最新糖心Vlog

Students are expected to attend the various research seminars and workshops offered in the school throughout the semester.

The purpose of the dissertation is to encourage students to undertake independent economic research and to foster research-related skills, which should benefit future study and employment.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate specialist knowledge in the area of their research.
2. Demonstrate the ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions.
3. Demonstrate the capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research.
4. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and synthesize research-based and scholarly literature.
5. Present research findings and argument in a suitably structured and sequenced thesis that conforms to protocols of academic presentation and research practice.
6. Demonstrate the ability to critique literature and conduct analyses at a Masters level.

There are no required resources for this course.

A bibliography must be included. Since different journals use different methods, it is necessary to choose one method and stick to it consistently. For some guidance concerning bibliographical methods, consult one or more of the references listed in the Barr Smith Library subject catalogue under the heading "Dissertation, Academic"; for example, Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Dissertations.

Students are recommended to consult the Writing Centre at the 最新糖心Vlog for writing and language questions.

Unlike standard coursework, research is a relatively unstructured activity. Student must self pace and self monitor their own progress. One to one guidance is provided in supervision sessions. Regularity of supervision will be set in accordance with their supervisor. A regular schedule would be a meeting at least once every 2 weeks.

The 最新糖心Vlog expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This course is 12 units.

Teaching & Learning Activities	Related Learning Outcomes
Student supervision	1-6

1. The student is to prepare a one page proposal of the research idea no later than one week before the beginning of the semester and submit this to the Course Co-ordinator.
2. Approval to enrol must be obtained from the Program Co-ordinator before the semester starts. A supervisor will be assigned by the Course Co-ordinator once approval is granted.
3. The student is to arrange a first meeting with their assigned supervisor within the first 2 weeks of semester.
4. At the initial (or a subsequent) meeting the student, with approval of the supervisor, will decide on the exact research question, the paper to review or materials to use as well as the relevant structure and sections of the dissertation.
5. Students are expected to submit written drafts of each section to the supervisor. The supervisor is then expected to provide a constructive and critical assessment of the work submitted and make a note of the comments given.
6. For each section of the dissertation, the supervisor is expected to read and comment on the section once. The student is then expected to revise the individual sections, and submit them combined as the final version to the supervisor.
7. Upon receiving the final version of the dissertation, assessing the content, and deciding upon the mark, the supervisor is expected to provide direct feedback on the student’s work – including the strengths and weaknesses of the dissertation.
8. Throughout the semester students are strongly expected to attend the Thesis Workshops on Monday's and the Friday Seminar.

Students interested in undertaking the dissertation must first consult with the Academic Program Coordinator during the prior semester of the program.

There are two different formats the dissertation might take which will also dictate the kind of research involved in writing the dissertation:

1. The student works on a project that makes use of original empirical material/data that they have access to. This might involve working with an outside co-supervisor (for example, someone from the student’s current or former workplace), but still requires principal supervision from an academic staff member of the School.

In this case, students would need to discuss their proposal in detail; first with the Program Coordinator and then, if approved, with the assigned supervisor at the School. Whilst the student would be focused on making use of empirical data, relevant literature would clearly need to be referred to in order to represent thorough research practices. Although an econometric or applied economic investigation is the most common, and recommended, form other acceptable methodologies are conceptual research work, case studies and original surveys.

2. The student carries out a comprehensive literature review and the dissertation takes the form of a critical assessment of the current state of knowledge, comparable to an article in the Journal of Economic Surveys. The student might suggest one paper (either a journal article or a working paper), book, policy issue or other suitable object whose in-depth, critical assessment will form the central core of the dissertation. Approval by the Program Coordinator requires agreement by the potential supervisor that the topic and/or the core paper chosen by the student contains an appropriate quantity and level of economics and is suitable for such a dissertation.

To write a critical assessment, students need to carry out background reading, review references listed in the paper and independently identify further relevant works. There is a need for the student to clearly locate the paper being examined within this body of literature, as well as demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical and/or empirical material in the paper, and provide critical assessment and policy implications.

