ANTH4092 – Master's Thesis

Knowledge

• Deep understanding of the anthropological research process.
• Experience-based knowledge.
• Knowledge of how your own data, collected during fieldwork, can be connected to analytical issues within social anthropological theory, and can be put in a comparative perspective.
• Knowledge of how to apply and reflect on key methodological and theoretical tools that allow you to analyze different types of data.

Skills

• Ability to complete and present an independent scientific work in an ethically sound manner
• Ability to present your research results in a way that meets scientific criteria.
• Ability to analyze, disseminate and present social and cultural phenomena in written form
• Ability to find and put into context relevant literature.

General competence

• Respect for scientific values, such as openness, rationality and precision, and ability to distinguish between research-based knowledge, practice-based knowledge and "perception".
• Enhanced ethical awareness concerning the various problems that may arise during research and the writing up of research results.
• Enhanced capacity to adhere to the principles of academic honesty, integrity, and responsibility when it comes to your research and to other professional work.

Students must be enrolled in the master’s programme in Social Anthropology.

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 in the Master's Programme in Social Anthropology, please see our admission requirements and apply, and see the information on application and admission to master's degree programmes at UiO.

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

The master's thesis will be produced during the third and fourth semesters.

In the spring semester the teaching in this course consists of two seminars, which will extend and solidify previous work done with the ANTH4091 Writing Ethnography.

Compulsory activity:

Students in their final semester must fill in and submit a reporting form. This web form is not used to register for the exam. You must already be registered for the course and the exam in Studentweb to submit your master’s thesis. The department uses the reporting form to prepare for the upcoming written and oral exams. The deadline for handing in the form is announced in Canvas. Usually, the deadline is in February/March in the spring semester and September/October in the autumn semester.

Submission of the reporting form will be assessed as Approved/Not approved.

This compulsory activity must be approved in order to take the exam.

In the event of illness or other valid reasons, you can apply for a valid postponement of compulsory activity. Apply for valid absence from or need for postponement of compulsory activity

The final master's degree exam consists of a master's thesis and an oral examination.

In the spring semester the deadline for submission of master's theses is usually in May. Most oral exams will take place in June, and some in August. In the autumn semester the submission deadline is usually in November with oral exams in December and January.

The master’s thesis and the oral exam are assessed by an examination committee consisting of two examiners, and at least one of them will be external, i.e. not hold a position at the University of Oslo.

As soon as possible after the submission, and minimum seven days before the oral exam, you will be notified of the time and place for the oral exam, as well as who the examiners are.

Standard for the master's thesis:

The scope of the master's thesis is 27 000 - 33 000 words.

Included in the word count:

• Front page Front page example Template for front page
• Abstract *
• Table of contents
• Footnotes

Optional to include in the thesis, but will be included in the word count:

• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• List of figures, maps etc. after the table of contents
• Abbreviations after the table of contents

In addition to the word count:

• Reference list
• Appendices

* In addition to submitting the master's thesis you are to submit a separate summary of the thesis. The summary must be identical to the abstract in the thesis. The summary (approximately 300 words) must be pasted into Inspera as part of your exam.

Standard for master's thesis

Examiner guidelines

Formatting:

Line spacing is usually one and a half (1,5).

Text size: Standard text sizes are usually 11 for modern fonts, such as Calibri, or 12 for traditional fonts, such as Times New Roman.

Notes: May be footnotes or endnotes in each chapter or at the end of the main text.

♦ More about formal requirements and formatting

References:

Provide references at the end of the thesis, after notes. Use double line spacing. The bibliography should only include texts that are referred to in the thesis.

♦ More about reference styles

Table of contents:

The table of contents should clearly mark what are chapters, sub-chapters, or parts. Avoid marking sub-chapters with numbers (ex. 2.1, 2.3.3 o.s.v.) in the final version.

See Microsofts help pages on how to create and format table of contents:

♦ Create table of contents

♦ Formatting table of contents

Title page:

The title page should include the candidate’s name, title and subtitle, semester and year of submission, and institutional affiliation: Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo. You should not include your candidate number.

♦ Template for title pages for master’s thesis

Sources and citation:

You should familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to the Use of sources and citations at UiO and Sources and referencing at the Faculty of Social Sciences. If you violate the rules, you may be suspected of cheating/attempted cheating.

You must choose one reference style and use it consistently throughout the thesis.Follow the instructions on how to cite: Referencing and Sources and referencing.

Submission of the master's thesis:

• How to submit and print your thesis
• Postponed submission of the master's thesis

The oral examination:

The oral examination will only be held if the master's thesis receives a passing grade.

Remember to bring your identification to the oral exam. Student ID, passport, driver’s license and Norwegian ID-card are all valid forms of identification.

Before the oral exam, the examiners hold a pre-examination meeting where the supervisor is present to clarify ambiguities and answer questions the examiners may have. The supervisor leaves the meeting before the provisional grade for the master's thesis is determined. The supervisor does not attend the oral exam.

The examiners will inform you of the provisional grade for the master's thesis and give an explanation for it when you present yourself for the oral exam. You can choose not to be informed about the provisional grade until after the oral exam is completed.

The oral exam lasts for about an hour and usually takes place just after the pre-examination meeting:

• The oral exam consists of a conversation between you and the two examiners about the submitted thesis.
• The examiners may raise all kinds of questions linked to the thesis and its generation. For example, they may ask questions about the use of analytical perspectives, the argument, the thesis' structure, specific research findings, the fieldwork or the data production, and about issues tied to research ethics.
• You are not to give a prepared presentation of the thesis.
• You should bring a copy of the thesis to the exam and may take notes should you wish to do so.

Your performance in the oral exam may be used to adjust the final grade. The final grade can differ no more than one grade from the provisional grade for the master's thesis; You can either keep the grade, get one grade lower or one grade higher. The committee will inform you of your final grade immediately after the oral exam.

Only the final grade will appear on your master's diploma.

Diploma:

When you have completed the study programme, your digital diploma is issued automatically after a few weeks. More information on digital diploma, diploma on paper, diploma supplement, urgent issuing of diploma, and diploma with improved grades.

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

The oral exam will be in English or Norwegian. The department will strive to accommodate language preferences, but if you have written your thesis in English, your examiners may be English-speaking.

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.

Also see Grading guidelines in social anthropology.

Explanations and appeals:

During the oral exam the examiners give an explanation for the preliminary grade and present their evaluation of your master's thesis. No additional explanation will be given.

You can appeal against the grade awarded for the master's thesis.You cannot appeal against the adjusted grade on the oral examination.

• Appeal against grades at UiO

Two new examiners will reassess the thesis if you appeal. You will get a new oral exam if the new grade differs from the original preliminary grade awarded for the thesis. If the new result does not differ, there will be no new oral exam.

A master’s thesis that is not passed may be resubmitted only once, and then within the agreed time and in revised form. A master’s thesis that is passed may not be resubmitted in revised form.

If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline, this will be counted as an examination attempt.