Thesis Manual Research Master
Social Sciences
Graduate School of Social Sciences
October 2013
Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................. 3
THE THESIS PROCESS .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Deadlines and Entry Requirements ......................................................................................................................... 3
The Thesis Proposal....................................................................................................................................................... 4
Choosing Your Topic and Problem Formulation ......................................................................................... 4
The Thesis Proposal Requirements .................................................................................................................. 5
Supervision .......................................................................................................................................................................6
Writing Your Thesis....................................................................................................................................................... 6
The Thesis Format and Length ........................................................................................................................... 7
Introduction................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Writing the Argument ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Conclusion(s) ............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................................... 8
Quotes and Annotations ........................................................................................................................................9
Thesis Evaluation and Graduation ....................................................................................................................... 10
PLAGIARISM ..................................................................................................................................................................... 11
ANNEX 1: Thesis Evaluation Form ...................................................................................................................... 12
INTRODUCTION
The Research Master Social Sciences (RMSS) culminates in the writing of a thesis (27 EC). It is
the final process for the completion of your Master’s degree and the ultimate test of your
academic skills. The goal of the thesis is to prove that you have acquired sufficient academic
knowledge, skills and insights to set up, write up, empirically investigate and substantiate a
clear, systematic argument. Indeed, the thesis is the capstone of the research profile you have
been developing during the two years of the programme and should show your ability to
conduct research independently.
The programme requires you to write the thesis in the form of a manuscript for an academic
article, to be submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed academic journal (although in
exceptional cases an alternative format is allowed, see below). This means that there is no one
good way of writing a thesis, because different journals adhere to different academic
conventions. Moreover, the way the thesis is written up also depends on what your supervisor
expects from the manuscript.
Nonetheless, there are elements, requirements and conditions that the thesis should contain
and satisfy in order to pass evaluation, irrespective of methodological track and choice of
academic journal. This manual will specify these conditions. In addition, the manual also
describes the thesis process and gives a general overview of what a thesis should consist of and
how to write the document.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The thesis is a proof of competence. It should show that you have the ability to carry out
independent and creative research, written up in a format which adheres to academic
conventions. Thus, through the thesis you demonstrate that you can:
 Independently formulate a coherent argument and research design within one’s own field of
study from problem or hypothesis definition to desired results and develop a substantiated
point of view.
 Organise the research set-up, including research strategy and time planning.
 Conduct social-scientific research targeted to answering a delimited research question that
builds on a social or scientific research problem, using sound methodological principles and
research technique, so as to guarantee the reliability and validity of the data gathering and
data analysis.
 Draw conclusions from your own research and evaluate the choices made during the process
in light of these conclusions.
 Report the findings in a clear, systematic and reflexive way.
 Write an academic article, to be submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed academic
journal.
These objectives are important, because they are translated into criteria of assessment for
evaluating the thesis. The criteria will be discussed in the section on how the thesis will be
assessed.
THE THESIS PROCESS
The thesis is worth 27 EC and is formally allocated to the entire second semester of the second
year. However, the entire thesis process is longer and starts earlier in the programme, which is
especially the case for those students doing fieldwork.
Deadlines and Entry Requirements
There are several deadlines that you need to take into account regarding the thesis. All students
are required to register for the course Thesis Research Master Social Sciences (27 EC) through
SIS-UvA in December 2014 (registration period still to be announced). This is also the case for
those students who are doing fieldwork at that moment. You cannot register for the course if you
have not at least completed 60 EC of courses, including the required courses Applied Philosophy
of Science (6 EC) and Research Design – Causality (6 EC) or Research Design – Qualitative (6 EC).
Besides these formal entry requirements, the thesis proposal is a de facto requirement for
starting the thesis project. For students in the Interpretative track and for those students doing
fieldwork in the Mixed Methods track, the thesis proposal should be approved and the
Research/Thesis Proposal Form (http://student.uva.nl/rmss/az/item/thesis.html) should be
signed by the thesis supervisor and the specialisation tutor and handed in at registrargsss@uva.nl before July 1st 2014. This has also been specified in the student manual and in the
Teaching and Examination Regulations (Section A, Article A.3.10 – Fieldwork, Internship and
Thesis) for the RMSS 2013-14 (http://student.uva.nl/rmss/az/nav/keys/regelingen-eninspraak/item/rules-and-regulations.html). For the students in the Empirical-Analytical track
and the remaining students in the Mixed Methods track, the Research/Thesis Proposal Form
should be approved and signed by the thesis supervisor and the specialisation tutor before
January 30th 2015.
