Econ 420: Dissertation
The dissertation is a substantial piece of independent work where students apply research techniques and relevant economic theory to a research topic. This can be an area which has attracted attention during the course of your studies or may be linked to an aspect of your professional working experience.
Students choose their topics during the Lent Term, in consultation with their MSc Director. On the basis of the research proposal, students are assigned to an appropriate member of staff who acts as a supervisor and provides guidance on the structure and content of the research work.
Two (compulsory) Dissertation Seminars take place in the Lent Term. In the first, the Programme Director describes the dissertation structure, its objectives, data, writing, supervision and an outline timetable for each component. The supervisor-student relationship and what each should expect from the other is also discussed.
The second set of Dissertation Seminars is programme-specific (MSc MBF or MSc IB) and consists of staff members giving brief presentations about their own research interests.
The course Econ 420 Dissertation starts in Week 21 Summer Term and has two components:
Dissertation Taught Component
This component is designed to equip students with the research techniques and analytical tools needed to undertake their Dissertation. The taught component runs for the first five weeks of the Summer Term. The assessment for this component consists of a 1,500-word essay in which students generate and manipulate a dataset and provide an economic interpretation of the results. The weighting of this component is 20 per cent of the Dissertation mark. Students are expected to begin their Dissertation by reviewing the relevant literature for their chosen dissertation topic while taking this taught component.
Dissertation Research Component - an individual 15,000-word project
This component consists of the supervised independent work on the chosen research topic. The weighting of this component is 80 per cent of the Dissertation mark.
