Entering the Human Biology Honors ProgramWho is Eligible to do a Human Biology Honors Thesis?

Human Biology encourages all Humbio students with an excellent academic record to do an honors thesis. Some of you who are reading this guide may be trying to decide whether or not you want to go through the process of writing an honors thesis. First of all, there are a few basic requirements that must be met before you can officially enter the honors program. You must:

a. be a declared Humbio major.b. have successfully completed the core courses (2A/2B, 3A/3B, 4A/4B) with a 3.0 minimum

GPA.c. have acquired competence in methodology used in your research via either lab experience or

a methodology course.d. have a 3.2 minimum GPA at the time of entering the honors program, which must be

maintained thereafter (students must have a minimum 3.2 GPA to graduate with honors). Please note that letter grades received for independent research courses in other departments are not included in the required 3.2 GPA for the Human Biology Honors Program.

e. have completed one quarter of research (or directed reading) with the faculty member you anticipate will be your honors advisor. (See also “Who is on the reading committee and how do you choose them?” page 7.)

f. have completed the three-part application to enter the Honors Program (a detailed description of your research plans, methods, and hypotheses which should be the result of working closely with your advisor).

DUE February 9th, 2009 – Part A Intention to Undertake Honors ResearchDUE March 2nd, 2009 – Part B Application to Undertake Honors Research

This application form is available on-line: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/humbio/ cgi-bin/?q=node/157

DUE October 20th 2008 for those who applied in Winter 2008 and October 19th 2009 for those who apply in Winter 2009 – Part C, the Literature Review (generally 12-18 pages depending on the discipline).

g. If you plan to do research involving human subjects (interviewing people and using their responses, opinions or any data from individuals), you will need approval from the Human Subjects Committee (see page 9).

Why do honors research at Stanford?

The process of doing successful research, as an undergraduate, changes the way you evaluate the growth of knowledge in the disciplines that comprise Human Biology. Participating in the generation of new knowledge is a chance to see how fields advance.

Completing an honors thesis leads to far more than the recognition of research experience in Human Biology from Stanford. Human Biology honors graduates usually consider the process of completing an honors thesis a highlight of their entire Stanford undergraduate experience. Undergraduate honors research provides you with the chance to explore new areas of interest and to satisfy your intellectual curiosity. Even more than the final product, the research thesis, it is the

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process of defining a question, focusing on alternate hypotheses and designing the approach that adds a new dimension to undergraduate education. Critical design of research questions and analysis of data will change the way students evaluate research during future graduate or professional training.

There are a number of things to take into consideration before you begin work on an honors thesis. The rewards for doing a thesis are substantial, but they cost time and energy. If you don’t want to focus on a specific area during your Junior and senior year, doing a thesis may not be for you. Some of the research work may be very tedious—you will have to spend many hours running experiments, distributing surveys, or pouring over sets of data trying to make sense of them. One way to become more informed about doing an honors project is to take a look at the previous honors theses in the Human Biology office, and to read this handbook thoroughly.

Students in the biological or medical sciences are expected to attend their lab meetings in lieu of these Honors seminars.

You could gain valuable skills by doing an honors thesis. Exploring a particular topic of interest in depth will enrich your undergraduate experience, in addition to improving your writing and speaking skills. For anyone willing to commit the time and energy, doing an honors thesis is definitely worth the effort.

What is needed to apply for honors?

Applying to honors is a three-step process. The application requests information about your proposed research project, including hypotheses to be tested, data collection methodology, and potential significance of the results. This content results from a prior (or concurrent) one quarter of research (HB 193 or HB 199) with the professor who will serve as your advisor. In the first step students are expected to submit an Intention to Undertake Honors Research Part A in February of the Junior year followed by Application to Undertake Honors Research Part B in March of the Junior year. The research sponsor or supervisor (First Reader) will need to submit a letter of reference about the students proposed honors project. Students provisionally accepted to pursue honors will be selected from the applicants based on the quality of their research proposal. Some important reminders regarding the honors application:

•The application must be written entirely by the student.  It sometimes happens that in a method section it makes good sense to quote a grant application or a paper about a procedure, forexample. In such a case it must be limited in length and the student must acknowledge using someone else's work (cite them by name, put the material in quotes, etc).  The student must set up the topic (and indicate why it is interesting), write a Literature Review, describe the methods used and the sample, entirely on his/her own. In other words, the student must (temporarily) claim ownership of the problem, even while they benefit from the constructive feedback of their mentors.

•The application must be complete to be considered by the Honors Committee (no missing information, including the requested support documents) so give yourself ample time to find your readers and obtain their required signatures on the application.

The final step in the application process consists of the Literature Review of prime sources. This requirement is rather like a term-paper, where students show their familiarity with the research literature relating to their thesis topic. It should be a scholarly review setting up the research question and showing familiarity with the major theories, constructs and the empirical data that supports them. It is meant to be more than an introduction to a published journal article—it is designed to demonstrate scholarship. The Literature Review should cite prime sources as well as reviews.  Measurement issues should be addressed and the writing must be clear and concise.

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These reviews are generally 12-18 pages in length, although the exact length is influenced by your discipline and your first reader. Samples of good Literature Reviews are available from Lia Cacciari, the Student Services coordinator. The literature review is evaluated by your first reader.

Sorting out the honors units question. The maximum number of honors units that you may register for INCLUDING “Research”—HB 193 (or “Special Projects”—HB 199) and “Honors”—HB 194, is FIFTEEN. You register for HB 194 ONLY after you are admitted to Honors; you may however, register for Honors HB 194 in more than one quarter. (Up to ten of the maximum 15 units for honors may be under HB 194.) The grade for HB 194 is obtained after your thesis is submitted, following presentation at the Honors Poster Symposium.

You can also continue work on an honors thesis as a co-terminal Masters student. The co-terminal BA/MA or MS programs offered by a number of departments (Anthropology, Biology, Psychology, Sociology) allow students to work on a master’s degree during Senior year and graduate in five years with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Work on an honors thesis for Human Biology can, in certain cases, be extended into research for a master’s thesis, if you are accepted into one of the co-terminal degree programs.

