COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: THESIS

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
ECO 550	E	4	3	0	0	3	18

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	Prof.Dr. Güngör Turan gturan@epoka.edu.al
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Prof.Dr. Güngör Turan gturan@epoka.edu.al , 16.00-18.00 PM Thursdays
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Compulsory
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Master of Science in Economics
Classroom and Meeting Time:	E213, 18.00-20.24 on Mondays
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:	no
Course Description:	This course is aimed at giving the student the opportunity to independently and under a professor’s supervision to conduct and finalize the research required for graduating in the master’s program. During this course students will develop major components of the thesis, write the thesis following the universities rules and regulations (mainly APA writing standards), collect data (from primary or secondary sources), analyze the data, and formulate conclusions and/or policy implications. Student will discuss with the assigned supervisor all the steps necessary for successfully completing the thesis and presenting it during the course and the final defense.
Course Objectives:	Students will complete their thesis by identifying a unique research question, the literature review leading up to the question and hypothesis, the methods to answer the question and test the hypothesis. Students will carry out the proposed methods and discuss their results in the context of the literature. Students will demonstrate an ability to organize and express their ideas in accordance with accepted academic norms and ethics.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	master thesis
2	abstract
3	introduction
4	theoretical literature review
5	empirical literature review
6	data collection
7	modeling and methodology
8	empirical analysis
9	conclusion and recommendations
10	the list of references

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Identify research question
2	Draft abstract
3	Draft introduction
4	Conduct literature review
5	Draft literature review
6	Develop methods
7	Draft methods chapter
8	Carry out methods; record results
9	Write up results chapter
10	Contextualize results in the light of literature
11	Write up discussion chapter
12	Integrate chapters to complete first draft
13	Revisions
14	Revisions; develop presentation for defense

Prerequisite(s):	no
Textbook(s):	no
Additional Literature:
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:	EViews/Stata
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Students will identify a significant research question
2	Students will contextualize the question and hypothesis in the literature of the field
3	Students will develop a hypothesis
4	Students will develop methods to answer the research question and test the hypothesis
5	Students will carry out planned methods
6	Students will present results in the light of academic norms
7	Students will contextualize results and discuss the limitations and significance of the study in light of literature
8	Students will follow ethical standards and academic norms in documenting sources
9	Students will demonstrate an ability to conduct research, think critically, and organize ideas in effective ways
10	Students will defend their research

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Master of Science in Economics Program
1	Students apply advanced knowledge in economics	5
2	Students explain the interaction between related disciplines and economics	5
3	Students apply scientific methods to address economic problems	5
4	Students define existing theory in a specialized branch of economics	5
5	Students critically evaluate knowledge in economics and carry out advanced research independently	5
6	Students develop economic models and formulate policy options	5
7	Students make an original contribution to the discipline	5
8	Students effectively communicate in a variety of professional and academic contexts	5
9	Students will develop new strategic approaches for unexpected, complicated situations in economics and take responsibility in solving them	5
10	Students uphold and defend ethical values data collection, interpretation and dissemination	5
11	Students use advanced empirical analyses to address social problems	5
12	Students interact with professional networks in their field of specialization	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Project	1	100
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	3	48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	16	42	672
Mid-terms			0
Assignments			0
Final examination			0
Other	1	30	30
Total Work Load:			750
Total Work Load/25(h):			30
ECTS Credit of the Course:			18

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER

The students will gain the skill to do a research in the end.