DESCRIPTION

The Master’s Thesis is an independent study in corporate and organizational communication using a recognized research method. 

The Master’s Thesis will address an appropriately phrased research question of interest to the student.  Based on this question, the student may:

• develop a strategy for solving a specific communication problem
• analyze a communication environment
• investigate theoretical or experimental issues
• test a specified hypothesis
• develop a case study of an organization

The subject of study may come from two general sources: the communication environment known to, or experienced by, the degree candidate; or a traditional research investigation of a particular aspect of corporate or organizational communication.  In some cases, the subject may be a combination of the two sources.

Students who do not write a Master's Thesis must take a Comprehensive Examination.

THE MASTER’S THESIS SEQUENCE

Student’s pursuing the Master’s Thesis option are required to take the following three courses in this order:

1. CCOM 7030 Research Methods and Materials
2. CCOM 7098 Thesis Seminar
3. CCOM 7099 Thesis Project

Students may not take any of these course concurrently.

CCOM 7030 is the gateway to all students wishing to complete a Masters Thesis option. It offers students a venue in which to explore and investigate potential thesis topics in a structured and fully supervised environment. In order to graduate from the MA program, all students are required to take and successfully pass CCOM 7030 with a grade of B or better.  In order to proceed into the next phase of the Master's Thesis Sequence, students are required to earn a grade of B+ or better in this course. Student who earn less than a B+ must take the Comprehensive Examination option.

CCOM 7030 will: (a) introduce the student to the fundamental concepts and terminology of social science research as they relate to the field of corporate and organizational communication; (b) prepare the student to write and propose scholarship in corporate and organizational communication, and (c) develop students' skills in using library and web resources. The emphasis throughout the course is on students developing individual hypotheses and then applying appropriate research methods to test those hypotheses. Students will select an area of interest within the field of corporate and organizational communication and develop a research question and a hypothesis concerning how two concepts relate to each other. Variables will be derived from these concepts. The ways one might measure such variables to produce scores will be indicated. Students will then develop or use a pre-existing research instrument to collect data. Finally, students will perform analyses on the data obtained and form conclusions about the hypothesis.

CCOM 7098 Thesis Seminar is open to students who have earned a grade of B+ or better in CCOM 7030. CCOM 7098 is structured as a course that meets several times during the semester and allows students to apply the principles and research carried out in CCOM 7030 to an individual topic.  During CCOM 7098, students are advised concerning (a) selection of thesis topics, (b) formation of thesis proposals, (c) development of research plans, and (d) early drafts of the thesis document.  Students are expected to contribute work to the seminar for collective discussion and criticism. The instructor will cover the rudiments of descriptive and explanatory statistics and introduces students to the SPSS statistical package. Students have the opportunity to pre-test research instruments and set up templates on SPSS for statistical analysis.  Upon completion of the course, students will have a final research question and/or hypothesis, a completed literature review, a research design that has been developed  with and approved by the instructor, a data collection instrument or protocol, and a template for statistical analysis (if appropriate).

Students completing CCOM 7098 may then move on to CCOM 7099: Thesis Project upon the advisement of the Instructor and Program Director.  At this point, students will be working independently on data collection, analysis, and interpretation under the supervision of an individual thesis advisor.  During this semester, students will write up the final draft of the thesis document for evaluation by the thesis advisor and two readers and present their findings in a public departmental colloquium.

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD

Thesis projects which involve the use of human subjects will need to receive approval from the Fairleigh Dickinson University Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB is a federally-mandated committee created by the University to review in advance any research protocol conducted by FDU faculty, students, administrators or staff which proposes to use people as subjects of experiment or research. The IRB reviews each research protocol to determine that 1) basic ethical principles of human dignity will not be violated by the experimental procedures; 2) that all subjects will be fully informed of any physical, legal, psychological, or financial risks they may incur and 3) that the subjects freely assent to participate. The creation of an IRB is a condition with which the University must comply to accept federal funding, including student financial aid, scholarships, and research grants.No research protocol using human subjects may be undertaken without the Board’s prior approval.

