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

In this seminar, students have the opportunity to receive individualised and continuous support in the process of researching and writing their theses/internship reports, as well as preparing for the oral defence. In it, students:   

- develop their work within the set deadlines, in a phased manner, with the necessary quality associated with the delivery and defence of the thesis or report;

- discuss the lecturer's assessment of each of these phases of work, allowing them to continually refine their work at a thematic, theoretical and methodological level.

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)

Teresa Paula Almeida Cravo

Assessment Methods

Continuos Assessment
Delivery of 4 chapters of the dissertation during the academic year, worth 25% each: 100.0%

Bibliography

- BUI, Y.N. (2019) How to write a master's thesis (3^rd ed.). Sage Publications

- CALDAS-COULTHARD, CR, and COULTHARD, M (2023) Texts and practices revisited: essential readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. Routledge

- CAMPBELL, DT, and YIN, RK (2018) Case study research and applications: design and methods (6^th ed.). Sage Publications

- CRESWELL, JW, and Creswell, JD (2022). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (6^th ed.). Sage

- FLICK, U. (2022) The SAGE Handbook of qualitative research design. Sage

- HARRIS, DJ (2020) Literature review and research design: a guide to effective research practice. Routledge

- JACKSON, PT (2010) The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations: Philosophy of Science and Its Implications for the Study of World Politics. Routledge