Contents
1.
Introduction 3
2.
Writing
a thesis 4
2.1.
The length
and content of the thesis 4
2.2.
Supervision 5
2.3.
Getting
started 5
2.4.
Handing
in the thesis 6
3.
Supervision
8
3.1 Midway
seminar
8
4.
Being
an opponent and a respondent 9
4.1.
Being
an opponent 9
4.2.
Defending
your thesis 10
4.3.
Other
participants 10
4.4.
Some
final advice before the seminar 11
5.
Marking
12
5.1.
Marking
guidelines and criteria 12
6.
Schedule
of events 13
Appendix
1; Supervision agreement, student copy 13
Appendix
2; Supervision agreement, teacher copy 14
1
Introduction
Welcome to the final and most
important course of the programme. This is where you get to demonstrate the knowledge
you have acquired in european studies. You should show that you have a good understanding
of the academic field’s theoretical traditions, research methods, ethics and empirical
material.
The purpose of this guide is firstly
to give you some practical advice on how to write and defend your thesis, and on
how to critique each other’s theses. It is also compiled to give you an
overview of the seminars in the course and to outline the marking guidelines
and criteria.
2
Writing a thesis
In this section you will find specific instructions on
writing a thesis, supervision sessions, and practical information on handing in
the thesis.
2.1 The length and content of the
thesis
A BA thesis in European Studies
should be max. 35.000 signs = approx. 30 pages
(abstract and bibliography excluded).The
thesis is always an individual project.
An academic work usually consists of
certain components. These vary slightly depending on the purpose of the thesis.
In our marking we look at the following components, developed by the course
board at the Department of Global Political Studies.
For a BA thesis to be
awarded a pass, it should include/display the following:
1.
A clear statement of
the research problem and how it relates to the academic subject.
2.
A clear articulation
of the aims of the thesis and any further specific research questions in the
context of the stated research problem.
3.
An accurate and
clearly motivated use of theory and method.
4.
A review and
discussion of previous research undertaken in the area of the chosen research
problem.
5.
Presentation of
critically assessed material that is relevant to the chosen research problem.
6.
An analysis where the
chosen theory (or theories) and the result of methodological choices are
apparent.
7.
Clear and well-founded
answers to the research problem based on the aforementioned analysis.
8.
A clearly designed
structure that suitably supports the thesis’s purpose, theoretical framework
and method.
9.
A clearly designed
structure that suitably supports the thesis’s purpose, theoretical framework
and method.
10. Readability
(based on a literate presentation of the text and component referencing).
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2.2 Supervision
As supervision is limited, you will only be able to
meet with your supervisor on a few occasions, it is vital that you and your
supervisor plan each session and the work to be done in-between sessions. A few
points of advice:
1.
Develop
a work plan with your supervisor, dividing the thesis work into small items
that are easy to grasp. This way the process will seem less daunting. Then complete
one or a few items before each meeting with your supervisor.
2.
Arrive
on time. If you have to cancel, do so at least 24 hours in advance. If you
don’t show up you will have lost one of your supervision sessions.
3.
Submit
the text portions that you and your supervisor have agreed on, on the established
date. Give your supervisor sufficient time to read it. Submit well-written and
structured texts.
4.
Prepare
questions to ask your supervisor before each session.
5.
The final session. Before the last session you should submit a final
draft of the thesis to your supervisor. Your supervisor will read it, give some
last points of advice and either encourage you or advise you not to submit it.
If you are advised not to submit your thesis for defence, this should be
respected.
2.3 Getting started
This purpose of this document is to give practical
advice; it isn’t primarily an academic pedagogical text. For advice on how to
think, as an academic, when writing an academic text, these books can be
helpful:
Bryman, Alan (2008) Social Research Methods 3rd edition, Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.
Delanty & Strydom (Eds.) (2003) Philosophies of social science: the classic
and contemporary readings, Open University Press: Maidenhead, Philadelphia.
May, Tim (2001) Social Research,
Issues, Methods and Process (3rd ed.), Maidenhead: Open
University Press
In addition to the guidelines in those books, here are
a few pointers:
1.