The Approach: How Do You Get Started in Research?

What is the range of research disciplines in Human Biology?

Human Biology is a unique interdisciplinary program. Humbio majors who want to do an honors thesis have many more options available than most other majors. Topics that people have explored in past Humbio theses range from the cultural systems of a group indigenous to Central America to the social interactions of pre-schoolers to the regulation of hormones in the brain. While not every topic would make a fitting Humbio honors thesis, the range of possibilities is even broader than the variety of lecture topics within the Core. It is wonderful to have so many options when thinking about a research question for a thesis. However, the sheer number of options can make it difficult to narrow down an area of interest.

The major categories that most Human Biology theses would fall under include environment, anthropology, sociology, education, psychology, biology, and medicine. Some theses are specific to just one of these disciplines; however, in keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of Human Biology, many theses involve more than one discipline. For example, you can combine ethics and medicine as Justine Siedenfeld (‘08) did in Ethical Issues in Disclosure of Medical and Genetic Information to Adult Adoptees, or combine Neurobiology and Behavior as Isabel Shelton-Mottsmith (‘07) did in Contributions of Life Stress and the Serotonin Transporter to Negative Biases in Affective Retrieval. You can combine medicine and health policy as Brian Bergmark (‘06) did in Residence and Quality of Life Determinants for Adults with Quadriplegia of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Etiology, or sociology and medicine as Amelia Hausauer (‘07) did in Declines in Breast Cancer Incidence in the United States by Age, Race/Ethnicity, and Tumor Subtype, 1992-2004. You can combine environment and development as William Love Anderegg (‘08) The Butterfly Effect: The Response of Riparian Bird Diversity to Climate Change and Human Development. And of course, you can also choose a highly technical topic such as Gene Lowry (‘08) did in Anti-PLP Antibody Cross-Reactivity with Neuronal Proteins: Implications for Regenerative Medicine in Multiple Sclerosis or Tessa Watt (‘08) did in Detecting the Insult-Induced Activation of Delta PKC in Primary Neuronal Cultures: Implications for Gene Therapy in Stroke.

Pre-field Readiness—URP Eligibility Requirement (New!)

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The URP now requires specific forms of pre-field preparation in order for students who will undertake research off-campus to be eligible for URP student grants. You will need to complete course work to satisfy the new requirements. http://ual.stanford.edu/OO/research_opps/ResearchRequirementsOffCampus.html and evaluate your own pre-field readiness by using the assessment tool at the “Assessing Your Pre-Field Readiness” link.

Methodology Requirement

Students need to have methodological competence in the methods they will be using in their research. This means that

√ if you plan to use lab procedures you should have learned the lab procedures prior to conducting your Honors research and have attended 6 months of lab meetings

√ if you are conducting anthropological field work you should have learned field procedures

√ if you are using surveys or interviews you should have taken a course on or otherwise acquired competence in designing, using and scoring these tools

√ if you are planning to use qualitative methods, you should be knowledgeable about the use and coding of these methods and have taken a course in this area

To this end, students are required to show methodological competence relevant to their research by one of the following:

* at least six months lab experience acquiring techniques related to those used in the thesis

* enrollment in or completion of a methodology course

* enrollment in anthropology pre-field seminar (and subsequently post-field seminar)

* in exceptional cases, where none of the above options is suitable a directed reading course on methodology may, upon petition, be accepted as satisfying this requirement.

Since Human Biology is such a broad major, there are numerous courses that can meet the methodology requirement. Methodology courses are a minimum of 3 units and one quarter in duration. For a methodology course to satisfy the Humbio Honors requirement, it must meet for at least 3 hours a week for a full quarter.)

Humbio 82A: Qualitative Research Methodology (Professor Jennifer Wolf). Goal is to develop knowledge and skills for designing and conducting qualitative research studies including purposes, conceptual contexts, research questions, methods, validity issues, and interactions among these facets. Each student designs a qualitative research study.

Humbio 82B: Advanced Data Analysis in Qualitative Research (Professor Jennifer Wolf). For students writing up their own qualitative research. Students prepare a complete draft presenting their own qualitative research study including results, with reports drafted section by section, week by week. Class provides feedback, guidance, support.

Humbio 127A: Community Health: Assessment and Planning I—Major determinants of health in a community. Working with community partners to identify health issues and plan programs and policies to prevent disease and promote health. Service learning component involving students in community health assessment techniques.

Humbio 127B: Community Health: Assessment and Planning II—Continuation of 127A. Service

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learning course with emphasis on conducting community health assessment and planning projects in collaboration with community-based organizations.

Biology/BioMedical Sciences/Lab Sciences: Students conducting research in Biology or Biomedical sciences or other Lab sciences can satisfy the methodology requirement by working for a minimum of six months in their advisor’s laboratory and acquiring the research skills necessary for their research. Also, the Bio 44 series (BOTH Bio 44X and 44Y ) covers lab techniques, write-ups, scientific methodology (hypothesis generation and testing), etc. in a range of biology fields.

Anthropology Dept.: The Prefield Research Seminar (Anthropology 93) prepares you for anthropological research in the field. Following data collection, students should attend the Anthropology Post Field Seminar (Anthropology 94).

Communications Dept.: Communication Research Methods (Communications 106). Conceptual and practical concerns underlying commonly used quantitative approaches (experimental, survey, content analysis, and field research in communication.

Survey Research Methods: Describing Large Populations with Small Samples and Precise Measures (Communications 135). The science of survey methodology and principles of optimal survey design.

Questionnaire Design for Surveys and Laboratory Experiments: Social and Cognitive Perspectives (Communications 239). The social and psychological processes involved in asking and answering questions via questionnaires for the social sciences; optimizing questionnaire design.

Education Dept.: Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods (Education 151) and Qualitative Research Methods; Part 2 (Education 151B). Issues, ideas, and methods.

