Honors Program

Important Dates if you are planning to write a thesis during academic year 2013-2014

Toward the end of your junior year you will need to identify a thesis topic and find a Sociology faculty member that will be your advisor for two terms.

1. A written thesis proposal must be submitted to that advisor no later than the end of the third week of Fall '13.
2. At the end of your first term of Socy 98 (end of Winter '14), your progress towards completion of the thesis is evaluated by your advisor and the rest of the department.
3. The preliminary draft of the thesis is due no later than the end of the fifth week of Spring '14.
4. Once revisions have been made the final draft of the thesis is due no later than the end of the eighth week of Spring '14.

The Honors Program in Sociology consists of advanced independent study under the direction of a faculty supervisor, culminating in the completion and presentation to the department of an honors thesis. A major who successfully completes an honors thesis in sociology will also satisfy the culminating experience in the major. The program is open to any major who satisfies the minimum college honors requirements, including a 3.0 GPA overall, has a 3.3 GPA in the major, and has completed all theory and methods requirements for the major prior to submission of the thesis proposal.

Toward the end of the junior year a prospective honors major should identify a faculty member in the department who is willing to serve as a thesis advisor in order to discuss the proposed thesis. Advisors must confirm that they will be on campus during the two terms in which the student takes Sociology 98, i.e., sociology honors credits, unless other arrangements are made. A written thesis proposal must be submitted to the advisor no later than the end of the third week of the third term or prior to graduation, and preferably earlier. After the proposal has been approved by the advisor and a copy filed with the department the student is accepted into the honors program.

All honors majors must take Sociology 98 twice for thesis credit during the senior year, although exceptions may be permitted. Because only one term of Sociology 98 counts as one of the seven additional courses numbered 10 or higher that are required for completion of the major, taking a second term of Sociology 98 means that Honors students will typically take at least 11 course credits in sociology. At the end of the first term of Sociology 98 the student's progress toward the completion of the thesis is evaluated by the advisor in consultation with the department. If satisfactory progress is not being made, then the thesis project may be terminated and a grade given for the first term of thesis credit. (See the departmental handout, "The Sociology Honors Program," for more detailed information.)

A preliminary draft of the thesis must be turned into the thesis advisor no later than the end of the fifth week of the second term of Sociology 98, and preferably earlier. Once revisions have been made, three (3) copies of the completed thesis (one bound and two unbound) must be turned into the thesis advisor no later than the end of the eighth week of the second term of Sociology 98. The thesis will be graded by the thesis advisor and a second reader appointed by the department. Students receiving a B+ (3.33) or higher on the thesis will receive honors recognition in the major. High honors may be awarded by faculty vote for truly exceptional work.

Students interested in participating in the program should obtain the pamphlet "The Sociology Honors Program" from the Department Office.

What Should a Thesis Proposal Contain?

An honors thesis proposal is a document written by a student in consultation with his/her honors thesis advisor. It identifies the problem or question that the student will address in the thesis and explains how the student will go about investigating it. The proposal is a blue print that guides the thesis project. It often constitutes a rough version of the first chapter of the thesis itself. Most proposals contain the following parts.