Where do I start? There is no one answer to this question. The answers
vary depending on the nature of the thesis and the author’s experience and
expertise. However, it can be a good idea to start with the simpler parts. This
can be a detailed description of the empirical material. This will help the
reader understand the analysis, but it will also make it easier for you to get
started and get better acquainted with the material. It can also be a good idea
to start with defining your research project and start thinking about how you
want to formulate your research questions.
2.
Writing a BA thesis feels overwhelming. It’s important to divide the work into manageable parts.
Write an outline of your thesis, listing the different sections you want to
include. Discuss the order you want to put them in with your supervisor.
3.
What is a suitable research project? Your thesis is a project designed to be carried out
over ten weeks. Therefore it is important that you choose a well-defined topic.
You can’t save the world with a BA thesis or solve big scientific dilemmas.
It’s much better to choose a very limited research project and do it well.
2.4 Handing in your thesis
PLEASE READ
CAREFULLY!
1. The thesis should be posted in the “Folder to upload you BA thesis”
at It's learning by Friday May 25, noon, at latest for students participating
in seminars 29/5 or 30/5, by Monday 28/5 for students participating in the
seminars Friday 1/6 and 4/6, and Monday 4/6 for students participating in the
seminars Friday 8/6. To make the folder easy to navigate, name the thesis
document with your own name (last name.name). No submission of paper copies
will be necessary!
2. The thesis must also be electronically submitted to Urkund for
plagiarism-check. To do this, the thesis is sent as an attachment to your
supervisor’s Urkund-address: name.last name.mah@analys.urkund.se.
In the subject line of this message write the course code in brackets (e.g. [ES221E]).
The file format for both of these submissions must be
Word or fully compatible with this programme.
3. The opposition seminar schedule will be posted May 25 at 15.00 for seminars 29 and 30/5, and Monday 28/5
15.00 for seminars 1 and 4/6. Aside from acting as main
opponent/discussant at one paper (which one will be detailed in the opposition
seminar schedule!), each student is expected to read all thesis submitted to
his or her seminar. For this purpose, all theses will be available in the
Thesis folder.
Consequentially, you are expected to participate during the whole seminar
session.
Each opponent is expected to hand in his/her opposition in writing at
the beginning of the seminar
.
AFTER THE OPPOSITION
SEMINARS:
5. At the opposition seminar no grades will be decided. The student will
however receive a notice on whether he or she passed or failed. After the
opposition, each student is given the opportunity to make minor corrections
(spelling mistakes and grammar), and is thereafter to submit a final copy of
the thesis for archive purpose no later than June 15 (no grades will be
reported before the archive copy has been handed in!).
The archive copy should be submitted in paper format (A4, unstapled and
unbound and single sided) to the seminar examiner. The front page should
contain the following elements:
· Name of the student
· Title of thesis
· Supervisor’s name
Name of department and study program (e.g. Department of Global Political
Studies (GPS); International Programme for European Studies)
· Examination semester (Spring semester 2012)
6. Grades will be decided and reported three (3) weeks after the opposition
seminar, at latest.
3
Supervision seminars
3.1 Midway seminar
Some students
want other in-put than the supervisor can give. The students are therefore
offered a group supervision seminar with 10-15 students and two teachers. By listening to the teachers and each other
the students can gain new and valuable perspectives on their own work.
The seminar takes
place about halfway through the ten-week course. You submit your draft about a
week ahead of the seminar. Seminar times and when to submit your draft will be
listed in the schedule.
4 Being an opponent
and a respondent
The seminar where
you present and defend your thesis and comment on someone else’s BA thesis is
the most important seminar of the programme. This is not an occasion we rush
past. This is when you get to demonstrate you skills in arguing for how you’ve
gone about writing your thesis. It is also the opportunity for you to show that
you can review another student’s work and discuss weak points, alternative
methods or theory, and compliment the strong points. The opposition is both written and oral. The oral presentation is delivered at the seminar. At the end
of the seminar you hand in your written opposition. The seminar is public. This means that you are welcome
to invite two guests (friends, partner, parents, siblings) to the seminar. When
you submit your thesis, tell the teacher responsible for the course how many
guests you plan on bringing. After the seminar 1/6 we will arrange the annual
farewell ceremony for all students in the BA-semester, please check its
learning for details.
