SFB34420 Bachelor's Thesis (Spring 2021)

The course is connected to the following study programs

Mandatory course in the bachelorprogramme i Business and administration, specializing in:

• Economic analysis

• International Business

Absolute requirements

All courses in the first year of the study programme must be passed to start this course.

Recommended requirements

The course builds on all mandatory courses in the bachelor’s programme  in Business Administration (1st to 4th semester)  or equivalent courses from other universities. Courses in methods as Mathematics and statistics and Applied methods and statistics are particularly important.

Lecture Semester

6.th semester (spring)

The student's learning outcomes after completing the course

Knowledge

The student has

• familiarity with theories and recent research on own theme and chosen research problem.

• relevant major alternatives for research design

• knowledge of relevant alternative methods for data collection and analysis

• knowledge of major sources of previous research, and data, and of how to refer to different types of sources both in the running text and in the list at the end of the thesis.

Skills

The student knows

• how to formulate a feasible research problem

• how to carry out critical literature search and refer to other researchers’ contributions

• setting up of an appropriate design for studying the chosen problem

• evaluating pros and cons of different methods of analysis

• how to collect data (e.g. archival, panel, survey, interview, focus groups)

• carrying out a research process in accordance with academic standards and norms

• planning and writing a complete academic report

• presenting work-in-process and early findings orally for comments

• incorporating relevant feedback into the thesis work

 

General competence

The student can:

• making own decisions based on written material and input from interviewees, respondents, fellow students and supervisor(s)

• credibility evaluation of sources and statements

• learning to consider validity and reliability in research practice

• learning a constructive discussion style in small groups and larger audiences

• evaluation of own work in terms of value adding/contribution to common knowledge base

Content

Analysis and discussion of managerial or theoretical research problems in economics, business or management. The emphasis is on current topics, newer models and hypotheses.

The seminar is part of the guidance/advisory process. In the process, students learn to ask relevant questions and filter the answers they receive for relevance and credibility. Students involve themselves in either qualitative or quantitative data collection/analysis. At the end of the semester students present their key findings for the other participants and receive feedback before finalizing their written thesis for evaluation.

Forms of teaching and learning

Self-governed activity in groups of two to three students. Support from the seminar coordinator and supervisor throughout the semester. Lectures/short digital presentations of topics common to all. Discussions and Q&A in class. Frequent feedback waves on short written tasks on major components of each group’s (or students) thesis. Theme-specific guidance by supervisor(s). Each group (or student) writes a bachelor thesis on an agreed upon topic, and presents their major findings at the end of the semester.

Workload

The course will give the student approximately 280 hours of work.

Practical training/internship

No practice.

Coursework requirements - conditions for taking the exam

Assignment 1: Four well-prepared (group) meetings with the supervisor over the semester and individual logs on the meetings and other activities such as written tasks, contacts with firms or organizations throughout the semester. The student shall submit a short version of the log with a few lines of reflection on their own learning process as one of the obligatory assignments

Assignment 2: Oral presentation in plenary of the almost final version of the thesis. 

Approved assignments are a prerequisite for submission of the thesis.

Examination

Written Bachelor Thesis (up to 6000 words), individual or in group with 2 - 3 students.

Examiners

At least two examiners, one of whom must be external

Conditions for resit/rescheduled exams

Regulations governing Examinations, Admission to Study and Degrees at Østfold University College.

Chapter 6-3:

(7) A student who has been awarded a fail grade for their bachelor’s thesis, master’s thesis or another major, independent work can submit a reworked version for assessment once.

(8) If a student wishes to improve the grade for their bachelor’s thesis, master’s thesis or another major independent work, it cannot be reworked but must be rewritten with a new research question. The student is not entitled to more academic supervision in such cases, however.

Course evaluation

To improve the course, we need the evaluations from the students. The course is evaluated by the students and the evaluations from the students are treated by the staff and the faculty's committee for quality of education.

Literature

• Additional literature agreed on by the supervisor depending on topic and method of the thesis.

The readinglist is updated January 2020:

Norwegian:

Rognsaa Aa. 2015. Bacheloroppgaven. Skriveråd og regler for utformingen. Universitetsforlaget. 184 s.

Thagaard T. 2018. Systematikk og innlevelse. En innføring i kvalitative metoder. 5. utgave. Fagbokforlaget. 222 s.

or

English:

A software/quantitative method manual in accordance with available statistical software during the semester.

Collis J., Hussey R. 2014. Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. 4. Ed. Palgrave MacMillan. 376 p.

Eriksson P., Kovalainen A. 2012. Qualitative methods in business research. Sage. 363 p.

Norwegian/English:

Theme specific literature for each group recommended by the supervisor