The deadline for handing in the thesis is the 1st of July 2015. After that first deadline, you do
not have guaranteed right to supervision, which makes finishing the thesis in time essential. The
deadline for the first resit is on August 17th 2015. If students are not able to complete their thesis
before the deadline of the first resit or in case of a fail-result a well-motivated request for
extension of the deadline for thesis submission should be filed to the Examination Board, either
online (http://student.uva.nl/rmss/az/item/examination-board-ids-resmas.html) or by email
at examen-gsss@uva.nl.
The Thesis Proposal
The thesis proposal is the foundation of your thesis, which makes it an important document that
must be written with the utmost care. Indeed, the proposal is important for the further progress
of your research, because it forces you to think thoroughly about your topic, what aspect of that
topic you want to investigate, how that can be translated into a concrete problem definition and
research question, under whose supervision you will conduct your research, what methods you
will use and what contributions you want to make to current debates about your topic.
Therefore, writing a good research proposal takes time. It is an iterative process of
rethinking, revising and calibrating the different components of your research design. It must be
specific and concrete enough to provide you with a basis to work upon, as well as flexible
enough to deal with contingencies and changes during your research. Moreover, the proposal is
also instrumental to convince a faculty member to be your thesis supervisor by presenting your
ability to conduct the research properly.
It is therefore useful to start thinking about your research topic early on in the programme.
Consider, for instance, whether a Research Theme Elective or an Individual Reading Course can
help you further explore your research interest before writing the research proposal and
starting the thesis project.
Choosing Your Topic and Problem Formulation
The thesis proposal starts with choosing a specific topic and narrowing it down to a concrete
research problem and question. In other words, it is the process of translating the topic or
research interest into a specific research problem that can be investigated. Both choosing a topic
and the subsequent problem formulation can be a challenge.
When choosing your topic there are a two important considerations. On the one hand, it is
important that the topic and research problem are not too broad. Time is an issue here, because
you have to complete the thesis in one semester while doing all the research yourself. It may
help to link your thesis project to on-going research within the programme groups of the
Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). This enables you to benefit from the
expertise and knowledge of the staff at the UvA in order to identify possible avenues for
narrowing down your topic to a specific research question. The specialisation tutor can help you
with this by pointing out relevant faculty members based on your research interest.
On the other hand, it is important you choose a topic that is of interest to you, because you
will be dealing with the topic for several months. With a lack of motivation you face the risk of
having a hard time writing and completing the thesis (in time).
The crucial part of the thesis proposal is the problem formulation. This entails a specification
of the topic and makes clear what your thesis will discuss or what you will be researching. In
other words, it should be clear what the aim of the thesis is and why it is worth investigating. In
addition to these considerations, the problem formulation generally consists of a research
question and a number of sub-questions derived from the central research question. The
questions should be phrased in a way that it is possible to answer them within the scope of the
thesis.
The delineation of the topic and the problem formulation should be done within the broader
perspective of the research area. It should be clear how the research will contribute to on-going
debates, which means that it is important to do a thorough literature review to see what has
already been done.
Formulating a clear and concise research problem in advance will streamline the subsequent
process of research, as subsequent theoretical and methodological choices tend to flow from a
well-defined research problem. Therefore, do not rush this problem formulation. Although your
research questions may evolve during the writing process, they will become more concrete.
The Thesis Proposal Requirements
A good research proposal reads like a roadmap that specifies the necessary steps to answer the
research question in an academic fashion. It will not only help to think about the structure of
your arguments, but also about the problem definition and related research questions, the
theoretical and analytical framework, the purpose of data collection, how to accomplish this,
what methods to use to analyse the data and within what timeframe you plan to complete all
these different steps.
This means that there are a few necessary elements that each thesis proposal must contain.
The proposal should be around 10-15 pages and should include:
 A provisional title of the thesis.
 A brief introduction in which the topic and aim of the thesis are described. This requires a
justification of the topic in terms of academic and societal relevance (why is this topic worth
inquiring into? Why is this way of looking at the topic relevant for the broader field in which
the thesis is embedded?).