4.1 The opponent
Depending on how
many theses are submitted, the time spent on each thesis varies slightly. The goal
is 45 minutes per thesis. Each thesis is discussed according to the following
points:
1. Welcome. The chair of the seminar, usually
the examiner, welcomes the author of the thesis and the opponent.
2. Errata. After
the introduction by the chair, the author will be given a few minutes to
correct errors in his or her text.
3. Brief summary of the content. The
opponent will briefly summarize the
thesis, without criticising or judging it. This should take approximately three
minutes. The opponent describes the aim of the thesis, the research questions,
operational issues, theory, method and empirical material, as well as results.
4. Agreeing on the content. When the above
summary has been made, the seminar chair will ask the author whether the thesis
has been adequately represented. If so, the opposition continues based on this
common understanding of the BA thesis.
5. Opposition. Now the actual
opposition begins. It should take some 25 minutes and should be systematic. This means that you must under no circumstances critique the
thesis page by page. Instead, work through it systematically, one academic
problem at a time. You should apply the criteria discussed in section 2. 1 and
organise the work according to this model:
i.
Aim
and research questions. Examples of questions you can base your reading of the
thesis on: Is the aim and purpose
relevant for peace and conflict studies? Do the operational questions
correspond well to the research questions? Are the operational questions
motivated by the chosen theory?
ii.
Choice
of method(s). Examples of questions: Which method has the author
chosen? Go through everything from the design, method, criticism of sources,
and collection of material. Everything to answer how the author has gone about. Discuss with the author to which
extent you feel that the methods are well-founded, for example in relation to
the research question/s.
iii.
Choice
of theory (or theories). Examples of questions: which theory (or theories) has the
author chosen? Are these represented correctly? Has the author considered alternate
perspectives? Are the theories appropriate, do they contribute to clarifying
the research questions? Does the theoretical foundation affect the operational
research questions?
iv.
Choice
of material. Examples of questions: Has the author chosen relevant
material for the study? Does the author demonstrate a consciousness about the
strengths and weaknesses of the material? Is the criticism of sources discussed
in the method chapter really applied?
v.
Analysis. Examples of
questions: Is the analysis systematic? Are the operational research questions
outlined in the beginning answered?
vi.
Conclusions.
Examples of questions: Has the
research question been answered? Is the aim of the thesis reached? If the
results are inconclusive, does the author acknowledge it?
vii.
The
conclusions in an academic context. The
author of the thesis is most likely not the first to have explored the issue.
Examples of questions: To which extent is the author aware of other research on
the area? To which extent does the author place his or her own findings in
relation to previous research?
viii.
Format,
style and structure. After you’ve discussed the important issues above,
turn to briefly assessing format, style and structure. To save time at the
seminar, it can be enough to summarise you impressions of style, references,
and so on. If you have found several errors, say so. You can also compose a
list of errata, the spelling and referencing mistakes you have found, instead
of taking up time with it at the seminar. Finally, it is also important that
the thesis is well-structured, with its specific purpose in mind but also in
order to make it easier to read and understand. It is also important that the
structure is systematic and that each discussion is held in the right place.
Finally, it is also important that the text is balanced, that the most
important sections are given adequate space. Long background descriptions are
always a bad sign.
The opponent isn’t supposed to hold a monologue. The
author of the thesis should be allowed to respond and explain his or her
choices after each section of critique. When the discussion has covered
everything relevant, move on to the next question. If the conversation turns too
argumentative, the chair of the seminar will interfere and direct the
conversation in a more productive way.
This is also
important: if you are the opponent and find that the author has made perfectly
adequate choices of theory, method, empirical material, and so on, it’s not
enough just to express that. It’s better in that case to discuss alternatives. Every author has to make
choices, choosing theory X instead of Y in the study of a conflict means that
certain aspects will be emphasised, and others become less visible. Discuss
with the author what might be overlooked due to the choices made when writing
the thesis.
