Master's Thesis Information

The prospectus is explained in the Master's Student Handbook from the College of Journalism and Communications.

Note that if you choose me as your chair, you must ensure that one of your other committee members is expert in the research method(s) you intend to use and has agreed to mentor you in the application of the method(s).

In particular -- if you wish to use quantitative research methods, then you must have a quantitative researcher on your committee.

The committee ::
Form your committee early in the semester before you expect to graduate. If you intend to graduate in May, for example, then form your committee by the end of the previous September. A thesis committee usually has one chair and two members. The committee must have at least three members.

The proposal ::
Complete the written proposal and defend it in the semester before you expect to graduate. If you intend to graduate in May, for example, then defend your proposal by the middle of the previous November.

Note that the proposal typically consists of the first three chapters of your thesis: (1) Introduction; (2) Literature Review; (3) Methodology.

Note also that your chair and your committee members need time to read the proposal before the defense meeting. Two weeks is a reasonable amount of time to allow between giving the proposal to your chair and holding the defense (unless there are problems in your proposal).

Your graduation date ::
If you have completed your proposal and had it approved by your full committee (in the proposal meeting) by the end of the fall semester, you may plan to graduate in the spring. Otherwise, you should not expect to graduate in the spring.

Please note that many faculty travel in the summer months and are not available to meet with you then. You should not plan on defending your thesis during the summer unless you have discussed this with your chair and all of your committee members well in advance.

University requirements ::
Some dates (see the PDF file) are set each year by the UF Graduate School. Make sure you know them. The Graduate School also supplies a checklist (see the PDF file) for master's theses.

All of the deadlines are your responsibility. Your adviser will not tell you when your deadlines are.

The defense ::
The more time you allow, the safer you will be. Plan backward from the first submission date for master's theses mandated by the UF Graduate School -- but be sure to build in extra time for unforeseen problems.

I recommend these two. You can download a PDF via the UF Library catalog (log in with your Gatorlink or UF Library ID).

• Zerba, Amy (2003). Perceived motives for clicking on multimedia features on news Web sites: An exploratory study
• Berger, Stephanie (2001). Breaking up news -- an investment in the online newspaper's future? Effects of linear and nonlinear hypertext formats on users' recall, reading, satisfaction, and perceived story credibility

By reading a few finished, finalized theses, you will get a clear picture of what you need to do to complete YOUR thesis.

1. Write the prospectus and give it to all prospective committee members.
2. Complete and submit a supervisory committee form.
3. Write the proposal.
4. Schedule and complete the proposal defense.
5. Conduct your study (e.g., gather and analyze the data).
6. Write the remainder of the thesis.
7. Schedule and complete the thesis defense.