Entry requirements

Only for students admitted to the Master Programme in Public Management (MPPM)

Learning outcomes

The course will provide students with knowledge and skills in the social science research process with a focus on public administration. They will learn how to choose a manageable topic for their Master's thesis and structure their work so that they can complete the thesis within given time limits. Through lectures and practical exercises, students will learn to distinguish between good and bad research questions, gain methods of data collection and analysis, and see how their own findings make a contribution to existing knowledge in the field. Students will gain a proficiency in evaluating the methodological strengths and weaknesses of research reports and they will be trained how to draw independent, well-structured, and balanced conclusions at teh end of the research process. Students will also learn how to avoid common errors , such as vaguely formulated questions, ambiguous use of key concepts, inadequate methods, lack of connection with previous research, and the unacceptability of plagiarism.

The course will involve a series of seminars, group tutorials and individual tutorials between professors and MPPM students. As time progresses, students are expected to assume an increasingly independent role in carrying out their Master's thesis writing. Tutorials by thesis supervisors will, however, be available to students throughout the semester. The students will be guided through the first key steps of selecting a delimited and feasible topic for their thesis. They will gain skills in how to make a review of existing literature, linking it to the research problem, clarifying key concepts, and knowing how to proceed with data collection and analysis. To better understand the format and quality requirements of an MPPM thesis, the students will be exposed to sample essays and learn how to evaluate their strengths and short-comings. While the MPPM thesis writing is the student's own responsibility, s/he will have the chance to discuss draft versions with a thesis supervisor and make necessary revisions before presenting it for an examination at the end of the course. The student will be prepared to discuss and defend his/her thesis at the final examination seminar.

Content

(1) Steps of the research process; (2) How to formulate a feasible research question; (3)n Connecting to previous research; (4) Qualitative and quantitative methods; (5) Data collection and analysis; (6) Structuring the research findings; (7) Written presentation of conclusion and results; (8) Making a plan for thesis writing; (9) Setting a focused research topic; (10) Literature review, data collection and analysis; (11) The writing process; (12) Individual and group tutorials; (13) Finalizing the Master's thesis; (14) Preparing for examination of the thesis.