MA Thesis Seminar

Course code: BUS698

Term and year: Winter 2026  

Day and time: Monday-Thursday, 10:00-13:25

Instructor: Emel Yarimoglu

Instructor contact: emel.yarimoglu@aauni.edu

Consultation hours: Monday 13:30-14:00

 

Credits US/ECTS	3/6	Level	Master
Length	12 class meetings	Pre-requisite	-
Contact hours	42 hours	Grading	Letter Grade

1.    Course Description

The primary aim of this course is to introduce students to quantitative as well as qualitative research methods to develop a well-grounded thesis proposal. Basic knowledge of these methodological approaches is absolutely critical to the comprehension of academic publications, the evaluation of empirical studies and the design of own academic or corporate research projects. Students will be guided through all phases of the research project – from creation of research questions to the interpretation of results. The approved thesis proposal, one of the requirements for passing the Thesis Seminar, will be the main output of the course.

 

2.    Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

·         Explain fundamental research approaches pursued by scholars.

·         Create a valid and appropriate research question.

·         Collect relevant theoretical and empirical knowledge, critically evaluate it and use it for problems in hand, for example for construction of hypotheses and research design.

·         Identify the methodological approach that is most suitable to investigate a given research question.

·         Define, identify, collect, organize and present data or evidence necessary for addressing the research question.

·         Choose an appropriate empirical test and perform it. This includes employment of most important statistical indicators such as correlation and regression as well as non- statistical methods.

·         Interpret the results technically and confront them with relevant theoretical and empirical knowledge and answer the research question accordingly. If applicable, perform sensitivity tests and interpret results with respect to them.

3.    Reading Material

Required Materials

Textbook (available for loan in the library):

• Joseph F. Jr. Hair, Robert P. Bush, David J. Ortinau (2000). Marketing Research: a practical approach for the new millennium. McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0-256-19555-2
• Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2019). Research Methods for Business Students. Pearson. ISBN 1292208783, 9781292208787

 

List of required articles:

 

• Praharaj, S. K., & Ameen, S. (2025). Aim, Research Questions, Objectives, and Hypotheses-Which One and How to Write in a Manuscript?. Kerala Journal of Psychiatry, 38(1), 84-88.
• Jesson, J. K., & Lacey, F. M. (2006). How to do (or not to do) a critical literature review. Pharmacy education, 6(2), 139-148.
• Chand, S. P. (2025). Methods of data collection in qualitative research: Interviews, focus groups, observations, and document analysis. Advances in Educational Research and Evaluation, 6(1), 303-317.
• Noble, H., & Smith, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: a practical example. Evidence-based nursing, 17(1), 2-3.
• Albers, M. J. (2017). Quantitative data analysis—In the graduate curriculum. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 47(2), 215-233.
• Kivunja, C. (2016). How to Write an Effective Research Proposal for Higher Degree Research in Higher Education: Lessons from Practice. International Journal of Higher Education, 5(2), 163-172.

 

Recommended Materials

• Naresh K. Malhotra (2021). Basic Marketing Research. Pearson.
• Saldaña, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage.
• Patton, M. (1990). Purposeful Sampling in Qualitative evaluation and research methods (pp. 169-186). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
• Elo, S., & Kyngäs, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of advanced nursing, 62(1), 107-115.
• Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. The qualitative report, 8(4), 597-607.
• Taherdoost, H. (2017). Determining sample size; how to calculate survey sample size. International Journal of Economics and Management Systems, 2.
• Shapiro, S. S., & Wilk, M. B. (1965). An analysis of variance test for normality (complete samples). Biometrika, 52(3-4), 591-611.
• Lilliefors, H. W. (1967). On the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality with mean and variance unknown. Journal of the American statistical Association, 62(318), 399-402.
• Williams, B., Onsman, A., & Brown, T. (2010). Exploratory factor analysis: A five-step guide for novices. Australasian journal of paramedicine, 8, 1-13.
• AAU online databases. (Access will be provided by AAU Library: students need to visit AAU Library in person; it is strongly recommended to do so in the first week of semester or before (the registration takes around 14 days). Access is required after 3rd week of semester). Relevant databases:
• Academic databases (JSTOR, PROQUEST, SpringerLink etc.)
• Industry data databases - (statistical offices, World Bank, OECD)
• Daily press and magazines databases (Ebsco, PressReader)

 

4.    Teaching methodology

The course will consist of twelve interactive lectures. Students will read case studies which have discussion questions and present their responses to discuss with peers in class every day. In parallel, students will work on their major assignments individually to develop a thesis proposal at the end of the semester. Students will present their individual work based on the assignments below and get individual feedback. Students will study developing their thesis proposal during the semester. In the classroom, the main topics will be supplemented by presentations, short case studies, research problems, and further readings. At the end of the course, a thesis proposal should be held as a result of the assignments. 

