Revised January 2016 1

DLSU Department of Psychology Guidelines

for Thesis Advising Enrollment and Proposal and Final Defenses

CONTENTS:
A. Whether one should enroll in thesis writing or in residency
B. The expected time of completion of thesis
C. Enrollment in thesis writing for the first time; assignment of thesis adviser and of panel members
D. Change of thesis adviser
E. Form for students who will be enrolling in thesis writing for the first time / For change of thesis
adviser
F. Preparations needed for proposal and final defenses
1. Assignment of panel composition
2. Letters of invitation to panelists and panel chair
3. Enrollment in thesis defense
4. Originality/plagiarism check as prerequisite to thesis defense
5. Documents to be submitted to the graduate studies secretary together with thesis after
your thesis has passed the originality check.
6. Scheduling of defense with adviser and panelists (to be done by student who will inform
graduate studies secretary)
7. Submission of the Panelists’ Reports and Panel Chair’s report
G. Notice of schedule of proposal/final defense
H. MS Defense Panelist’s Report
I. MS Defense Panel Chair’s Report
 Revised January 2016 2

Whether One Should Enroll in Thesis Writing or in Residency

1. A faculty member can only advise up to five students a term. For faculty resource to be
used optimally, we need to make sure that those enrolled in thesis writing are
committed to work regularly on their thesis during the term of enrollment.

2. If you are enrolled in thesis writing, the expectation is that:

a. you must already have a substantial thesis proposal draft (thoroughness in

literature review, clarity of research directions, details about instrumentation).
While the draft is still tentative and can be changed substantially or even
completely, the expectation is that you must already have done a whole lot of
thinking and reading.

b. you meet every one or two weeks with your thesis adviser.

c. each time you meet, you must submit an output according to what have been
agreed upon during the last meeting with your adviser.

3. Enroll in residency, do not enroll in thesis writing if:

a. you have not thought about or read about what you want to do for your thesis.

b. you cannot commit to meeting your thesis adviser every one or two weeks and
to submit outputs each time you meet with your adviser.

4. If you have already defended your thesis proposal and think that you need a term to
complete data gathering and can proceed with the rest of the work (e.g., data analysis,
drafting the results and discussion) without consulting your thesis mentor, you may
decide to enroll in residency during that term rather than enroll in thesis writing. You
will not be assigned a mentor, however, so have no access to regular consultation. You
can once again consult regularly with your mentor once you enroll in thesis writing.

The Expected Time of Completion of Thesis

1. A student is expected to defend his or her proposal during the first or second term of
thesis writing enrollment.

2. A student is expected to defend his or her final thesis during the third through fifth term
of thesis writing enrollment.

3. It definitely is possible to defend your proposal during the first term of thesis writing
enrollment and to defend your final proposal during the second or third term of thesis
writing enrollment.

4. After the fifth term of thesis writing enrollment, the adviser has the option of dropping
you from his or her list of mentees so as to accommodate other students.
 Revised January 2016 3

Enrollment in Thesis Writing for the First Time and Subsequent Enrollment
Assignment of Thesis Adviser and of Panel Members

1. Thesis students should never show up in during course advising sessions. Given the
long lines during course advising, you will not be accommodated.

2. Check the DLSU website’s UNICALENDAR to know the deadline for first-time enrollment
in thesis writing. For subsequent enrollment in thesis writing, you must do likewise.

3. Complete form E-24 (Enrollment of Thesis/Dissertation Writing). Download from the

website or get a hard copy from the OUR. Read carefully and follow the instructions
written at the bottom of the form. For subsequent enrollment in thesis writing, you
must do likewise.

Assignment of Thesis Adviser

You will be assigned a thesis adviser. It will be the graduate program coordinator and
not the student who will approach the prospective thesis adviser. If you approach a
faculty to ask if he or she can be an adviser and the faculty consents (perhaps unaware
of the thesis guidelines), that agreement is not binding and is not official.

Students enrolling in thesis writing for the first time should not indicate an adviser in
Form E-24. This will be filled in by the graduate program coordinator.