Development of Measuring Instruments (Education 155) offers instruction for students planning to develop written or performance tests or questionnaires for research and evaluation.

Medicine: Methods in Community Assessment, Evaluation and Research (Medicine 147). Pragmatic skills necessary for the design, implementation and analysis of structured interviews, focus groups, survey questionnaires and field observations; principles of community based participatory research.

Psychology Dept.: Research Methods and Experimental Design (Psych 110) provides a general overview of the pertinent issues in conducting psychological research, from ethical issues, to design, to analyzing and writing up data.

Sociology Dept.: Introduction to Sociological Research (Sociology 180) How to design a sociological study.

Foundations of Social Science Research (Sociology 180A) Formulating a research question, developing hypotheses, probability and non-probability sampling, developing valid and reliable measures, qualitative and quantitative data.

Evaluation of Evidence (Sociology 180B) Methods for analyzing and evaluating data in sociological research: comparative historical methods, ethnographic observation, quantitative analysis of survey data, experimentation, and simulation.

Designing Surveys for Social Science Research (Sociology 182) Practical introduction to survey methods. Topics include causality, research design, sampling, and item and questionnaire format.

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Qualitative Methods in Social Science Research (Sociology 183) prepares students to design and implement their qualitative research projects, connecting research to theoretical concerns in the social sciences, formulating appropriate research strategies and project design.

MAPSS Methodology Courses: A listing of social science methodology courses can be found at MAPSS (Methods and Analysis Program in the Social Sciences): http://stanford.edu/group/mapss. You can enroll in either undergraduate or graduate courses (provided you have the professor’s consent).

Other: If the course you wish to take in fulfillment of the methodology requirement is not listed above, please inform either Lia Cacciari (Student Services) or Professor Katherine Preston (Chair of Honors) and provide the description of the course for evaluation.

Or, if none of the above options are relevant to the skills needed for your research, you may petition the Chair of the Honors Committee to engage in a reading course on methodology with your research advisor. Students will be required to submit a reading list on methodology designed by their research sponsor (First Reader).

Okay, so how do you go about deciding on a subject for your thesis?

Topics for honors theses may stem from any area of Human Biology. You may be exposed to an idea in the Core courses, or early in your upper division course experience that you would like to pursue. You may see relationships between information presented in different courses. Questions from an environmental policy course may combine with a lingering thought from a marine biology course. Cases studied in medical anthropology may tie in with a particular concept from human development. Your may elect to work in a topic related to your Area of Concentration (AC) within Human Biology, but your thesis topic need not necessarily be limited to your AC. In planning your upper division course sequence, it is helpful to take the courses necessary to support your honors research in a timely manner.

In addition to the curriculum from your various courses, honors theses can evolve from personal experience (health or travel experiences) or from the background garnered from your Human Biology internship.

How do you find faculty to help with developing your thesis ideas?

First, know something about the field before you actually talk to professors. Read a few recent review articles. Do a search of the literature. Make a list of questions to ask the professor for further readings. It may be helpful to have experience from working in a lab or classes that are focused on research so you understand the intricacies of research in your chosen discipline. You should have a clear idea of what general topic you would like to explore before you go in to talk with professors. For example, knowing that you want to do something that focuses on the ability of Alzheimer’s patients to access language gives professors a much clearer idea of your interests than just “wanting to do something that has to do with Neuropsychology.”

Identify people who teach or do research in the area you plan to research. Find out if the faculty member shares your specific interests. Look in Courses and Degrees for specific courses that interest you. The Human Biology Web Site has a comprehensive list of its faculty and associated faculty with email links:

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/humbio/cgi-bin/?=node/3 Visit a faculty member during office hours when they have time to talk with you. You should

approach professors to be your advisor during Fall or Winter quarter of Junior year. For a laboratory-based honors project, it may be best to start right after Sophomore year. After speaking

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to several faculty members you may be able choose First and Second Readers with whom you can work until the completion of your thesis.

Who is on the reading committee and how do you choose them?

At a minimum you must have two readers, but many students benefit from a larger reading committee. The First and Second (and Third, etc.) readers for your thesis have somewhat different roles in terms of their amount of involvement with your research. The First Reader for your thesis is typically more involved in the development and completion of your thesis than the Second (and Third) Reader/s. First Readers generally have more input into the design of your research question than Second (and Third) Reader/s. Your First Reader should be someone knowledgeable about the specific subject of your thesis. It is expected that the First Reader will serve as the main mentor to the student throughout the process of conducting Honors research. Although there is great diversity in the way in which faculty monitor the student’s progress, in most cases it means frequent contact, especially in the early phases (choosing a topic, designing the study) and towards the end (analysis of data and write up phase). It is acceptable if the faculty mentor delegates the task of guiding the student to a Post Doctoral Fellow or an advanced graduate student. When research is conducted within an ongoing laboratory, students are expected to attend lab meetings regularly. In general the First Reader will spend more time going over the rough drafts of your thesis than the Second (and Third) Reader/s; the First Reader will ultimately assign the grade for the thesis.

The role of the Second (and Third) Readers/s is to give you feedback on the close-to-finished a) research proposal, and b) rough drafts of your thesis. The Second (and Third) Reader/s should have research-based competence or be substantively very knowledgeable about the topic of your study. The Second (and Third) Reader/s plays a less pivotal role in the student’s research. Nonetheless, the Second Reader must meet several times with the student early in the research process and approve the research design and the written research proposal. Towards the end of the study the Second (and Third) Reader/s will again meet with the student several times, read drafts of the thesis, and give timely feedback. The project is not finished until the Second Reader has signed off on the thesis. The Second (and Third) Reader/s can be in the same field or in a different area than the First Reader and provides you with another person that you can ask for advice if you run into problems with your research. Often a professor with a slightly different background than your First Reader can be valuable in helping you clarify your writing so that people unfamiliar with your topic would be able to read your thesis and understand it.

