• Find a thesis setting and topic area that interests you. Be positive, and offer your expertise to an agency on a project they may have needed assistance with for some time. • Conducting research (regardless of the area of specialty) is to develop and conduct surveys, perform evaluations, collect data, perform data analysis, strategize research design, conduct patient interviews, perform health education, plan programs, and develop policy, investigate disease occurrence, or investigate environmental health issues. Any of these would be considered appropriate research for a thesis. • After you have several ideas, select the one that can best demonstrate your skills and theoretical knowledge, as well as one that you can realistically develop and complete into a formal thesis document. Keep your topic narrow so you can complete the task within the time allotted. • Seek advice from your committee members (see details below), specifically your local committee members who are subject experts in the topic and will have a feel for what can be accomplished within the time frame. Journal: It is recommended that you keep a journal of your progress: (1) record your notes as you progress through each step of the process; and (2) record any special issues, successes, and problems that you encountered during the course of your research work. This information will be invaluable to you when it comes time to summarize your thesis activities. Although it will not be necessary to submit the journal to CCHS, you will find it very helpful through the development of the thesis. Details: • There is no grade given for the final thesis. Students will receive approve/not approve on each of the assignments. Each of the assignments must be approved before the student can move toward the next assignment. If the assignment is not accepted, then the student will receive feedback and asked to either revise/modify or redo until such time as the assignment is accepted. There is no limit as to the amount of times an assignment will be returned for modification before being accepted. Once approved, the student will be asked to move to the next assignment. • The student will need to select 2 committee members. There are a total of three; however the CCHS course instructor will be one of the three on the thesis committee. The CCHS committee member (course instructor) will help in the area of research methods, format, and basic content. It is not intended for the CCHS committee member to be a subject matter expert. The other 2 members will be selected by the student and approved by CCHS. One will be the mentor who should be an expert in the subject of the thesis to provide technical expertise. One will be a community member who could advise you in the area of research methods or also be a subject matter expert. • Complete the eight (8) assignments that will culminate into their completed thesis document 1. Preliminary thesis development (topic selection, problem statement/question, hypothesis(es). At this point the committee members will complete the appropriate forms online. 2. Chapter 1 (Introduction) 3. Chapter 2 (Literature Review) 4. Chapter 3 (Methods) 5. Completion and submission of formal thesis proposal (includes first 3 chapters) 6. Chapter 4 (Results of Research) 7. Chapter 5 (Discussion) 8. Completion and submission of formal thesis document (includes all 5 chapters, the abstract, references, and appendices) • Documentation of work (forms are available online for completion) Assignments should be submitted on the given dates: 1. Assignment 1: Topic Selection, Problem Statement --- 13 September, 2008 2. Assignment 2: Chapter 1 – Introduction ------------- 16 September 2008 Assignment 3: Chapter 2 - Literature Review-------19 September 2008 Assignment 4: Chapter 3 – Methods-------- 22 September 2008 Assignment 5: Thesis Proposal---------------25 September 2008 3. Assignment 6: Chapter 4 - Results------ 30 September 2008 Assignment 7: Chapter 5 - Discussion----- 5 Oct 2008 4. Assignment 8: Finalizing Thesis Document------ 8 Oct 2008 5. Submission of Thesis and Final Signatures----- 12 Oct 2008 Please email on; shadrach15@gmail.com so that i can email the entire instruction to you