Students are expected to attend the various research seminars and workshops offered in the school throughout the semester.

The purpose of the dissertation is to encourage students to undertake independent economic research and to foster research-related skills, which should benefit future study and employment.

On successful completion of this dissertation students will be able to:

1	Demonstrate specialist knowledge in the area of their research
2	Demonstrate the ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions
3	Demonstrate the capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research
4	Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and synthesize research-based and scholarly literature
5	Present research findings and argument in a suitably structured and sequenced thesis that conforms to protocols of academic presentation and research practice
6	Demonstrate the ability to critique literature and conduct analyses at a Masters level.

There are no required resources for this course.

A bibliography must be included. Since different journals use different methods, it is necessary to choose one method and stick to it consistently. For some guidance concerning bibliographical methods, consult one or more of the references listed in the Barr Smith Library subject catalogue under the heading "Dissertation, Academic"; for example, Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Dissertations.

Students are recommended to consult the Writing Centre at the University for writing and language questions.

Unlike standard coursework, research is a relatively unstructured activity. While students of this course may be required to attend a Thesis Workshops, student must self pace and self monitor their own progress. One to one guidance is provided in supervision sessions. Regularity of supervision will be set in accordance with their supervisor.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This course is 9 units and therefore students are expected to devote 36 hours per week to this course.

1. The student is to prepare a short proposal of the research area and central work of literature idea not later than one week before the beginning of the semester and submit this to the Course Co-ordinator.
2. Approval to enrol must be obtained from the Program Co-ordinator before the semester starts. A supervisor will be assigned by the Course Co-ordinator once approval is granted.
3. The student is to arrange a first meeting with their assigned supervisor within the first 2 weeks of semester. In this or a subsequent meeting the student and supervisor decide on a structure and sections of the dissertation.
4. Students are expected to submit written drafts of each section to the supervisor. The supervisor is then expected to provide a constructive and critical assessment of the work submitted and make a note of the comments given.
5. For each section of the dissertation, the supervisor is expected to read and comment on the section once. The student is then expected to revise these sections, and submit the combined work as the final version to the supervisor.
6. Upon receiving the final version of the dissertation, assessing the content, and the decision of the final mark, the supervisor is expected to provide a short report (half a page to one page in length) on the student’s work – including the strengths and weaknesses of the dissertation.
7. Throughout the semester students are encouraged to attend the Monday's Thesis Workshops and the Friday's Seminar.

Students interested in undertaking the dissertation must first consult with the Academic Program Coordinator during the prior semester of the program.

There are two different formats the dissertation might take which will also dictate the kind of research involved in writing the dissertation:

1. The student works on a project that makes use of original empirical material/data that they have access to. This might involve working with an outside co-supervisor (for example, someone from the student’s current or former workplace), but still requires principal supervision from an academic staff member of the School.

In this case, students would need to discuss their proposal in detail; first with the Program Coordinator and then, if approved, with the assigned supervisor at the School. Whilst the student would be focused on making use of empirical data, relevant literature would clearly need to be referred to in order to represent thorough research practices. Although an econometric or applied economic investigation is the most common, and recommended, form other acceptable methodologies are conceptual research work, case studies and original surveys.

2. The student carries out a comprehensive literature review and the dissertation takes the form of a critical assessment of the current state of knowledge, comparable to an article in the Journal of Economic Surveys. The student might suggest one paper (either a journal article or a working paper), book, policy issue or other suitable object whose in-depth, critical assessment will form the central core of the dissertation. Approval by the Program Coordinator requires agreement by the potential supervisor that the topic and/or the core paper chosen by the student contains an appropriate quantity and level of economics and is suitable for such a dissertation.

To write a critical assessment, students need to carry out background reading, review references listed in the paper and independently identify further relevant works. There is a need for the student to clearly locate the paper being examined within this body of literature, as well as demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical and/or empirical material in the paper, and provide critical assessment and policy implications.

Topics for Dissertation

As mentioned above, students are responsible for proposing the topic of the dissertation, although they can discuss their area of interest and a general idea for a topic with the Program Coordinator, who can assist them to narrow down the topic if necessary.

Some examples of previous dissertations are:

Theoretical Analysis: The Possibility of a Sino-Australia Free Trade Agreement (2004)

Empirical Analysis: The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on the Host Country Export: In the case of Thailand (2004)

Empirical Analysis: The Causality between income and Energy Consumption: A Panel Vector Autoregressive Approach (2007)

Literature review and critical critique: Does Good Policy Impact Effectiveness and Allocation of Aid? (2007)

100% Final dissertation paper

Attendance at the Thesis Workshops may be required.

The standard of English expression is expected to be high. Students may wish to consult references listed in the subject catalogue of the Barr Smith Library under the heading "Style, Literary". While supervisors will offer reasonable assistance, the writing of a dissertation is the student’s task and students must not expect the supervisor to convert careless or poor prose into good English.

The length of the dissertation will be decided in coordination with the supervisor and the course coordinator, but will be typically in the 6000 - 9000 words range.

There should be a title page showing:

• The title in full
• The full name and degrees of the candidate
• The School in which the candidate submitted the work
• The degree for which the dissertation is submitted
• The date of submission
• The declaration.
• The declaration includes the signature and date and the following paragraph. "Except where appropriately acknowledged this thesis is my own work, has been expressed in my own words and has not previously been submitted for assessment."

There should be a brief (less than 1 page) abstract preceding the text of the dissertation. This should indicate the aims, scope and conclusions of the dissertation, as well as the word count.

The dissertation must also include a bibliography. See under Recommended Resources above.

The exact submission date and procedure will be posted on MyUni before the start of the semester.

The supervisor and the second reader will mark the work independent from each other. The total mark is the average of the two marks. If the two marks differ by more than one grade, the course coordinator will reconcile the marks with the help of a third reader.

In assessing theses, examiners look for the following attributes. Depending on the format of the thesis not all of these criteria are appropriate in each case.

1. Topic; is it well-defined, justified, and suitably motivated?

2. Structure; is it logical, coherent, and well explained?

3. Literature context; does the dissertation exhibit knowledge about the larger literature?

4. Understanding; is a thorough understanding of the methods and tools used in the literature evident?

5. Independent thought; does the analysis demonstrate originality and independent thought?

6. Conclusions; are conclusions and implications clearly drawn and are the limitations of the study identified?

7. Quality of presentation, is the language clear and understandable, is the use of tables, diagrams and other figures appropriate and well executed, and are formal conventions like footnoting and referencing followed?


High Distinction:
The dissertation excels across most of the range of the described attributes and shows at least high competency in all of them Percentage Range: 85-100

Distinction:
The dissertation will be at least highly competent across the attributes, and probably excel in at least one of them. Relative weaknesses in some areas may be compensated by conspicuous strengths in others Percentage Range: 75-84

Credit:
The dissertation will show competency across most of the attributes, though may have inadequacies in a few of them Percentage Range: 65-74

Pass:
The dissertation contains some serious inadequacies. However, to obtain a pass rather than a fail the dissertation must show some understanding of research topic and evidence of independent analysis Percentage Range: 50-64

Fail:
Given when the student displays little understanding of the relevant economic ideas, and fails to meet the criteria for a pass Percentage Range: less than 50