Front Matter

• The front matter of a sociology thesis includes the title page, an abstract of the paper, acknowledgments of who helped you with your research, a table of contents and any other materials that needs to go before the introduction.
  
  

Statement of Purpose

• The main body of a thesis includes an introductory statement of purpose, a review of the literature, the proposed research methods, the findings and a conclusion.
  
  The statement of purpose includes the basic premise, or inquiry, of the study and will generally focus on a causal relationship between individuals and larger social forces. A statement of purpose should include a description of the social problem or issue to be studied, a description of the need for this particular study, and the overall purpose of the study. This shows how the study discovered socially beneficial information.
  
  

Literature Review and Research Methods

• A review of the scholarly literature describes the relevant sociological studies that have preceded the author's inquiry and how the work done previously informs his study. The research methods explain what questions the author sought to answer in the study, how the author gathered data and how the author analyzed and reported the data gathered. The questions that an author attempts to answer with a sociological study should always focus on the people in a society and how they interact with or are affected by larger social issues.
  
  

Findings, Conclusions and End Matter

• The results of the research and the data gathered belong in the findings section of a sociology thesis. What the findings show and how the findings affect the thesis statement belong in the conclusion section of a sociological thesis paper. The conclusion section often includes recommendations for social programs or strategies. In this way, the conclusion of the thesis corresponds to the larger goal of sociology.
  
  The end matter of a sociology thesis paper should include a bibliography. It can also include a glossary, index and any other appendices necessary to validate the social research. These components establish that the work presented is following the research protocols expected in the social sciences.