College of Business Administration

What is a Thesis?

Marcia H. Flicker, Ph.D

Associate Professor of Marketing

Honors Thesis Program Co-Director (Fall)

Professor of Management Systems

Honors Thesis Program Co-Director (Spring)

A thesis is not the same as a term paper – it is probably unlike any research you have done before. Most research papers you have written have involved library inquiry; you read all that is to be found about a subject, summarize it and, perhaps, contribute a new perspective to what is already known.

In completing a thesis, you engage in original research – that means you must go beyond what is known already. You will design a study that generates new knowledge – that gathers data and manipulates it (statistically, qualitatively, or via legal analysis) in new ways to shed new light on whatever is the subject of the inquiry. Reading all that is to be found about the topic is only the beginning part of this process; you will use previous studies as the springboard for your own work. Next fall, Professor Flicker and an advisor of your choice from your discipline will help you craft a scientific, theory-based research project that satisfies these criteria and can be completed in time for you to graduate. During the spring semester of next year, Professor Ramsey and your advisor will help you complete that study.

During the course of Honors Seminar I (fall term), you will learn more about scientific research in business field – both the topics and the methodologies. To begin with, a textbook and an ancillary paperback that cover the matter will be assigned. Moreover, you will be exposed to theses from former years and, on a weekly basis, published academic studies. Members of the Fordham Business faculty will be invited to speak to the class, discussing research in their respective fields or presenting their own scholarship and the process that created those studies. Between this learning process and working with your advisor closely, you will be well prepared to develop a scholarly thesis proposal by the end of the fall semester.