Bachelor Paper Business Economics

6 ECTS credits
178 h study time

Offer 2 with catalog number 1020275CNW for working students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (C) Bachelor - specialised level.

Semester

1st and 2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Je hebt ‘Onderzoekmethoden in Economie en Management’ gevolgd, alvorens ‘Bachelorproef’ op te nemen.

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool

Department

ES Academische eenheid

Educational team

Ilse Scheerlinck
Leo Van Hove
Filip Van Droogenbroeck (course titular)
Emmelien De Roock

Activities and contact hours

20 contact hours Lecture
25 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
133 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course guides students to writing a bachelor paper. We focus on the different stages of scientific research, incl. methodology, in the domain of (business) economics.

Students will apply what they learnt in the research methods course (BA2), to finally write a paper compliant with the guidelines of academic writing. The following skills twill be developed:

search academic references, incl. peer-reviewed papers, by accessing the appropriate databases;
consult, read and process information and insights from scientific literature;
reference and cite, according to APA guidelines;
formulate a research problem and research questions, by addressing a research or knowledge gap;
develop a research design and apply a quantitative and/or qualitative method;
analyse and interpret findings of the group study;
present the work-in-progress through an oral presentation;
write up intro, literature review, method and findings;
write a discussion of the results, combined with implications, limitations and conclusions of the work;
understand the meaning of ethical writing (with reference to danger signs of plagiarism and (un)ethical use of AI).

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Slides en artikels/cases, Canvas
Handbook (Recommended) : Researching and Writing a Dissertation, An Essential Guide for Business Students, Fisher, C., UK: Pearson, 9780273723431, 2010

Additional info

Hands-on advice is provided by instructor and assistants on how to report and present the intermediate assignments and the final bachelor paper.

A good mastering of research methods and statistics I & II is recommended to successfully complete Bachelor paper.

Students get guidance from instructor, assistant and supervisors. Guidance is organized through lectures (max 5 per semester) and contact moments.

In case guest lectures are organised, then attendance is mandatory.

This course is a final paper required for completing a Bachelor' s programme and cannot be taken as part of a credit contract.

Learning Outcomes

Research problem

Identify a research problem and formulate a research question.

Literature review

Consult scientific literature and correctly compile an explorative and critical literature review.

Research method

Demonstrate insight in different methods and select the appropriate research method for the research problem.

Research design and research

Compile a research design and execute research.

Report

Report in writing and orally about intermediate steps and final results.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Bachelor thesis determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Bachelor thesis category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Bachelor Paper with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Evaluation is based on assignments throughout the academic year and on the resulting end product in the form of a Bachelor's Paper which exists out of a group and an individual assignment.

To obtain an end score for this course, students need to complete all assignments,
In order to pass this course, a score of at least 50% must be obtained on both the group assignments and the individual written assignment,
In the second session, the grades earned on the intermediate assignments can be kept, while only the revised version of the Bachelor's Paper and an optional presentation will be re-assessed,
Peer evaluation may be applied to differentiate the team score into individual scores,
Erasmus students need to contact the course teacher at the beginning of the academic year for an alternative arrangement

Written work will be screened for possible plagiarism.

Using ChatGPT as a search tool may be helpful. However, keep in mind that the tool is not always as smart as you expect it to be. So, it is important to remain critical and skeptical as you use this tool.

Using ChatGPT to write to have your papers written is forbidden. Group and individual papers that include texts produced by ChatGPT are thus considered as plagiarism.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context