• Demonstrate the ability to independently produce a qualified piece of research that applies relevant methods and theories and fulfills standards of academic writing
• Document in-depth knowledge of the subject of the thesis, including the conditions and circumstances in which it is embedded
• Formulate a research question that has relevance to the programme and steers the research process
• Motivate the choice of theory and/or other prior literature used to address answer the research question
• Motivate the choice of methodology used to address the research question
• Document the analysis through the selection and processing of primary and secondary sources and/or the development of instantiations of a problem solution
• Discuss the quality of the analyzed sources or solutions, including their appropriateness in terms of providing answers to the research question
• Explain and evaluate the overall coherence between: the research question, the selection and use of theory, the applied method, the analysis, the conclusion, and the generalizability of the findings
• Discuss the findings of the thesis in the overall perspective of a theoretical science perspective

The master’s thesis is the final assignment required to complete the Cand.merc.(it) study programme. The subject of the thesis must be within the programme profile’s particular academic identity and theoretical field(s).

The thesis is to be motivated by a problem with relevance to the contents of the study program. This problem is to be addressed through acknowledged research methods including, but not limited to, the use of empirical research methods and/or design-oriented methods.

Students identify a potential topic and develop their research approach under the guidance of a supervisor. Finding a supervisor is in the responsibility of the students (see my.cbs.dk). Students embark on independent research activities over multiple months in which they also successively write up their work. 

The supervisor can be used to give feedback at multiple stages of this process, for example, on the topic delimitation, planned methodology, thesis structure, as well as on drafts of individual chapters of the thesis. Supervisors are not supposed to review drafts of results and conclusion sections of the thesis before the final hand-in deadline.  

Article-based master's thesis:

In special cases, the research conducted in the master’s thesis may lend itself to a format that is suitable for presentation to an academic audience. In these cases, students are allowed to agree with the supervisor to write a master thesis that takes the format of a research article. When writing an article-based master’s thesis, the thesis appendix is to be used more extensively than normal to document details of the literature review, methodology, analysis, and any other information that is relevant to understand the results described in the article sections.

Main Category of the Course:

• Information Systems
• Business economics
• Organizational theory