Introduc)on

Research Methodology
 Research Methodology
Syllabus
•  This course aims at providing students with the
competences required for the posterior
elaboration of their master's thesis.

•  The course is divided in 4 topics:

–  1. Diffusion of scientific activity in Economics and
Management;
–  2. Process of planning a scientific work and
preparation of manuscript;
–  3. Structure of scientific articles and publication
standards;
–  4. Oral and written communication for research in
Economics and Management
 Research Methodology
Assessment

•  Assessment weights:
–  Class attending and participation 25%
–  Exercises 25%
–  Oral presentation of a scientific project 25%
–  Written presentation of a scientific project
25%
 Research Methodology
Schedule

Wednesday Oct 23rd 10:30-12:30

Thursday Oct 24th 12:20-14:30
Friday Oct 25th 10:30-12:30
Wednesday Oct 30th 10:30-12:30

November 4th- November 27th:

Monday 10,30-12,30, Wednesday 10,30-12,30

Please, if possible, bring your laptop

 Research Methodology
Schedule by session
23 oct: Introduc)on; Structure of a master 24 oct: Search for ideas; Literature search;
thesis; Structure of a paper Informa)on evalua)on.
HW: think of an idea for research (due Exercise: literature search.
date: 24 oct). HW: literature review (due date: 4 nov)
25 oct: APA style; Academic wri)ng. 30 oct: Tips for a good paper. Data, theory
Exercise: write an abstract. and Methods.
HW: Tips for a good master thesis (due Exercise: evaluate two different papers.
date: 30 oct). Tips for master thesis due.
4 nov: Construc)ng paper: methods, 6 nov: Wri)ng cri)ques.
introduc)on, conclusion. Exercise: compare two papers.
Literature review due. HW: write a referee report (due date: 11 nov)
11 nov: Planning your own research 13 nov: Presen)ng your research.
paper. Exercise: compare two presenta)ons.
Exercise: write an introduc)on. HW: prepare a presenta)on of your project.
Referee report due.
18 nov: DraR of a presenta)on due. 20 nov: DraR of a project due. Discussions in
Presenta)ons in groups. groups.

25 nov: Student presenta)ons 27 nov: Student presenta)ons

 Introduction
Why paying attention to academic writing?
§  Regardless your professional objectives, tasks
become progressively more complex and
demanding
§  In general they need to be written
«academically»
§  The means by which you position yourself as a
writer contribute to create a credible image as
a competent member of your chosen discipline.
 Introduction
Research papers (RP’s )/ positioning
•  Research is a highly competitive environment.
•  When you read a research paper (article), you
may think that it is a straightforward account of
investigation.
•  Indeed, RP’s are often designed to create this
impression so that authors can appear more
convincing to their readers.
–  these impressions are largely misleading
–  may lead novice authors to conclude that writing up
research should be an uncomplicated process.
 Introduction
Research papers (RP’s )/ positioning

•  A more accurate picture is that:

–  Researchers have to establish that their research
questions are sufficiently interesting for others to
read.
–  They need to demonstrate that they are familiar with
the relevant literature to demonstrate that the
questions have not been answered yet.
–  They need to compete against other RP’s for
acceptance and recognition
–  As a result, RP’s authors are very much concerned
with positioning, with showing that their studies are
relevant and make some new contributions to the
field.
 Introduction
Academic career

•  Academic career depends on the number of

published academic articles and the ranking of
the journal
•  To be published, a draft is first submitted to
review and can be either rejected or accepted
with modifications
•  See A strategy to deal with setbacks and failures
p 11-12 of Kitchin and Fuller (2005)
 Introduction
Master’s thesis: competencies
Student will know/understand:
•  CE1 – Acquire bibliographical information on the current state of
economics research
•  CE3 – Understand the relevant existing theories, tendencies and
debates
•  CE5 – Apply advanced techniques to real problems
•  CE7 – Formulate and answer questions in a way applicable to
economic policy
•  CE8 – Formulate and contrast hypotheses related to theoretical
assumptions and predictions
•  CE11 - Plan and organize field studies
•  CE20 – Draw up scientific articles
•  CE22 – Public presentation and defense of own work
 Introduction
Master’s thesis as a first step: objectives

•  Dissertations (Master’s thesis) need to:

•  demonstrate knowledge and
understanding beyond undergraduate
level
•  and should reach a level of scope and depth
beyond that taught in class.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis as a first step: objectives

