Research seminar 1: Building a theory

Course goals

Content

a) discuss core elements of a master's thesis project and of the master's thesis itself ;
b) provide and discuss examples of previous research that can help students (i) in designing and executing their own research, and (ii) to learn how to review;
c) offer a forum where students can regularly present and discuss their own project and draft versions of (selected parts of) the thesis;
d) provide systematic feedback on the progress of each student's project and thesis. This research seminar focuses on the problem background of the projects, on theories (including theoretical models), and on hypotheses, but students are expected to explore the data as well.

Students are trained in the following academic skills:
- Formulation of research questions- Reconstruction of theories
- Deduction of hypotheses- Search and selection of relevant scientific literature
- Synthesize and structure relevant scientific literature
- Academic writing- Reviewing skills - Presentation skills.