乐播传媒

Most theses have just two parts. First, you choose a topic. Second, you spend months developing what economics professor James Hughes calls 鈥渢rue explanations鈥� for anything and everything that turns up.

But for Audrey Nu帽ez 鈥�07, whose compared the effects of contraceptive policies in two countries 鈥� Belize and her homeland of Honduras 鈥� the thesis saga continued through spring, summer, and fall with parts three, four, and five.

There was the unsettling part (her results contradicted her hypothesis), the rare part (it got published), and the transformative part (the experience prompted her to return to Honduras).

Using survey data, Nu帽ez had hypothesized that in Honduras, where contraception use is supported by government hospitals and fieldworkers, the fertility rate would be lower than in Belize, where contraception use is only supported indirectly, by NGOs and the like.

But Nu帽ez, a French and economics double major, discovered the opposite is true. 鈥淏elizean women are more likely to use contraception,鈥� she says. And despite government support of contraceptive use, Honduran women have more children than Belizean women.

Last summer, Nu帽ez鈥檚 one-semester thesis was published online by the University of Costa Rica鈥檚 Central American Population Studies Center, which provided Nu帽ez鈥檚 data. Publishing a one-semester thesis is rare at 乐播传媒 and nationally, says Hughes, the College鈥檚 Thomas Sowell Professor of Economics. 鈥淎udrey鈥檚 is the first of my students鈥� one-semester theses to be published in its entirety.鈥�

Nu帽ez鈥檚 thesis results, though 鈥渧ery unexpected,鈥� didn鈥檛 dissuade her from further exploration. 鈥淚 want to find out the reasons for the incongruity,鈥� she says. (One reason could be that Belize programs better educate women about contraceptive use.) And, she wonders, if government support for contraceptive use isn鈥檛 very effective, what else in her country might not be bringing assumed benefits?

This epiphany led to part five of her thesis: She elected to defer graduate school to work in Honduras. 鈥淢y country needs young professionals willing to recognize problems and make a difference,鈥� she says.