Two important requirements are:

1) At least one of your readers (either the First, Second or Third Reader) must be a Human Biology faculty member);

2) At least one of your readers (either the First, Second or Third Reader) must have significant research experience.

(Anyone listed in the Human Biology section of Courses and Degrees is officially affiliated with Human Biology.)

While you can approach virtually any professor for advice or suggestions about doing a thesis, the most important criterion is that the professor is knowledgeable about your topic and willing and able to give you close supervision.

As far as choosing which professors you would enjoy working with, follow your instincts. Which professors seem really excited about the subject they are teaching? Which professors seem genuinely interested in answering students’ questions and making sure they understand the information? Also look at which professors are organized in class. The professors who always have an outline of the day’s lecture and get papers and tests returned to the class effectively may be more

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likely to get drafts of your thesis back to you in a timely manner than professors who are less organized in class.

Especially for your First Reader, it is important to choose someone with whom you can get along. No matter how brilliant, how good a writer, or how organized a professor may be, your experience working on your thesis will not be as rewarding if you do not enjoy being around him or her. Pay attention to the way the professor handles conflicts that come up in class. Look at how he or she treats you when you talk on an individual basis, and decide if you think this is a person who you could work with closely for an entire year. Becoming compatible with your First (and often Second) Reader can be a very valuable part of doing a thesis—make sure to choose someone whom you would want to get to know!

Conducting Research as a Stanford Undergraduate: The Process

Students can work with faculty on faculty member's research. This leads to really fine mentoring and is an excellent way to learn about conducting research. Students can also elect to do research in an area that is based on the students' own questions. In this case, the student needs to rely on interactions with faculty who teach and do research in overlapping disciplines.

How can you maintain a good relationship with your readers?

There are a number of things that students can do to establish and maintain working partnerships with their faculty readers.

Clear communication is probably the most important thing in maintaining good relationships with your readers. Early on it is important to ask your readers about their preferences for communication. Some readers wish to communicate via email, while others may prefer voice mail or hand written notes. It is also important to discuss expectations for how often you want to meet to discuss progress on the thesis, the time table for collecting the data and writing rough drafts.

Being flexible, dependable and prompt when meeting with your readers and turning in drafts will make a difference in their ability to spend time with you and provide you with good feedback on your research. Generally, readers are very busy balancing many demands on their time, so it is best to clarify their expectations before you begin.

How do you formulate a research question?

Designing a research question or selecting a specific research area and ultimately developing working hypotheses take time. These processes usually involve the honors student and the faculty readers. There is more than one approach to deciding on the specific research area. Specific research questions may come from the honors student, from honors research faculty, from courses, from a specific reading or from other sources at Stanford. Often in more experimental, technical areas, a student may work on a topic that is a specific part of a general effort by a laboratory team.

One way to get an idea of what would be an appropriate research question for a thesis is by talking to TAs and professors within your chosen discipline about which topics they are currently researching. Looking through current research journals can also be helpful. Ask faculty for review articles in their areas of research expertise. Professors and TAs can give you a good idea of which journals might be the most helpful. Another good source of ideas are copies of theses from past years; Human Biology has copies of the theses from past years that you are welcome to look through.

The most important thing in defining a question for your thesis is keeping in mind what interests you. The question that you choose should be interesting enough to sustain your attention

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for a whole academic year. Think about the readings or lectures that have interested you the most, and then think about the questions that were raised by them. Which topics inspired you to actually read ahead in the course reader, or look forward to going to lecture? Those are the topics that would make good research questions for a thesis. After identifying a general area of interest it is essential to review the research literature to learn about existing work in this area.

How do you decide on the boundaries and focus of your research question?

Much of the fine-tuning of the focus of your thesis will occur with the help of your First and Second Readers. Your advisors can help you decide what would be the most appropriate focus for your research—after all, he or she is more aware of the extent of current research on the subject than you are. If you are having trouble defining your research question, you might want to skim through the old copies of honors theses in Human Biology or look through the journal articles on your subject area that are in the library. Talking with graduate students who are working on research in the same subject area as your thesis can also be helpful.

How do you develop a hypothesis for your thesis? What are the different ways of analyzing a hypothesis?

Once you have selected an area, you will begin to focus on specific questions. Your research hypothesis will evolve as you work with your advisor and grows out of a review of the existing research literature published in journals and monographs. The hypothesis may be revised as necessary during the course of research, but it is important to begin research with a testable hypothesis. Your advisor can help you define a hypothesis. Most areas of research are designed around a working hypothesis or guiding question. We encourage people to have two or three (or more) hypotheses or guiding questions, even if closely related. With multiple hypotheses and guiding questions the researcher can examine each without feeling that there is an “all or nothing” stake in one outcome.

There are a number of different styles of testing a hypothesis. Past Human Biology theses have tested hypotheses through fieldwork, surveys, questionnaires, laboratory research, and meta-analysis of published research. Fieldwork can involve anything from anthropological research with indigenous groups to biological research on a particular ecosystem; one advantage of fieldwork is that you can travel to some incredible places. Past fieldwork has been conducted in places as diverse as the rain forest of Central America, Tibet, Russia, and the Alaskan Wilderness. These exciting trips often require substantial funding—Undergraduate Research Opportunities provides financial support for students to conduct such research. In a later section, the URP and the grants that it provides will be covered in detail.

Surveys and interviews can be used in either anthropological, sociological, or psychological research. Laboratory research can involve working in one of the labs in the Bio department, at the medical center, or the psychology department. To get an idea of how each of these designs is actually used, look at old copies of honors theses that are kept in Human Biology.

What are the requirements if you are planning to work with people, surveys or questionnaires?

Human Subjects Review and ApprovalWorking with people as subjects could involve interviews, asking them questions, or

observing their behavior in either a laboratory or in the field or conducting brain scans. All students who contemplate Honors or other research that will involve human beings as "research subjects" in any form must apply for institutional review and approval by Stanford's Human Subjects Panel. This is a crucial, obligatory step in preparing for such projects, and it is your responsibility to apply for approval before you begin research with human subjects. Note it is not possible to get

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retroactive approval of your research after you have already started to “run subjects” (interview people, collect data, etc.).

