MBIB4000 Research Methods and Theory of Science Course description

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• 4 individual written assignments submitted digitally, each with maximum 6000 keystrokes

Individual home examination, 5 hours. Exam questions are in English. Students may submit their exams in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

All

The assessment has two parts: 

1. The student writes a term paper reporting the empirical study
2. The student takes an oral exam on the basis of the term paper (empirical study) and the complete syllabus

The term paper is based on the empirical study and can be made individually (approximately 20 pages, excluding list of references), or in groups of 2-3 students (approximately 25 pages, excluding list of references). In the case of group work it must be clearly stated which student is responsible for which sections to ensure individual assessment. The introduction, problem statement, and conclusion can be joint work.

Font and font size: Arial/Calibri 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

The oral exam is taken individually. Oral examination: 30 minutes. The internal examiner and the external examiner make the assessment of both the term paper and the oral exam. Texts from syllabus, course notes, and presentation notes are permitted at the oral exam.

The student may choose English or Norwegian as examination language.

The term paper and oral exam each counts 50%. The grades of both the term paper and the oral exam are declared at the oral exam. The final grade is announced at Studentweb. The three grades are specified in the course certificate.

The student must pass both the term paper and the oral exam to pass the course.

In case the term paper does not pass, the student is informed in advance of the oral exam, and the oral exam is postponed. The student revise the term paper and takes the oral exam on the basis of the revised term paper and complete syllabus. Note, no supervision is offered in the case of revision of the term paper.

A student who has failed the oral exam is entitled to take a new oral exam on the basis of term paper and complete syllabus.

One internal and one external examiner will assess all exams.

Grading scale A-F.

An internal and external examiner make the assessment of all exams.

Pia Borlund

The course presupposes knowledge about information searching and metadata-based information systems at bachelor level.

Anita Sandberg