General provisions

Course within the Master's Programme in Business and Management and the Master's Programme in Accounting and Financial Management.. The course syllabus was approved by the board of the Department of Business Studies on delegation from the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Entry requirements

The Master's thesis course is available to students admitted to the Master's Programme in Business and Management and the Master's Programme in Accounting and Financial Management who have achieved at least 45 credits within the programme.

Learning outcomes

The Master's Thesis course runs throughout a full semester and constitutes the final and concluding task in the Master Programme in Business and Management and the Master Programme in Accounting, Auditing and Analysis. During the course, students will study research methods, will design and do an empirical study and present this in a written report called a Master's thesis.

Knowledge and understanding

During the Master's Thesis course, the student shall:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the main field of study, including both broad knowledge of the field and a considerable degree of specialised knowledge in certain areas of the field as well as insight into current research and development work
• demonstrate specialised methodological knowledge in the main field of study

Competence and skills

During the Master's Thesis course, the student shall:

• demonstrate the ability to critically and systematically integrate knowledge and to analyse, assess and deal with complex phenomena, issues and situations even with limited information
• demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues critically, independently and creatively as well as to plan and use appropriate methods, undertake advanced tasks within predetermined time frames, and to contribute to the formation of knowledge as well as the ability to evaluate this work
• demonstrate the ability in speech and writing, to report clearly and discuss his or her conclusions and the knowledge and arguments on which they are based in dialogue with different audiences, both in a national and international context
• demonstrate the skills required for participation in research and development work or for independent work in other advanced contexts

Judgement and approach

During the Master's Thesis course, the student shall:

• demonstrate the ability to assessments with regard to scientific, social and ethical aspects, and to demonstrate an awareness of ethical aspects of research and development work
• demonstrate insight of the possibilities and limitations of research, its role in society and the responsibility of the individual for how it is used, and
• demonstrate the ability to identify the personal need for further knowledge in the field and to take responsibility for his or her ongoing learning

Content

Within the framework of the Master's Thesis course, you will explore different ways of finding information, defining the scope of a project and doing research, as well as different ways of communicating the results. The Master's thesis course includes the stages of defining a topic and formulating a problem statement, selecting and reviewing relevant literature, designing an empirical study as well as performing it, including data collection and analysis, analysing the empirical data, make theoretical conclusions and finally writing and rewriting a written report called a Master's thesis. Students will work in pairs to write the thesis.

Instruction

The language of instruction is English. You will work in pairs to do most of the assignments. The course consists of compulsory seminars, lectures and tutoring.

Assessment

The student will get one single grade, equivalent to 30 credits.

The course is examined primarily by assessing the final version of the thesis and seminar activities in the form of presentation and defence of the thesis, critically scrutinizing and commenting on the work of other participants, and active participation in discussions. In addition, a mandatory quiz on cheating and plagiarism is carried out. Grading criteria are presented in the study guide that applies to the course section. The following grades will be used: VG (pass with distinction), G (pass), and U (fail). In order to pass the Master's Thesis course, students need to complete all mandatory course elements and to hand in an approved thesis within the prescribed time limit. All tutoring ends after the final seminar.

For students who have completed the seminar series but who have not received a passing grade on the thesis, it is possible to submit a revised version of the thesis for re-assessment at later submission opportunities without re-registration. If the seminar series has not been completed within the course, including any complementary tasks in connection with this, the entire course (with all examination elements) must be redone, which can only be done by re-registering at subsequent course sections.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating or plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, which may issue a formal warning to the student or suspend the student from studies for a certain period.

NOTE: Only completed courses can count toward a degree.