What do senior theses in Statistics look like?

This is a brief overview of thesis writing; for more information, please see our website here. Senior theses in Statistics cover a wide range of topics, across the spectrum from applied to theoretical. Typically, senior theses are expected to have one of the following three flavors:                                                                                                            

1. Novel statistical theory or methodology, supported by extensive mathematical and/or simulation results, along with a clear account of how the research extends or relates to previous related work.

2. An analysis of a complex data set that advances understanding in a related field, such as public health, economics, government, or genetics. Such a thesis may rely entirely on existing methods, but should give useful results and insights into an interesting applied problem.                                                                                 

3. An analysis of a complex data set in which new methods or modifications of published methods are required. While the thesis does not necessarily contain an extensive mathematical study of the new methods, it should contain strong plausibility arguments or simulations supporting the use of the new methods.

A good thesis is clear, readable, and well-motivated, justifying the applicability of the methods used rather than, for example, mechanically running regressions without discussing the assumptions (and whether they are plausible), performing diagnostics, and checking whether the conclusions make sense.