18 ECTS credits
490 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4010531ENR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester
at
a (E) Master - advanced 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
- De masterproef kan maar worden opgenomen op voorwaarde dat men kan afstuderen.
- Taught in
- Dutch
- Faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
- Department
- Sociology
- Educational team
- Wendy Van Den Broeck
Promotor .
(course titular)
- Activities and contact hours
-
8 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
482 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
- Course Content
The Master Thesis Sociology is the work by which you complete the master’s programme. The Master Thesis has to be a standalone, and in accordance with the scientific standards, sound and publishable scientific work. With the Master Thesis the student demonstrates analytical and synthetic skills. The student demonstrates being able to apply theoretical insights and the various abilities and competences of sociological research, gained throughout the programme, on a concrete socioscientific issue. In other words, with the Master Thesis the student demonstrates being able to go through a scientific process, in order to provide an added scientific value to a certain subarea of the sociology with the therefrom resulting research conclusions.
- Additional info
The administrative and substantive procedures for the Master Thesis go digitally though the ‘Master Thesis Information System’ (MaThIS). The student takes the initiative in this.
The Master Thesis is written in the language of instruction of the programme. In Dutch programmes the Master Thesis can be written in English or French with the consent of the supervisor.
A manual with additional information (on deadlines, manner of submitting, evaluation,…) can be found on the course space (Canvas) of the accompanying course ‘Masterseminarie' and is regarded as an integral part of the course description.
The faculty regulations concerning the Master Thesis are also included in the supplementary faculty regulations, chapter V, of the Teaching and Examination Regulations: https://student.vub.be/en/ES#regulations-and-forms
This course is a final paper completing a Master’s programme and cannot be taken as part of a credit contract.
- Learning Outcomes
-
General Competencies
This course contributes to the following learning outcomes of the Master in Sociology
Cognitive skills
- The student knows how scientific research is structured and planned, how literature can be searched for, processed and reported;
- The student knows the relevant concepts of international sociological theory-building relative to the sub-discipline of his/her choice;
- The students understand that it is important to reduce the complexity of a research topic into a practically researchable research question;
- The students are able to phrase a relevant and univocal research question for the research to be made in their master thesis;
- The students are able to construct a relevant and realist research plan upon their research question and to report it in a research protocol;
- The student is able to synthesize the main findings of his/her research and frame these findings within the relevant state-of-the-art social scientific knowledge;
- The student can evaluate and describe the strengths and weaknesses of the conducted research;
- The student is able to critically describe the societal and sociological relevance and added-value of his/her research;
- The student has the ability to analyze the defined research problem making use of the chosen research methodology;
- The students are able to evaluate the state-of-the-art and problems related to their research and to address solutions and steps to be made in the next phases of the research.
Reactive skills
- With the master thesis the student proofs possessing a general critical and reflective research disposition.
Interactive skills
- The students are able to present their results to a broader audience in a brief and appealing way.
- Grading
-
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Master Thesis determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Master Thesis category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Master Thesis
with a relative weight of 100
which comprises 100% of the final mark.
- Additional info regarding evaluation
The following applies to both examination sessions:
- The student is obligated to upload his/her Master Thesis electronically on the antiplagiarism server indicated by the faculty and to provide the printed proof hereof when submitting the paper versions.
The student who submits a Master Thesis agrees with the rules regarding plagiarism: https://student.vub.be/en/ES#regulations-and-forms (scroll down).
- The evaluation of the Master Thesis is done in accordance with the evaluation form that can be found on the digital learning platform Canvas.
- It is mandatory to defend the Master Thesis in Sociology orally.
Every student defends him- or herself regarding the content and design of the Master Thesis.
The supervisor (or another member of the committee) informs the student, after the deliberation, on the final result.
- 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
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Sociology: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)