4. Submit the following papers to the graduate studies secretary together with the
completed form E-24.
a. For students enrolling in thesis writing for the first time: a hard copy of your
my.lasalle grades: this should reflect that you have passed all the written
comprehensive exams

b. For students enrolling in thesis writing for the first time: Two copies of the
completed Form for Students Who Will be Enrolling in Thesis Writing for the First
Time (included in this document). The second copy will serve as your receiving
copy.

c. For subsequent enrollment in thesis writing: If you enroll online for your second,
third, etc. terms of thesis writing, you must clear with your adviser if he or she
continues to be available to advise you during that term of enrollment. It
happens that a student enrolls online and the faculty is on leave during that
term.

d. For returning students who have no access to their my.lasalle: a certification

from the OUR that you have passed the written comprehensive examinations.
Note: If your transcript of records does not reflect the comprehensive exams
that you have passed, request from the OUR a certification that you have passed
all compre exams.
 Revised January 2016 4

5. Upon completion of enrollment, submit the following papers to the graduate studies
secretary.

a. Two photocopies of E-24 already stamped by the Registrar.

b. Two photocopies of the Official Receipt of payment.

 Revised January 2016 5

Change of Thesis Adviser

1. The assumption and the ideal scenario is that the student does not change advisers.

2. If the student’s current adviser is no longer available to advise the student, the graduate
program coordinator initiates the process of change of adviser and informs the student.

3. Request from a student to change adviser must be approved by the graduate program
cordinator (in consultation with the current thesis adviser and, if necessary, with the
graduate program committee). To request the change, the student must:

a. Discuss his or her plan to change adviser with the current adviser, explaining his
or her reason and plan;

b. Submit a hard-copy formal letter of request with the student’s signature

i. The reason for the request should be clearly stated.

ii. The letter must be signed by the current adviser. Below the letter,
indicate “Noted by:” and obtain the current adviser’s signature.

4. If the request is approved, the student submits the form “Form for students who will be
enrolling in thesis writing for the first time”; see next page.
 Revised January 2016 6

Form for Students Who Will be Enrolling in Thesis Writing for the First Time
(NOTE: Use this form, too, for any change of thesis adviser)
PAGE 1 of 2
Last Name: _____________________ First Name: _____________________
ID Number: _____________________
Major:
_______ Clinical Psychology _______ Psychological Measurement
_______ Human Development _______ Social Cultural Psychology
_______ Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Email address: ________________________ Mobile phone number: _____________________

Term of Enrollment: ______ Term of School Year ________

Adviser Assignment: Suggest below two or three faculty members of the Department of
Psychology who might be able to advise you on your proposed research.

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

Do not fill in the lines below. To be completed by the graduate program coordinator.

Adviser: ________________________________________

Thesis Panel Defense Composition:

Panel Chair: _____________________________________

Panel Member: __________________________________

External Panel Member:___________________________

 Revised January 2016 7

Form for Students Who Will be Enrolling in Thesis Writing for the First Time
(NOTE: Use this form, too, for any change of thesis adviser)
PAGE 2 of 2

Last Name: _____________________ First Name: _____________________

ID Number: _____________________
Major:
_______ Clinical Psychology _______ Psychological Measurement
_______ Human Development _______ Social Cultural Psychology
_______ Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Email address: ________________________ Mobile phone number: _____________________

Term of Enrollment: ______ Term of School Year ________

1. (Type below the) Tentative title of the proposed research:

Write a tentative title that would best capture the scope of your proposed research. Ideally, the
title should include the variables or the constructs/phenomena that you plan to examine.

2. (Type below the answer to) Using extant theoretical and empirical literature, present
succinctly a logical argument leading to the rationale for your research question or
objective (maximum of 5 paragraphs):

3. (Type below the) Research question or objective:

Write the research question or objective you aim to address, including any subquestions or
subobjectives.

4. References:
a. Include reference entries for all citations in No. 2
b. Attach the first pages of the three most important articles cited.
 Revised January 2016 8

Preparations Needed for Proposal and Final Defenses

Please do the following tasks in the order in which they are listed.

