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The Christian Formation and Ministry Department seeks to developacademically grounded, spiritually whole, and practically skilled ministersof the Gospel who are prepared to build up the Church in a changing world.
July 18, 2007
Christian Formation & Ministry Department
Wheaton College501 College AvenueWheaton, Illinois
Christian Formation and
Ministry M.A.
General Information: The^ following
departmental
requirements
are^ in
addition to the Graduate
School’s^
requirements
for
thesis^ preparation.
Copies
of^ the^
M.A.^ Thesis
Guidelines
are^ available
from^ Graduate
Student
Services, our department’s hallway file, or online at http://www.wheatongrad.com/?p=51.
Table of Contents:
Guidelines forFinal Project Intro., Overview of Options .....................................................1Pre-proposal Steps ...................................................................2Thesis ................................................................................... 3-6Applied Thesis...................................................................... 7-8Creative Project ..................................................................... ..9Internship.......................................................................... 10-11Progress Checklist .......................................................... …...12Schedule/Notes................................................................ …...13Writing Guidelines .......................................................... 14-
A guide to preparing a—^ •^ thesis,^ •^ applied thesis,^ •^ creative project,^ •^ internship paper.
19. CITE NUMBERS CORRECTLY.
The general rule is that in sci-
entific and statistical material, all numbers are expressed in numerals.In nonscientific material, numbers are sometimes spelled out andsometimes expressed in numerals, according to prescribed conven-tions. The general rule followed by many writers and by the Univer-sity of Chicago Press is to spell out all numbers through one hundredand any of the whole numbers followed by
hundred, thousand, hun-
dred thousand, million,
and so on. For all other numbers, numerals
are used.^ Examples: At that time the combined population of the threedistricts was less than four million. There are 514 seniors inthe graduating class. The general rule applies to ordinal as well as cardinal numbers.^ Example: On the 122d and 123d days of his recovery, hereceived his eighteenth and nineteenth letters from home. The general rule must be modified when numbers above
and
below one hundred appear in a series, or group, applying to thesame kind of thing. Here all are expressed in numerals:^ Of the group surveyed, 186 students had studied French,142 had studied Spanish, and 36 had studied Latin for threeyears or more. SEE TURABIAN FOR ADDITIONAL WRITING AND STYLEGUIDELINES FOR BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRIES.
Page 2
Pre-proposal Steps
Project Advisor: When you have completed 12 hours of graduate credit, you may proceed withthe process of selecting an advisor (1st reader) for your thesis, applied thesis,or internship work.
The advisor must be a faculty member in the Christian Formation^
&^ Ministry
Department
(or^ an^ individual
approved^
by^ the
department chair).
Faculty members will consider your request to advise your project; however, it will be ultimately your responsibility to conform/modify the project proposal sufficiently to enlist faculty support.
No faculty
member will be expected to advise more than four (4) theses/applied theses/internships any given semester. Steps For Proceeding With Final Project Options
1.^ Discuss options with your chosen advisor to determine which optionbest suits your purposes. 2.^ Complete the buff-colored pre-proposal form.
Present the purpose
behind^ your
option^ of^
choice^ in^ such
a^ way^ as
to^ convince
the
department that this is the best way to achieve your goals for yourgraduate experience and future ministry. 3. Submit the completed pre-proposal form for advisor’s approval.
After
obtaining this initial approval, please submit the form to the CFMDepartment graduate coordinator or the Department secretary.4. The Department will then review your pre-proposal and either approve itor return it to you with modification suggestions.5. After obtaining department approval and the necessary signatures, a)^ If you selected the thesis or applied thesis option,
complete the
Application to Write Graduate Thesis available from the Office ofGraduate Student Services and follow their guidelines for the applicationand proposal process, in order to develop a formal proposal to go beforethe Graduate Academic Affairs Committee for approval. b)^ If you selected the creative project or internship option, you maybegin your work.6. Register for your selected option the semester you begin the work. (Forspecific course number, see the section in this guidebook that describesyour option..)
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phrases “who is,” “which was,” and the like are often superfluous. A positivestatement is more concise than the negative, and the active voice more con-cise than the passive. Another common violation of conciseness is the pres-entation of a single complex idea, step by step, in a series of sentences whichmight to advantage be combined into one. 6. SPECIFIC WORDS TO AVOID
.^ Avoid unqualified use of the word
“cause” because it provokes a philosophical discussion about establishingtrue cause of anything. Do not use significance or correlation unless thesewords mean what they mean statistically. Use “study” or “analysis” as alter-native terminology to research which sounds like something more gloriousthan it is. Remember that data is plural
7.^ AVOID SEXIST LANGUAGE
. Man/Woman is at a point in his/her
existence where the generic masculine is not to dominate the way one ex-presses himself/herself. To correct a sentence in which all subjects are male,such as “When a student writes a paper, he must proofread carefully,” makethe subject plural: “When students write papers, they must proofread care-fully.” 8.^ AVOID USE OF CONTRACTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
“Can’t” becomes “cannot,” “mfg.” becomes “manufacturing.” Do not use theampersand (&). 9.^ IMPROPER QUOTATION
. All quotes and borrowed ideas are foot-
noted. Quotes of more than four lines of running text are indented withoutquotation marks, single spaced and set off from the text by double spacing. 10.^ AVOID AWKWARD SENTENCES
. Sometimes a writer constructs
awkward sentence structure because of a typographical error or carelessproof-reading. Read your paper out loud to catch awkward phrasing and tomake sure your sentences are clear. 11. FAILURE TO USE THE POSSESSIVE PROPERLY
. Avoid apos-
tropheabuse. Differentiate between “its” and “it’s,” “you’re” and “your.”^ Example: “The book was great; its plot was superb” is correct, not“it’s plot was superb.”
