A Fruitless Thesis
Your student has thought of a new model that both of you see as leading to a promising new line of research in your field. You encourage your student to submit a thesis proposal based on this model and you and a departmental colleague help her to do so.
Just weeks after her proposal is submitted to her committee, you receive a journal article to review. The research reported in the article is very exciting, but it shows that your student's model cannot be right. You do not see any way to alter the model to circumvent the problems you now see with it. You realize that going forward with the project will be fruitless.
What, if anything, can and should you say to your student and departmental colleague?
Cite this page:
"A Fruitless Thesis"
Online Ethics Center for Engineering
9/9/2006 2:44:22 PM
National Academy of Engineering
Accessed: Thursday, November 20, 2008
<www.onlineethics.org/CMS/research/modindex/resethpages/fruita.aspx>