 A preliminary formulation of the problem, which outlines the specification of the topic
through the main research question that will be answered in the thesis. The problem
definition can be sharpened by answering the following questions: Can your problem be
analytically reduced to a series of smaller problems? What steps do you need to follow to
answer your research question? The research question should capture the entire scope the
research you are planning to do for the thesis.
 A theoretical framework, which consists of a brief literature review of relevant theories
and concepts. Relevance means that the review should have a function within the overall
argumentation structure, i.e. the theoretical framework needs to support the problem
definition and provide the theoretical levers to investigate the research question. It needs to
guide you when you are confronted with difficult decisions about how to handle difficult
data or how to proceed with the analysis.
 A short research design, in which the nature of the data collection and data analysis is
specified. This entails stating explicitly how the methods of data gathering and analysis will
contribute to answering the research question in their specific way (why these methods and
not others?). This will ensure the consistency between the different elements of the thesis
project, especially between the problem formulation and the methodology.
 A preliminary table of contents in which the different sections and subsections of the
thesis are outlined. It is important to try to substantiate each section and subsection by
giving a short statement on what will be discussed. It will help you structure further the
research and drafting process by making you aware of logical flaws in the argument you will
pursue.
 A preliminary bibliography. It is important to distinguish between primary sources (policy
documents, newspaper articles etc.) and secondary sources (traditional source material like

academic journals and books). This will indicate the extent of empirical material used in
relation to the theoretical material.
A timetable which indicates what tasks will be carried out, when they will be carried out
and in what timeframe. It is essentially a working schedule that is a reference point during
the research process and the writing process. It is important to set deadlines, as well as to
save room to deal with contingencies like delays. There are always unexpected events that
will require changing bits and pieces of the original schedule. It is therefore useful to revise
the initial timetable in dialogue with your thesis supervisor.
Note that for those students doing fieldwork in the Interpretative and Mixed Methods track, the
requirements for the thesis proposal might slightly deviate from what is specified above. What
the specific requirements are for this fieldwork proposal will be discussed thoroughly in the
Research Proposal Workshop (2 EC), in which the students will receive counselling and feedback
on how to write a proper research proposal before going into the field.
Supervision
Your supervisor(s) will guide you through the process of conducting your research and writing
the thesis. In the RMSS programme, you are responsible for finding a suitable thesis supervisor,
which means that it is important to discuss what the both of you expect from the supervision
process.
To find the right thesis supervisor, it is useful to see how your research interest links up with
the research topics of the faculty members within the area of your specialisation. The
specialisation tutor can be of help here by pointing out candidates based on your research
interest.
Generally speaking, you have two supervisors. Your thesis supervisor will be the one
responsible for working with you throughout the process of the research (proposal) and writing
the thesis. The thesis supervisor will give you advice (e.g. about relevant literature), motivate
you and will make sure that you are progressing. If you are not progressing, your thesis
supervisor will need to point you in the right direction and talk to you about how to prevent
further delay. The second reader will participate mainly in the approval of the thesis proposal
and the final grading of the thesis. This second reader is by default the specialisation tutor, but
can be changed with approval of the thesis supervisor and the specialisation tutor. Make sure
the right name of the second supervisor is filled out on the Research/Thesis Proposal Form.
It is important to openly discuss with your thesis supervisor your expectations about the
thesis supervision. This mainly concerns how often you will meet and what you will discuss
during those meetings: How often will your thesis supervisor read drafts and what kind of
comments will the thesis supervisor give? How often will you meet and how long? When do you
hand in drafts? After having agreed on a schedule of meetings and deadlines, make sure to
handing in your work in time, so your thesis supervisor is able to prepare properly for the
meetings. Indicate which parts are new or revised to ensure the efficiency of the process.
To prevent disappointment, discuss your ambitions with your thesis supervisor during the
first meeting. Your thesis supervisor can then accommodate his comments accordingly.
Writing Your Thesis
After completing the data gathering and parts of the data analysis, the writing of the thesis
begins. Before doing so, discuss with your thesis supervisor the main findings and ideas that you
have developed during your research. Take into consideration whether you have the necessary
information and if there are any holes in it. If so, discuss with your thesis supervisor possible
ways to overcome this problem. In case you find it difficult to start writing, go back to your
proposal and try start building your thesis from there.