Topics for Dissertation

As mentioned above, students are responsible for proposing the topic of the dissertation, although they can discuss their area of interest and a general idea for a topic with the Program Coordinator, who can assist them to narrow down the topic if necessary.

Some examples of previous dissertations are:

Theoretical Analysis: The Possibility of a Sino-最新糖心Vlog Free Trade Agreement (2004)

Empirical Analysis: The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on the Host Country Export: In the case of Thailand (2004)

Empirical Analysis: The Causality between income and Energy Consumption: A Panel Vector Autoregressive Approach (2007)

Literature review and critical critique: Does Good Policy Impact Effectiveness and Allocation of Aid? (2007)

Assessment Task	Due Date/ Week	Weight	Length	Learning Outcomes
Final Dissertation - Research Project of Thesis	Week TBA	100%	8,000 - 12,000 words	1 - 6

The standard of English expression is expected to be high. Students may wish to consult references listed in the subject catalogue of the Barr Smith Library under the heading "Style, Literary". While supervisors will offer reasonable assistance, the writing of a dissertation is the student’s task and students must not expect the supervisor to convert careless or poor prose into good English.

The to be agreed upon length of the dissertation is expected to be approximately 9,000 words and is typically within the range of 8000 to 12,000 words.

There should be a title page showing:

• the title in full
• the full name and degrees of the candidate
• the School in which the candidate submitted the work
• the degree for which the dissertation is submitted
• the date of submission
• the declaration.

The declaration includes the signature and date and the following prargraph. "Except where appropriately acknowledged this thesis is my own work, has been expressed in my own words and has not previously been submitted for assessment."

There should be a brief (less than 1 page) abstract preceding the text of the dissertation. This should indicate the aims, scope and conclusions of the dissertation, as well as the word count.

The dissertation must also include a bibliography. See under Recommended Resources above.
 
The exact submission date and procedure will be posted on MyUni before the start of the semester.

The supervisor and the second reader will mark the work independent from each other. The total mark is the average of the two marks. If the two marks differ by more than one grade, the course coordinator will reconcile the marks with the help of a third reader.

In assessing theses, examiners look for the following attributes. Depending on the format of the thesis not all of these criteria are appropriate in each case.

1. Selection of the topic; is it well-conceived, justified, and imaginative?
2. Design of the thesis; is it logical, well-structured, and well explained?
3. Clarity of research questions; are the central hypotheses clearly stated and motivated?
4. Literature context; is the question clearly located within the larger literature?
5. Skill and originality; how well are the relevant analytical ideas are developed?
6. Appropriateness of methods; are the data, empirical techniques or formal models used appropriate for the question and is care and ingenuity demonstrated in their use.
7. Sophistication; is the level of sophistication displayed in the empirical work, both in obtaining the data and in its analysis, or the understanding of the academic literature high?
8. Interpretation of results; are results and conclusion clearly drawn; are the limitations of the study identified; and are the results coherently answering the research questions.
9. Quality of presentation, is the language clear and understandable, is the use of tables, diagrams and other figures appropriate and well executed, and are formal conventions like footnoting and referencing followed?

High Distinction
The dissertation excels across most of the range of the described attributes and shows at least high competency in all of them
Percentage Range: 85-100

Distinction
The dissertation will be at least highly competent across the attributes, and probably excel in at least one of them. Relative weaknesses in some areas may be compensated by conspicuous strengths in others
Percentage Range: 75-84

Credit
The dissertation will show competency across most of the attributes, though may have inadequacies in a few of them
Percentage Range: 65-74

Pass
The dissertation contains some serious inadequacies. However, to obtain a pass rather than a fail the dissertation must show some understanding of research topic and evidence of independent analysis.
Percentage Range: 50-64

Fail
A fail is a rare result, given when the student displays little understanding of the relevant economic ideas, and fails to meet the criteria for a pass.
Percentage Range: less than 50