MSL5900 Master's Thesis in Public Management Course description

The master's thesis is worth 30 credits, which constitutes a part-time workload over two semesters or full-time workload of about five months. The master's thesis is an independent scientific work. Students will choose and elucidate a topic from the subject areas covered by the programme through systematic use of social science methods. The research question may be linked to the student's own experiences.

To be able to start on the master's thesis, the student must have passed MSL4200 Research Methods and Theory of Science.

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

Knowledge

The student has

• advanced knowledge of a specialised field of public management, primarily in the public sector
• in-depth knowledge of theories relevant to the topic of the master's thesis
• in-depth insight into a topic or phenomenon from several different perspectives
• insight into academic requirements for analysis and written work

Skills

The student is capable of

• carrying out a limited research project under supervision and in accordance with applicable standards of research ethics
• using relevant methods in report work and evaluations
• writing a text with the strucure and content required of a master¿s thesis

General competence

The student is capable of

• reading research literature in a critical and reflective manner
• evaluating the use of methods in and results of studies and evaluations
• communicating knowledge and own research results orally and in writing
• applying knowledge and skills in obtaining and using relevant sources, literature and other information, masters reference and quotation techniques, and is capable of defining what constitutes plagiarism and cheating

Leadership is a complex issue that has long been a subject of great interest among people. Students in this master's programme will gain experience in leadership roles during their career, or be affected by leadership processes. Leadership is also an academic field, and this course aims at making students acquainted with leadership as an empirical field of research with relevance to practical applications in the workplace. As a student in this course, you will gain an advanced understanding of the empirical research underpinning evidence-based leadership practice. You will also get an overview of how theoretical models of leadership may be substantiated by empirical research and learn how these findings may relate to the practical application of leadership roles and leadership development in organizations. The course will be taught in English if attended by international students. The course will be taught in Norwegian if attended by only Norwegian speaking students.

None

The exam in the course is submission of the master's thesis and an oral exam. The master's thesis can be submitted individually or students can work and submit the thesis in pairs. 

The master's thesis must have a scope of 16,000 words +/- 10 %. Font and font size: Arial / Calibri 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5. The table of contents, foreword, abstract, reference list and appendixes come in addition to this. When students work in pairs, the students must submit a written declaration on submission describing the division of work between them.

Oral exam If the master's thesis is considered passed, an oral exam is conducted. In the oral examination, the candidate(s) receive a thorough oral feedback on the master's thesis, and otherwise the oral examination consists of a professional conversation about the thesis. The length of the oral exam varies, but usually lasts 30-40 minutes.  

The oral exam provides an opportunity for adjusting the grade of the master's thesis up or down one grade. The final grade will be included on the Diploma. When two students write together, they also have a joint oral presentation and oral exam. It is expected that the two students contribute equally in the oral exam.

Students are allowed to submit a new or revised master's thesis once if they are awarded a fail grade. A reworked version of the thesis must be submitted within the given deadline. The student has a right to one additional supervision session before the new submission. A student will not be allowed to submit a new master's thesis in the same programme if a pass grade has already been awarded.

If the student appeals against the grade, a new committee will be appointed and the master's thesis will be re-assessed. If the grade is changed, a new oral exam will be held.

Various work methods will be used, such as lectures, class discussions and presentations, case analysis and assignments. The students are expected to actively participate during lectures and work on assignments both individually and in groups outside of the joint lectures.

There are two mandatory activities in this course. First, the students are required, in groups of 2-4, to give an oral presentation of a research paper on a specific topic. The time allocated for each paper is about 20 minutes, followed by a class discussion for about 15 minutes. Approval of the presentation is a condition for being allowed to take the exam. Second, the students are required to participate in a lecture where they work on their exam paper. The preparation for this lecture is also mandatory, where the students are expected to formulate a research question for their exam paper, a preliminary outline for their paper, as well as a preliminary reading list. Approval of the research question, outline, and reading list is a condition for being allowed to take the exam.

Course paper. The students will write a 10-15 pages course paper for the formal assessment (English or Norwegian as optional languages). The papers can be written individually or in pairs of two. The students will be able to discuss their chosen topic in groups during class with supervision from the lecturer.

All printed or hand-written material is allowed with proper use of references