ECM110-Dissertation

Module Provider: School of Politics, Economics and International Relations
Number of credits: 40 [20 ECTS credits]
Level:7
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring / Summer module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites: ECM103 Research Methodology and ECM104 Quantitative Research Methods
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Prof Giovanni Razzu
Email: g.razzu@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:
The students are required to produce a significant, in-depth analysis of a relevant topic in modern economics. Students will be required to demonstrate that they have mastered the various abilities needed to do original research and to communicate their ideas in a standard format required of the economics community.

Aims:
The primary focus of this module is to learn how to apply the concepts taught in the other masterô€€’s modules in this programme in a coherent and informative fashion as it relates to investigating an economic problem. Students must demonstrate the ability to clearly define a research issue, develop an appropriate research design, properly structure a coherent research proposal, provide thorough and succinct analysis of the relevant theoretical and empirical literature, collect appropriate data if needed, provide a systematic, objective and carefully structured analysis of the information collected, draw relevant conclusions from the analysis and relating these to the existing literature, and demonstrate the originality of their research.

Assessable learning outcomes:
Students should become familiar with, and master the skills required to conduct modern original research in an appropriate area of economics. This process will require students to produce coherent proposals, in-depth literature reviews, and concise descriptions of the methodologies needed to complete the economic investigation into their chosen topic. In addition, students will have to demonstrate an ability to acquire relevant data, undertake modern economic analysis of any data or mathematic al models, draw conclusions from their analysis and convey this information in a coherent written form which conforms to current economic standards.

Additional outcomes:

Students will be required to complete a coherent piece of original research which explores a relevant economic issue. In the process of completing these tasks, they must learn skills required to do relevant research, write reports, understand technical articles, and apply theoretical knowledge to real world situations.

Outline content:
Students will be required, in consultation with and the approval of their supervisor, to produce an original dissertation that conforms to current economic standards. This will require students to produce an acceptable proposal of their ideas and subsequently to produce written work of sufficient quality to demonstrate their ability to apply their economic knowledge in a new and original manner to an appropriate economic topic or question.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Students will be required to consult with their dissertation supervisors over the course of the academic year. While research methods are taught in separate modules, supervisors are an important source of further guidance. Students will be required to read a significant amount of journal articles, and to undertake research using the library, internet, etc., to produce high quality written drafts and final documents.

Summative assessment- Examinations:
There is no examination.
In exceptional cases students might be asked to attend an oral examination following the submission of their dissertation.

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Assessment is comprised of a dissertation proposal (10%) and the final dissertation (90%). Proposal: Students will be required to submit a dissertation proposal written with the approval and guidance of their supervisor detailing:

• The dissertation titleÌý


• An introduction to the topic, providing a justification and preamble of why this subject is interesting, background to the topic, i.e., historical/causative events that have combined to form the nature of the issue being researched; the expected value of the research in terms of possible outcomes;


• A research question stating precisely what the primary (and if necessary, secondary) areas of enquiry are;


• The relevant theoretical framework/s within which the research question will be studied. Appropriate academic references should be included at the end of the proposal;


• The proposed methods of research, models, and techniques of analysis that you will utilise in answering your research question;


• An outline plan of the dissertation in terms of chapter headings and a brief outline of the proposed contents. Although there is no official length requirement for the proposal, a guideline of between 1500-2000 words is suggested.

The dissertation proposal - once accepted - will account for 10% of the final mark. The proposal should be submitted byÌýthe last Friday of the Spring term for the approval of the Dissertation supervisor.

Final Dissertation: The completed dissertation is expected to be approximately 10,000 – 12,000 words in length: excluding references and appendices. The dissertation has a weight of 90% of the final mark. On-line submission, together with the completed plagiarism declaration form, must be submitted byÌýthe first working day of the first week in September of the academic year. Students may request an extension (by submitting a completed extenuating circumstances form) in advance from the Senior Tutor and are advised to do so in good time. If an extension is granted and the dissertation submitted by the revised deadline no penalty will be applied. Extensions will only be granted for good reason. Ìý

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

The below information applies to students on taught programmes except those on Postgraduate Flexible programmes. Penalties for late submission, and the associated procedures, which apply to Postgraduate Flexible programmes are specified in the policy 􀀓Penalties for late submission for Postgraduate Flexible programmes􀀔, which can be found here: