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POLS 600: Senior Thesis

This is a library guide for students who are writing the senior thesis in political science.

Welcome

Political Science 600 is the capstone to your study of Political Science at Wichita State University.  This guide is designed as a starting point for your POLS 600 research.  For assistance, please contact Ethan Lindsay, librarian for Political Science.

Click here for the general research guide for Political Science at WSU.

Literature reviews

Not to be confused with a book review, a literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings, reports) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory.  Literature reviews provide a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of and background on significant literature published on a topic, as well as your own critical thinking on how these works comprise this background, and what questions remain unaddressed by the existing literature.

 

John Classen does a great job describing literature reviews in this brief video created for students at North Carolina State University:

Concept Maps can help you organize information for a literature review visually.

To find similar books go to Advanced Search in the Library Catalog and search research as a subject AND methodology as a subject and maybe add a focus like social science or political science as a keyword.

Literature Review Workshops and other Library Research Workshops are available every semester. Check the calendar below for dates and to register.

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