1. Assignment of panel composition. At about the time that an adviser is assigned to a student, the
panelists for the thesis defense is also assigned. The graduate program coordinator forms the thesis
panel in consultation with the thesis adviser.

It will be the graduate program coordinator, in consultation with the adviser, who
assigns panelists will approach the prospective panelists. Do not create your own thesis
panel. If you approach a faculty to ask if he or she can be panelist and the faculty
consents (perhaps unaware of the thesis guidelines), that agreement is not binding and
is not official.

Most very specially and most very importantly and most very critically, to avoid
embarassment on your or the department’s part, do not choose a person outside of
the department and ask the person if he or she can be an external panel member.

If you think that a person, internal or external, will be a good panelist for your defense,
discuss it with your adviser.

Please make sure to follow up with the graduate studies secretary the panel composition for your
defense.

2. Letters of invitation to panelists and panel chair. Letters of invitation will be prepared by the
department. The graduate studies secretary sends the letter to the panelists from the Department
of Psychology and gets from them the signed conforme form that comes along with the letter. The
student sends the letter to the external panel member and gets from the panelist the signed
conforme form that comes along with the letter.

During the term of your defense, usually at about the time you enroll for defense, request the
graduate studies secretary to prepare the letters of invitation.

3. Enrollment in thesis defense

a. Enrollment in thesis writing is required during the term of the defense. It is your
responsibility to know the deadline for enrollment in thesis writing.

b. It is your responsibility to know the deadline for enrollment in thesis defense and to get a
copy of the thesis defense enrollment form. It, too, is your responsibility to read and follow
the instructions contained in the enrollment form.

c. Upon completion of thesis defense enrollment, submit to the graduate studies secretary:
i. the enrollment form already stamped by the Registrar’s Office (two original copies
and two photocopies)

ii. four photocopies of the official receipt.

 Revised January 2016 9

4. Originality/plagiarism check as prerequisite to thesis defense. Only after enrollment in thesis

defense, will the department subject your manuscript to originality/plagiarism check.

Submit a soft copy of your proposal/thesis (email to graduate studies secretary; do not submit USB).
The graduate program coordinator will email you outcome of the originality/plagiarism check.

Note: Making sure that the thesis does not contain plagiarized sections is the responsibility not of
the department but of the student.

The originality/plagiarism check is done to protect the integrity of the M.S. thesis collections and, in
cases of plagiarism, to impose sanctions according to Section 13.3 of the student handbook.

Hence, it is inappropriate to ask the department to conduct an originality/plagiarism check so you

know whether you are safe and can already enroll in thesis defense. Doing so is rather naïve; it’s
like asking the police if they are able to detect alcohol in your system so you know whether you
should be driving.

In the context of an adviser-student relationship, however, it would be appropriate to request your

adviser to assist you in conducting an originality/plagiarism check, but your adviser is not obliged to
do so.

A writer who writes volitionally and knowingly doesn’t “stand a chance” of being caught in an act of
plagiarism. If you are that kind of a writer, you should be confident in what you submit even when it
has not undergone prior originality/plagiarism check.

5. Hard-copy documents to be submitted to the graduate studies secretary together with thesis
after proposal/thesis has passed the originality check and at least three weeks before the defense,
submit the following documents to the graduate program coordinator through the graduate studies
secretary:

Please do not give these copies directly to the adviser, chair, and panelists. But the secretary
returns to you the copy for the external panelist, which you will forward to the panelist. Please
do not email a soft copy to the external panelist, unless the external panelist expressly
requests a soft copy. Give your external panelist a hard copy. If you find it inconvenient to
travel, send the copy through courier.

a. four (4) ring-bound copies of the proposal or thesis (for mentor and the three panelists).

b. Panelist’s Report (included in this document; fill in top portionwith the top portion filled in).
Insert one in the copy of each panel member.
c. Chair’s Report (included in this document; fill in top portion). Insert in the thesis copy of the
Panel Chair (with top portions filled in). Hence, two forms needs to be inserted in the Panel
Chair’s copy.

