MI Thesis Guide
Description
Students who have achieved an A-minus (3.7 GPA) or higher average in their first 8 MI courses may consider the thesis option in lieu of 4 half-credit elective courses. Thesis work is subject to Faculty of Management approval and is undertaken according to the research standards required by the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS). The thesis must display original scholarship expressed in satisfactory literary form and be of such value as to merit publication.
Roles and Responsibilities
Students, supervisors, committee members & external readers should review the pages below for a complete overview of the thesis process.
Completing a MI Thesis
Selection of Topic and Supervisor
Students considering the thesis option should meet with the Program Director to discuss the topic, selection of a supervisor, the potential timeline, and course selection.
NOTE: It is beneficial to complete a reading course in the area of interest prior to beginning work on the thesis.
Thesis Proposal
A thesis proposal will vary depending on the nature of the proposed research; however, as a minimum the following must be addressed:
- Title
- Introduction explaining the rationale for the research
- Review of the literature providing the context for the research
- Purpose of the research expressed as a research question or research hypotheses
- Methodology (including a copy of data collection instruments, as appropriate)
- Timeline for the research
- Funding requirements
The thesis proposal must be approved by the Supervisory Committee. A copy of the approved thesis proposal must be submitted to the Director or Program Manager.
Approved thesis proposals must be submitted to FGS no later than one week before the start of class in any term and final approval must be received within the first two weeks of classes.
Ethics Approval
Thesis research projects involving human subjects must receive ethics approval from one of the Ethics Review Boards at Dalhousie (or, as applicable, an Ethics Review Board in the institution where research will be undertaken). Most MI theses research projects will be submitted to the Social Sciences and Humanities Ethics Review Board for approval.
Further details about ethics review are available on the Research Services website.
Registration
You must register for one of the following:
- INFO 9000.12 Thesis: Register for this course if you are a FUNDED (e.g. SSHRC Award) thesis-option MI student.
- INFO 9000.06 x/y Thesis: Register for this course if you are a regular thesis-option MI student.
- INFO 9003.00 Thesis Continuing: MI students who do not complete their thesis during the INFO 9000x/y terms must register for INFO 9003.00 in each term until their thesis is complete.
- REGN 9999.01: INFO 9003.00 registrants must also register for REGN 9999 in every term until completion.
Please note: Although INFO 9003.00 has no credit weight, fees are associated with Thesis continuing.
For more registration details visit the Graduate Student Registration page (Sharepoint - requires log-in with your NetID and password) or contact the MI Program Manager.
Annual Progress Report
Thesis students who continue to work on their thesis 11 months after their program start date are required to submit an Annual Progress Report to the Faculty of Graduate Studies on an annual basis.
| Program start date | Progress report due |
|---|---|
| September | August 1 |
| January | December 1 |
Progress reports are completed on GSIS (through Dal Online). Instructions can be found in the GSIS manual (Sharepoint - requires log-in with your NetID and password).
Thesis Format Guidelines
MI students are responsible for ensuring that their theses manuscripts comply with all aspects of the FGS Format Guidelines (Sharepoint - requires log-in with your NetID and password). Samples and templates are provided on this site.
Thesis Submission
For full instructions on submitting a final thesis, please refer to the FGS Thesis Submission Sharepoint site (requires log-in with your NetID and password). Required thesis forms can be found here.
Be sure to make note of the Thesis Submission Deadlines.
All theses are submitted electronically to the Dalhousie Institutional Repository (DalSpace) in PDF/A format, where they are searchable and available to the public via the internet.