Due to the pandemic, all sessions have been made online available on blackboard. On April 27th students will receive an email with instructions. Deliverables for this course are: - Complete all online tests after watching the videos - Complete the first and second assignment and submit via email to lu.bai@fu-berlin.de - Each student will get individual feedback on both assignments close

The colloquium will assist students with the design, research and writing of their MA’s thesis. In early sessions we will examine the “nuts and bolts” of the research process including: the move from a broad, undefined research interest to a narrow, researchable focus; the formulation of a good research question/problem; the characteristics of effective argument; appropriate use of sources, and the finer points of style and organization. Some sessions in this course are online tutorials, others are discussions in the classroom. In order to take part in each classroom discussion, quizzes for every online tutorial have to be completed in advance. Later sessions will provide students with the opportunity to practice designing their own thesis project. Students will present twice their thesis project. As their first presentation, students are asked to present an outline of their research projects for feedback from the instructor and fellow students, including research topic, thesis structure and research design and method. As their second presentation, student present their more developed and polished thesis project, that incorporated all the comments received previously, and also includes a clearly defined research gap and data collection plan. close

• Wayne C. Booth et al. (2016) The Craft of Research, 4th ed., University of Chicago Press. • George, Alexander L. and Bennett, Andrew. (2005). Case studies and theory devel-opment in the social sciences. London, MIT Press 2005. close