Guide

to writing

a Master's thesis

2015-2016

UiS Business School

 PREFACE

THE MASTER'S THESIS AN EXCITING CHALLENGE

The objective of this guide is to show you what is involved in the work of a master's thesis,
and to give you a helping hand with it.

This booklet is intended to help you get started early. This is because the work of a Master's
thesis, which counts for up to 30 credits, should be one of the most rewarding, dynamic and
educational parts of your time as a student.

Good luck with it!

Best regards

Bjarte Ravndal
Head of Department
The University of Stavanger Business School
Guidelines for writing a Master's thesis
The Master's thesis constitutes 30 credits, which is equivalent to one semester's full time
work. Writing a Master's thesis is a compulsory part of the department's Master's programme.

Assignment: The Master's thesis must be assigned by 1 February of the fourth semester.
MAHOV Master's thesis in business administration

Assignment procedure: Contact the relevant subject teacher directly to discuss the
topic/research question. The subject teacher will help you to develop a provisional research
question. This must be submitted on the correct form by 1 December.
Supervisors are assigned on the basis of topic and specialism, and you as a student will be told
who you have been assigned by 20 December. Your supervisor will help you to draw up the
working title of the thesis, final research question and an implementation plan. It is only when
this is in place that the thesis will be formally assigned. For this to happen, you must complete
the form Registering a Master's thesis (attached), and submit it to reception by 1 February.

Academic prerequisites: You are required to have completed the first 60 credits of your
study programme, and you must also satisfy the admission requirements for a Master's
programme.

Planning and preparatory work

It is vital that you start work early. Discuss your choice of Master's thesis with the staff in
your faculty. Before you start the actual thesis, you should devote a little time to generating
ideas, making preliminary studies and planning. This phase will typically involve:

Outlining the research question background for the thesis, objective and main contents,
and the implementation method you will use
Preparation of a provisional thesis title/working title
Preparation of a provisional schedule
Gathering relevant information (from sources such as the library)
The library holds courses in literature searches at the start of every semester.

Supervision
Every student writing a thesis will be assigned a supervisor affiliated to UiS. This will usually
be someone who is associated with your specialism/study programme. You may also write
your Master's thesis in collaboration with the business community/a company/public
enterprise. You can expect to receive ten hours of supervision. This may also include group
supervision sessions and seminars.

Seminar on writing a Master's thesis

In mid-January, the department will hold an introductory course on writing a Master's thesis
in order to provide students with some training in writing. The course will comprise two
three-hour seminars. The first will provide an introduction to the general aspects of writing a
Master's thesis, including literature searches. This seminar will be applicable to all students.
The second will be of a more practical nature, with discussions and assessments of previous
theses and perhaps also other examples of academic writing, using terms and perspectives
introduced in the first seminar. At this point, students will be divided according to their
chosen specialism, with individual seminars being held by representatives of the applicable
fields (Strategy and management, Economics and Applied finance).
Formulation of and requirements regarding the subject/research question
Troye and Grnhaug (1986) have prepared the following list of how to develop a well-
formulated research question:

What will be the focus of the thesis?

Think about the numerous specific challenges: Budget procedures, staff management,
customer satisfaction, service etc.

What is the objective of the thesis the research question itself?

Decide what the purpose of the study will be: descriptive, recommendatory, explanatory,
predictive or theoretic? Relate the research question to the objective of the thesis.

What is the academic perspective of the thesis?

You will have to restrict yourself here. It is often more useful to go into depth within the
boundaries of one or a few academic perspectives, rather than to spread yourself too thinly
across too many. Check how relevant the restrictions will be for your thesis. Make sure that
your work has stature and resilience.

Is the thesis useful?

You should try to make sure that your work will contribute towards something new and
original. It should have informative value: providing a new explanation, a new basis for
decisions, a new description or applying 'old' theories to a new area.

Is the thesis achievable?

A thesis can often involve a huge amount of work. You should meet with your supervisor as
early as possible in the process, and make a critical assessment of how suitable your research
question will be as a topic. This is particularly important if your initial plans involve
comprehensive empirical studies.

Library services
Oria is a library system shared by the libraries in Norwegian universities and university
colleges. A search in Oria will show you what literature (books and articles) is available
within your specialist fields. For precise searches regarding a subject, we recommend
literature searches in the subject databases to which the library subscribes. See the library's
website.

