THESIS GUIDE MASTER OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES SPORT MANAGMENT

Transcription

1 THESIS GUIDE MASTER OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES SPORT MANAGMENT St. John s University College of Professional Studies Division of Sport Management September, 2012 To check for an updated version of this guide, please visit: Any questions regarding the contents of this guide should be directed to: Glenn Gerstner Associate Professor of Sport Management Director, MPS in Sport Management Program St. John s University 8000 Utopia Parkway Queens, NY (718) Graduate Sport Management Faculty Terence Eddy, Carol Fletcher, Glenn Gerstner, Emese Ivan, Harold Merritt

2 Table of Contents 1. General procedures Eligibility Thesis topics Thesis courses Conflicts and appeals in SPG 502 and SPG The thesis proposal Length and content Format and style Deadlines and submission procedures Acceptance of proposal Electronic submission The thesis Length and content Format and style Deadlines and submission procedures Electronic submission... 6 References... 7

3 1. General procedures This section describes the general guidelines for completion of the thesis option in the MPS in Sport Management program. Section 2 describes the required format for the thesis proposal. Section 3 describes the required format of the thesis itself and the procedure for submitting it. 1.1 Eligibility Students who choose not to do a graduate internship are required to write a Master s thesis as a requirement for the conferral of the MPS in Sport Management degree. Students must have completed SPG 401 (Research Methods) and have the permission of the Program Director or the Division Chair before enrolling in the first course in the thesis sequence. 1.2 Thesis topics Once the student has determined that they wish to pursue the thesis option, it is important to settle on a topic early in the process. Thesis topics vary greatly and are usually developed through a collaboration between a student and their advisor. A student may propose a topic to the advisor, but an advisor has every right to refuse to supervise a thesis on a student generated topic. The thesis topic is expected to be of sufficient depth and breadth that (in edited form) it could be presented at a professional conference or published in a professional journal. The master s thesis should offer evidence of sound research and an adequate treatment of a welldefined subject. A mere essay or compilation of facts will not be accepted. The thesis must be written on a subject comprehended under the major and must be approved by the thesis advisor. The responsibility for a well-organized presentation of personal research rests with the student and is in no sense a part of the instructional responsibility of faculty members. 1.3 Thesis courses There are two courses in the thesis sequence, SPG 502 and SPG 503. The courses are offered every semester and during the summer session. Students cannot register for these courses through the SJUIS and can be placed in the course only with the Program Director s approval. In the first thesis course, students are expected to have their proposal approved, get approval from the St. John s Institutional Review Board (if necessary), and complete the majority of their literature review. In the second course they complete their thesis and seek approval by their advisor. Neither course has scheduled hours; the nature and timing of communication between student and advisor shall be determined by the thesis advisor. Each advisor will develop their own timeline with their own expectations as to progress within each course. Students are expected to 1

4 maintain regular contact with their advisor (the definition of regular contact to be determined by the advisor). Please note that the submission deadlines as noted in sections 2.3 and 3.4 must be adhered to or the student may not receive credit for the course(s). 1.4 Conflicts and appeals in SPG 502 and SPG 503 Conflicts with advisors (with an exception regarding the proposal, noted below) and grade appeals will handled in accordance with the academic regulations of St. John s University, which can be found in the STJ Student Handbook ( In general, students should first contact their advisor to try and settle the matter informally, then contact the Chair of the Division of Hospitality, Tourism, and Sport Management, and finally the Dean of the College of Professional Studies. If the student is still unsatisfied, the student has the right to convene an academic fairness committee. Details and forms are available in the College of Professional Studies Dean s Office. The sole exception is this: A student who has had their thesis proposal rejected by their advisor twice may appeal to the Chair of the Division of Hospitality, Tourism, and Sport Management to have their latest proposal reviewed. The Chair will schedule a meeting to be attended by the student, their advisor, the Chair, and the Director of the MPS in Sport Management Program. (Note: If this results in a committee of fewer than three faculty members, additional faculty sport management graduate faculty members will be added by the Chair.) The student will have an opportunity to defend the feasibility of the proposal, and the ad hoc committee will determine if the proposal should be accepted or rejected. The decision of this committee is final. 2

5 2. The thesis proposal 2.1 Length and content The thesis proposal is the background and planning document for the thesis. It must be done with professional care and thoroughness, and it must be a product of your own original thought and effort. Use of others work must be properly referenced in accordance with the standards of scholarship in general and the St. John s University Honor Code in particular. The thesis proposal should be between 8-12 pages, not including the cover page or references. At a minimum, it will include the following: 1. Cover page (see Appendix 1) 2. Introduction to the proposed topic 3. Purpose and significance of the study (why the paper will add to the body of knowledge in the discipline) 4. Statement of the primary research problem (one or two sentences) 5. Brief literature review (three or four key peer-reviewed articles in the topic) 6. Methodology (state if the research method will be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed, and its justification) 7. References Although there is no set format for the thesis proposal, the outline above can be used as a template. Further discussion of the components of a proposal can be found in Andrew, Pedersen, and McEvoy (2011); Creswell (2003); and Grattan and Jones (2010). 2.2 Format and style The proposal should be written as described in the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (available in the library and any virtually any bookstore). Students are strongly encouraged to purchase a copy of the Manual since it will be an essential component of successfully completing the thesis. A proposal template is available to assist you in its preparation. All of the materials, documents, and links that you need to guide you through the entire thesis process are located at Deadlines and submission procedures The thesis proposal is due at the halfway point of the semester in the first thesis course (roughly October 25 in the Fall and March 15 in the Spring). This early submission is needed to allow time for revisions and IRB approval before moving on to the second thesis course. 3