•  All dissertations must be presented in an

appropriate academic style and format.
–  The aims and objectives of the dissertation
clearly expressed and are achievable within
the scope of the dissertation framework.
–  Academic style refers to the clarity of
expression, grammar, use of citation and
referencing AND relates to a clearly structured
approach to the justification and validation of
facts, theories and opinions presented to form a
precise argument.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis:
Choice of topics /supervisors
•  If you have an idea of a specific topic, you should check the areas of
research of supervisors and propose them your topic.
•  If you don’t have a specific idea, you should check the list of topics /
master thesis proposals made by supervisors:
http://masteres.ugr.es/ugrme/pages/investigacion/TFM/ad
•  First you should contact supervisors and reach an agreement with
one of them.
•  Second, dissertation's topic and supervisor proposal must be
approved by the Academic Committee (AC). To this end, the student
must send an email to mastereconomics@ugr.es with a copy (“CC”)
to the supervisor, indicating as subject: DISSERTATION
SUPERVISION with the following information:
–  full name,
–  selected supervisor
–  Research line.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Choice of topics /supervisors
•  If a student does not reach approval from any supervisor, the AC will
assign him/her a topic and supervisor. Each student is guaranteed to
have a supervisor for his/her dissertation, though there is no
possibility of ensuring that all students will be allowed to develop
the dissertation under their preferred research line.
•  You must receive confirmation from the academic committee that
your research proposal is approved before you continue with your
dissertation.
–  The AC will verify that the supervisor fulfill the legal criteria to supervise a
Master Thesis and that the number of Master Thesis assigned to each supervisor
is not larger than 2 or examine the reasons exposed by the supervisor for this.
–    The AC will send the approval or alternative proposal to students and
supervisors by email.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Documentation / Place to deliver / deadlines
•  Check the website
•  http://masteres.ugr.es/ugrme/pages/investigacion/tfm/fechas
•  First viva: July
•  Second viva: September
•  Note that your dissertation should be passed through TURNITIN
and a copy of the report appended to the dissertation copy
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Supervisions
•  You will be supported through the dissertation by an
academic supervisor.
•  The academic supervisor will ideally have
background expertise in your area of study.
•  Regardless of the subject background of the
supervisor, the academic supervisor will understand
the research process.
•  The supervisor must give his/her written
approval to the student's research work in
order to be evaluated by an evaluation committee.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Role of Academic Supervisor
•  The academic supervisor is there to facilitate and not to lead
•  The responsibility for the quality and content of a
dissertation is entirely that of yourself, the student.
•  In particular, the supervisor will:
–  Advise on the structure and contents of the work.
–  Correct and revise the work developed in a continuous manner so it
can be presented in time
–  Help student in the preparation of the viva.
•  The dissertation is entirely your own work. However, you
may ask your supervisor to read in detail a draft of a portion
of your dissertation, in order to give feedback on
presentation, content and style.
•  The academic supervisor will not check or correct grammar
and expression.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Responsibilities of the Student.
1. To maintain regular contact with the academic supervisor. It is the student's
responsibility to inform their supervisor of progress and to lead the development of
the dissertation. Difficulties must be communicated at the time they are
encountered. Retrospective information is not acceptable.
2. To write the dissertation in a good standard of clear English using
appropriate academic terms and citation and referencing conventions. It
is not the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure that this condition is met.
3. To write the dissertation with guidance from the supervisor. The dissertation and
research work must be your own. The dissertation is to reflect your subject
understanding and research abilities, not that of your supervisor.
4. To inform the academic supervisor of any absence (sickness, personal, family
visits, holidays, work experience) during the time nominated for working on the
dissertation. If during the preparation of the dissertation, the focus and direction of
the dissertation changes substantially from that outlined in your Dissertation
Proposal Form then you should immediately discuss this with your academic
supervisor.

 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Evaluation of the Master thesis
•  Assesment criteria for Master Dissertation are detailed here:
http://masteres.ugr.es/ugrme/pages/investigacion/TFM/ad
•  Indicators are as follows:
–  Use of the most appropriate sources of information to the purpose of the work
–  The student provides reasoned conclusions in theoretical and empirical
approaches
–  The students sets targets to study the problem
–  Strategic planning to problem resolution
–  Analysis and interpretation of results
–  Development and evaluation of coherent initiatives
–  The student argues, discusses and defends written conclusions and presented
proposals
–  The students orally argues, discusses and defends conclusions and presented
proposals
–  Recognizes the authorship of the sources
–  Seminar attendance
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Formal Aspects
Formal aspects of the dissertation:
•  All the research dissertation will follow APA style
•  The recommended extension of the work will be of 30-60 pages
•  Template is available on the website

Formal aspects of the VIVA:

