Expectations
- Students are advised to apply the skills, knowledge and competences aquired in the methods courses they were offered either at the bachelor or master stage of their studies.
- Supervisors cannot train students on methodology, but they can offer advice on additional readings (e.g., method books). Furthermore, supervisors can help students in resolving questions and problems related to this stage of the process.
- If students need advice from their supervisor in this respect, they should either send them (few) specific questions and/or a short summary with main points for the supervisor.
Course that train students for this part
- Examples of methods courses on Master level:
- Market Ethnography
- Research Methods in Strategy and Organization
- Research Methods for International Market Analysis
- Applied Analytics; Big, Small, and Deep Data
- Examples of methods courses on Bachelor level:
- Kvalitative metoder og vidensprocesser
- Videregående kvantitative analyser
- Markedsanalyse (Negot)
- Anthropological Fieldwork Methods (MMA)
General advice & answers to FAQ
- What to include in the methods section? Typically, most theses include the three following elements:
- Philosophy of science, the section that links method to theory and offers a meta perspective. In this section, the students are expected to position their work in light of existing perspectives
- Methods and data collection information. This part includes for instance whether a survey, interviews or another method is used for data collection. It also explains what (type of) data are collected and why.
- Analysis procedure. This part details the procedure followed, such as coding, statistical analysis.
- Students should start with method planning and data collection early and have a backup plan as in some cases, it might not be possible to collect the desired data.
- Students need to be able to justify their methodological choices; why is this method/type of data/interpretation best suited to tackling the thesis’ research question?
- Supervisors will not provide answers to specifics of data collection such as the appropriate number of interviews. This type of decision is part of method planning and data collection. However, the students can ask for supervisors’ evaluation of the intended methodology and data.