6 It is strongly suggested that students initiate contact with the thesis advisor early in the semester, if not before the semester, as to not miss the abovementioned deadlines. If the deadlines are missed, students may not be permitted to register for the next thesis course, a situation which might affect graduate assistantships, financial aid status, and potentially delay completion of the program. The thesis proposal should be composed using the guidelines set forth in this guide, and the final draft should be prepared using the proposal template. Depending on the preference of the thesis advisor, the proposal should be ed to your advisor or should be submitted as hard copy to the Division of Hospitality, Tourism, and Sport Management (3rd Floor of Bent Hall). The cover page should be initialed by the person in the Division receiving the proposal. The student should retain both hard and electronic copy of the proposal for themselves. 2.4 Acceptance of proposal The thesis advisor will review the proposal and respond to the student within 7 calendar days of submission. The possible responses are accepted (the student may continue on to the next steps in the research process), conditionally accepted (the student must modify the proposal somewhat before continuing work on the thesis), or rejected (the proposal is deemed unacceptable and the student should contact the thesis advisor for advice on preparing a different proposal). Proposals that are conditionally accepted must be resubmitted to the advisor or the Division no later than two weeks after being returned to the student. Students that have had their proposals rejected should submit a new proposal to the advisor or the Division no later than two weeks after being returned to the student. 2.5 Electronic submission As noted in section 2.3, the proposal may be ed to the thesis advisor. All electronic submissions should be submitted as an attachment in Microsoft WORD 2007 format (*.docx). 4

7 3. The thesis 3.1 Length and content There are no minimum or maximum page requirements for a Master s thesis. The length of the paper depends on the scope of the topic, the amount of literature to be reviewed, and the chosen methodology. The thesis advisor will have the final say as to what content is appropriate in the Master s thesis, but in general any thesis will include the following: Front matter (title page, abstract, table of contents, dedication, etc.) Chapter 1: Introduction Background, purpose, and significance of the study Statement of the research problem, research questions, and/or hypotheses Assumptions and limitations Chapter 2: Literature review Chapter 3: Methodology Chapter 4: Data (or case studies, or interviews, as appropriate) Chapter 5: Discussion Chapter 6: Conclusions Chapter 7: Suggestions for future research References Appendices, tables, and figures The thesis will be divided into chapters. Not all theses will have the same chapter titles or the same number of chapters this depends on the nature of the study. As noted in the previous section, a template to assist you in preparing the final manuscript is available at Format and style The body of the paper must be written using APA style as described in the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (available in the library and any virtually any bookstore). 3.3 Deadlines and submission procedures The thesis must be approved by your thesis advisor no later than 72 hours after the last scheduled day of final examinations. Your advisor will discuss with you their preference as to the rate of submission, but as a rule you should send each chapter to your advisor for review as they are completed. Making a single submission going directly from proposal approval to final draft is not recommended. 5

8 The final draft of the thesis should be submitted to your advisor no later than the date indicated in the University academic calendar, which is approximately three months before the end of the semester. Depending on the preference of your advisor submission will be made as hard copy or electronically. The student will be notified by their advisor if the thesis has been approved no later than 14 calendar days after receipt of the final draft. If revisions are required, the revised thesis should be delivered to the advisor within 14 calendar days, and the approval process will begin again. Once approved, it is the student s responsibility to deliver hard copies of the thesis to the Dean of the College of Professional Studies. Two copies will be bound and will become the property of the University Library, if the student desires additional copies the library will bind them for a fee of $10 each. They must be printed on 20-pound, acid-free, non-corrasable bond paper with a minimum 25% rag or cotton content. Theses must be submitted to the Dean s Office no later than the date noted in the University academic calendar. For more information about the requirements of the University Library, go to click on Examples and Requirements and then open the document titled Library Guidelines. An incomplete grade (INC) may be given if a student not able to complete the thesis during the semester. The student must request an INC from their advisor prior to the last regularly scheduled day of classes. Students receiving an INC must have their thesis approved no later than the deadline indicated in the University academic calendar (normally in March for an INC received during the Fall semester and November for an INC received during the Spring or Summer semesters). If the INC is not removed within this time period it remains an INC on the student s permanent record and the student must re-register for the course. Note that students that have completed all other course requirements may be required to register for SPG 925 (Maintaining Matriculation) until the thesis is approved check with the Dean s Office. 3.4 Electronic submission As noted in section 3.3, the advisor may request that the final draft be submitted electronically. All electronic submissions should be submitted as an attachment in Microsoft WORD 2007 format (*.docx). 6

9 References American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Andrew, D. P. S., Pedersen, P. M., & McEvoy, C. D. Research methods and design in sport management. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Grattan, C., & Jones, I. (2010). Research methods for sports studies (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. 7