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

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. 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. A regular schedule would be a meeting at least once every month.

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 together with the second part is 12 units, so 6 units per semester.

1. The student is to prepare a one page proposal of the research idea no 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 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. At the initial (or a subsequent) meeting the student, with approval of the supervisor, will decide on the exact research question, the paper to review or materials to use as well as the relevant 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 the individual sections, and submit them combined as the final version to the supervisor.
6. Upon receiving the final version of the dissertation, assessing the content, and deciding upon the 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 supervisor (for example, someone from the student’s current or former workplace), which still requires some co-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, 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)

This is part one of a two-course sequence, so no separate assessment will take place in this part. The complete sequence will be assessed by a Final dissertation paper (100%)

This is part one of a two-course sequence, so no separate submission will take place in this part.