The Thesis Format and Length
The programme requires you to write the thesis in the form of a manuscript for an academic
article, to be submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed academic journal. Requirements for
the manuscript will be decided upon in accordance with the thesis supervisor (and second
reader), taking instructions from the examination board into account. The manuscript should be
of a length between 7,000 and 15,000 words, and should be written in accordance with
established formats of the chosen journal(s) within the disciplinary and thematic field that fits
the research topic. In exceptional circumstances students can be given permission by their
specialisation tutor to write an ethnography instead.
A thesis should at least include the following elements:
 Title page, specifying the title, subtitle (if applicable), your name, you UvA ID number, the
name of the programme, the name of your supervisors and the date and place of submission.
 Abstract.
 Introduction.
 Body of the thesis, which is divided into sections and subsections, i.e. theoretical
framework, methodology and data analysis.
 Conclusion, in which the theoretical and empirical findings come together and are
presented and discussed.
 Bibliography.
 Annexes (if applicable).
Introduction
 Always try to keep your introduction concise. Whatever your choices, the introduction
should always have a clear statement of what the research problem is, why it is relevant
(theoretically and/or socially) and how you are planning to develop your argument(s). Try
to argue why you have chosen a particular approach and not an alternative route. Always
remember the larger theoretical framework which your particular research is part of.
 The introduction should tell the reader straight away what the thesis is about. This can be
done in many different ways. You can directly tell your reader, or you can do it in a more
playful way, by starting with an anecdote, a citation or anything else that leads to the subject,
and then state the problem that you want to deal with.
 Central Concepts: Give a short explanation of your approach and try to argue why this
approach has been taken and not an alternative route. Why have specific aspects been left
out? What does explain the focus of the thesis? How is it situated in the field? What are the
central concepts?
 Problem Formulation: State your questions and sub-questions clearly.
 Method: If you do not plan to have an extra “method-chapter”, you can also describe the
methods used in the introductory chapter although usually the methodology is presented in
a separate chapter.
 Do not use the introduction to describe in a lengthy way what you have not done and why.
This is not interesting to the reader and is therefore a waste of space.
Writing the Argument
You should strive for a systematically elaborated argument. Problem formulation, literature
review, theory and empirical results should be understandably and usefully related to each
other. The thesis should have a clear line of argumentation, with explicit “thinking steps” and
clear and logical transitions from one paragraph and section to the next.
In the body of your thesis you should generally include a literature and theoretical review
where you present what other researchers have said about the topic of your work. In this review
you can express which problems arise from existing approaches or subscribe to one. Always
remember that your work should try to expand existing knowledge; if you only present other
people’s ideas without critically overthinking them, your work will be incomplete. Try to be
creative, and although it is not expected from you to develop a completely new theory, the
originality of your arguments is crucial. In all cases, theories have to be clearly portrayed in a
way that shows understanding of your topic. Theoretical choices have to be accounted for.
Another important part of your thesis is the presentation of your findings and its analysis.
Here you are expected not only to present the data you gathered during your research period,
but also how the data is gathered and analysed or processed. You also need to clearly indicate
how the data can be linked to the theoretical section of your thesis/research.
Always try to keep your reader interested and guided. Present your arguments in a cohesive
and organised manner. Because you have been working on your thesis for a long time your
arguments might seem very clear to you, but remember that you are writing for others. An
interested reader should be able to understand your work despite the fact that (s)he may not be
a specialist in the subject.
Conclusion(s)
After the portrayal of the arguments and results of the research come the conclusions. Here the
questions asked in the problem formulation are explicitly answered. In the case that you posed
hypotheses, this is the place to present whether the research results confirm or refute these.
In addition, you may consider answering the following questions:




How far are the research results generalizable to other cases than those researched?
How do the research results relate to the findings and conclusions of other authors? Where
do results match, where do they differ, and how is this explained?
What has the research added to the theoretical or empirical knowledge about the topic at
hand?
What future line of research does your work open?
Depending on the aim of the thesis, it may also be valuable to provide an answer to (one or
more) of the following questions:



What does the research say about the adequacy of the methods followed and the materials
chosen? Can any methodological recommendations for future research be derived from
this? How could future researchers do a better job?
Which policy recommendations can be made on the basis of the research?
Which predictions can be made on the basis of the research?