• Statement of the problem: This section identifies the specific problem or question that the student will investigate and briefly explains why it is of sociological interest. This section often includes a preliminary review of the sociological literature that explains why the student's research problem or question is important and how it relates to other sociological work that has been done.
• Hypothesis: The proposal should identify one or more specific hypotheses that the student will test empirically. The hypothesis is often derived from literature that has already been published. The proposal also often identifies key dependent and independent variables and explains how they will be operationalized.
• Data: The proposal should identify the data that the student will use in the thesis and where it will come from. Data may come from a variety of sources and take a variety of forms, such as archival documents (e.g., government documents, newspapers, memoirs, etc.) or surveys (e.g., U.S. Census, General Social Survey, etc.). If the student plans to collect his/her own data, such as through a survey, experiment, participant observation, interviews, etc., he/she should explain how the data will be collected. Issues of sampling, case study selection, etc. should be discussed.
• Analysis: The student should explain how the data will be analyzed once it is located and/or collected. It is especially important to outline a research design that explains the sorts of empirical comparisons that will be involved and how this will shed light on the student's hypothesis. If quantitative data will be analyzed, what statistical techniques will likely be involved?
• Human subjects approval: If the student plans to conduct interviews, administer a survey, or observe human subjects he/she must obtain approval for the study from Dartmouth's Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (phone: 646-3053/1598) before data are collected. This is mandatory Dartmouth College policy.
• Timetable: The student should establish a timetable for each step of the thesis process. Dates should be set by which the literature review, development of data collection tools, data collection, analysis, production of draft chapters and other critical parts of the thesis project will be completed.
• Thesis outline: An outline of the thesis should be provided indicating its overall organization, i.e., a preliminary "Table of Contents."

