• Demonstrate the ability to produce a qualified piece of research within the tourism and hospitality field independently that applies relevant methods and theories;
• 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 field;
• 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;
• Critically reflect on theoretical and practical aspects the finding;
• To follow academic conventions in the written and oral presentation.

The master’s project is the final assignment required to complete the study program. The project must be within the programs profile and is to be motivated by a problem in tourism and hospitality that is relevant to the study program. The problem is to be addressed through acknowledged research methods and should contain an empirical part as well.

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). The topic and research question then needs to be approved by the course coordinator. Students embark on independent research activities over multiple weeks 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.  

Two workshops will be offered to present and discuss the project with academics and other students (for peer-group-feedback).

This course literature depends on the project chosen by the student and needed to be identified by them. Additionally, we recommend the following readings:

• Alvesson, M. & Sandberg, J. (2011). Generating research questions through problematization. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 247-271.
• Byron, K., & Thatcher, S. M. (2016). Editors’ comments: “What I know now that I wish I knew then”—Teaching theory and theory building. Academy of Management Review, 41(1), 1-8.
• Kock, F., Assaf, A. G., & Tsionas, M. G. (2020). Developing courageous research ideas. Journal of Travel Research, 59(6), 1140-1146.
• MacKenzie, S. B. (2003). The dangers of poor construct conceptualization. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 31(3), 323-326.