Welcome to the Freeman Research Group “Culture Pages”

Guidance in these pages outline practices to help us achieve our goals, promote equity, limit unnecessary struggle and wasted resources, and perform research with public health in mind. We’ll always be improving our approach! If you work here, you can help.

GRADUATE RESEARCH AND THESIS STUDENT TRACKER

Student Meetings with Matt

REAL students

  • Hiring Rollins Earn and Learn (REAL) students to assist on our projects is a great way to give students opportunities to be involved in our group (as well as help our group be more productive!). Find guidance on hiring a student here. Register your profile on RSPH Career Connection. Guidance on creating a job post for a REAL position can be found here. Interviewing can be a challenging task. We have come up with a few interviewing guides to help out. Once you find the perfect student, initiate the hiring process on the RSPH Student Hire portal.

MAster’s Theses

  • The master's thesis is an original research study that is carried out using rigorous methods that are appropriate to the research questions, that generates new knowledge, applies concepts and methods from one or more branches of science relevant to public health, and is presented in a scholarly format. The thesis demonstrates the student's comprehensive knowledge of the substantive area of the study and the research methods used. It represents the culmination of the master's program, and an opportunity to integrate and apply the concepts and methods learned in coursework. 

  • Matt often serves on the committee of students for their master’s theses. Students are encouraged to review theses of previous group members. Below provides general guidance and expectations for students working on master’s thesis with our group.

Master’s thesis: Timeline

  • Please note that students are ultimately responsible for ensuring they are meeting the requirements for their degree. The thesis committee will help with the planning, but student should take initiative in scheduling and planning ahead. It is highly recommended that students develop a thesis timeline that they review with their committee. An example can be found here. General due dates are provided below:

    • October: Proposal due

    • November: Proposal presentation completed

    • December: Proposal and analysis plan finalized, thesis outline drafted

    • January: First draft of Introduction and Methods sections due

    • March: Introduction, Methods (with revisions), Results, and Discussion (first draft) sections due

    • April: Final thesis due

Master’s thesis: Proposal

  • As with the requirements of the Environmental Health Department and other departments, students working on master’s theses in our group will be required to submit a short written proposal (maximum of 2 pages) and accompanying oral presentation (maximum of 10 minutes).

  • The written proposal should include: (1) specific aims and hypotheses, (2) background and significance, and (3) proposed research methods - including a description of available data and preliminary analysis plan. An example of a written proposal can be found here.

  • The presentations should follow your written proposals and be no longer than 10 minutes. We ask that you present during one of our group meetings to allow other members to learn more about your proposed work and provide an opportunity for Q&As. An example of a proposal presentation can be found here.

Master’s Thesis: Analysis plan

  • Group/committee members may ask you to improve elements of your proposal. Your revised thesis proposal should be resubmitted to the committee for review. At this stage, you should also submit a detailed analysis plan including:

    • Research question: Present your finalized specific aims an hypotheses.

    • Variables/indicators: Provide a summary table that describes key analysis variables, including: (1) dataset code/ID, (2) definition, (3) subgroup (such as outcome or independent variables - including any covariates, confounders, mediators, modifiers, if relevant), (4) means of verification, (5) answer choices, and (6) type (continuous, binary, categorical).

    • Sample size and data sets: Describe where your data come from, the sample size, and power considerations used, if they are relevant.

    • Statistical methods: List the methods (and software) used to test your hypotheses, including how you will account for covariates, confounders, clusters, and test interactions, if they are relevant.

    • Results skeleton: Provide an outline of results table(s) in which you will summarize your analyses.

  • When your revised proposal and detailed analysis plan are approved, your committee is essentially declaring that your research question and the methods for answering them are acceptable, and that you now have a "green light" to actually do the study.

  • As you perform your study, you will likely encounter a number of methodological issues that were not addressed in the thesis proposal and analysis plan. When the way to solve these issues is unclear, you should obtain advice from one or more members of your committee on how best to address them.

Master’s thesis: Format and Outline

  • Students are encouraged, but not required, to prepare their thesis in a potentially publishable format, with the support of the committee. Please note that completion of a thesis does not necessary constitute first authorship - please see our authorship criteria. The thesis can usually be written in a format that satisfies both the Graduate School and a target journal with minor modification. It is often helpful to choose a journal (and model paper) before you start writing, and consult its "Instructions to Authors."

  • Standard thesis format includes four sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The organization of subsections may vary, depending on the topic and the preferences of the student and committee. Students are encouraged to share a manuscript prospectus with their committee using our example found here.

    • Introduction: Introduces the problem, research questions, previous research on the problem (i.e., literature review), and the conceptual approach used in this study.

    • Methods: Describes in detail the research methods used in the study, including study setting, selection of study subjects, description of intervention (if any), data collection, analysis plan.

    • Results: Provides a clear, systematic presentation of results, linked back to the research questions and conceptual model. It does not include interpretation or discussion of results.

    • Discussion: Provides the opportunity to discuss the findings, compare them with previous research, and consider the implications of the findings.

    • Appendixes: Contain detailed materials related to the thesis, such as cover letters to respondents, instructions for computing a scale score from the raw data, documentation of the mathematical equations used in the data analysis, and so forth.

Master’s Thesis: Drafts and reviews

  • Students with well-developed proposals often find that many elements of the proposal can be used with little modification to compose the Introduction and Methods section of the thesis. Your Introduction should also be accompanied with a thorough literature review that provides a comprehensive summary of previous research on your topic. We typically expect students to have a draft of a literature review and their Methods section by January.

  • After all analyses are completed, students should write the first draft of the Results and Discussion chapters. Once completed, the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections should be submitted to the committee for review. In most cases, students find they must revise the four sections at least 2 times before all committee members will approve them. Depending on the study and the student, the revisions can take a month or more to complete. Given the realities of the review process, the first draft of the Results and Discussion chapters should be completed by March to allow sufficient time to complete the remaining review-revision cycles and produce a final thesis by the end of April. 

  • If a student does not complete the first draft of a thesis by the end of March, a committee may defer final review and approval of the thesis to the summer to allow sufficient time for the student to produce a quality product. 

Master’s Thesis: Student Responsibilities

  • Although it is expected that the student receives a great deal of help and support from his/her committee members, the student is responsible for carrying out the thesis. S/he is expected to take the lead in setting up all aspects of the thesis project, and to complete the project in a timely fashion. This is included but not limited to the following:

    • Formulate and communicate thesis ideas to his or her academic advisor

    • Explore leads to gain access to data for thesis

    • Fill out the Human Subjects application and conduct the other necessary research activities required for completion of the thesis

    • Get a thesis committee together prior to executing the thesis project

    • Set up (with help of committee members) a realistic timeline for completion of tasks and stick to the agreed timeline

    • Communicate regularly about your progress (or lack thereof) with committee members and make sure that all members receive revised and realistic timelines

    • Communicate clearly about when feedback is requested, but make the requested deadlines realistic based on committee members' work/travel schedules

    • Write up the thesis according to the basic guidelines set by the Graduate School

    • Obtain signatures on the master’s supervisory committee approval form, and submit it to the Graduate School and submit thesis to the Graduate School.

A special thank you to Sarah Cobey, Ben Lopman, and Brian Graaf. Their “Handbook” and “Culture Book” served as an inspiration and reference for our Culture Pages. These are also great references for general guidance in research and academic settings.

Have suggestions? That’s great! We are continuously trying to improve the way that we work as a group. In addition to more formal reviews of our guidelines and policies during semi-annual group “retreats,” group meetings are a great place to discuss or introduce processes, tools, platforms, etc. that you think the group can benefit from.