Past Honors Theses

• 2012 - Orli Kleiner: "Selling the Game: The Economic Sociology of Advertising in Baseball"
• 2012 - Georgino Hyppolite: "More Black Ivy Leaguers, But There's a 'Kind'? Oppositional Culture Theory and Group Attachment of High-Achieving Black Students"
• 2011 - Stephany Acosta: "Deciphering Dominican Dreams: Social Mobility Among Dominican Immigrant Professionals"
• 2011 - Aryana S. Jacobs: "Race and Gender in Newspaper Coverage of Sexually Transmitted Diseases"
• 2011 - Jaclyn K. Wypler: "The Future's in the Dirt: Local Food, Community and Embeddedness in Hardwick, Vermont"
• 2010 - Nichole R. Davis:  "A Model for Public Schools:  An Analysis of Long Term Academic Enrichment Programs and How They Shape Black Students to Succeed in College"
• 2010 - Ian W. Ferrell: "The Business of America is Business:  Corporate America's Reassertion of Political and Economic Power and the Divergent Responses of American Labor Unions"
• 2010 - Jessica C. Guthrie: "How Do Black and White Biracial College Students Identify? Exploring the Influencing Factors in the Development and Changes in Racial Self-identification"
• 2010 - Mary C. "Lina" Stepick - "Threat or Opportunity? Immigrant Workers and Building Trades Unions, the Case of Portland, Oregon"
• 2009 - Rembert M. Browne, II:  "Upper-Class Black Identity and Social Distancing"
• 2009 - Maria L. Castilla:  "Socioeconomic Status and Hispanic Identification in Part-Hispanic, Multiracial Adolescents:  A Microsociological Approach"
• 2009 - Lisel A. Murdock:  "Human Capabilities:  Effects of Neighborhood Trust and Food Insecurity on Emotions"
• 2009 - Tessa M. Winter:  "The Post-Election Violence and Social Networks of University Students in Nairobi, Kenya"
• 2008 - Katherine L. Davis: "A Matter of Taste:  The State of Class in Burlington, Vermont, Through the City Market"
• 2008 - Sara E. del Nido: "From Interests to Identities:  Mapuche Social Movement Organizations and Indigenous Autonomy in Chile"
• 2008 - Sarah C. Herringer: "Organics in the Mainstream: The Creation of an Industry or Social Movement Success?"
• 2007 - Eric Cruz: "Disparities in Adolescent Health - The Case of Adolescent Diabetes"
• 2007 - Ashley Satterfield:  "Big Pimpin:  Black Masculinity and the Emergence of the Pimp in Popular Culture"
• 2006 - Lindsay Longe: "An Examination of the Connection Between Charter School Mission Statements, Student Enrollments, and Educational Outcomes"
• 2006 - Tiffany Davis: "Drop Me off in Harlem: An Analysis of the Changing Commercial Market in Gentrified Harlem"
• 2006 - Kristina Emeghebo: "The Socialization of Individuals in Interracial Relationships"
• 2006 - Mary Haile: "Identity Formation among Transracially Adopted Ethiopian Children"
• 2006 - Scott Abramson: "Globalization and Christian Democracy in Italy and Germany"
• 2006 - Rebecca Wehrly: "Constructing the Problem of Lead Poisoning: Competing Views in Manchester, N.H."
• 2005 - Stella Treas: "The Relation of Social Networks and Transaction Costs to Executives' Employment Decisions"
• 2005 - Victoria Lee: "At the Vanguard of Social Reform: The 1998 Student Movement in the Democratization of Indonesia"
• 2004 - Jennifer D. Carlson: "Condoned or Condemned? The normalization of the death penalty in Huntsville, Texas"
• 2004 - Alison C. Kelley: "A Young Heart with an Old Soul": How Incarcerated Juveniles Construct Age-Identity through Writing about Personal Relationships"
• 2004 - Johanna R. Thomas: "Completing the Picture: Increasing the understanding of Black female and Latina juvenile violence"
• 2004 - Arjun S. Ponnambalam: "Divergent Paths of Intrastate Conflicts: Resolution and Protraction in El Salvador and Colombia"
• 2004 - Njoki E. Gatimu: "Two Nations, One Self: Identity Formation among Second-Generation Nigerian Adolescents in the New York City Area."
• 2003 - Jennai Williams: "Plantation Misappropriation: Heritage Tourism and Historical Representations of Six St. Francisville Plantations"
• 2003 - Lindsey G. Payson: "Ethno-tourism on Isla del Sol, Bolivia"
• 2003 - Jillian L. Powers: "Stigma Management of a Deviant Occupation: A study of rural stripping"
• 2003 - Claribel Vargas: "The Road to Medical School: An Exploration of the Undergraduate Experience of Underrepresented Minorities"
• 2003 - Olufunmilola A. Adedokun: "American Psycho: The Social Construction of Mental Health Disorders in American News Media"
• 2003 - Ross Landau: 'The Good of the Game'
• 2003 - Amber Laws: "Fight the Power: An Analysis of Hip-Hop Culture and the Social Mobilization of African-American Youth"
• 2003 - Jennifer Jaggi: "Managed Care and the Medical Profession: A study of the attitudes of Medical Students and Residents"
• 2003 - Paola Peacock-Villada: "Bilingual Education in the United States: A study of its creation and demise in Massachusetts"
