PSY4090 ¨C Master's thesis in Psychology

Course content

The master thesis is an independent scientific paper. It shall fulfill the requirements to form and content that is the standard within the field of research that the thesis focuses on, whether it be an empirical or theoretical thesis. A thesis seminar is to take place either before or in the early days of the master thesis work.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

You shall be able to

• Present a written scientific work
• Describe and sum up a specific theme in psychology
• Discuss your choices of scientific methods
• Combine and compare different theoretical viewpoints and research results in an exact scientific way

Skills

You shall be able to :

• Evaluate the applicability of the chosen research design and methods of analysis
• Formulate clear and concise thesis questions, in addition to your own research questions and hypotheses
• Discuss and evaluate research results and psychological theory
• Present research results and psychological theory in a exact scientific manner, including correct references of literature that covers the field.
• Argue for different interpretations of research results and their relevance for psychological theory
• Present conclusions of research based on scientific criteria
• Uphold research ethics

General competence

Through the thesis work you shall demonstrate the ability to treat a defined theme in a professional, ethical and precise manner within a limited time frame. In addition you shall develop an awareness and understanding of research ethics and dilemmas.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

Progression rule: If you have failed more than 10 study points in the 1st year of the programme, you are not allowed to start the master thesis.

Teaching

The teaching is connected to the work with the thesis and has the form of an individual or collective supervision. All students must have a supervisor with sufficient scientific competence.

Individual supervison

The students are themselves responsible for finding a supervisor. The supervision agreement must be signed by both parties within 1st of September. If you are having difficulties finding a supervisor, please contact the coordinator for your master option. It is possible to hand in the agreement prior to the deadline.

You can read more about supervision in the document concerning requirements

A project plan is to be set up by the student and agreed upon by the supervisor within September 15th in the third semester. The supervisor approves the plan by registering the thesis project in ForskPro.?

As?the?work may involve laboratory and/or field work, you should consider taking out a separate travel and personal risk insurance.?Read about your insurance cover as a student.

Examination

Before submitting the master thesis, the student must have completed the following mandatory activities:

• Obligatory activity 1: Handing in supervision agreement within 1st of September
• Obligatory activity 2: Set up a project plan and have it approved by supervisor within the 15th og September?

Formal requirements

The scope of the thesis is described on the page Master Thesis in Psychology: Guidelines and Requirements.

Handing in the master thesis

The deadline is set to medio May or October (one semester late). The thesis must be uploaded to DUO vitenarkiv and Inspera within the deadline.

Using prior exam submissions:?You are allowed to re-use texts from your own prior exam submissions in the courses PSY4110 and PSY4521 without having to refer to them.?

Is the thesis work delayed and you need to ask for an extension?

You may apply for an extended submission deadline on the basis of illness (or other valid reasons) that takes place shortly before the submission deadline, or, if for other reasons you are not able to finish within the deadline, you can to apply to postpone the submission until the next semester. To apply for an extension, please use the following form: nettskjema.no/a/255206.?

Grading of the thesis

The master thesis is graded by one internal and one external examiner. Please refer to the quality criteria in Master Thesis in Psychology: Guidelines and Requirements

APA 6 or 7is the standard for referencing in master theses at the Department of Psychology.?

Examination support material

All exam support materials are allowed during this exam. Generating all or part of the exam answer using AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar is not allowed.

Language of examination

You may write your thesis in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

When the committee has agreed on the grade, you will be given a written report commenting on the strong and weak points of the thesis. The grade is to be found in Student Web.

Resit an examination

A master thesis that has been given A-E, cannot be submitted in an altered version. A thesis that has been given F, can be submitted within an agreed deadline and with a substantially altered content.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.