Some professors may already have a general human subjects approval for research in their lab—you should ask your professor before you fill out the application. In any case, it is crucial to make sure you have clearance from the Human Subjects Committee before you conduct any research that uses human subjects. The protocol information is located at http://humansubjects.stanford.edu. All Stanford researchers who work with Human Subjects are required to take the Collaborative IRB Training Initiative (CITI) located at http://humansubjects.stanford.edu/resources/req_tutorial.html (see Required CITI Training link): “All new STANFORD investigators who use human subjects in their research activities will be required to take CITI initial training. Additionally, a CITI refresher course is required for all investigators who have not taken the previously required Human Subjects Tutorial within the last two years (Investigators include Protocol Directors and all research staff listehd on the protocol application form).” IRB Manager Lauri Kanerva can be reached at (650) 723-2480.

Remember that it is your responsibility to look into Human Subjects approval before you begin research involving people. This applies to summer research projects and to Honors work that evolves out of internships, experiential learning programs, etc. Approval cannot be given after the fact.

How can you go about incorporating the current state of knowledge on your thesis topic?

There are a number of things that you can do to keep up on the research that is currently being conducted in your area of interest. Reading journal articles is essential to finding out what research is being published. You should conduct periodic literature searches by computer services such as Medline, Biosys, PsycInfo, etc. Talking to your advisors is one of the best ways to keep up on the current state of knowledge on your thesis topic.

The availability of research seminars and meetings on the subject will vary by thesis topic area. Ask your professors, people in the student services office of your discipline (bio, psych, anthro, soc, etc.), and graduate students in the department about local meetings that you might attend. Most people will welcome your interest and be more than willing to let you know about relevant seminars that are happening. It is exciting to be able to do research at a place like Stanford; it is even better when you can share the experience with others who are also excited about your subject.

What if your research topic changes after applying and acceptance to Honors?

Once an Honors application has been approved, the student is expected to complete the specific research described in the application. Please note that any substantive changes to the research topic or procedures must be approved by the Honors committee in order for the research to be eligible for Honors.

Timetable for Working on an Honors Thesis

It is important to realize that there is a wide range of starting points and individual variations in the scope of projects. As a result, the following suggestions are just guidelines, and not a mandatory time line. However, some of the dates are fixed, such as when to apply for funds, for turning your thesis in, and the presentation in the Honors Symposium. Also see the Human Biology Honors Calendar for the current academic year:

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/humbio/cgi-bin/?q=node/154

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Sophomore Year• Take Core• Plan to get experience in a lab, if that is where your interests lie• Plan to take classes from professors in fields you find interesting• Take Stats 60, if possible (or one of the other courses that fulfill the Humbio stats requirement)• Complete Internship during summer before Junior year, if possibleSpring Quarter• Declare Human Biology as a majorSummer Quarter• A good time for your Internship

Junior YearAutumn Quarter• Declare Human Biology as a major• Narrow down interests• Plan to get experience in a lab if that is where your interests are• Take research-oriented classes• Start thinking about funding for projectWinter Quarter• Visit the URP office to learn about major grant proposals• Decide on professors to approach for your First and Second Readers• Settle on a topic and First and Second Readers, meet with readers on a frequent basis• Review literature, generate hypotheses, select instruments• Finish up any stats or research methods classes

Submit the Honors Program application, Part A, Intention to Undertake Honors Research https://www.stanford.edu/dept/humbio/cgi-bin/?q=node/157. Make sure you have completed all the information required, including the signature of both readers.

• Complete your Honors Program application, Part B, Application to Undertake Honors Research https://www.stanford.edu/dept/humbio/cgi-bin/?q=node/157 working closely with your readers. Focus on study design, selecting measures and generating hypotheses. Set up a time-line with your First Reader for collecting and analyzing data. (Your research application should be a polished research application plan—not a preliminary draft. Make sure you have completed all the information required.)See Honors Calendar http://www.stanford.edu/dept/humbio/cgi-bin/?q=node/154

• If using human subjects, work on Human Subjects Approval Form• If you plan to apply for research funding, the deadline is in Winter quarter to turn in the URP

grant proposal (see http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/urp/ and navigate to “Student Grant Programs” for due dates and information).

Spring Quarter• Turn in Human Subjects Approval Form if needed.• Consider applying for Summer Honors College.

Summer Quarter: the optimal quarter to begin your honors research

Senior YearAutumn Quarter• Enroll in research or directed reading course (HB 193 or HB 199), to get research credit• Submit Part C, Literature ReviewWinter Quarter

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• Data collection should be complete by mid-quarter; analysis should be underway (although this is variable depending on the discipline).

• Begin write-up in March, if possible.Spring Quarter• Finish writing up thesis—allow time for several drafts• Work on Honors Poster Symposium presentation• Have complete draft of your thesis done by the Honors Symposium• Make sure your First and Second (and Third) Reader/s have evaluation forms for the final

evaluation of your thesis• Turn in one unbound, signed copy of your thesis to the Student Services Coordinator in the

Humbio office

Resources at Stanford

How do you get funding for your research?

The URP (Undergraduate Research Programs) provides both major and minor grants for undergraduate students to finance research. Many of the recipients of URP Grants use the grants to fund work on honors theses. The URP requires all Juniors and Seniors to be enrolled in the honors program in their respective department. The major grants give you up to $5,000 to spend on research related expenses while the quarterly grants give you up to $1,500. For the 2006-07 academic year the URP funded 72 Quarterly Grants (out of 101) and 188 Major Grants (out of 200).  Although that sounds like a lot, spread over the list of potential candidates, with so few grants awarded each year, applications are very competitive. The most important thing that you need to do to apply for one of these grants is to find a professor who is willing to sponsor your research. If you want to apply for a URP Grant and you have not found a faculty member to work with yet, you might want look at the listing of prior honors theses in the Human Biology advising office for the names of first and second readers associated with theses in your area of interest. If your research is dependent on receiving a grant, it is a good idea to spend a lot of time on your grant application, especially if you anticipate having to travel as part of your research. In the application, you have to explain six different things:

1) an abstract (of approximately 150-200 words)

2) your objective in doing your honors project (a good project will have one or more specific hypotheses)

3) the significance of your research (what impact will it have)4) your project design (all of the details as to how you are actually going to complete the project)5) your previous course and work preparation for conducting the research6) your method of evaluating your final product

The URP can give you more information about applying for a grant and the exact due dates for each type of grant. Go to http://ual.stanford.edu/OO/research_opps/Grants.html . Also, you can drop by the URP office on the 4th floor of Sweet Hall or contact Dean Eyre at: (650) 723-3829.

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The URP also has additional listings of funding sources. You can find a wealth of information on scholarships and fellowships at http://ual.stanford.edu/OO/scholarships_fellowships/FellowshipsScholarships.html.

Statistics ResourcesA number of classes are offered for undergraduates which provide a background in statistics.

Stats 60, Stats 141 (Same as Bio Sci 141), Psych 10, Soc 181B all fulfill the statistics requirement for Human Biology; finishing the statistics requirement is strongly recommended before entering the Honors Program. There is a statistics consulting service at Sequoia Hall and at Sweet Hall. Please see the stats web page at http://stat.stanford.edu/~consult/.

SPSS is a general purpose statistical software package http://www.stanford.edu/services/softwarelic/spss/. It is used for analyzing numeric data and for producing graphical representations of data. SPSS uses an intuitive graphical user interface, making it one of the easiest statistical software packages to learn. For location of cluster computers with SPSS for PC and for Mac and also other related information: https://library.stanford.edu/services/social_sci_data_soft/

Writing ResourcesFor writing assistance students are advised to contact Honors writing associate, Hilton

Obenzinger. He is available (starting in Autumn quarter), throughout the academic year: (“hobnzngr@stanford.edu”) 723-0330.

For helpful information on Bibliographic Management Tools (including Help and Support links) see:

http://library.stanford.edu/depts/serg/services/instruction/bibsoftware/endnote.html

Additionally, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in Sweet Hall has writing tutors who can help you if you are struggling to put your research findings into words. While they cannot give you advice on the actual content of your thesis, they can help you with the wording or with presenting ideas in a clear, concise fashion. See http://ctl.stanford.edu/. Sometimes it can be frustrating as you are writing your thesis, to figure out how to state complicated concepts in a way that people will be able to understand. The writing tutors are undergraduates who have been through the CTL’s training course to learn how to be effective tutors. If you have questions about getting a writing tutor, you can call Stanford’s Hume Writing Center 723-0045 or just drop by Bldg. 420, Rm. 20. See http://swc.stanford.edu/. A writing specialist is available in the Summer Honors College.

The Summer Honors CollegeThe Summer Honors College affords honors students a time to focus on their honors projects

for three weeks in September before the senior year. Human Biology students have enjoyed participating in the Honors College since September of 1993. This is a residential college at Stanford where students receive room and board, and unlimited photocopying and a small research budget. The purpose of Honors College is to give Honors students the chance to concentrate exclusively on honors research prior to beginning their final year as an undergraduate.

Resources available to Summer Honors College participants include: daily contact with supportive faculty, a real sense of collegial support from other honors candidates, excellent statistical and writing consultants who work individually and in groups with the Honors College participants, and an environment where undergraduate honors research is nurtured and encouraged. Honors College is considered to be a great chance to further your research prior to the onset of other commitments, such as course work, during Senior year.

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The next deadline for applications to the Summer Honors College is April 24th, 2009. Application forms are available from the Student Services Coordinator in the Human Biology office during spring quarter.

LibrariesThere are a number of libraries on the Stanford Campus that are vital for conducting research

on an honors thesis. Green Library is an excellent general reference library. Additional specialized libraries include: Lane Medical Library, Falconer Biology Library, and Cubberly Education Library. The Lane Medical Library is the library for the Stanford Medical School. It is located on the side of the Med School that is closer to the Physics tank. Lane has excellent journal articles and books on almost all medical topics; however, many of the articles can be extremely technical. Lane’s policy for checking out journals is quite generous for undergraduates. It is possible to check out any journal that does not have a sticker with the word CORE on it. For those journals that cannot be checked out, there are plenty of copy machines available in Lane.

The Falconer Biology Library is readily accessible to undergraduates as well. It is next to the Herrin Biology Building, across from the Math Corner of the Quad. If you are doing research in biology, either Herrin or Lane would be the place to look.

The Cubberly Education Library is located on the second floor of the Cubberly Education Building. If your thesis has anything to do with school systems or learning processes, it might be worth taking a look at Cubberly. At Cubberly, many journal articles are on microfiche.

Most undergraduates should already know how to conduct literature searches online. If you need help, the reference librarian can guide you through the process. It is easy; you just log in to Folio and select Socrates. You can always select “help” if you don’t know which command to use next.

It is also possible to use Melvyl, which taps into the University of California Library System, from the computer terminals located in all of the libraries around campus. You just select Melvyl and the computer will show you which files are available for you to search. Some useful files for Humbio majors are psychinfo, medline, and mags. Psychinfo searches all of the articles in psychology journals while medline searches the articles in medical journals. Mags searches a more extensive listing of serial publications than is possible through Socrates.

The only problem with using the Melvyl system is that you cannot get a direct printout of a Melvyl search unless you mail it to an email account and print from there. However, you can write down the articles you think you want if there aren’t too many. If you are using medline and want a printout, you should go to Lane Medical Library. At Lane it is possible to get a printout of the citations that you find in medline.

The Thesis: Completing Your Honors Thesis and Graduating With Honors

Formats Acceptable to Human Biology There are a number of different formats for your thesis that are acceptable to Human Biology.

The main requirement is that you use a consistent, approved format that is used by journals or a particular academic discipline. For example, if you use the standard format for publications for the American Psychological Association, that would be fine. If you actually want to submit your research as a journal article, it is fine to use the format that is required by the professional journals to which you are submitting the thesis. In other words, there is no single format that is required.

It can be helpful to take a look at past theses to get an idea of the different formats that are used. If you are curious about formatting can look at you will find the Honors Theses volumes located in the Student Advisors Office, Room 20-21D.

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It is necessary that you decide what format you will use for quotes and citing sources at the beginning and keep it consistent throughout, particularly since there are usually a large number of citations in a thesis. You may want to consider using a program such as End Note to organize your references.

The Thesis has clearly defined sections that include:

a) An Abstract (of approximately 150-200 words)

b) Background (Literature Review and Hypothesis)

c) Method section (detailed account of what you did)

d) Results: the results of statistical tests indicating what you found

e) Discussion

By the time you have been fully accepted into the Honors Program you have completed the background (Literature Review and Hypothesis) and the Method section (Part I of the application process). Thus the amount to be rewritten (the Results and Discussion) is not overwhelming. Most students complete a First Draft of their thesis in April; a second draft in early May, and a final draft at the end of May.

The Quality of the Finished ProductWe expect the design of the study to be of “publishable quality” according to the standards

of the field. However, given that the Honors project typically is completed within 9 – 12 months, and that for most students it is the first serious research experience, the completed paper need not be of publishable quality (although many in fact are published). The paper may fall short of publishable standards in terms of the breadth of the research, or in the size of the sample, or in the quality of the write up.

Length of the Thesis: The minimum length is 20 pages (excluding appendices, references, etc.). The literature review is required to be broad and to place the topic in context. The methodology is meant to be complete (and not abbreviated).

Publishable Paper vs. ThesisThe thesis differs from a published paper in several ways: The thesis has a much longer and more substantive literature review, in which the student

shows mastery of the field. The student must take full responsibility for the writing of the thesis: a published paper is

usually co-authored and a more senior person may actually write part or all of the paper.

Schedule of Submission of DraftsAs with other aspects of honors, the schedule for writing drafts of theses varies among honors

students. This helps you to focus again on the specific questions and the context in which they are asked.

The schedule for working on drafts is set by the honors student and both readers. Ultimately, a complete draft of your thesis is due to your First and Second Readers a week before the Human Biology Honors Symposium. Accordingly, your thesis should be very close to being finished by the beginning of May. There are about six weeks between the time spring quarter starts and the time your thesis is due. This is also the spring quarter of your Senior year. In other words, plan ahead! Start writing during winter quarter so you have some time during spring quarter to do some revising before the thesis is due.

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The final copy of your thesis is due at the end of May. If you want to graduate with honors, your thesis must be in by the end of May so that your professor can give you a grade and that grade can be recorded by the Registrar’s Office. If you have applied to graduate with honors and you do not complete your thesis, you might not receive your diploma showing graduation with honors until the next time they are printed, which is once a year. To avoid having to explain to all your relatives why your diploma case is temporarily empty, be sure to turn in one unbound copy of your thesis. Check with the Student Services Coordinator, once or twice during May to make sure you are on track with this schedule.

The Human Biology Honors Poster SymposiumThe Human Biology Honors Poster Symposium is held each May in front of Human Biology.

The date for ’08-09 symposium is May 22nd 2009. All graduating seniors who are completing honors theses give a five-minute presentation of the thesis and then allow a few minutes to answer questions about their research. The presentations are generally quite impressive. The audience at your presentation will consist of friendly, supportive people; the atmosphere is supportive yet professional. It’s a positive experience for all participants. Faculty advisors, parents and friends are invited to attend. The presentations are generally scheduled throughout the day. Topics are clustered into particular disciplines, e.g., environmental policy, human development, etc.

If you are a sophomore or junior, attending some of the talks at the Honors Poster Symposium is a great way to get ideas about for own research interests. As a sophomore, the Honors Poster Symposium can give you an overview of some of the thesis topics people have chosen in the past. Maybe one of the talks will inspire you to take more classes on that topic, or perhaps you will get an idea for a lab that you might enjoy working in. As a junior the Honors Poster Symposium can be helpful for you to get a sense of how a thesis is formulated. Presentations often include an overview of the research that was conducted and how the experiment, or survey, was designed. Seeing how other people have approached their research can be invaluable in designing your own study.

You need to arrange the time of your presentation with your First and Second readers so that they can be present – it is important that they are there. It is also a good idea to invite parents and friends—sometimes having an audience of friends can help the quality of your presentation. Putting the presentation together is a fairly big job. It is helpful to have someone get to see it besides just your First and Second Readers and the Chair of Honors. This way your friends will get to see what you have been working on for the past year.

Talking about your research is stimulating, and even if you are one of those individuals who just happens to be terrified of public speaking, there are a number of things that you can do to prepare. The CTL has a service where you can be videotaped giving your presentation. There’s nothing like videotape to let you see every little fidget and “ummm” you make while giving your speech! It’s a great resource and can aid you in becoming much more comfortable during your delivery. See the CTL web cite and sign up at http://speakinghelp.stanford.edu. Students may also rehearse ahead of time at Humbio (see below).

URP Poster Production Information

The Honors Poster Presentation is a formal presentation in front of Humbio; each student presents individually within their group of approximately 6-8 students. Lina Yamaguchi of the URP can assists with the poster printing. Students need to email their files to Lina one week in advance of the presentation in order to have their posters printed on the URP printer. (There will be no cost to you for printing your poster at the URP.) Lina will be able to work with you individually as needed.) As for file setup information, here are some helpful links from the URP web pages:

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Students essentially just need to make one huge slide in Powerpoint. Instructions for setting up the Powerpoint poster file and getting it printed (PDF) are here: http://ual.stanford.edu/OO/research_opps/SURPSResources.html

There are several poster examples here:http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/urp/SURP/surpawards05/index.htm

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/urp/SURP/surpawards04/index.htm

Also, samples of actual posters can be found at the Student Services office at Human Biology.