• 2003 - Amanda Benjamin-Smith: "The Cream of the Crop: The Black Model Minority, Cultivating Class Through Educational Attainment"
• 2002 - Christopher Allen: "In Harms Way: J.S. Mill and State Intervention in Liberty"
• 2002 - Thea Ellis: "Black Bourgeoisie Revisited: A Contemporary Analysis of the Black Middle Class and the Black Press in he United States"
• 2002 - Benjamin Gebre-Medhin: "The Development of Democracy in Eritrea: Nation, Revolution & Democratization"
• 2002 - David A. Trouille: "The White Faces of Dartmouth College: A Study of Racial Identity among White Males"
• 2002 - Maren Winnick: "Evaluating Patient Literacy: A Three Part Study of Health Literacy in the Health Care Environment"
• 2001 - Randy P. Choiniere: "Crying over Spilt Milk?: Assessing the Plight of Small Dairy Farmers in the Northeast"
• 2001 - Brianne Rideout: "Policing Racialized and Ethnic Space: Police Misconduct in an Urban Environment
• 2001 - Christine M. Percheski: "Changing Career Aspirations: Trends among Women and Men of an Ivy League College from 1972-1999."
• 2001 - Matthew T. Shaffer: "'You Know How We Roll:'" An Exploration of the Cultural Capital and Adolescent Networking Patterns Among African-American, Latino, and Caucasian Seniors at Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois"
• 2001 - Mona Jean-Baptiste: "Unveiling the Black Body: Meaning and Representations of the Black Woman's Body 1900-1930"
• 2001 - Leah R. Threatte: "Rainbows on the Green: An Analysis of Gender and Achievement in the African American Community at Dartmouth"
• 2000 - Sarah M. Blanton: "Black-White Biracial Identity Construction: The Structural, Social, and Personal Forces Affecting the Development of Racialized Sense of Self"
• 1999 - Karen Yen: "Chinese-American Organization and Mobilization"
• 1998 - Doug Heyman: "The Contemporary Black American Attitude toward Self-Segregation as a Reflection, Reaction and Resolution to the Social and Legislative Reality of the American Dream."
• 1998 - Fuchsia Grey: "Controlling Their Bodie's Fate: An Exploratory Analysis of the Metamorphosis and Continuance of Female Circumcision in Egypt, Sudan and Kenya."
• 1998 - Shaun Peet: "Behold a Pale Horse: The United States and the Impoverishment of the Teton Sioux of Pine Ridge."
• 1998 - Erica Ryu: "The Aftermath: Collective Action and Solidarity in the Korean American Community after the LA Riots."
• 1997 - Chen Yang: "Taiwan's Economic Development Past, Present, and Future: A case study and a test of development theories."
• 1996 - Gerald E. Martin: "Waging a Christian War: The Flexibility of War Doctrine Within the Christian Church"
• 1996 - Chandra E. Stanley: "Deconstructing the Myth of the Miracle: Did Chile's Privatization of Social Services Go Too Far? "
• 1996 - Peter B. Evans: "A Better Chance: Dartmouth's Contribution to the Civil Rights Movement"
• 1995 - Kimberly Barry: "Salvaging Tomorrow: Generation X and Recycling Behavior"
• 1995 - Juliet Bouyea: "Black...Not Beautiful: The Commodification of Beauty and the African-American Woman"
• 1995 - Nadia Bowers: "Volunteerism as a Means for Social Control on the Axes of Class and Gender"
• 1995 - Gregory Heyman: "Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X: Consistency with American Political and Social Foundation"
• 1995 - Kristi Kimball: "American Economic Decline and the Rise of Corporate Conservatism"
• 1995 - Jennifer Sack: "The Ties That Once Bound: The Unraveling of the Black-Jewish Coalition in the United States"
• 1995 - Jessica Segal: "The Social and Structural Forces That De-Stabilized Boston's Jewish Community"
• 1995 - Moriah Shilton: "Irish Women: An Examination of the Interplay Between the Irish Constitution of 1937, the Irish Roman Catholic Church, and the Socio-Economic Conditions of the Time"
• 1994 - Alicia L. Marti: "Anomie and Eating Disorders"
• 1993 - Rebecca H. Meyercor: "Gender Equity in Teacher-Student Interactions, and Ethneographic Study"
• 1992 Joy L.K. Dwyer: "Socialized to Abuse: When Violence in the Workplace Becomes Violence in the Home"
• 1991 - Richard A. Aube, Jr.: "The National Rifle Association: A Preparation for Battle"
• 1991 - Tara D. Blake: "The Holocaust in Context: Civilization at its Pinnacle and Abyss...."
• 1991 - Trecia M. Canty: "The Quest for Social Equality: African-Americans in the Post-Civil Rights Period"
• 1991 - Jennifer S. Clark: "Family Violence: Prevention, Intervention and Public Policy"
• 1991 - Holly-Anne Coward: "Socio-linguistic Determinants of Social Class in Modern Britain"
• 1991 - Debra C. VanWinkle: "Health Claims in Advertisements"
• 1990 - Carol Ling: "To Be a Woman and a Physician: A Study of the Social and Structural Factors Influencing Women Physicians' Specialty and Subspecialty Choices"
• 1990 - Rebecca L. Solberg: "Agricultural Marketing Relationships in a Political- Economic Context"