d. Proposal/Final Defense Panel Report with information filled in. This is different from items b.
and c. above. It can be downloaded from the DLSU website (Registrar’s Office downloadable
forms).
 Revised January 2016 10

6. Scheduling of defense by the candidate.

a. The graduate studies secretary provides you with the email addresses of your panelists and, if
they consent, with their contact numbers as well.

b. After you have submitted the required documents, you schedule your defense with your
adviser and panelists. You are responsible for
i. making sure everyone is free during the set day and time for the defense
ii. making sure the department is informed of the day and time for defense. You do this by
completing and submitting the form “Notice of Schedule of Proposal/Final Defense”
(included in this document). The secretary then reserves a room on your behalf. This is
the only task she does in the scheduling of the defense. The rest is yours.
iii. making reservations for overhead projector.
iv. bringing your own laptop.
v. consulting your adviser about the procedures for defense and how you can prepare to
face these procedures.

7. Right after the defense, submit to the graduate studies secretary a copy of the Panel Chair’s Report
(make sure to keep your own copy). Remind the graduate studies secretary to collect the
Proposal/Final Defense Panel Report from the panel chair for signature by the chair and submission
to the Registrar’s. This document contains your defense grade and you are not allowed to process
it.
 Revised January 2016 11

Notice of Schedule of Proposal/Final Defense

Instructions. After your adviser and panelists have agreed to the schedule of the proposal/final defense, please complete this form and
submit to the department. Print a second copy if you wish to have a receiving copy.

Last Name: _____________________ First Name: _____________________ ID Number: _____________________

Major:
_______ Clinical Psychology _______ Human Development _______ Industrial/Organizational Psychology
_______ Psychological Measurement _______ Social Cultural Psychology

Email address: ________________________ Mobile phone number: _____________________

Term of Defense: ______ Term of School Year ________

Please check which applies

______ Proposal defense

______ Final defense

Adviser: ______________________________________

Chair of panel: _________________________________

Panel member: ________________________________

Panel member: ________________________________

Date of Defense (to be filled in by student): _________________________________________

Time of Defense (to be filled in by student): _________________________________________

Venue of Defense (to be filled in by the graduate studies secretary): _____________________

 Revised January 2016 12

MS Defense Panelist’s Report1

(Adapted from Multimedia University)

Note to Panelist: If you wish to have a soft copy of this document, kindly request one from the graduate studies
secretary.

The candidate must type in all the details below.

Candidate’s Name

Thesis Title
Indicate if proposal or final defense
Panelist’s Name

Panelist’s Institution

PART 1: RESEARCH QUALITY AND THESIS PRESENTATION

1. Literature review and justification/rationale for the research problem

Is the literature reviewed a critical analysis of theoretical and empirical literature that is relevant to the research
problem? Is the exposition well-organized and logically leads to the rationale for the research problem? Are their
fallacies in argumentation?

2. Formulation of research objectives/problems

Do the objectives/problems ensue from analysis of the literature? Are the objectives/problems formulated well?
Do these objectives require technical capabilities and competencies at the Master’s level?

1
Source: APPENDIX A. PhD and MS Defense. DLSU Vice Chancellor for Academics. Revised by the DLSU Department of Psychology,
July 2013.
 Revised January 2016 13

3. Framework, model, or theory

Are the theoretical tools employed suitable and adequate to solve the research objectives/problems? Is the
choice of theory or model appropriate? Is the theory or model well-articulated and developed?

4. Methodology
Are the methodological tools proposed/employed suitable and adequate to solve the research
objectives/problems? Are the sampling design and sample appropriate? Are data collected relevant to solve the
research problems/objectives? Is the data collection process reliable? What corrections and modifications need
to be done?

6. Results and Data analysis

Is there a prescribed, appropriate analysis to address each research problem/objective? Were steps taken to
address uncertainties and errors in the data? Are sufficient data presented and are data presented in an
organized way?
 Revised January 2016 14

7. Discussion (For proposal defense, please omit)

Does the discussion reflect critical analysis? Are implications of results discussed precisely? Do results and
discussion together form a coherent picture, both focusing on the research’s answers to the research
problems?

