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Chapter 4: The ALM Thesis | 55
Structure and Format of the Thesis in the Biological and Behavioral Sciences
Theses in the biological and behavioral sciences are generally organized similarly to the sections in an empirical
research report. There are four standard sections, and these are the only chapters to be included unless the
thesis director requests otherwise. Chapter I is called Introduction. The aim of this chapter is to show how your
hypothesis relates to the current research in your field. It contains the literature review and the justification for
the hypothesis. Most often, this section is the background section from the proposal. However, an alteration and/
or an elaboration of your background may be required.
Chapter II is the research method; in the behavioral sciences it is called Method and in biological sciences
Materials and Methods. For the behavioral sciences, Chapter II outlines exactly what was done and is broken
into the sections called Participants, Measures, and Procedures per APA format. For the biological sciences, this
chapter may be broken down into subheadings reflecting the experiments done. This chapter is also largely
based on the proposal, with everything now in the past tense because you already completed the investigation.
Chapter III is called Results. This is where you report the results of your experiment or investigation. The
data are presented, and any statistical analyses are reported. There is no conceptual or theoretical analysis or
interpretation here, and this chapter may be very short. First, describe the actual population or sample, be it a
cell line, a kindergarten classroom, or all of the fruit flies in a specific location. Be as specific as possible. Second,
provide the relevant descriptive statistics before moving on to the hypothesis testing. For the behavioral
sciences, please follow APA conventions for data that are in the text versus in a table and the correct way to
report each statistic.
Chapter IV is called Discussion, and this is where you discuss the meaning of your findings. Begin by reiterating
your hypothesis and briefly stating your supportive argument. You must explicitly state whether or not your
predictions were supported by the data, and then place the results back in context. What new questions are
raised? What are the conclusions one might draw? What about the limitations and future directions? This chapter
closes with a conclusion, both about your findings and about your field of inquiry.
The difference between a thesis and a research report in a professional journal is the level of detail provided.
Chapters I and IV are both longer in the thesis and are able to provide more exhaustive coverage of the topic.
In an article, there might be four or five background sources. In your thesis you are expected to include all of
the major sources. In an article, you might highlight one finding, but in the thesis, you describe every statistical
test that was done. When organized in this manner, taking all of your results and producing a finished thesis is
relatively straightforward, and most faculty members will be familiar with this organizational style.
The Literature and Creative Writing Thesis
The literature and creative writing thesis will consist of two parts. The critical essay contextualizing the creative
work should be expanded to 25 pages or so. The creative work should be a minimum of 50 pages in length. Only
your thesis director will read the thesis and decide when it is finished and ready to be given a grade. Once he
or she has done so, you must submit the completed, correctly formatted thesis to Dean Sue Weaver Schopf for
format review. It is a good idea to look at some of the past theses on file in Grossman Library before beginning
this process.
A Guide to the ALM Thesis