4.2 Defending your thesis
Prepare for defending your thesis by
thinking about the types of questions listed in sections 2.1 and 4.1. Go over
your own thesis with these questions in mind and think about the choices you’ve
made regarding theory and method and your arguments for those choices.
4.3 Other participants
All the students on the thesis course are to
participate in the seminar. Every participant
is to have read all the theses in the
seminar group. All participants should come up with a few central questions
about each thesis. If these haven’t been covered in the opponent’s discussion,
and there’s still time, the questions can be asked in the final part of the
seminar. Active participation like this is also a factor when seminar
performances are assessed for marking.
4.4 Some final advice before the thesis seminar
1. As you
may have noted, a lot of works goes into the seminar. Plan to spend around four
workdays to prepare, perhaps a few days for the thesis you are going to be the
opponent on, and a few days to read the other theses. You also need time to
prepare the defence of your own thesis.
2. The
seminar is an oral presentation. This means that you have to practice it at
home. Avoid just reading straight from your written opposition. Prepare
everything you want to say and deliver it in a relaxed and confident manner.
3. Have all the theses with you at the seminar.
If you don’t print all of them, have them on your laptop and bring written
notes for every thesis to be
discussed in the seminar.
4. Follow
along in the discussions, even when you’re not the respondent or the opponent.
When the opponent for example is discussing the choice of method, find the
section in the thesis and follow the discussion. Vacant stares and passivity
are not encouraged.
5
Marking
Marking is a very important task, especially when it comes to the final
BA thesis. Below are the guidelines and criteria for marking.
Marking guidelines and criteria
The Department if Global Political Studies has found
marking of BA thesis to be very important and thus stipulated a number of
criteria. These were listed in section 2.1 (see the ten-point list in that
section).
In addition to that, it is important to stress that
besides the quality of the final thesis, the writing process and the performance
in the final seminar will also be part of the grading. That the writing
process is marked means that the student’s independence is assessed. If a
student has made independent choices and not relied on the supervisor for all
decisions, this will mean a higher mark.
The student’s examiner marks the thesis. The student
can’t appeal a final mark. However, if the student is failed twice, the student
has a right to demand a different examiner.
Appendix 1
Supervision
agreement (student copy)
According to
the verbal information I received at the introduction meeting and in section 2
of this document, I am aware that
·
I am only entitled to a limited
amount of meetings with my supervisor
·
I can choose to use them during the
current semester or postpone the supervision period
·
If I re-register for this course in
the future I won’t be entitled to additional meetings with my supervisor.
Based on this
information and my personal circumstances, I choose to
□ use the supervison sessions (approximately
5) that I am entitled to this current
semester. I am also aware and have been informed that additional
supervision will not be offered next semester, even if my thesis is failed.
□ use the supervison sessions (approximately
5) that I am entitled to during a future
semester. I am also aware and have been informed that additional
supervision wont be offered during subsqequent semesters, even if my thesis is
failed.
Student’s
signature Course
responsible teacher’s signature
___________________________________ ___________________________________
Supervisor
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Supervision
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Appendix 2
Supervision
agreement (teacher copy)
According to
the information I received at the introduction meeting and in section 2 of this
document, I am aware that
·
I am only entitled to a limitied
amount of meetings with my supervisor
·
I can choose to use them during the
current semester or postpone the supervision period
·
If I re-register for this course in
the future I won’t be entitled to additional meetings with my supervisor.
Based on this
information and my personal circumstances, I choose to
□ use the supervison sessions (around 5)
that I am entitled to this current
semester. I am also aware and have been informed that additional
supervision wont be offered next semester, even if my thesis is failed.
□ use the supervison sessions (around 5) that
I am entitled to during a future semester.
I am also aware and have been informed that additional supervision wont be
offered during subsqequent semesters, even if my thesis is failed.
Student’s
signature Course
responsible teacher’s signature
___________________________________ ___________________________________
Supervisor
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Date
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Supervision theme
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Student’s
signature
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Supervision
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