Avoid these common writing mistakes: 1. MISSPELLING Page 14
. Look up suspicious words in a dictionary. Use spell- check on the word processor. Proof-read your work, or better yet persuadesomebody else to proof-read your work for you. 2. USE OF THE PASSIVE VOICE .^ The active voice is usually more
direct and vigorous than the passive, and the habitual use of the active voicemakes for forcible writing.^ Example: “It was not long before he was very sorry that he had saidwhat he said” can be effectively changed to “He soon repented hiswords.” 3. USE OF THE FIRST PERSON
. Generally avoid use of first person,
although “I” is occasionally okay to use if done very sparingly and withouteditorializing and emotion.^ Example: “I was interested in the problem of...” is okay. Generally, however, use the third person. 4. FAILURE TO USE PROPER BIBLIOGRAPHIC FORMAT
. Follow
the Turabian guidelines. Do not give biographic detail in the text to yourpaper because the citation format gives those details. Be aware that some-times the sentence construction itself forces you into a citation mode.^ Example: “Many studies are too old” or “Research shows that ...”,then you are forced to cite specific studies. Remember that the Bible is a book and is to be treated as a publication. 5. AVOID WORDINESS
. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.
This
does not require that writers make all sentences short, or avoid all detail, butthat every word tell. Many expressions in common use violate this principle,such as “he is a man who” rather than “he,” “this is a subject which” ratherthan “this subject,” “the fact that he had not succeeded” should be written as“his failure” and “owing to the fact that” should read “since.” Also, the
WRITINGGUIDELINES
Page 3
Once the Department of Christian Formation & Ministry has approved yourthesis pre-proposal, complete the
Application to Write Graduate Thesis available from the Office of Graduate Student Services and follow theirguidelines for the application and proposal process. Register for CFM 698 Thesis (2 hrs).Types of Theses: This section offers a brief description of our departmental expectations re-garding four types of research: historical, biographical, ethnographic andquantitative. 1.^ Historical
Research:
A historical thesis traces the history of an institution,^
movement,^
ministry^ philosophy,
or^ ministry
method^ over
a
defined period of time, not simply to detail a chronology but to interpret andexplain the reasons for changes over time by placing events in historicalcontext.^ This will involve an analysis of primary (evidence left behind byparticipants^
or^ observers)
and^ secondary
(works^ interpreting
historical
events) sources related to your specific topic.
Historical primary source
research will involve analysis of published and/or unpublished (archival)resources^ such
as^ diaries,
journals,^
sermons,^ letters,
memoirs,^
audio
recordings, and organization records.
Secondary sources, such as journal
articles, books, and other theses and dissertations, will give a sense of howother scholars have interpreted the events, individuals, and time periodcovered^ in^
your^ study.
Weaving
together^ these
materials,^
develop an
interpretation of historical changes that helps your readers better understandthe forces and consequences of these shifts. 2.^ Ethnographic Research:
Ethnographical research entails “a social scientific description of a people and the cultural basis of their peoplehood”
focusing on detailed and accurate description rather than explanation of the^2 culture,^ where the focus is on
learning from people
rather than
studying
people.^ Ethnographic research is “the disciplined study of what the world islike to people who have learned to see, hear, speak, think, and act in waysthat are different”
3 from that of the researcher. The goal of ethnography is to grasp the^ emic
perspective of a culture in order to realize
their^ vision of
their
(^4) world. The researcher seeks to co-construct the reality of a particular culturewith the people of the culture, utilizing participant observation, interviews,and literature review as tools for perceiving local construction of reality.
THESIS
After 12 hours, select final project departmentadvisor.With advisor, choose project type.Select general topic.Complete pre-proposal form.Submit pre-proposal form for advisor’sapproval.Receive department approval and chairsignature.Creative project and internship students beginwork. Thesis and Applied Thesis students:* Complete application to writegraduate thesis.* Submit nine (9) signed copies andthe original of the proposal to theRegistrar’s Office.* Receive Graduate Academic AffairsCommittee approval.^ *^ Begin work. Grade received for completed project.
PROGRESSCHECKLIST
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P r o p o s a l
Thesis proposals are to be submitted during the regular academic year to yourchosen faculty advisor.