The university library holds courses in searching, search workshops, and courses on how to
use the bibliographic programme EndNote. See the library's list of courses on its website.
You can also arrange for the library to provide tuition in database searches and the use of
EndNote (minimum two students per tuition session).

Practical implementation of your thesis guidelines

Form
In general terms, we can say that your paper must contain a clearly defined statement, be well
structured, easy to navigate and easy to read. The main target group for whom you are writing
is your supervisor/examiner.

On a general level, many papers will have a reasonably similar structure:

They begin with an introduction that describes the background for the thesis, its purpose
and what it will contain.
 They then summarise relevant theories, any existing methods and models that are applied
in the thesis, and what data you are aiming to collect.
After this, you can present the analyses/experiments/developments you have performed
and the results of these.
There should be an interpretive/explanatory discussion of the results that have emerged.
What answers do the results you have achieved give in relation to the research question,
existing theory and methods? What conclusions can be drawn?

The writing
The thesis may be written in Norwegian or English, depending on what is agreed with your
supervisor, and is written in groups of two students. Students who wish to write their thesis
individually must apply to do so.

The thesis must have consecutive page numbering. Use 1.5 line spacing and font size 12,
Times New Roman and single-sided printing.

Layout and structure are important.

The following rules apply to the appearance and structure of a Master's thesis:
Title page
You may create your own title page, or use the standard title page (attached). If you create
your own title page, the standard title page should appear as page two.
*NB: The title will be shown on your diploma, so make sure it is accurate. The title of the
thesis should be in English.

Abstract
It should be possible to read the abstract independently of the rest of the thesis, and it should
briefly present the research question and the work you have carried out. It should include
working methods, important results and conclusions. You should spend some time writing a
good abstract, because this is what most people read first. The abstract should not exceed one
A4 page.

Table of contents
Chapters, subchapters, lists of figures, tables and appendices should be presented with page
numbers. If the thesis contains lots of symbols and abbreviations, a list of these can be
included after the table of contents.

Preface
Describe why you chose the research question. You can also use the preface to acknowledge
assistance from your supervisor, institutions and any other parties who have contributed
toward the thesis. You may write in the first person in the preface.

Thesis introduction/argument
The introduction should contain a precise definition of the research question. This should be
phrased as a question. Say something about why it is relevant to study this field right now.
You should say something about the purpose (objective) of the study, i.e. what contribution
the thesis will make.

Wherever possible, the introduction should also contain a summary of relevant literature that
backs up the research question. You should only include literature that is relevant for the
questions that you have asked, the theoretical approach you will use etc. You should also
describe what you intend to do (method) and how the thesis will be structured.

Theoretical chapter
You should discuss theories that are relevant to your research question, and if necessary create
a model. You should only present theories that you have used.

Method
The main purpose of the method is to justify, describe and, on occasion, defend why you want
to use a certain method to collect information. The method chapter should contain the
following subchapters:

Design
Here you should describe the design you will be using for your data collection. The designs
should be justified on the basis of the questions you have asked, and they should make it
possible to find the answers to your data needs.

Sample
Describe the population you want to say something about, choose the criteria for your sample,
and plan a reasonable sample. Note that certain types of personal data require a licence from
the Data Protection Agency. For some types of projects, it is also mandatory to notify the
Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD).

Data collection
Describe which measuring instruments/questionnaires/interview guides/observation system
you will use, and if relevant, how these will be designed. If you will be using a system that
has not previously been tested, you will have to describe how you designed the system and
give an account of its validity. Claiming that it is valid is not enough. Use literature to back up
the method.

Data analysis
Describe what type of data analysis you intend to use, and the reasons for this. For example,
what types of statistical analyses or conceptual schedules will you use? You do not have to
give a detailed account of every specific analysis here, only describe what types of analysis
you will use. This applies to both qualitative approaches and quantitative approaches.

Implementation and results

Here, you should first describe how the data was collected, and describe the sample you
achieved. Then you should present your main results and any detailed analyses.

Interpretation and discussion

This is where you should discuss your findings as they relate to the questions and models you
used as a basis, and any deviations from these. In many theses, it will also be relevant to
discuss the implications of your findings in terms of theory, management and methodology.
Also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your system.

Conclusion
Provide a brief summary of the results of your thesis, and what they can tell us. Present a
proposed solution to or an answer to your research question. The conclusion should contain
the assumptions on which the answers/solutions are based. A Master's thesis is not required to
give a clear positive or negative answer to a research question that has been presented.

