it is understood that the first semester course can count as one of a student’s normal course load. It is possible to take the thesis course as a course overload. The thesis course must be taken in two consecutive semesters and cannot be taken over the summer. Therefore, if you’re planning to graduate in December of senior year, you’ll need to plan ahead and take CSHD 0198A in the spring of junior year.

To be eligible to do a Senior Honors thesis a student must:

  1. Have been on the Dean’s List at least twice prior to senior year
  2. Have at least a 3.4 GPA
  3. Write a short proposal in the spring of junior year that outlines the thesis topic, main research questions, methodology, and gives a sense of what the literature review will include
  4. Find two faculty to members to serve on their thesis committee as first and second readers. The first reader must be a full-time CSHD faculty member and must be secured by the end of junior year; the second member of the committee may be a part-time CSHD faculty member or a faculty member in a different department and may be added in the fall of senior year. It is also possible to include a third committee member.
  5. Students doing an honors thesis must also register for the thesis research seminar, CSHD 0044, a course that meets every other week and will provide support and community for students undertaking honors thesis work

The Senior Honors Thesis Proposal

The Senior Honors Thesis proposal should be submitted by May of junior year. For students planning to graduate in December of senior year, the proposal should be submitted by November of the first semester of junior year.

The proposal should contain the following elements:

  1. The topic of the thesis and major research questions posed
  2. Discussion of the topic’s significance (significance can be determined by theoretical or methodological issues, importance to the field of developmental science, social/political/economic relevance, topicality, etc.)
  3. An outline of sources for the literature review (a literature review is meant to contextualize and situate your work within what others have done before)
  4. An outline of the proposed methodology
  5. An indication of whether IRB approval will be required, and if so, when this will be obtained
  6. A list of committee members

Types of topics that can make for a good honors thesis

There are many types of projects that can form the basis for a Senior Honors Thesis.  Case studies, arts-based research, secondary analyses of empirical data, content analyses of children’s media/arts, and empirical studies might all provide topics that could be pursued.

A few recent senior honors thesis topics have included:

  • A content analysis of the types of trauma in films for children and families over the past 40 years
  • An exploration of how paired reading increases pre-readers literacy skills
  • A study looking at how parents and teachers evaluated kindergarteners’ social and emotional development during the pandemic
  • An investigation of what autistic students gleaned from the media they consumed as children

Timetable for a Senior Honors Thesis

  • Junior year
    • discuss ideas with potential faculty committee members
    • do preliminary research
    • write thesis proposal (10-20 pages) and submit to committee members
    •  meet with committee members to discuss proposal and make any recommended changes
    •  initiate IRB review if applicable
    • if planning to graduate in December of senior year, make sure to sign up for CSHD 0198 in second semester of junior year
  • First semester senior year
    • sign up for CSHD 0198 and CSHD 0044
    • you will need to file a Senior Honors Thesis Candidate Form. These forms are due in October. This form is located online at https://tuftsstudentservices.tfaforms.net/65
    • finalize methodology
    • complete IRB review if applicable
    • write literature review
    • begin data collection
  • Second semester senior year
    • register for CSHD 0198 and CSHD 0044
    • complete data collection
    • data analysis
    • writing and editing thesis
    • participate in EP Student Presentation Day
    • arrange a one- hour defense with all committee members by the third week of April/first week of May
    • submit a copy of the Senior Honors Thesis to the Tufts Digital Archives Center

in Tisch Library before Commencement, and a copy to Eliot-Pearson

At the recommendation of a student's thesis committee, the senior thesis may merit either honors, high honors, or highest honors. These are different from Latin honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude) that are determined by a student's overall GPA.