Once you have received approval of your proposal from your advisor, the faculty of the Christian Formation and Ministry De-partment must then approve it. Please allow time for this process.The next step is to submit the proposal to the Graduate Academic AffairsCommittee, following the guidelines in the thesis handbook. Proposal Essentials:1.^ Statement of Purpose, Problem Statement, or Research Question: A^ problem statement
is a sentence or paragraph that explains the purpose of a given investigation.
Problem statements are presented in future tense in research proposals and in past tense in research reports.
An example of a
problem statement for a research proposal follows:^ The purpose of this study will be to investigate the impactthat a local influx of a multicultural population has on pre-existing evangelical congregations in three different loca-tions. An example of a problem statement for a research report follows:^ The purpose of this study is to investigate ….. Include a brief history or background of the problem. 2.^ Review of Literature
:^ The review of literature section of your thesis proposal is to be built around the key factors in your problem statement.Develop your outline for the literature review from these key factors. Use theliterature sources to build an argument that reflects the position of your thesisin relationship to the views of other scholars and researchers.
Include posi-
tions that both support and refute your own.
See examples of literature re-
views in the theses in Room 237.
Research Involving People
The Wheaton College Human Research Review Committeemust review research involving
any risk to participants.
Therefore, this committee must approve all faculty and stu-dent research with human participants.
No human research
data may be collected before appropriate approval is received(this includes survey research).
The Human Research Re-
view Form contains details of required information for thereview.^ Additional information is available in the thesis handbook.
Carefully follow the directions. Submit nine (9) signed copies and the original of the Proposal to the Registrarby 10:00 A.M. Thursday before the Monday Graduate Academic AffairsCommittee meeting, held the second and fourth Mondays of the month. Fol-low the format found in
Appendix I
for the Thesis Proposal Title page.
Grading Policy:
Students receive a grade of
P^ upon completion and ap-
proval of their thesis.
Students who do not complete the project within the five-year limit will receive a grade of
F.
Page 6
-^ Describe new ways you became aware of your own strengths and weak-nesses, as well as other meaningful personal insights. Analyze yourrelationship with your supervisor and co-workers, if applicable. •^ Identify the implications for ministry of issues that may have surfaced.Due to the quick pace of the Accelerated M.A. program, internshipsare generally not allowed.
. 2.^ Review of Literature
:^ The review of literature section of your applied thesis^ proposal
is^ to be built around the key
factors in your problem
statement.^
Develop your outline for the literature review from these key factors.^ Use the literature sources to build an argument that reflects theposition of your thesis in relationship to the views of other scholars andresearchers.^
Include positions that both support and refute your own.
See
examples of literature reviews in the theses in Room 237.
Research Involving People
The Wheaton College Human Research Review Committeemust review research involving
any risk to participants.
Therefore,^
this^ committee
must^ approve
all^ faculty
and
student^ research
with^ human
participants.
No^ human
research data may be collected before appropriate approval isreceived^ (this
includes^
survey^ research).
The^ Human
Research^
Review^ Form
contains
details^
of^ required
information for the review.^ Additional information is available in the thesis handbook.
Carefully follow the directions. Submit nine (9) signed copies and the original of the Proposal to the Registrarby 10:00 A.M. Thursday before the Monday Graduate Academic AffairsCommittee meeting, held the second and fourth Mondays of the month.Follow the format found in
Appendix I
for the Thesis Proposal Title page.
Grading^ Policy:
Students receive a grade of
P^ upon completion and
approval of their thesis. Students who do not complete the project within thefive-year limit will receive a grade of
F.
Page 8^
Once the Department of Christian Formation and Ministry has approved yourcreative project pre-proposal, you may begin work on your project under theguidance of your project advisor.A creative project includes an extensive paper much like a proposal for athesis or applied thesis.
Like an applied thesis, a significant part of the pro- ject is a creative component which includes a wide range of possibilities,such as video, program design, or curriculum. This option is unique in that ithas a highly specific context for its application.
Because of this limited ap-
plicability, this work does not become part of Buswell Library. Register for CFM 692 Creative Project (2 hrs).Components:1.^ Statement of Purpose, Problem Statement, or Research Question: A^ problem statement
is a sentence or paragraph that explains the purpose of a given investigation.
An example of a problem statement for a research proposal follows:^ The purpose of this study will be to investigate the impactthat a local influx of a multicultural population has on pre-existing evangelical congregations in three different loca-tions. An example of a problem statement for a research report follows:^ The purpose of this study is to investigate ….. Include a brief history or background of the problem. Review of Literature:
The review of literature section of your creative pro- ject proposal is to be built around the key factors in your problem statement.Develop your outline from these points. Use the literature sources to build anargument that reflects the position of your thesis in relationship to the view ofothers. Include positions that both support and refute your own. See exam-ples of literature reviews in the theses in Room 237. Grading Policy:
Students receive a grade of
P^ upon completion and ap-
proval of their thesis.
Students who do not complete the project within the five-year limit will receive a grade of
CREATIVEPROJECT^ F.
