SBV5920 Master's Thesis in Child Welfare Course description

The master’s thesis is an independent, analytical work with a scope of 30 ECTC credits of relevance to the subject areas in the programme. The students must choose a topic to be elucidated through systematic use of qualitative and/or quantitative methods. The research question can be of a theoretical or an empirical nature. The master’s thesis can be submitted as a monograph or as an article-based thesis (article manuscript and introductory chapter (kappe)).

The language of instruction is Norwegian.

Students must have passed all courses in the master’s degree programme before they can submit their master’s thesis for assessment.

None beyond the admission requirements.

In the second semester, the student will prepare a project outline for their master’s thesis. This work is carried out as part of the course’s compulsory kick-off seminar. A supervisor is assigned at the end of the second semester based on the project outline, and a supervision agreement must be signed. The kick-off seminar and supervision agreement are compulsory coursework requirements. A research market (Mastertorg) and midway seminar are also organised as part of the course.

Number of hours of supervision

For individual master’s theses: a total of 10 hours of supervision, which can take place individually or in groups.

For master’s theses written by two students together: a total of 15 hours of supervision.

The kick-off seminar takes place in the second semester and consists of two gatherings (one at the beginning and one towards the end of the semester. Each gathering lasts for one day.) The purpose of the seminar is to offer support to individual students as they start working on their master’s thesis, including the preparation of a project outline for the master’s thesis.

The kick-off seminar consists of various activities and forms of learning. At the first gathering, students are given an introduction to the research process, how to develop a research question, research ethics and privacy considerations. Information will also be provided on how to search for relevant literature and about the university library’s services. The supervision agreement, obligations and rights in the supervisor-student relationship will also be covered. At the second gathering, students are given feedback on their project outline in groups, and the planned master’s projects are discussed in groups. The students are assigned their supervisors after the second seminar.

The Mastertorg research market takes place at the beginning of the second semester. At this event, ongoing research projects they can apply to be affiliated to are presented to the students.

Supervision agreement: Once a supervisor has been appointed, the student and the supervisor must review the content of and sign a supervision agreement by a given deadline. This agreement governs the relationship between the supervisor and the student and the rights and obligations in the student-supervisor relationship.

The midway seminar is held at the beginning of the fourth semester for full-time students and in the sixth semester for part-time students. For the seminar, the student must submit a limited number of pages of text that is to be included in the master’s thesis. The text will be presented for discussion and input in groups consisting of fellow students and a lecturer.

Lectures, exercises, laboratory work, analysis of scientific articles and project work.

The following work requirements must be approved in order to be qualified for the exam:

• A laboratory assignment with the project group, subsequent reporting of approx. three to six pages. Laboratory time approx. two hours.
• An individual exercise of two to five pages

Part 1 Individual written exam of three hours, which counts 70 percent. Part 2 Project work in groups of three to five students and which counts 30 percent. Report, implementation, oral and visual presentation in group are considered. Possibility of individual grading.

Exam part 1) Exam results can be appealed. Exam part 2) Exam result cannot be appealed.

Both parts of the exam must be graded / E or better in order for students to pass the course.

In the event of a new and postponed individual written examination, oral examination forms may be used. If an oral examination is used for a new and postponed examination, this cannot be appealed.

Exam part 1: Assistive products annexed to the examination paper. Handheld calculator that does not communicate wirelessly. If the calculator has the possibility of storage in the internal memory, the memory must be deleted before the exam. Sampling can be done.

Exam Part 2: All.

Graded scale A-F