Research Seminar

Recommended Prerequisites

An average grade of 14/20 in the first year seminars is necessary to transition to the second year.

Research methods.

Knowledge of techniques and styles of academic writing.

Teaching Methods

Seminar: sessions of presentation and debate on the evolution of the research work. Evaluation defined according to the regime of periodical evaluation.

Learning Outcomes

This seminar aims at overseeing the students in the process of writing their Master thesis/internship report within the Master in International Relations, as well as contributing to the preparation of the oral defence of their work. The Seminar has two specific objectives: the conduct of research work within the defined deadlines, with the quality necessary for concluding the Master programme, which entails the discussion of theoretical, thematic and methodological issues; and, towards this goal, the discussion of the research progress.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The Seminar envisages supporting the students in the writing up of their Master dissertations. As such, the syllabus reflects a gradual approach to the work to be developed aiming at assuring that, by the end of the Seminar, the dissertation is ready to be submitted or at the last stages of revision. It should be noted that the seminar functions in articulation with the students’ own supervisors. This curricular unit consists of sessions in which the themes, and the theoretical and methodological framings of the thesis or report are presented and discussed. More specifically, students present, submit in writing and receive feedback on their thesis’ or report’s introduction and four chapters, followed, at the end of the semester, by simulations of the public defense.

Head Lecturer(s)

Horácio Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho Marques Bicho

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

BOX-STEFFENSMEIER, J. et al – The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology, Oxford, OUP, 2010.

BUI, Yvonne N. - How to write a master's thesis. Thousand Oaks : Los Angeles, 2009. [BP 001.8 BUI]

HART, Chris - Doing a literature review : releasing the social science research imagination. London : Sage Publications, 2009. [BP 303 HAR]

JACKSON, P. T. – The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations: Philosophy of Science and Its Implications for the Study of World Politics, London, Routledge, 2010.

PATTON, Michael Quinn – Qualitative research and evaluation methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications, 2002. [BP 303 PAT]

WESTON, Anthony - A rulebook for arguments. 4th ed. Indianapolis : Hackett Publishing Company, 2009. [BP 001.8 WES]

YIN, Robert – Case study research : design and methods. 4th ed. Los Angeles : Sage Publications, 2009. [BP 303 YIN