Bibliography and references

Follow the APA 6 standard, or the standard of one of the prominent journals in the relevant
field. This is something that can be agreed with your supervisor.

Quality control/completion
Before submitting your thesis, it is essential that you enlist the help of someone to perform a
quality control check of the thesis. The following checklist may be of assistance:

Check that the page numbers and references are correct

Check that all the references, tables and figures have been included and that they have
been correctly reproduced in the body of the paper and the reference chapter.
Be particularly careful to check that the title page, preface and table of contents do not
contain any mistakes or ambiguities.

A scientific thesis is expected to contain a clearly defined statement. This should be well
structured, easy to navigate and easy to read. It should be possible for someone to read the
presentation and understand the statement without having to look up extra information. Tables
and figures should speak for themselves. Arguments for and against a given view should be
logically presented.

Submission
Deadline 15 June.
Two bound copies of the paper should be submitted to reception. (You can get your thesis
bound at ATTENDE). The thesis should also be submitted to Its learning and registered in
the Brage database (http://brage.bibsys.no/uis/).

As a rule, papers are open for anyone to read, but if there is a particular reason why this
should not be the case, a thesis can be kept confidential for up to two years. The programme
coordinator for the Master's programme at the University of Stavanger Business School is the
person to whom you should apply for confidentiality, before 1 May. No guarantee of
confidentiality can be given in advance. If the thesis has been granted confidentiality, 'Title
page Master's thesis' should be printed on red paper.

Submission extensions
If you cannot meet the submission deadline, you must consult your supervisor about applying
to the department for an extension. We must emphasise that you need to have extremely
strong grounds for an extension, and these must be due to circumstances that are out of your
control.

Examination results, relative roles

The examination results for Master's theses will be announced after 12 weeks, in accordance
with UiS's regulations regarding examinations.
Your supervisor will put forward proposals regarding an examiner. Examiners will normally
be from a different institution.
Assessment
Master's theses are assessed against a scale of characters running from A to F. The letter A is
the highest grade. E is the lowest grade, and F is a fail. If the thesis receives an F grade, it may
be reworked and resubmitted once. You must submit a special application if you wish to do
this.

Assessment/grading of the Master's thesis is performed by an external examiner with the

assistance of your supervisor. If your supervisor and the external examiner disagree, it is the
external examiner who has the final say. (Cf. Regulations relating to examinations at the
University of Stavanger).

Complaints
Complaints are handled in accordance with Section 16 of the Regulations relating to
examinations at the University of Stavanger.

Grade Designation Description

A Excellent
Generally: An excellent performance that clearly stands out at
a national level
displays excellent insight into the academic theories and methods in the field and knowledge
at an exceptionally high level. The goals of the thesis are clearly defined and easy to
understand
can choose between and use relevant methods of research and academic development, and
masters the methods used in a convincing manner
The work is innovative and has required very extensive work
has an excellent ability to analyse and critically relate to different sources of information and
to use these to structure and articulate academic arguments
has in an outstanding manner conducted an independent, delimited research or development
project under supervision and in line with applicable norms of research ethics
displays excellent capacity for critical reflection, and can clearly distinguish between own
contribution and the contributions made by others
shows that they have undertaken extensive independent work and has excellent mastery of the
expressive forms of the field. The thesis has an advanced form, structure and language.

B Very good
Generally: A very good performance that clearly stands out
displays very good insights into the academic theories and methods of the field and knowledge
at a very high level. The goals of the thesis are clearly defined and easy to understand
can chose between and use relevant methods of research and academic development, and
masters the methods used in a very good manner
The work is innovative and has required extensive work
has a very good ability to analyse and critically relate to different sources of information and
to use these to structure and articulate academic arguments
has in a very good manner conducted an independent, delimited research or development
project under supervision and in line with applicable norms of research ethics
displays very good capacity for critical reflection, and can clearly distinguish between their
own contribution and the contributions made by others
shows that they have undertaken extensive independent work and has very good mastery of
the expressive forms of the field. The thesis has an advanced form, structure and language.
C Good
Generally: A generally good performance
displays good insight into the academic theories and methods of the field and knowledge at a
high level. The goals of the thesis are generally defined well
has chosen relevant and correct methods for research and academic development and masters
the methods used well
The work is good and the thesis represents a normal scope of work
has a good ability to analyse different sources of information and can use these in an
independent and competent manner to structure and articulate academic arguments
has conducted an independent, delimited research or development project under supervision
and in line with applicable norms of research ethics
displays capacity for critical reflection, and can distinguish well between their own
contribution and the contributions made by others
masters the forms of expression in the field well. The thesis has good form, structure and
language