Bibliography
An academic work should always include a bibliography where you list all the sources. The list
should be ordered alphabetically following the authors’ surnames. Articles from web pages
without listed author should be included in the end. In the case that the document and/or web
page comes from an organisation without listing the authors, the name of the organisation is
considered the author.
Although there is no one correct way of doing it, here are some examples of complete
biographical references according to different sources:
Books:
Surname author, first name or initials, (year of publication), Title of book (publisher, place of
publication).
Example:
Ignatieff, Michael, (1999), The Warrior’s Honour: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience,
(Random House, London).
Book chapters:
Surname author, first name or initials, (year of publication), “Title of article”, in name(s) of
editors, Title of book, (publisher, place of publication).
Example:
Salomons, Dirk, (2003), “Probing the successful application of leverage in support of
Mozambique’s quest for peace”, in Jean Krasno, Donald Daniel and Bradd Hayes (eds.),
Leveraging for Success in United Nations Peace Operations, (Greenwood Publishing Group,
Wesport).
Magazine articles:
Surname author, first name or initials, (year of publication), “Title of article”, in Title of journal,
Vol., No., pages.
Example:
Fogg, Richard Wendell, (1985), “Dealing with Conflict: A Repertoire of Creative, Peaceful
Approaches”, in The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 330-358.
Newspaper articles with author:
Surname author, first name or initials, 9year and date of publication), “Title of the article”,
newspaper (and section) name)
Example:
Rijn, T. van, (2007, 27 April), “PvdA party leadership steps down.” The Hague Amsterdam Times.
Newspaper articles without authors:
Newspaper (and section) name, year and date of publication, “Title of the article.”
Example:
The Hague Amsterdam Times (2007, 27 April), “Early dry conditions cause widespread fears.”
Web page with author:
Surname, first name or initials, (year of publication), Title of the article, complete URL and date
you visited the site.
Example:
Carr,
S.J.
(1999),
The
last
glacial
maximum
in
the
North
Sea.
http://www.brookers.ac.uk/charion/fakewebsite. (visited on 13 May 2004)
Web page not listing the author:
Title, date, complete URL and date you visited the site.
Example:
Global
warming
and
its
effects
on
Antarctic
Coast.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/story_13583.asp (visited on 25 June 2004)
(2003),
Web page from an organisation, not listing the author:
Name organisation, title (if known), (date (if known)), complete URL and date you visited the
site.
Example:
Universiteit van Amsterdam, http://www.uva.nl, (visited on 5 May 2007)
Quotes and Annotations
Annotation is the mentioning in your text of the source from which you have taken a quote,
information or ideas. It is preferred that you use the ‘Harvard Method’ of in-text annotation. In
this style, you add between brackets the author’s surname, year of publication, and page
number(s) from which your quote or idea(s) came from. When using annotations and quotes in
your papers and thesis, make sure it is always clear to the reader who is speaking, you the writer
or another author you are referring to or are quoting. Even though you are required to use
sources in your thesis it should be clear that in your thesis you need to state your argument! So,
a good written paper and thesis is not just a repetition and listing of quotes from others. Try to
say things in your own words as much as possible, but keep indicating where your ideas have
come from.
If there is only one author, the annotation should be: (Becker, 1987: 66). If there are two
authors: (Long & Jones, 2004: 89-94). More than two authors: (Lyons et al, 2001: 45). If you are
referring to a text on a website from an organisation or another publication of an organisation
without an author listed, the organisation is generally considered to be the author: (UvA:
website 2007)
Generally a quote longer than three lines should have smaller margins than the general text. For
example:
World politics today is a matter of life and death –not just for soldiers or citizens in the
path of war, but for the whole human race. Nuclear holocaust remains a continual threat.
At a less apocalyptical level, world politics has a daily impact on the lives of people
throughout the globe: political forces and decisions affect patterns of international trade,
investment and production (Keohane, 1986 : 1).
If you want to add something or slightly modify the quote you can do it between brackets. And if
you want to cut some part of the quote you add three points. For example:
World politics today is a matter of life and death … for the whole human race. Nuclear
holocaust remains a continual threat. At a less apocalyptical level, world politics has a
daily impact on the lives of people [by modifying economic structures] throughout the
globe (Keohane, 1986 : 1).
If your quote is shorter than three lines, you can place it as part of the main body of your work,
in that case you do not have to use italics but start and finish the quote with inverted commas.
