Description
Students will be assessed with a 5000 word written which can take the form of an essayor a research paper (excluding appendices, references, abstract, foot- and endnotes and tables). Students are free to choose between these two forms.
The aim of both modes is to improve academic writing and analytic skills. Such skills will not only benefit those who aim to pursue an academic career but also those aiming to find employment in public policy, in the non-governmental sector, in private research agencies and in the media. The ability to write focused texts in unambiguous prose and the capacity to identify relevant materials in relation to a certain issue or question and draw the correct conclusions from them are skills that are highly valued in many contexts and thus constitute resources alumni can draw on for the rest of their lives.
The choice for the two different modes of assessment is deliberate as it permits training in a wide variety of such skills. In an essay students address a certain debate, theory or major scholarly work and formulate their own position in response. They need to develop and support this position with a string of convincing arguments using relevant literature. In a research paper students design and carry out a mini-research project. A research paper can be seen as a mini version of the dissertation and thus offers good training in preparing the dissertation research (including developing a manageable research question) and writing the dissertation.
In composing an essay, students learn
to craft a clear position in response to a certain debate, theory or scholarly work
to present good arguments in support of this position and refute arguments countering this position
how to use sources to develop one’s own arguments
how to clearly state one’s own view as distinct from those of the consulted authors
In carrying out a research paper, students learn
how to write a focused, analytic and feasible research question
how to make a case for this research question
to find and present relevant theoretical perspectives regarding this research question
to identify relevant data or secondary sources
to identify and apply the most suitable research method
to draw the correct inferences from the empirical material and present the findings in such a way that they address the research question and the relevant theoretical perspectives