 

5.    Course Schedule

Date	Class Agenda
Session 1 7 January	Topic: Thesis writing and developing a research topic Description: Purpose of research, research process, thesis template Reading: Hair et al. Chapter 2 Assignments/deadlines: A1 assigned
Session 2 8 January	Topic: Research questions, objectives, and aims Description: finding the topic, clarifying research questions, timing. Reading: Hair et al. Chapter 3 Assignments/deadlines: case study
Session 3 12 January	Topic: A1 submission, presentation, and discussion Description: Research topic, research questions, objectives, aims Reading: Praharaj and Ameen, 2025 Assignments/deadlines: A2 assigned
Session 4 13 January	Topic: Identifying the right literature Description: literature review, deductive approach, inductive approach, secondary data Reading: Hair et al. Chapter 4 Assignments/deadlines: case study
Session 5 14 January	Topic: Research design types Description: exploratory, descriptive, causal Reading: Jesson and Lacey, 2006 Assignments/deadlines: case study
Session 6 15 January	Topic: A2 submission, presentation, and discussion Description: literature review Reading: Chand, 2025 Assignments/deadlines: A3 assigned
Session 7 19 January	Topic: Qualitative research: data collection and analysis Description: Focus group, interview, content analysis, thematic analysis Reading: Hair et al. Chapter 8 Assignments/deadlines: case study
Session 8 20 January	Topic: Quantitative research: data collection Description: survey, observation, experiment, measures, questionnaire Reading: Hair et al. Chapter 9, 10, 12, 14 Assignments/deadlines: case study
Session 9 21 January	Topic: Quantitative research: sample and analysis Description: probability sampling, nonprobability sampling, sample size, frequencies, descriptives, regression, correlation, difference tests Reading: Hair et al. Chapter 11, 16, 17 Assignments/deadlines: case study
Session 10 22 January	Topic: A3 submission, presentation, and discussion Description: Thesis proposal submission including research aim, research questions, literature review, hypotheses, and qualitative and quantitative research method propositions that will be used in the study. Reading: Noble and Smith, 2014 Assignments/deadlines: Final Presentation assigned
Session 11 26 January	Topic: Final Presentations Description: Presentations of thesis proposals including A1-A2-A3   Reading: Albers, 2017 Assignments/deadlines: Thesis Proposal assigned
Session 12 27 January	Topic: Finalizing Thesis Proposal Description: Final thesis topic, topic selection, report discussions Reading: Kivunja, 2016 Assignments/deadlines: All submissions

6.    Course Requirements and Assessment (with estimated workloads)

Assignment	Workload (hours)	Weight in Final Grade	Evaluated Course Specific Learning Outcomes	Evaluated Institutional Learning Outcomes*
Attendance	42 hours	10%	Active participation; engagement in team tasks.	2; 3
In-class discussion	15 hours	5%	Ability to understand the essence of the problem. Ability to formulate relevant questions.	1
A1: Topic, aim, objectives, RQs	20 hours	20%	Ability to identify relevant data and relevant literature. Ability to perform interpretation. Ability to present results.	1; 2; 3
A2: Literature review	25 hours	22%	Ability to collect and process relevant literature. Ability to create a literature review. Ability to present results.	1; 2;3
A3: Research methods	30 hours	25%	Planning the collection and organization of data. Ability to present results in a clear way.	1; 2; 3
Thesis Research Proposal and Presentation	18 hours	18%	Presenting a thesis research proposal in a comprehensive way. Ability to present results in a clear and comprehensive way.	2; 3
TOTAL	150	100%

*1 = Critical Thinking; 2 = Effective Communication; 3 = Effective and Responsible Action

 

7.    Detailed description of the assignments

In-class discussion: Case studies and class discussion

There will be case studies assigned to you during the semester on different topics. You should follow the instructions and answer the questions. You are responsible for participating in all class discussions.