For example:
Neorealist analysts usually centre their explanations of international relations in the sphere of
security and force. As Keohane states in his work, “world politics today is a matter of life and
death” (Keohane, 1986: 1). While acknowledging the importance of Keohane’s argument, this
thesis will present an alternative approach that will consider security and force as well as other
variables including principles and values.
In any case, all kind of documents that have been sources of quotes for your work should be
included in your bibliography. In the case of our example the bibliographical note should be:
Keohane, Robert. (1986). “Realism, Neorealism and the study of World Politics”, in Keohane, R.
(ed.) Neorealism and its Critics. (Columbia University Press, New York).
Thesis Evaluation and Graduation
On the programme website (http://student.uva.nl/rmss/az/item/graduation-cas-mas-idsresmas.html) you can find the planned graduation dates per academic year, along with the
concomitant deadlines for handing in the thesis. The final deadline for the thesis is the 1st of July
2015 for the graduation date of end of August 2015 (note that the graduation dates for the
academic year 2014-15 are still to be determined). The thesis should be handed in hardcopy to
both your thesis supervisor and your second reader. Inform both supervisors when the Thesis
Evaluation Form [see Annex 1] needs to be handed in at the Registrar’s Office in order for you to
graduate in time. A digital copy needs to be send to the Registrar’s Office (registrar-
gsss@uva.nl). More information on the graduation procedure can be found on the programme
website.
The quality of the final Master’s thesis is assessed by the thesis supervisor and a second
reader. The final mark is determined by the thesis supervisor together with the second reader.
The thesis supervisor and the second reader use a standard evaluation form (see Annex 1),
which is determined in advance and also specifies the grade. Make sure you have in mind the
criteria specified on the form when writing the thesis. The form will be handed in to the GSSS
registrar’s office.
In general, these are the criteria for judging the thesis;
 Problem formulation: clarity and precision, originality, argumentation and delineation; how
is the problem definition operationalized?
 Purpose and relevance of the research: is the purpose of the thesis clear; does the research
have scientific and/or societal relevance?
 Build-up of the argument: systematic elaboration of the problem definition, logical
consistencies, interrelatedness of separate parts of the thesis, clear line of argumentation,
well-founded conclusions.
 Knowledge of the topic of the thesis, partly shown in the way and extent to which the
literature is used.
 Scientific insight: how are theories and methodologies used, justification of theoretical
assumptions, description and application of theoretical concepts (consistency in use).
 Quality of the research: way of material collection, accounting for methods used and choices
made regarding research design, analysis of data.
 Controllability: precise references, correct quotation, complete bibliography.
 Language: precision, clarity, readability.
 Style: layout, spelling, punctuation, clear structure, headings, etc.
 Measure of independence in achieving points mentioned above.
 Measure of creativity in achieving points mentioned above.
PLAGIARISM
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, to plagiarise is to take the work or an idea of
someone else and pass it off as one’s own. This means that if you copy, paraphrase or translate
materials from websites, books, magazines or any other source in your thesis without giving full
and proper credit to the original author(s), you are committing plagiarism. If you do so, you may
be facing the possibility of expulsion from your programme and the University of Amsterdam,
not to mention having to live with the reputation of dishonesty.
The fair use of evidence from primary and secondary sources is the basis of academic
discourse. The abuse of this fairness undermines the very nature of scholarly research.
Plagiarism is a form of theft and fraud and should be avoided at all costs. If you find yourself in
doubt about quotation or correct use of a source, it is always a good idea to provide full
information. Your thesis supervisor or specialisation tutor can help you if you have doubts.
On the programme website you can find more specific information on the rules and
regulations
regarding
plagiarism
and
academic
fraud
(http://student.uva.nl/rmss/az/item/plagiarism-and-fraud.html).
ANNEX 1: Thesis Evaluation Form
Thesis Evaluation Form: Research Master Social Sciences (RMSS)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Research question(s): Clarity, quality, motivation and importance.
2. Literature review: Clarity, quality and comprehensiveness.
3. Arguments and claims: Clarity, quality, and creativity.
4. Research design: Clarity, relevance, quality.
5. Empirical execution: Clarity, quality, relevance of empirical research design and its execution.
6. Conclusions: Clarity, relevance, quality.
7. Writing clarity and quality.
8. Process: autonomy, timeliness, etc.
9. Overall grade