University of Manitoba - Faculty of Arts - Political Studies - Thesis Stream
Thesis Stream

The Thesis Stream of the MA in Political Studies consists of coursework, a thesis and an oral examination.

Course Work

Students in the thesis stream of the MA program must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours at the 7000 level in Political Studies. In some cases, and with written permission of the Department’s Graduate Committee, students may substitute six (6) credit hours of coursework at the 7000 level in a related discipline. Students are required to complete POLS 7300 Research Methods in the Study of Politics (3ch) (or its equivalent) and POLS 7100 Study of Politics (3ch).

Students must achieve an overall grade point average of 3.0 (B) with no grade lower that a 3.0 (B) in their course work. In cases where this requirement is not met, the Department’s Graduate Committee may, at its discretion, allow a student to repeat up to 6 credit hours of course work at the 7000 level.

Thesis Advisor, Advisory and Examining Committee

During the second term of course work, the student should submit in writing to the Department's MA Chair, the name of a Departmental faculty member who has agreed to serve as his/her thesis advisor. The Advisor and student will complete the Advisor Student Guidelines. In consultation with the thesis advisor, and normally following the approval of the thesis proposal, the student's faculty advisor will submit in writing the names of the individuals who will for the Thesis Advisory Committee. The Thesis Advisory Committee must consist of:

1. Your advisor
2. Internal Examiner - a faculty member from Political Studies
3. Your External Examiner - an academic from a different University of Manitoba department.

** Note: one member of the committee must have a 'primary' appointment within the Department of Political Studies and must be members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Thesis Proposal

All thesis proposals must be approved by the Thesis Advisory Committee well in advance of the submission of the completed thesis. In most cases, the proposal should be approved in the months immediately following the completion of course work. Later submissions may be accepted by the Thesis Advisory Committee upon application from the student, including a written explanation from the advisor. 

All proposals must center on a central research question. Posing a 'why' question, if possible, is far superior to posing a 'how' question. Please note that thesis proposal can only be successfully written after doing a considerable amount of research for your thesis. This will not be wasted and part of the proposal can often end up being parts of your thesis. The candidate and advisor, as part of the proposal, should submit the following to the Thesis Advisory Committee:
 
1. Title of proposed thesis project (note, proposals are generally between 2,000 and 3,000 words in length)
2. Contextualization for your question which signifies its importance: why should anyone care about it?
3. The question your thesis attempts to answer (note, it should emerge naturally, as it were, from your contextualization)
4. The existing literature which attempts to answer it, or comes closest to answering it and the gap it leaves, which your thesis is designed to fill (wholly or partially)
5. The hypothesis: what you expect to find and why.
6. Description of the methodology/resources to be employed. In instances where the methodology calls for human participants (e.g. interviews or survey), plans for obtaining ethical review should be included (see point below);
7. The primary sources: these may include data, news stories, documents, etc.
8. Chapter outline with brief descriptions of the content of each chapter, preferably the argument of each chapter

9. Bibliography of relevant literature and secondary sources

An M.A. thesis shall be no more than 50,000 words in length but will normally fall within the 20,000 to 25,000 words range (80 to 100 double-spaced typed pages). A waiver of the requirement concerning length may be granted by the Department’s Graduate Committee upon application by the candidate and with supporting argument from the advisor. Students should refer to the Faculty of Graduate Studies guidelines regarding theses (i.e.: formatting, required specifications, footnoting, reproduction standards, etc.) Choice of referencing style rests with the student and their advisor.  The student is expected to consult with their advisor at regular intervals regarding progress on the thesis and the need for revision. It is also advisable that the consultation process be expanded to include other members of the thesis examining committee as early as possible.

If your research involves human subjects, you MUST speak with your advisor about the process for securing research ethics approval. For more information about research ethics, please visit the Research Ethics webpage.
 
For more details on how to propose, develop and write a thesis proposal, please see the tips on the right column.

Thesis

The student is expected to have a sound grasp of the subject matter of the thesis and a genuine familiarity with the major literature relevant to the project. The thesis must similarly demonstrate a mastery of that material from a unique perspective. The student must also be able to analyse the conceptual aspects of the research, to synthesize the contributing evidence and to make intelligent, critical inferences from the results.

Oral Examination

The oral examination has a maximum duration of two hours and consists of a defence of the candidate's thesis before the thesis examination committee and another departmental faculty member appointed by the Graduate Chair who will act as non-voting chair of the oral defence. Such a defence invariably requires that the student demonstrate a sound knowledge of the field in which the thesis has been submitted. The oral examination is open to members of the university community. The completed thesis should be delivered to the Graduate Secretary, who will arrange for its distribution to the examiners. The thesis examiners (normally the members of the Thesis Advisory Committee who passed the proposal) will read and report on its merits according to the following categories: Approved or Not Approved. The thesis examination should be completed within one month of the distribution of the thesis.

Pass

Upon receiving a pass, the student will consult with their advisor if any revisions are required.  Once the Thesis is finalized, the student with upload their Thesis to Myspace.

Fail

Candidates who fail the thesis oral examination are permitted to undertake a second oral defence within the maximum period for degree completion as specified by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.