Click here to link to the FDU IRB page.

THESIS REQUIREMENTS

The completed thesis should present the nature of the problem or subject investigated, its significance to the profession or larger field of study, a discussion of the relevant literature, a clearly defined method for answering/exploring the question of interest, and specific conclusions or evaluations.  The length of the thesis depends on the subject and the extent of literature, but 30 to 50 pages is appropriate, plus appendices such as tables, charts, questionnaires, interview schedules, drawings, and photographs.  Documentation and the bibliography must meet the standards of academic research set forth by the American Psychological Association (APA).  Notes and bibliography should be consistent and follow the style of the latest edition of the APA Styleguide.

THESIS TOPICS

Thesis topics typically address communication related issues in the corporate and organizational context. Previous subjects for the Master's Thesis have included:

• Nowhere to Hide: The Proliferation of Email and Networked Organizations
• When Vice Does Nice: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Tobacco Industry
• Integrating Computer-Mediated Tools for Effective Communication: An Analysis of AT&T's Employee Communications
• Understanding Cross-Cultural Communication in Advertising
• Sexual Harrassment in the Workplace: A Study in Corporate Climate with Focus on Issues in the Military
• Corporate Social Responsibility: New Ways of Making a Profit
• Across the Sea of Cultural Differences: Corporate Philanthropy in the U.S. and in Israel
• Performance Feedback Improving Employee Motivation
• The Use of Semiotics in Communicating and Establishing Corporate Culture: A Case Study of J.P. Sirloins
• Multilingual Comprehension of Symbols on the Internet
• Caught You! A Study in the Relationship of Emotional Advertising and the Security Alarm Industry
• Ad Rage: A Study of Public Tolerance to Advertising
• An Investigation into the Diminishment of Loyalty Between Employers and Employees
• An Exploration of Health Care Communications: The Role of Employers and Managed Care Organizations in Communicating Benefit Information
• Managers and Non-Managers Perceptions of the Need for Workplace Violence Training

THESIS ADVISORS

All thesis Candidates must choose an advisor for their Master’s Thesis.  Any professor who teaches in the Corporate Communication program can serve as an advisor.  Pick someone you think  you would enjoy working with, and ask him or her in person yourself, or write a note extending the invitation to be your advisor.  At the same time, ask two other professors if they will serve as readers for your project.

THESIS COLLOQUIUM

As part of your Master’s Thesis, you are expected to present your findings at a colloquium for graduate students and faculty:

1. The Program Director will schedule the colloquium to coincide with the completion of your written project. Although thesis colloquia typically take place at the end of the semester, scheduling of your colloquium will be done at the start of the semester to allow for the distribution and mailing of notices of your presentation to graduate students, faculty, and the university community.
2. Be sure to extend personal invitations to your advisor and readers – they too have an investment in your project and would like to be able to attend your final presentation
3. Plan on a 20-minute oral presentation.  You may use slides, an overhead projector, charts, videotape or other visual aids to describe your findings.Allow time at the end of the presentation for questions from the audience.

FINAL APPROVAL OF THE THESIS

1. At least two weeks before the last day of classes, submit a final draft for approval to your advisor and each of your readers.
2. Upon approval of the final draft prepare three copies of your Master’s Project. Each copy must have an approval page, with room for the approval signatures of your advisor, readers and the Program Director and the copyright page.
3. Get necessary signatures. In many cases, you can get these signatures at your colloquium.

SUBMITTING THE THESIS TO THE UNIVERSITY

You must file three clean copies with no staples of the approved and completed project with the MA Program Graduate Assistants no later than the last day of final examinations for any given semester. The Program Director will provide additional information regarding the costs related to the binding of the thesis project.

This page last updated July 9, 2009, by Gary P. Radford and Jennifer K. Lehr.