MA546 Master Thesis (Spring 2026)

Through the master's thesis, students will acquire competence in research by conducting a scholarly analysis of a self-selected research question. The research question may be of both theoretical and empirical nature. Students will be assigned a supervisor who must approve the choice of the thesis topic and provide academic guidance throughout the writing process.

The thesis can be written individually or in a group and must be submitted in English. It is possible to submit the master's thesis in the format of a scientific article.The thesis must be published electronically in NVA (Nasjonalt vitenarkiv).

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to

• Formulate a precise and delimited research question
• Explain the scientific contribution of the thesis to the research field within the specific tradition of the discipline
• Justify the scientific design and choice of methodology, discuss the quality of the material, and consider research ethics
• Evaluate whether the thesis has produced new knowledge or shed new light on existing knowledge, placing it according to criteria such as utility, relevance, theory,and method development
• Reflect on and justify the quality and appropriateness of their own and others' data material used to illuminate and answer the chosen research question
• Discuss (critically) and contextualize the produced knowledge of the thesis

The individual student's contribution must be identifiable in group submissions. This requirement does not apply to the introduction and conclusion, which can be written collaboratively. Students choose their own literature under the guidance of the supervisor.

A 30 ECTS master thesis should have a length of 10 000 to 15 000 words. The word count does not include the cover page, abstract, table of contents, tables, figures, reference list, or appendices. The document should be formatted using Times New Roman, 12-point font size, 1.5 line spacing, and standard margin size (Word automatically sets the margins to 2.5 cm on each side). If the thesis is written in a group, an additional 10 to 20 pages per extra student participating in the thesis should be added.

Students will be assessed on a graded scale (A-F).

The grade for the master's thesis is determined by an overall assessment of the thesis and the public defense of it. During the public defense of the master's thesis, the student will initially give a presentation of the thesis. After the oral examination, the student will receive an oral explanation of the assigned grade.

The examination committee will consist of an internal and an external examiner. The master's thesis is generally public after grading, with some exceptions. Read information about the confidentiality of the thesis.
Please note that assignments submitted in Canvas and WISEflow are checked for plagiarism.