Essential information about the Master in Anthropology

Guidelines for the Preparation of a Proposal for an MA Thesis in Anthropology

These guidelines present the suggested format for preparing a thesis proposal for the MA program. The proposal should usually be 15-20 pages double-spaced.

1. Theme, Problem, Question(s) and Objectives: State the subject/object to be studied in the research (context, actors, practices). Specify the research question(s), its social and cultural importance, the stakes involved, and how it is currently understood in the literature. Give concrete form to the question(s) through the questions and objectives that you try to solve in your study. State a research hypothesis, if needed.

2. Theoretical Approach: Define your place among the existing literature on the subject. Articulate the theoretical approach, the streams of thought, debates, theoretical propositions, and key concepts from previous studies that permit you to answer your question(s) and objective(s).
3. Methodology: Describe the methodological strategies (approaches, methods, techniques, means) that you expect to use to answer your question(s) and objective(s) (interviews, ethnographic forms, digital, textual, ethnographic and documentary sources). Discuss the methodological concerns, both in general and relevant to the particular project, that you anticipate (e.g. access problems and availability of data, ethical questions, power relations, the spatial and temporal dimensions of your study, etc.).
4. Deadlines: The calendar should include all of the necessary steps of your research process (from ethical certification until the completion of the thesis, including field research and writing up of chapters, and the expected date for submitting the final report to the Research Ethics Board and for submitting the thesis/research paper).
5. Bibliography: Include bibliographic references for all of the sources cited in the proposal. Use a consistent format for all of the references.

Guidelines for the Major Research Paper in Anthropology – MRP 6999

This guide for students writing a major research paper (MRP) in the Master’s in Anthropology program presents a series of options, minimum requirements, and an explanation of what professors expect.

Students opting to write an MRP will have two options.  

• Option 1: Submitting a paper that offers a literature review alongside an analysis of a secondary source data set (i.e. material that did not require REB approval).
• Option 2: Writing an MRP solely based on a comprehensive analysis of scholarly literature (without secondary data set analysis). Should a student choose this latter option, their paper must have a clear analytical trajectory and an argument, in the vein of professional literature review articles (such as the ones published in Annual Review of Anthropology, for example).

The literature review and analysis must include a minimum of 25 references.

Whether the student chooses Option 1 or 2, the paper must present a body of scholarly work that includes anthropological sources about the student’s chosen topic. It should describe and explain one or more significant anthropological approaches to the topic, including how the literature frames the topic, what is identified as a problem, and the concepts used. The student will select one or more of these concepts to use in their analysis, or develop an original conceptualization based on secondary source data.

Types of para-ethnographic or secondary data include, although they are not limited to, news media reporting, ethnographic material from monographs and articles, fiction and non-fiction literature, films, video games and social media materials (non-interactive and anonymized i.e. no images or direct quotes which could be traced to an individual account) or other forms of media and representation; archives, policy documents; autoethnography.

The basic format is:

• Introduction, including a succinct statement of the argument and key concept(s);
• Methods;
• Literature review (situate topic in a sub-field of anthropology);
• Data and Analysis: Option 1. Presentation and analysis of secondary source data; or  Option 2. Comprehensive analytic literature review.
• Conclusion, including supported argument and contribution to knowledge.

Students should be guided by their data and/or scholarly materials. They may give specific sub-headings, rather than or in addition to these category headings, and they may collapse or expand these categories as appropriate. 

The maximum length of an MRP is 50 pages, double spaced, with 1-inch borders, in 12-point Times New Roman or its equivalent in size, including the bibliography. 

The MRP is read by the student’s supervisor and another professor, known at the reader. The paper will be assessed for the quality of its literature review, data, analysis, argument, organization, and writing.

Thesis proposal committee members

Director + co-director (if there is one) + 2 other members of the School.

Thesis committee members

Director + co-director (if there is one) + 2 other members of the School.

Major Research Paper committee members

Director + co-director (if there is one) + 1 other members of the School.

*All committee members must be members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Students may, if they so choose, make use of film, photography or new media as ethnographic data and/or the medium of presentation for their major research paper (MRP) or master’s thesis.  In this case, the MRP or thesis will conform to the following format:  introduction, methodology, theoretical framework, ethnographic data, analysis, discussion and conclusion.

The thesis committee will ensure that students possess (or will be able to acquire via courses offered in ethnography of new media or visual anthropology) the necessary skills required to complete a high-quality multimedia document.  These criteria must therefore be explicitly included in the thesis proposal for the latter to be approved.