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Political Science: Honors

subject portal

Research Methods

Duke's Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) offers consultations to undergrads.

Search terms to combine for guide books:

  • research methodology
  • content analysis
  • mass media
  • discourse analysis
  • statistical methods
  • evaluation
  • political
  • public opinion

More Research Tools

Citation Managers:

RefWorks

EndNote

Get Recognition

Need to cite your own thesis? Here's a suggestion, based on APA style:

Lastname, Firstname (2011) My incredibly well-written Public Policy thesis: The best experience of my life (Undergraduate honors thesis). Available from DukeSpace. (http://hdl.handle.net/101##/####)

Enter your thesis into competition for the Aptman Prize or Holsti Prize for a chance to win $$ and be recognized at a reception.

Library Privileges for Honors Students

The Libraries offer special privileges to support students writing a thesis for graduation with distinction.

  • Loan periods same as graduate students
  • Book and article delivery to the library of your choice
  • Group study room, carrels for four-hour blocks, lockers--ask at the Perkins Circulation Desk
  • DukeSpace--submit your paper to our open-access repository for preservation and your own link for your c.v.
  • Awards for excellence in research include $1000 for best honors thesis

Writing & Citing

Citing Sources
Links to the major citation style guides, with examples of how to cite various materials

Citation Management Tools
Start early using a citation management tool; it will help you assemble your citations, format them, and insert them in your paper.

Doing Research in Political Science
by Paul Pennings, Hans Keman and Jan Kleinnijenhuis; Perkins stacks

 

Craft of Political Research  
Phillips Shively; Perkins stacks

Writing for the Government
Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication; Perkins stacks<

Style Manual for Political Science
From APSA; Perkins Reference Desk


Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources: A Manual for Social Science and Business Research
by Debora Cheney for LexisNexis; Perkins Reference Desk

Citing U.S. Government Publications
onlinge guide from Indiana University based on Cheney book above

Submit your thesis

Once accepted by your department, submit your thesis electronically to University Archives. It will be stored and made accessible under a Creative Commons license through DukeSpace, the Library's digital repository. Your thesis will be assigned a persistent URL to share with others for easy access.

Submission standards for Honors papers
How to format your paper and submit it electronically to University Archives

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Public Policy Librarian

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Ryan Denniston
Contact:
ryan.denniston@duke.edu

Perkins 233
PO Box 90175
Durham, NC 27708
919-660-5876
Website Skype Contact: rdennist