 

Assignment 1: Selecting the research topic, defining the aim, specifying the objectives, and finding the Research Questions (RQs)

a.  Find at least two topics that you want to search about. Explain main aims of the topics and show the importance of each topic.

b.  Briefly review the literature, then choose one of these topics. Explain why you selected this topic by showing the gap in literature. 

c.   According to gap in literature, redesign research aim, specify research objectives and develop RQs.

d.  Present your studies in the class for around 20-25 minutes.  

This assignment should be around 3 pages (around 7000 characters including spaces) in MS Word document. References will not be included in the page number. Use APA style for all references. Due date is always prior to the class. All submissions should be uploaded to NEO.

   

Assessment breakdown for A1

Assessed area	Percentage
a.    Topic, aim, importance	20%
b.    Review and gap	30%
c.    Aim, objectives, RQs	30%
d.    Present your study	20%

 

Assignment 2: Literature Review

a.  Review previous studies regarding your topic on Google Scholar and academic databases. Analyze at least five articles on your topic.

b.  Based on your literature review, redefine the gap in literature. Show how your previous aim and RQs fit into this review. Finalize the aim and RQs of the study. (You can reformulate aim and RQs, if you need.)

c.   Present your studies in the class for around 25-30 minutes.

This assignment should be around 4 pages (around 9000 characters including spaces) in MS Word document. References will not be included in the page number. Use APA style for all references. Due date is always prior to the class. All submissions should be uploaded to NEO.

 

Assessment breakdown A2

Assessed area	Percentage
a.    Literature review	40%
b.    Gap and RQs	30%
c.    Present your study	30%

 

Assignment 3: Research Methods

Use one of the techniques of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, and develop two different research designs for your study:

 

1. Qualitative research methods: Focus group, interview, secondary data analysis

2. Quantitative research methods: Survey, observation, experiment

You will focus on Research Methodology in this assignment. For each technique above, formulate questions in data collection, identify the right sample and sampling size, suggest the most suitable data analysis techniques to analyze data.

You will not conduct any research and so you will not collect data nor analyze it. You will just develop research designs in order to solve the problem in your topic. Present your studies in the class for around 25-30 minutes.

 

This assignment should be around 4 pages (around 9000 characters including spaces) in MS Word document. References will not be included in the page number. Use APA style for all references. Due date is always prior to the class. All submissions should be uploaded to NEO.

 

Assessment breakdown A3

Assessed area	Percentage
a.    Qualitative research design	35%
b.    Quantitative research design	35%
c.    Present your studies	30%

 

Thesis Research Proposal and Final Presentation:

You will develop a thesis research proposal at the end of the course. This proposal should be written in MS Word around 10 pages. References will not be included in the page number. Use APA style for all references. Due date is the last day of the classes (10:00 27^th January). All submissions should be uploaded to NEO.  

 

After preparing the thesis research proposal, you will present your studies at class. This presentation should cover all studies developed throughout the semester. Duration will be maximum 40 minutes. The presentation should be in PPT or Canva. Due date is always prior to the class (10:00 26^th January). All submissions should be uploaded to NEO.

 

Structure for the Proposal and Presentation:

1. Introduction (scope of the topic, importance, aim, research questions, timeline)

2. Literature Review (previous studies, gap, hypotheses)

3. Proposed Research Methods

   3.1. Qualitative (Data collection, sampling, data analysis)

   3.2. Quantitative (Data Collection, sampling, data analysis)

4. Conclusion (explain which technique you would choose and why, explain how data collected by this technique will contribute to literature/theory/implementations)

5. References

 

Assessment breakdown Thesis Research Proposal and Final Presentation

Assessed area	Percentage
a.    Research Proposal academic content quality: topic’s relevancy, literature review precise, proposed research design	30%
b.    Research Proposal sections accuracy and flow of the topic	20%
c.    Research Proposal timeliness (submission)	10%
d.    Presentation content, manner, quality	20%
e.    Presentation timeliness (submission and duration)	20%

 

8.    General Requirements and School Policies

General requirements

All coursework is governed by AAU’s academic rules. Students are expected to be familiar with the academic rules in the Academic Codex and Student Handbook and to maintain the highest standards of honesty and academic integrity in their work. Please see the AAU intranet for a summary of key policies regarding coursework.

Course specific requirements

There are no special requirements or deviations from AAU policies for this course.