8. Contribution of Findings and Possibility of Publication (For proposal defenses, omit this item.)
Please comment on the extent to which the problems/objectives stated in the thesis are answered/attained.
Please state the candidate’s original contribution, and comment on the significance of this contribution as new
knowledge (theory, methodology, application, etc.). Please assess the paper’s chances for journal publication.

9. General and other comments

Note: If you have corrections, edits, or comments in your copy of the paper that you wish to share with the candidate,
please give to the candidate your copy of the paper.

______________________________________ __________________
Signature Date

______________________________________
Printed Name
 Revised January 2016 15

MS Defense Panel Chair’s Report2

(Adapted from Multimedia University)

Note to Panel Chair: If you wish to have a soft copy of this document, kindly request one from the graduate studies
secretary.

The candidate must type in all the details below.

Candidate’s Name

Thesis Title
Indicate if proposal or final defense

Thesis Adviser

Panel Chair’s Name and Institution

Panelists’ Names and Institutions

In Part I, please summarize the comments discussed and agreed on during the defense deliberation.

PART 1: RESEARCH QUALITY AND THESIS PRESENTATION

1. Literature review and justification/rationale for the research problem

Is the literature reviewed a critical analysis of theoretical and empirical literature that is relevant to the research
problem? Is the exposition well-organized and logically leads to the rationale for the research problem? Are their
fallacies in argumentation?

2
Source: APPENDIX A. PhD and MS Defense. DLSU Vice Chancellor for Academics. Revised by the DLSU Department of Psychology,
July 2013.
 Revised January 2016 16

2. Formulation of research objectives/problems

Do the objectives/problems ensue from analysis of the literature? Are the objectives/problems formulated well?
Do these objectives require technical capabilities and competencies at the Master’s level?

3. Framework, model, or theory

Are the theoretical tools employed suitable and adequate to solve the research objectives/problems? Is the choice
of theory or model appropriate? Is the theory or model well-articulated and developed?
 Revised January 2016 17

4. Methodology
Are the methodological tools proposed/employed suitable and adequate to solve the research objectives/problems?
Are the sampling design and sample appropriate? Are data collected relevant to solve the research
problems/objectives? Is the data collection process reliable? What corrections and modifications need to be done?

5. Results and Data analysis

Is there a prescribed, appropriate analysis to address each research problem/objective? Were steps taken to
address uncertainties and errors in the data? Are sufficient data presented and are data presented in an organized
way?
 Revised January 2016 18

6. Discussion (For proposal defense, please omit)

Does the discussion reflect critical analysis? Are implications of results discussed precisely? Do results and
discussion together form a coherent picture, both focusing on the research’s answers to the research
problems?

7. Contribution of Findings and Possibility of Publication (For proposal defenses, omit this item.)
Please comment on the extent to which the problems/objectives stated in the thesis are answered/attained.
Please state the candidate’s original contribution, and comment on the significance of this contribution as new
knowledge (theory, methodology, application, etc.). Please assess the paper’s chances for journal publication.

8. General and other comments

 Revised January 2016 19

PART 2: PANEL DECISION

Please encircle the decision of the panel.

Accepted as is. No changes are required.

Accepted with minor revisions.

The paper requires only any of the following; minor improvements and reorganization in write-up of sections;
elaborations of some points and arguments; formatting, insertion of missing references, amendment of
inaccurately cited references, and minimal improvement in spelling, grammar, syntax and presentation.

Accepted with major revisions

The paper requires any of the following: major revision of the literature, major improvement in methodology,
analysis of data, discussion of results, and extensive improvement in grammar, syntax and presentation.

Rejected
The thesis has not attained the status of graduate-level research as evidenced by evaluations of inadequacies in
the panelist’s answers to the above questions.

If you recommend that the proposal/thesis be rejected, please specify the major flaws that result in a
recommendation of rejection:

Name Designation Signature Date

Thesis Adviser

Panel Chair

Panel Member

Panel Member