M30-ECON Master's Thesis

Master students in Applied Economics and Sustainability are required to write a master's thesis on a topic within the field of economics approved by the student´s supervisor. The thesis is expected to be written in English, but it can be written in Norwegian in certain cases (e.g., a thesis that is part of a project funded by a government agency that requires the thesis be prepared in Norwegian). The student can choose from among a broad spectrum of economic theories and methods that are part of the master study program. The master's thesis is an independent or jointly produced academic work. The gathering and analysis of data (primary and/or secondary data) are key elements of the thesis. In some cases, students may also conduct fieldwork or develop a survey questionnaire. The student is supervised in developing a research proposal. If the student is conducting fieldwork, the research proposal must be approved by the supervisor prior to the fieldwork.

The student is supervised in developing a research proposal and follow-up advising is provided throughout the research, analysis and writing process. The approximate length of the master thesis should be a minimum of 10 000 and a maximum of 25 000 words. Students may, after prior agreement with the supervisor, write their thesis in a journal article format.

The student must arrange a work plan with the advisor regarding submission of drafts and for follow-up consultation sessions. The written thesis is to be structured according to an academic style agreed upon with the advisor. The composition of the thesis is typically comprised of several chapters (or sections) that include:

Problem identification and specification of objectives (formulation of a hypothesis in some cases)

Research, literature review and discussion of relevant theory

Data collection, variable selection and model specification

Analysis, reporting and interpreting the results, discussion of important insights of the findings

Conclusions, limitations and suggestions for future work

Bibliography: referencing and citations

The master's thesis is written independently by a student or in some cases by two students working jointly on the project. It is assumed that the efforts of the two co-authors are equally distributed. When an assignment is prepared by two authors, a more comprehensive final product is expected, compared with the output of a single author.

Finally, an oral defense of the written work is required. The student provides a short presentation with a few slides (no more than 10 minutes), followed by a 20-minute question and answer session that serves as a defense of the written work. For students writing jointly, the oral defense can be arranged in two manners: (1) The students give a joint presentation of the written work (no more than 20 minutes), followed by independent defenses of the work, each lasting 20 minutes; or (2) the process is similar to that for a single authored thesis (an independent presentation and defense).

The master's thesis is the result of a comprehensive research process, involving: problem definition, consideration of alternative relevant theories, collection of data to conduct quantitative analysis, and reporting and interpreting results. The thesis provides training in formal technical writing (to meet rigorous academic standards) and develops written communication and oral presentation skills.

The student will have gained experience in planning and implementing a project over a period of more than six months, and will have independently searched for and assessed various sources of data, theory and literature. Throughout this process, through supervision and independent work, the student will have gained specific knowledge, skills and competence related to the following:

(1) Identification of a researchable economic problem by specifying objectives, posing research questions that their study intends to answer, and/or formulating hypotheses that can be tested;

(2) Ability to conduct effective searches of various information and data sources, and to apply them in the relation to a specified issue within economics (and to the particular problem identified);

(3) Master the more advanced stages of a research process, including developing a methodological framework by which to analyze the problem and address ethical concerns that arise from their study;

(4) If the student has gathered primary data by surveys and/or fieldwork, practical experience will have been gained in formulating questionnaires, interviewing subjects, and collecting data in the field, in addition to the analysis and explanation of research results; and

(5) Capable of processing feedback and accepting criticism by which to critically reflect on the results of the analysis, and recognize the limitations of the work and weaknesses in the approach.

For students entering the program in academic year 2023-24, a mentoring program will be created whereby students 2nd year students will co-mentor (along with a faculty member) first year students on the process of writing a thesis. Mentoring will strengthen the student's understanding of the research process by having to explain the importance of problem identification to their peers. This promotes self-reflection on how they went about the research process by having to share experiences and explain how they overcame difficulties.