Psychology Master's Thesis Project

Psychology Thesis Guidelines:

Please refer to the CSULB Thesis and Dissertation Office website for information on deadlines, the submission process, and formatting.
Please refer to this link for upcoming Thesis and Dissertation Workshops.
Please refer to the CLA Thesis website for deadlines.
Contact your Thesis Chair and/or the Graduate Advisor to answer any questions that are not addressed below.

Consider a topic area and schedule a meeting to ask a tenured/tenure track Psychology Professor to serve as your committee Chair. Note: MAPR Students are assigned mentors upon admission to the program. Nevertheless, this formal meeting must take place.
Report Chair’s agreement to the Graduate Advisor.
Enroll in PSY 698 for either 3 units for two semesters or 6 units for one semester. (Consult with the Graduate Advisor to determine the number of units and timing that would be best.) You must have a committee Chair to enroll in thesis units.
Consult with your thesis Chair to determine faculty members that would be suitable for your additional two committee members. Schedule a meeting with each to request membership on your committee.
Conduct literature review and write thesis proposal.

After your thesis Chair has approved your proposal, consult with all committee members to schedule a date and time for your preliminary orals meeting.
Provide a copy of your proposal to the committee one week prior to the meeting.
At the meeting, you will present your proposal to the committee. The members may make suggestions for you to incorporate into the proposal.
After the committee approves your proposal, you work with your thesis Chair to ensure IRB approval of the project.

After your thesis Chair has approved your thesis, consult with all committee members to schedule a date and time for your preliminary orals meeting.
Provide a copy of your thesis to the committee one week prior to the meeting.
At the meeting, you will present your thesis to the committee, with a particular focus on the results and discussion. The members may make suggestions for you to incorporate into the thesis.