•  The public defense of the research before doctors board.
•  A general suggestion is to be prepared for an exposition not
longer than 15 minutes. Additionally, the student must reply
questions and comments in the timely manner.
•  The exposition can be supported by electronic media deemed as
appropriate to facilitate better understanding of the developments
made in the research work.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Tentative schedule (8 weeks / 200 hours)
Part I: Literature review
•  1º Search references (theoretical and empirics) about your topic
(week 1-2)
•  2º Read and organize your read in a table (week 3) indicating :
–  Reference
–  Methodology /hypothesis
–  Main result
•  3º Your contribution
–  Select with the supervisor the relevant references (week 3-4)
–  Write a comprehensive synthesis of the literature : (NOT IN
QUANTITY BUT IN QUALITY) . (week 4-5)
–  Identify a relevant question , non investigated yet
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Tentative schedule (8 weeks / 200 hours)
Part II: Empirical analysis (or own theoretical model)
•  1º: Preparation (week 4-5)
–  search methodology to answer this question: Descriptive
(statistics, tables, graphs), Econometrics (select estimation
methods and empirical model, etc), questionnaire, etc.
–  Search for data
–  Propose an hypothesis, non investigated yet which you are able
to test at least in part
•  2 Realization of empirical analysis: (week 5-6)
–  Preliminary results
–  Definitive results
•  3 Writing and presentation of the results (week 7-8)
 Introduction
Master’s thesis
Tentative schedule (8 weeks / 200 hours)
•  Part III Introduction and conclusion
–  Introduction:
•  1st paragraph General issue
•  2nd paragraph: introduce the specific topic and what have
been done and undone in the literature
•  3rd: your contribution: hypothesis, , methodology , main
results
•  4th: structure of the dissertation
–  Conclusion
•  1st : your contribution: hypothesis, methodology , synthesis
of results, limits and advantages of your work
•  2nd paragraph: place of your contribution compare with the
literature review
•  3rd: more open question, suggestions of other research
questions, methodologies, policy implications
 Introduction
Master’s thesis step by step
Research proposal: a road map through the dissertation
process

•  based on A guidetowri)ngyourmasters disserta)on, School of

Management & Languages hTp://www2.hw.ac.uk/sml/postgraduate/
downloads/disserta)ons/disserta)onguide.pdf
 Introduction
Master’s thesis step by step
Research proposal: a road map through the dissertation
process
•  The Proposal should provide your academic supervisor with a
‘detailed skeleton’ of the whole dissertation; the fine details are
added when the literature review is completed and the primary
research has been undertaken.
•  The research proposal (or first document for discussion) should
include:
•  (a) A working title
•  (b) An Introduction to the Topic
•  (c) A Preliminary Literature Review
•  (d) The Detailed Research Methodology
•  (e) Timetable.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis step by step
Research proposal: a road map through the dissertation
process
•  Introduction will include:
–  a brief description of the topic. The aim of the research provides
a description of what you want to achieve from carrying out this
research.
–  The objectives of the research outline the particular issues that
you need to address in order to achieve the aim above. They are
more specific than the aim, in that they outline the particular
dimensions of your research topic, which are relevant to the
overall aim of your research.
–  The research questions are more specific than your research
objectives and specify the various insights/information that need
to be collected in order to achieve the objectives. Keep in mind
that the research question often starts with a Why, How, or What.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis step by step
Research proposal: a road map through the dissertation
process
A Preliminary Literature Review which indicates:
•  (i) that you have studied the work of the major authors in
your research field
•  (ii) that you are familiar with the topics most relevant to
that subject area
•  (iii) what further investigations you intend to pursue as
part of this dissertation.

•  helps develop more insightful and focused

research questions.
•  should lead to, and justify, your research
objectives and questions.
 Introduction
Master’s thesis step by step
Writing Dissertation /research paper
•  This part will be developed along the course
•  1. Title Page:
•  2. Abstract
•  3. Acknowledgements
•  4. Contents Page:
•  5. Introduction.
•  6. Literature Review:
•  7. Research Methodology.
•  8. Findings / Results / Data Analysis.
•  9. Discussion.
•  10. Conclusions
•  11. References
•  12. Appendices
 Introduction
Master’s thesis step by step
Writing Dissertation /research paper

Homework 1
•  Think of a ques)on you would like to
inves)gate in your Master thesis.
•  Sources of inspira)on:
–  Voxeu.org
–  The economist (www.economist.com)
–  Academic ar)cles
–  Newspapers
–  Your interests and hobbies.
 References
•  Derntl, M. (2014) Basics of research paper writing and publishing, Int.
J. Technology Enhanced. Learning, 6(2), 105-123.
http://dbis.rwth-aachen.de/~derntl/papers/misc/paperwriting.pdf
•  Dudenhefer P. (2009) A guide to Writing in Economics, Mimeo Duke
University.)
•  Kitchin R., Fuller D. (2005) The Academic's Guide to Publishing Series:
SAGE Study Skills Series. SAGE Publications Ltd . 192 pages ISBN:
9781412900836
•  Swales J.M., Feak C.B. (2012) Academic Writing for Graduate Students,
3rd Edition Essential Tasks and Skills University of Michigan Press.
•  Thomson, W. (1999). The Young Person's Guide to Writing Economic
Theory. Journal of Economic Literature, 37(1): 157-183. DOI: 10.1257/
jel.37.1.157
•  Universidad de Alcalá. Biblioteca. 1ª ed. Febrero 2011. Actualización
febrero 2013, julio 2014, marzo 2016. Dudas y sugerencias en OPINE:
http://www.uah.es/biblioteca/formularios/opine.html
•  A guide to writing your masters dissertation”, School of Management &
Languages, http://www2.hw.ac.uk/sml/postgraduate/downloads/
dissertations/dissertationguide.pdf