D Satisfactory
Generally: A clearly satisfactory performance
displays satisfactory insight into the academic theories and methods of the field, and shows
that they have a satisfactory level of knowledge. The goals of the thesis are not defined
clearly
has chosen relevant and correct methods for research and academic development and masters
the methods used to a satisfactory degree.
The work appears to have required a modest amount of work
has some ability to analyse different sources of information independently but depends on
relatively close supervision in order to structure and articulate academic arguments
has conducted an independent, delimited research or development project under supervision,
but the thesis has clear potential for improvement. The work is in line with applicable
norms of research ethics
displays capacity for critical reflection, but has difficulty in distinguishing well between their
own contribution and the contributions made by others
masters the forms of expression in the field to a satisfactory degree. The thesis has a
satisfactory form, structure and
language.

E Sufficient
Generally: A performance that is sufficient in that it satisfies
the minimum requirements
has sufficient insight into the academic theories and methods of the field. The goals of the
thesis are described but appear unclear
has chosen relevant and correct methods for research and academic development, and masters
the methods used in a manner that satisfies the minimum requirements
The work appears to have required a very modest amount of work and seems fragmented
shows some independent ability to analyse different sources of information, but depends on
relatively close supervision in order to formulate academic arguments
is clearly dependent on supervision in order to complete a delimited research or development
project. The work is in line with applicable norms of research ethics shows sufficient capacity
for critical reflection, but has not utilised the competency of the research community in a good
way
can generally use the expressive forms of the field, but the form, structure and language of the
thesis have notable deficiencies
F Fail
Generally: A performance that does not satisfy minimum
requirements
has insufficient insight into the academic theories and methods of the field. The goals of the
thesis are not clearly described, or are not described at all
lacks competency in the methods of the field, and lacks technical skills in the methods that
were utilised
The work required modest work and is fragmented
does not use existing sources of information, and has not understood or wanted to use advice
and guidance
does not show sufficient capacity for critical reflection, and has not utilised the competency of
the research community in a good way
The presentation shows significant deficiencies in its form, structure and language

The following qualities are regarded as particularly important in the assessment:

The ability to plan, solve and document an argument within a given period of time
The ability to carry out good quality, independent work
The ability to make use of material and present it
Originality
Degree of difficulty of the thesis.
UNIVERSITY OF STAVANGER
The University of Stavanger Business School
REGISTRATION OF MASTER'S THESIS first draft

STUDY PROGRAM: THESIS IS WRITTEN IN THE FOLLOWING

SPECIALIZATION/SUBJECT:

Supervisor: Comments:

AUTHOR(S) STUDENT NUMBER: SIGNATURE. I/we hereby

confirm that I/we have the required
prior knowledge for the Master's
thesis:

. .

.. ..

To be completed by the department:

REGISTRATION FORM FOR MASTER'S THESIS HAS BEEN SUBMITTED:

Stavanger, / 2015 Sig. administration

The completed form must be submitted to Reception on the 1st floor of the Elise Ottesen-Jensen
Building (the new social sciences building) by 1 December.
UNIVERSITY OF STAVANGER
The University of Stavanger Business School
REGISTRATION OF MASTER'S THESIS final version

STUDY PROGRAM: THESIS IS WRITTEN IN THE FOLLOWING

SPECIALIZATION/SUBJECT:

Supervisor: Comments:

AUTHOR(S) STUDENT NUMBER: SIGNATURE. I/we hereby

confirm that I/we have the required
prior knowledge for the Master's
thesis:

. .

.. ..

To be completed by the department:

REGISTRATION FORM FOR MASTER'S THESIS HAS BEEN SUBMITTED:

Stavanger, / 2016 Sig. administration

The completed form must be submitted to Reception on the 1st floor of the Elise Ottesen-Jensen
Building (the new social sciences building) by 1 February.
FRONT PAGE

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES,

UIS BUSINESS SCHOOL

MASTERS THESIS
STUDY PROGRAM: THESIS IS WRITTEN IN THE FOLLOWING
SPECIALIZATION/SUBJECT:

IS THE ASSIGNMENT CONFIDENTIAL?

(NB! Use the red form for confidential theses)

TITLE:

AUTHOR(S) SUPERVISOR:

Student number: Name:

ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF 2 BOUND COPIES OF THESIS

Stavanger, / 2016 Signature administration: