Upon completing the course candidates shall be able to:

Knowledge

• Analyse the relationship between subjects, research issues and research design.
• Choose adequate research design based on approaches to problems and framework factors such as time and the financial situation.
• Demonstrate broad, in-depth knowledge about their subject area.

Skills:

• Provide a clear, precise written presentation of their research work.
• Assess and explain their use of research design.
• Demonstrate the correct development of a scientific work in accordance with APA standards, the correct use of sources, the correct presentation of references and the use of relevant literature databases.

General expertise

• Reflect on the role of researchers in respect of collecting and using data.
• Reflect on ethical conditions in respect of using and interpreting their own data, sources and quotations.
• Reflect on the authorship and co-authorship of scientific work.

Master's theses shall be written in line with the APA standards (A4, 1.5 line spacing, left, top and bottom margins of at least 2.5 cm), excluding the reference list and appendix. They shall consist of 40-50 pages of text (as a guide). Unlike the format used for articles, theses shall have an introduction which contains a broader review of the literature and a more comprehensive presentation of the background and problems involved. The discussion shall also be more detailed than that commonly used in the format for articles. The other parts of the thesis shall comply with the APA standards, i.e. there shall be a summary in Norwegian and English, each consisting of approx. 200 words. MA theses can also be written in English.

As a general rule students shall write their Master's theses in pairs. Their supervision is regulated by a more specific supervision agreement. Some supervision can be provided in groups.

When there is more than one author, the authors shall contribute equally to the work involved.

Students who have been accepted for a 30-credit Master's thesis and who will be travelling abroad must sign a supervision agreement and obtain their supervisor's approval for their work plans.

Master's theses are assessed by a committee consisting of two experts, at least one of whom shall be an external expert (i.e. not employed by the University of Bergen). Grading will be determined on the basis of the written work presented.

Joint grades for all candidates will be awarded for their written Master's theses. When awarding grades for the written work, a grading scale of A to F will be used. Joint feedback will be provided on the theses submitted by candidates once the grades have been awarded.

Master's theses shall be submitted electronically on Studentweb. Students can submit their Master's theses when they are ready, although within the deadline for the nominal length of study. Students shall have passed their exams in respect of the joint section and the subject-specific section prior to submission of their Master's theses.

Students shall assess their tuition in accordance with the UiB's quality assurance system.

Information Centre: tel. (+47) 55 58 27 10

e-mail: exchange@psyfa.uib.no