AANK12015U Master's Thesis

Volume 2015/2016
Content

The thesis is written on the basis of empirical data collated by the students during their fieldwork.

Learning Outcome

In the thesis, students show that they are capable, in a linguistically clear and academically well-argued manner, of:

  • formulating and studying an anthropological problem on the basis of fieldwork material and regional, methodological and theoretical knowledge
  • reflecting critically upon the empirical material in relation to the conditions for the fieldwork and the methodology applied
  • analysing the empirical material by citing relevant anthropological literature.
  • discussing the empirical material and the analytical concepts and/or theories chosen in the light of each other.
  • generalising on the basis of their own fieldwork and relevant regional, thematic and theoretical literature
  • communicating and arguing in an academically based and convincing manner.

Students must also fulfil the Department of Anthropology's form and language requirements (see the appropriate section in the curriculum’s common part).

The thesis must include a summary in English. The max. length of the summary must be 7.200 keystrokes. The summary is included in the overall assessment of the thesis. The keystrokes for the summary do not count towards the max. length for the master thesis itself.
6 meetings with a supervisor of approx. 45 minutes per thesis. If the thesis is written in groups of two students each meeting will be 45 minutes x 1.5.
Students are also entitled to limited supervisor guidance in connection with drawing up the obligatory thesis contract in preparation for writing the thesis. This contact will often be in form of mail or shorter talks and will correspond to approx. 20 minutes.

The supervision can be either individual supervisi on or individual supervision in groups. Supervision in groups consists of students assigned to the same supervisor, typically 2 to 3 students. The students will usually have a common thematic or theoretical interest in their projects. The basic idea is that the students receive individual supervision in turns, and that the other students will learn from listening to comments that relate to fellow students' work. Individual supervision in groups will extend the meetings by 45minutes x 2.

It is still possible for students to receive individual supervision without being in a supervision group, if students or teachers so prefers. However individual supervision without a supervision group can mean that you will not get the supervisor for whom you have applied.

Thesis Seminars (Sign up through STADS self service)

The thesis seminar will treat general concerns in relation to the writing of a thesis, including:
- The process of analysis
- Selection of empirical material
- Integration of theory and empirical material
- What is meant by context
- Questions of validity and reliability
- The actual process of writing

The aims of the course are:
- To create a forum for exchange of experiences with writing a thesis
- To give sound advice on the task of writing academically
- To offer shared supervision concerning general questions
- To establish writing groups
- To foresee special needs of the thesis writers at the Department of Anthropology
Remember to sign up for the Thesis seminar through Self Service.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 820,5
  • Guidance
  • 4,5
  • Total
  • 825,0
Credit
30 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Oral defence under invigilation
The oral defence of the thesis will take place after the written thesis has been submitted and is structured as a dialogue between the examinee, the internal assessor and the external examiner. The student begins the defence with an introduction of five to ten minutes. The subsequent dialogue is based on the examined thesis and will include a general anthropological discussion.
Length of oral examination: 45 minutes. For group defences, each member of the group will take a 45-minute individual oral examination
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Re-exam

Failure to submit the thesis by the deadline stipulated, will count as an examination attempt. The student must within 14 days submit a 2. thesis contract, which is a condition for continued enrollment at the MSc. A new deadline is stipulated 3 months after the approval of the 2. thesis contract. If the student does not deliver the thesis within this deadline, a third attempt may be granted, according to the same rules that stipulated the second attempt.

Criteria for exam assesment

See description of learning outcome. Formalities for Written Works must be fulfilled, read more: MSc Students