Data Science Honors Thesis Seminar
The senior honors thesis seminar gives students an opportunity to experience firsthand what it means to do data science research. Over two semesters, students will learn to formulate a research problem, design a research strategy, collect evidence, and write up the findings and analysis. The first semester focuses primarily on the preparation and implementation of a research proposal, as well as data management strategies. During the second semester, we will emphasize analysis and writing. The final result will be a hybrid product with a 20-25 page research paper, with data visualizations and analysis tables, along with a documented data source, annotated code, well documented Github repository, and open science posting of the project.
Topics
- Explain approaches to designing a research question and project. Identify the challenges in data acquisition and management. Explore a variety of analytic and visualization techniques and discuss their appropriateness to different research questions. Discuss how to formulate and substantiate an argument with evidence. Assist students with project organization and management. Convey approaches to effective writing and visual communication.
- Learn how to develop a research question and project. Develop an understanding of data availability, constraints, and ethics. Develop data management skills. Formulate a proposal for a research project. Understand how to organize empirical work into a written document. Develop reproducible research and interpret results. Understand how to use empirical evidence to construct an argument. Communicate effectively in written, spoken, and graphical form.
Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027