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Adjunct Associate Professor Joan Lesser
The Research Project, or thesis, required of all students is an independent research or scholarly project which aims to develop knowledge for clinical social work practice and to provide a guided experience in conducting research. The teaching method employed is individual advisement. Each student is free to develop a project in any area of interest relevant to clinical social work. A detailed description of the Research Project and its requirements is found in the Master's Thesis Guidelines published annually by the School. Dissemination of project results after its completion and before graduation is also required. Required project undertaken during the second placement year with separate advising. Sixteen quarter-hours.
Is the Thesis a lot of work?
What are some examples of Smith Thesis projects?
What are the Master's Thesis Deadlines?
How can I get information about Human Subjects Review and Committee Meeting Dates?
How do I get support with instrument development, planning a code book, and with statistics?
How are the theses disseminated?
Is the Thesis a lot of work?
Yes! The Thesis is an independent or agency-connected research project that is both an exercise in research learning and a contribution to social work knowledge. It is begun in the required research courses and completed in the final placement year. Students often choose to examine unstudied or understudied topics that are at the cutting edge of social work and social services knowledge. Recent projects on racial and ethnic diversity, a wide range of women's issues, spirituality, trauma, practice innovations, culture-specific disorders and social work/social sciences theories have made invisible issues public and added to our professional knowledge.
Each student has a Research Advisor who is assigned to guide and support work on the Thesis exclusively.
Abstracts of all Smith Master's Thesis projects are published in the November issue of the Smith College Studies in Social Work, a juried professional journal. In turn they are listed in paper and CD-ROM based databases of social work knowledge and are made known to other researchers. Several are published. The Smith Studies is available in most social work libraries and at many agencies.
Yes, it’s a lot of work but allows you to learn about a topic of your choosing of relevance to social work. Our alumni rank it very high among the special aspects of studies at Smith.
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What are some examples of Smith Theses projects?
Click here for a full listing of theses for the past few years. The winners and nominees of the Eleanor Clark Thesis Prize, awarded annually in memoriam to pioneer medical social worker Eleanor Clark, are noted.
Theses since the 1930s are located in the Neilsen Library at Smith College.
Some theses are published in full in juried social work journals as well.
What are the Master's Thesis deadlines?
Annually, the proposal and human subjects review deadline is the end of October, the literature review chapter deadline is the end of January, and the deadline for the bulk of the Thesis is about May 10. The final deadline for the completed Thesis is 12:00 NOON on the Friday of the fourth week of our summer session. Exact dates are published annually in the Thesis Guidelines distributed to all students doing the thesis.
The Thesis Breakfast celebration is held Tuesday of the Fifth week with graduation to follow in mid-August.
For post residency students, the deadline for submission for a December degree is roughly December 10th, for an August degree, the deadline is roughly May 10th. Specific dates are published annually in the Thesis Guidelines.
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How can I get information about Human Subjects Review and Committee Meeting Dates?
Each year’s HSR User’s Guide is available online via Blackboard under Research Course 997. (All second and third year students are enrolled in this course.) Forms are also available on Blackboard.
Laurie Wyman is the Administrative Assistant for the HSR Committee. You may contact Ms. Wyman at lwyman@email.smith.edu
How do I get support with instrument development, planning a code book and with statistics?
The full Research Guidelines and many additional thesis resources are available online via Blackboard under research course 997. (All second and third year students are enrolled in this course.)
Smith College SSW students who are working on the Master's Thesis (and, in some instances, on the Doctoral Dissertation) can get consultation on all these issues from Marjorie Postal, staff research consultant.
You may contact Ms. Postal at mpostal@email.smith.edu Contact her as early on in the year as possible.
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How are the theses disseminated?
To share the knowledge gained in your thesis work, students must disseminate their thesis work. This is usually a time to see how much you have learned and to gain recognition for your work. Students may elect to present their work a) in an on-campus professional colloquium, b) in the on campus poster session, c) to a class which has relevant content (with permission of the instructor), d) discuss the work with a second reader selected from faculty and other appropriate professionals, e) do presentation to agency staff or at a professional social work conference. When the dissemination occurs away from Smith, a confirmation of dissemination must be sent to the Thesis Coordinator. This is a letter on agency letterhead signed by the moderator (who must hold an MSW or Ph.D. in social work or a closely related field) your supervisor or agency directory; or, a copy of the conference schedule where you presented will also be acceptable.
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