MERG5900 Master Thesis Course description

Language of instruction: Norwegian/English

Under supervision, the students will conduct an independent research or development project, or a literaturestudy. Students can choose to write the master’s thesis individually or in pairs. On application, large, interdisciplinary innovation projects can be written in groups of up to four students. Students can also apply to write the master’s thesis with students from other specialisations if they so wish, provided that the scope of the master’s thesis is the same. If more than one student work on the master’s thesis together, each student’s contributions must be documented. The thesis can be written as a monograph or as a scientific article on a specialised topic.

Development of the project description in preparation for the master’s thesis is part of the course MAVIT4070 Research Design and Project Description, 10 ECTS credits.

All compulsory courses in the programme must be passed before the student can submit their master's thesis for assessment.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• has advanced knowledge of their area of specialisation and can analyse academic problems to identify the need for research and professional development
• has in-depth knowledge of the research process

Skills

The student

• can analyse relevant theories and issues to initiate and carry out a limited research, quality improvement or development work
• can use relevant methods for research, quality improvement or development work in their own work
• can analyse and deal critically with various sources of information and use them in scholarly arguments in their own research, quality improvement or development work
• can carry out an independent, limited research, quality improvement or development work in accordance with the approved project description and the applicable norms for research ethics

General competence

The student

• can communicate relevant issues, analyses and conclusions from their own research, quality improvement or development work to both the general public and academia
• can contribute to new thinking, innovation processes and evidence-based practice in the health services and in health-promoting work

Work and teaching methods used in the course are self-study, three to six master’s seminars with presentations, and an offer of 20 hours’ supervision per thesis, regardless of whether it is written individually or in a group.

The seminars are an arena for sharing experience from all stages of the project work. Students will take part in academic discussion and practise structuring and wording academic argumentation and communicating constructive criticism. Presenting their work, giving feedback to fellow students, and receiving feedback from fellow students and teachers, are important parts of the seminars.

The supervision agreement is signed by the students and supervisors at the start of the supervision.

When a group of students work together, an overview of each student’s individual contribution must be enclosed with the assignment.

The following must have been approved in order for a student to be permitted to take the examination:

• Two oral presentations (up to 20 minutes each) at the master seminar, and completion of the opponent role with critique/feedback on the presentation from fellow students.

Studentene skal tilegne seg kunnskaper om databasedesign og ferdigheter i bruk av relasjonsdatabaser. Videre skal de utvikle ferdigheter i konstruksjon og vedlikehold av databaser samt innsikt i flerbruker og flerlags databasearkitektur. De skal få kjennskap til XML og innsikt i programmering mot databaser.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with. There is an opportunity to reuse self-produced text from MAVIT4070 in the master's thesis without self-citation.

Etter å ha gjennomført dette emnet har studenten følgende læringsutbytte definert i form av kunnskap, ferdigheter og generell kompetanse:

Kunnskap

Studenten kan:

• gjøre rede for hva et databasesystem er og hvilke deler det består av
• gjøre rede for hva nosql-databaser er og hvor dette benyttes
• forklare hva transaksjoner er og hvordan de utføres
• gjøre rede for bruk av indekser og ulike måter å lagre filene fysisk
• forklare hva et datavarehus er og hvordan dette skiller seg fra et databasesystem
• gjøre rede for hvordan ER-modellering kombinert med normalformer gir relasjonsdatabaser med god struktur

Ferdigheter

Studenten kan:

• designe databaser ved hjelp av ER-modellering
• opprette databaser og benytte disse ved hjelp av språket SQL
• opprette tabeller, håndtere data i databaser, håndtere brukere og rettigheter ved hjelp av SQL
• utføre select og subselect spørringer ved hjelp av SQL
• tegne ER-modeller og generere databasescript ved bruk av software

Generell kompetanse

Studenten kan:

• formidle hvordan databaser dokumenteres og designes med ER-modeller

Forelesning og arbeid med praktiske oppgaver. Ukeoppgavene vil samlet utgjøre grunnlag for innleveringsoppgavene.