One of the challenges of speaking at the Poster Symposium can be tailoring your speech to a diverse audience. Often, you wind up speaking to people who are both experts on the topic (your First and Second Readers) and people who have very little knowledge about the topic (your friends, relatives, or people who have just dropped by to listen in). Remember that you don’t have to explain everything about the design of your experiments or all the intricacies of the theory behind it. Focus on the general idea and what you were trying to accomplish with the research. Explain the general questions, your hypothesis and your results in clear, straightforward terms.

One thing that can be very helpful is working with your First Reader on your presentation. If he or she is willing to listen to you give a practice talk, the feedback can help you see what still needs work. Doing a trial run of your presentation for your faculty advisor can also be a real confidence builder for the “real thing” at the Symposium. Take advantage of the opportunity if your faculty advisor is willing. Practicing can do a lot toward making your speech go smoothly.

Completion and Evaluation of the ThesisYour First and Second Readers must turn in their evaluations of your thesis before you actually

receive credit for your work through HB 194 and are cleared to receive honors. Humbio has two separate evaluation forms—one for each reader. The form for the First Reader has space for about a paragraph or two evaluating your performance, and for entry of the grade. The form for the Second Reader is exactly the same (excluding a space for grade entry). Human Biology sends out these forms to all the readers. However, it is a good idea to ask your readers if they have received the forms so that Student Services can resend them if needed.

The Honors Symposium DinnerA tradition in Human Biology is the Honors Symposium Dinner—in celebration of your

completion of Honors. Each honors graduate and the first reader are invited. The dinner is held on the evening of Friday, May 22nd 2009 for the ’08-09 academic year.

Graduation with Honors: The Final ChecklistThere are a couple of things that are necessary to graduate in Human Biology with Honors.

They are as follows:

1. Correct cumulative number of units in BOTH Research and “Honors” 194 does not exceed maximum (15); see page 3 “Sorting out the units question”.

2. One unbound, signed copy of the final draft of your thesis has been turned in to the Student Services Coordinator in the Human Biology office.

3. Your First Reader Evaluation form has been turned in to the Student Services Coordinator, with a grade assigned.

4. Your Second Reader Evaluation form has been turned in to the Student Services Coordinator.

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5. You participated in the Honors Poster Symposium in May (or gave an oral presentation of your thesis at another date).

Once all of these things have been done, CONGRATULATIONS! You are ready to graduate with Honors in Human Biology! You made it.

Honors Theses 2007-08

Austria, Diana – From Their Own Voices: Understanding the Impact of Pre-college Pipeline Programs Aimed at PromotingDiversity in the Health Professions

Bell, Katherine – The Female Athlete Triad in Elite, Female Swimmers 

Boyce, Sabrina – Access to Healthy Foods in a Low Income, Hispanic and High Income, White Community

Burns, Abigail – I was a survival kid: A Qualitative Study of Homelessness and Substance Use Among Opportunity Center Participants

Case, Siobhan – Similarities and Differences in the Use of Online Health Bulletin Boards for American Indians/Alaska Natives, African Americans, and Caucasians with Type 2 Diabetes

Chen, Samuel – The Role of Dynamic Flow on Aortic Wall Remodeling in an ex vivo Organ-Culture System

Grossman-Kahn, Rebecca – Integral and Invisible: The Role of Community Health Workers in Northeast Brazil Hinshaw, Stephen – Myc-Driven Lymphomas Exhibit High Levels of the DNA Damage Marker gammaH2AXHwang, Sophia – Exploring Race and Ethnicity in Bipolar Disorders: Higher Prevalence of Bipolar I Disorder in Asian and Latino Patients than Caucasian Patients

Jacobson, Karen – The Perceived Social Acceptability of Condom Use in Tanzanian Adolescents

Kersten, Elizabeth – Determinants of US Government Funding for Global Health Issues: A Case Study of Maternal Health

Kim, Soo Jeong – The Efficacy of Peroxisomal Proliferators-Activated Receptor gamma agonist pioglitazone Administration in Protecting Hippocampal Neurogenesis Following Cranial Irradiation

Kliff, Kathryn – Struggle and Resilience: A Qualitative Investigation of the School Experiences of Previously Homeless Youth

Liu, Meiyang – The Impact of Medical Interpreter Training and Experience on Patient Satisfaction and Comprehension of Clinical Encounters

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Love Anderegg, William – The Butterfly Effect: The Response of Riparian Bird Diversity to Climate Change and Human Development

Lowry, Gene – Anti-PLP Antibody Cross-Reactivity with Neuronal Proteins: Implications for Regenerative Medicine in Multiple Sclerosis

McFadden, Tom – Can Social Status Change Expression of Ion Channels?

Merrihew, Lindsey – Adherence and Weight Loss in the A to Z Study

Siedenfeld, Justine – Ethical Issues in Disclosure of Medical and Genetic Information to Adult Adoptees

Sisk, Eileen – Fear of Facing Evaluation: Emotion Reactivity to Positive and Negative Evaluation in Social Anxiety Disorder

Watt, Tessa – Detecting the Insult-Induced Activation of Delta PKC in Primary Neuronal Cultures: Implications for Gene Therapy in Stroke

Wong, Alison – A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Weight Loss and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Among Type 2 Diabetics Prescribed with Insulin Sensitizers Versus Insulin Secretogogues

Yee, Ada – MYC Inactivation by Farnesylthiosalicylic Acid Inhibits Lymphomagenesis

Yerokun, Tunde – The Effects of Loss of Cdc42 on Hippocampal Neurogenesis

Zhang, Jessica – Mobility, Occupation and Self-Efficacy of HIV Prevention among Rural-to-Urban Female Migrants

Foster, Deshka & Villendrer Stacie (joint thesis) – Diagnosing Treatment: Principal Factors Influencing Childhood Malaria Management in Tanga, Tanzania

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