Plan for Dissertation / Work Project / Internship Plan

Code:

2ECON05

Acronym:

PDPPPE

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Economics

Instance: 2020/2021 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Agrupamento Científico de Economia
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Economics

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
ME	50	Bologna Syllabus	2	-	7,5	56	202,5

Teaching language

Portuguese and english

Objectives

The course intends to teach students principles of research methodologies, to be applied in the preparation of a plan of dissertation/ project/ internship. Throughout this process the student should define and develop the research theme. In addition, a student’s supervisor should also be appointed, who will follow the process that will result in the preparation of the plan of dissertation/ project/ internship.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the course the student is expected to have:

i)  identified and motivated the research question of the dissertation/ area on which the internship/ project report will focus, the objectives, and the expected contributions/ relevance of the research;

ii)  done a literature review on the subject;

iii)  identified possible methodologies, in light of the literature and in accordance with the defined objectives;

iv)  defined the research work timeline.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Part I. RESEARCH PROCESS

 

1.1 Research question;

1.2 Exploratory readings;

1.3 Theoretical framework: theories and concepts;

1.4 Model analysis and research hypotheses construction;

1.5 Methodology;

1.6 Collecting and treating the data;

1.7 Conclusions.

 

2.1 Rules for presentation of dissertations and reports;

2.2 How to structure a scientific work;

2.3 Academic integrity.

 

 

 

Part II. RESEARCH METHODS

  

3.1 Key concepts (bibliometrics, scienciometrics, meta-analysis);

3.2 Bibliometrics as a tool for literature review;

3.3 Data, sources, variables & methods;

3.4 Practical application of bibliometrics using Scopus Sci Verse and Web of Science bibliographic databases.

 

4.1 Data collection: Introduction;

4.2 Steps of research process;

4.3 Data collection;

4.4 Sampling (first concepts): probabilistic methods (systematic sampling; stratified sampling; cluster sampling; multistage sampling); non probabilistic methods (convenience sampling; snowball sampling; quota sampling);

4.5 Sample survey/questionnaires: sources of information; how to make a questionnaire; rules; assessing questionnaires; measurement scales;

4.6 General overview of some Statistical Databases available in FEP.

 

5.1 Parametric and non parametrical statistical tests: introduction; types of data; descriptive statistics; distributions, inference and hypothesis testing (assumptions and applications); parametrical tests (T-Student test for 1 population; T-Student test for 2 independent populations; T-Student test for 2 paired samples; ANOVA); non parametrical tests (normality tests; Wilcoxon test for 1 population; Mann-Whitney test for 2 independent populations; Wilcoxon test for 2 paired populations; Kruskall-Wallis test for k independent populations); correlations; Chi-Square independence test;

5.2 Multivariate data analysis: data matrix and variables; types of methods; multiple regression; MANOVA; discriminant analysis; factorial analysis; principal component analysis; cluster analysis (hierarchical method; K-means).

 

6.1 Social network analysis: social networks, interactions between actors; professional social networks, e.g. LinkedIn; social network analysis: the role of actors in the network, centralities and influence; communities and interactions; information diffusion in social networks.

6.2 Sentiment analysis: opinions in the digital age: social media, blogs, tweets, etc.; text mining: identifying entities, and polarity.

  

7.1 Object and method of Econometrics;

7.2 The linear regression model;

7.3 Qualitative dependent variable models;

7.4 Time series models.

  

8.1 Qualitative research;

8.2 Theoretical frameworks: narrative inquiry, phenomenology, ethnography, generic qualitative inquiry, action-research, grounded theory;

8.3 Qualitative designs;

8.4 Data collection: observation, interview, focus-group, life stories, netnography, visual methods.

8.5 Data analysis: content analysis (using or not NVivo11);

8.6 Advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research.

8.7 Ethical considerations.

 

Mandatory literature

Bibliografia a ser recomendada durante as aulas/video-aulas; Bibliography to be recommended during lessons/video-lessons;;

Teaching methods and learning activities

Classroom lessons, video-lessons and individual and group tutorial sessions.

The video-lessons are available in Moodle course: Plano de Dissertação / Projeto / Estágio: Metodologias de Investigação.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	20,00
Trabalho escrito	80,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	15,00
Elaboração de relatório/dissertação/tese	100,00
Estudo autónomo	31,50
Frequência das aulas	56,00
Total:	202,50

Eligibility for exams

There are no attendance requirements.

Calculation formula of final grade

 1) Examination components: Initial report (written report: 20%); final report (written report: 60%); presentation and discussion of the final report (oral presentation: 20%).

2) The non-submission of the reports by the deadline or the absence from the oral presentation will imply the assignment of a grade of 0 (zero).

3)  The approval to this course requires obtaining a minimum grade of 9.5 points (out of 20) in the final report.

4) Exceptionally, in duly justified situations directly related to the Master in Economics, the oral presentation may be undertaken via video conference.

5) Given the specificity of this course, there is no final exam.

Important deadlines:

i) preliminary enrollment in the course, which implies sending a document with the name of the student, the provisional theme of the dissertation/ internship report/ project report, the name of the supervisor(s) (FEP), the name of the host institution´s internship/ project supervisor(s), and a brief description of the research to be carried out (1 paragraph) – October 2, 2020 (Friday);

ii) delivery of the initial report - November 8, 2020 (Sunday);

iii)  delivery of the final report - January 10, 2021 (Sunday);

iv) delivery of the document underlying the oral presentation – to be defined;

v) oral presentation – to be defined (between February 1, 2021 and February 10, 2021).

Examinations or Special Assignments

Given the specificity of this course, there is no final exam.

Classification improvement

Given the specificity of this course, there is no regime for grade improvement.

Observations

Horários/schedules: ME1, Português; ME2 English.