YES 07: Thesis

Please note:
Tests and assignments are in English, unless the course manual explicitly states that a test or assignment may be taken in Dutch.

• to gain knowledge of scientific research methods that can be applied to analyse issues in the field of Youth, Education & Society
• to be able to analyse a  problem in the field of Youth, Education & Society with the aid of relevant scientific theories and in cooperation with involved stakeholders in the field;
• to be able to apply relevant and suitable scientific research methods when analysing an issue in the field of Youth, Education & Society, and to report on this study in the form of an academic publication.

Relationship between assignments and course goals
The course goal is to be able to individually write the Masterthesis based on scientific theories and research methods applied to an issue in the field of Youth, Education and Society. The assignment of the thesis proposal at the start of the course, the feedback by peers and the supervising teacher and several individual and group supervising meetings prepare the student to hand in the optimal final version of the thesis at the end of the course to be graded by two teachers.

The Master's thesis is the final assignment, in which students demonstrate their academic ability by carrying out independent scientific  research in the field of Youth, Education & Society . Students will develop  their ability:
• to carefully analyse socially-urgent issues in relation to the field of Youth, Education & Society , with the aid of the latest academic theories
• to independently collect and process empirical data;
• to deliver an accurate and accessible academic report on the subject.

In the Master’s programme  Youth, Education and Society you learn to use theoretical approaches that acknowledge the complexity of the social issues, as is the case with, for example, ecological or contextual  models. In general,  research is focused on issues of innovation, improvement or critical evaluation of existing  prevention strategies, interventions,  youth policy, and/or theory approaches. Students can do their research project either in the Netherlands or in other countries.

The research conducted for the Master’s thesis will, in principle, be carried out within or in close collaboration with the organization in which you do your internship. The reason for this link is to ensure that students can practice how to respond to issues from practice, with the aid of independent academic analysis and methodologies. The most suitable research method will depend on the research question, which is formulated in consultation with  the student, the internship organization, and the university supervisor.

A thesis might involve :
• a classic descriptive study  or research that tests an hypothesis;
• a practical analysis in which the quality of a policy or an intervention is studied with a process evaluation and/or an effect study, based on scientific theories and research methods;
• a meta-analysis in which larger numbers of existing empirical studies are examined and compared;
• a  theoretical-analytical study in which a theoretical perspective itself is the subject of research.

Research projects are set up taking account of the various levels at which issues in the field of Youth, Education & Society can be influenced. In many cases, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (mixed methods) will be applied, depending on what is best applicable given the research questions and the time frame.