University of Toronto

The Thesis

The organization of the entire program (required courses, elective courses, and comprehensive paper) is intended to guide the student in pursuing areas of social work theory and research, which will provide the background for the formulation of the Thesis Proposal.  The student works closely with the supervisor in selecting a thesis topic that can be feasibly researched within a one to two year time frame.  The Thesis Proposal is initially approved by the supervisor and is subsequently submitted to the Supervisory Committee for final evaluation and approval.  Once approved, the student carries out the proposed thesis research with the support and guidance of the supervisor and the Supervisory Committee.  When completed, the thesis is initially approved by the Supervisory Committee and then application for its defense at an Oral Examination is made through the office of the Ph.D. Director.  Completion and successful defense of the Thesis are required before the Ph.D. can be conferred.

Introduction

The thesis is an original piece of scholarly research on a topic that has been selected by the student and approved by the supervisor and the student's Supervisory Committee. The thesis is a major undertaking that reflects the highest standards of scholarship and that makes a significant contribution to knowledge and practice in the field of social welfare and the profession of social work. When the thesis is completed and has met with the approval of the Supervisory Committee the student proceeds to the Oral Examination which is administered by the School of Graduate Studies. Copies of the completed dissertations are housed in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, and may be signed out. Please see the Administrative Coordinator - Angela Umbrello

The Thesis Proposal

The thesis topic follows from the literature research conducted for the Comprehensive Paper. This means that most students develop a feasible study question in conjunction with the analysis of the research literature examined for the Comprehensive Paper. Consultation with the supervisor enables the student to refine the question and prepare a Thesis Proposal.

In developing the thesis study question and method(s) the student should give careful attention to the time required to complete the project. The student should estimate that three to four months may be necessary to develop the proposal, select and pretest data collection instruments, obtain human ethics approval, and negotiate suitable sites for sample selection and implementation of the data collection procedures. A draft of the Thesis proposal is submitted to the supervisor for feedback and revision prior to convening a meeting of the Supervisory Committee for review and approval of the Thesis Proposal.

Note: The supervisor is expected to provide feedback on the draft of the Thesis Proposal within a two-week time frame.

Three-paper Dissertation Guideline