The master's thesis should provide students with skills and general competence to be able to solve complex problems in the field of strategic communication and provide knowledge of what processes and techniques one must use to be able to address current and relevant issues.

It is a goal that students use the master's thesis to compile knowledge and skills from the previous subjects in the master's program in a final independent work of relevant issue.

The length of the master's thesis is 30,000 words (+/- 10%) including bibliography. The appropriate length of the task will vary with regard to problem, method, number of empirical studies carried out, etc.

The master's thesis should derive a clear and relevant research question based on, and positioned in relation to, existing literature within the field of strategic communication. The thesis should also add new knowledge to the field (theoretical, methodical, conceptual, etc.).

The thesis must be anchored in theory that is relevant to the master's program. The students are expected to go beyond the literature covered in the courses and finds other relevant, up-to-date and ‘state-of-the-art’ literature in international scientific peer-reviewed articles. Subject terminology used in the text must be explained, but it is important that the master's thesis does not become a sole reproduction of existing theory. In practice, this means that the main part of the thesis should be the students' own assessment and a discussion on the issue.

The master's thesis must contain empirical evidence that is suitable for illuminating the research question (based on primary and/or secondary data). The choice of method and research design must be discussed and justified based on the research question and relevant method. The methodological section should describe the procedure for collecting and analysis of the data, as well as discuss and justify the methodological choices made throughout the project phase, including delimitation, research quality and considerations regarding research ethics. The methodological section should contain method theory and application of relevant concepts that demonstrate the student’s knowledge of relevant literature. The value and quality of such a statement lies in the ability to connect theory and central concepts together with the student’s own data material. This means that the student should focus on the method (s) used and justification of the choices, rather than an account of methods not used in the thesis.

Subject description MSK5100

Master Thesis

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