Seminar : Support in Methodology

Teacher(s)

Jojczyk Joanne; Philippette Thibault; Standaert Olivier;

Language

French

Content

The accompanying seminar aims to help students to begin the dissertation exercise and more specifically to: 

• Circumscribe their research object (in Information and Communication Sciences)
• Know how to problematize and pose a central question to their research
• Know how to do a state-of-the-art and build a bibliography according to APA standards using an appropriate tool (Zotero)
• Build a theoretical framework
• Learn to read and synthesize a scientific article
• Building a research methodology

In addition, the seminar helps students choose the type of dissertation and promoter that best suits their subject. 

Teaching methods

The seminar is composed of theoretical sessions given by the teachers and punctuated by the continuous evaluation quizzes.
Some sessions are common and others are specific to one Master.
The sessions are given in priority in presence (not at a distance).

Evaluation methods

First session
Mini-quiz at the end of each session (S1-S6): If 7/10 or more is obtained during the test, point acquired for this part. At the end, a student can therefore acquire up to 6 points out of 20.
Final written exam in the form of a Maxi-quiz for 14 points out of 20. 
Second session 
Final work taking into account the normal progress of a student at the end of the first Master.
A 15-page paper (excluding appendices) including:

• A presentation of the research topic or project and a documented justification of the issue addressed in relation to his/her Master's degree 
• A synthesis (possibly integrated) of at least ten scientific articles closely related to the research topic  
• The drafting of a problematic with reference to the articles treated and the proposal of a central research question well formulated and justified on the basis of one or more issues related to his/her discipline/master's degree 
• A proposal for a methodological device for data collection adapted to the project and realistic to implement. In the appendix, this system should be represented graphically and each tool/method justified by clear research objectives. 
• A substantial indicative bibliography formatted according to APA standards
• A provisional research schedule for the second year of the Master's program (in the form of a Gantt chart) 

Continuous assessment is no longer taken into account during the second session, the work being worth 100% of the final grade

Other information

This course is given in French.
English-friendly course
Questions: students may ask questions in English
Dictionary: students are allowed to use a dictionary (monolingual French dictionary or bilingual French-mother tongue dictionary, as indicated by the teacher), including for the exams.
Note: the course materials and the exam are mostly in French.

Online resources

Notes and materials will be available on Moodle
https://moodle.uclouvain.be/course/view.php?id=5224

Bibliography

Quivy, Raymond, et Luc Van Van Campenhoudt. Manuel de recherche en sciences sociales. 6e édition revue et Augmentée. Paris: Armand Colin, 2022.

Faculty or entity

COMU