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Masaryk University Faculty of Economics and Administration

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• Doctoral studies
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Public Economics

The main objective of the doctoral study programme is to extend existing knowledge achieved during the Master’s degree study programme in the areas of public economics, public administration and the nonprofit sector. Students coming from other study programmes receive the chance for re-profiling in these areas. The study focuses on scientific research and independent and creative practical or theoretical work in the areas of research and development. Students will receive in-depth orientation in various modern approaches to the theory and practice of public economics, public administration and the nonprofit sector.

Available dissertation topics

Health care financing reforms in eastern european countries.

Health care financing is an important limiting element in the development of health care in Eastern Europe, especially in a difficult economic situation. Negative experience in creating reimbursement mechanisms that would support economic efficiency and high quality of care is also a problem.

Objective: Analysis of health care reform reforms and identification of common trends and national differences.

The supervisor for this topic is Professor Martin Dlouhý . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Evaluation of geographic inequalities in public sector

The market allocates resources according to willingness and ability to pay, not according to needs of local population. But the geographic inequalities in public services are clearly the results of state planning. In the public sector, the equal access to services is one of the main public policy objectives. Therefore, any variation in the distribution of resources may be understood as a result of wrong state regulation.

Objective: to measure and evaluate the inequalities in geographic distribution of public services.

Exploring Socio-Cultural Dynamics in Trust and Risk Behavior: An Experimental Inquiry

Annotation: The thesis focuses on the relationship between social identity, trust, and risk-taking behaviors within specific socio-cultural contexts among different groups. Utilizing incentivized economic games in strategic and non-strategic frameworks, the study aims to explain the dynamics of trust, pro-social behavior, cooperation, and risk-taking within and across these groups. In diverse socio-cultural contexts, such behaviors are crucial for understanding the effectiveness of public policies that promote equity, social welfare, and economic efficiency. Including experimental designs to explore the influence of social identity provides a comprehensive approach to understanding how these factors impact economic decisions.

Goal: How trust, trustworthiness, expected trustworthiness and risk-taking are influenced by social identity in diverse social contexts.

The supervisor for this topic is Miloš Fišar . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Pension systems challenges in the 21st century – impact on fiscal sustainability and adequacy

Pension systems in developed countries have undergone many reforms over the last 50 years. These have aimed at achieving long-term financial sustainability of the system while maintaining the meritocracy of the system. However, the reforms have often resulted in a deterioration of pension rights for current and future pensioners and failed to address the issue of sustainability. At the same time, it is clear that the principles on which pension systems have stood for the last 100 years are being exhausted and are unable to respond flexibly and adequately to the challenges of the 21st century. Examples include the differential impact of reforms on individuals with different life expectancies, the impact of the decoupling of the income and expenditure side of the system from the demographic behaviour of households, the effects of the inappropriate setting of pension funds on future income adequacy, or the declining cohesion of society resulting from the increasing role of education in differentiating the life paths of individuals. The above examples will frame the shape of pension systems and their reforms over the next 50 years. This research will aim to identify and assess the impact of selected aspects of pension systems that will fundamentally shape their design and reforms over the next 50 years.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Robert Jahoda . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Effectiveness of social transfers

Effective social policy is based, among other things, on the assumption that social benefits are utilised by the households targeted by the measure and at a designed level to help households address their social situation. In reality, however, there are cases where a household finds a way to draw social benefits to which it is not entitled. However, the opposite can also be identified, where a household entitled to a benefit does not draw it. Both of these cases distort the effectiveness of the social policy. Although the research results are mainly applied, we find this issue also in the academic literature. Research in this area should combine quantitative and qualitative methods. It aims to answer the question of which social benefits are prone to 'misuse' and why. It also identifies groups of households and their living situations that are less affected by efficiency.

The second possible branch of research focuses on fiscal instruments of family support. The family policy relies on social benefits, tax credits and public services with the increasing influence of tax credits. They differ from traditional benefit instruments in some aspects. These include the issue of eligibility for benefits, the issue of administrative costs and the issue of work incentives.

The aim of the dissertation is to assess the effectiveness of selected social and family policy instruments, taking into account the concept of equity and efficiency applied in economics. In particular, attention will be paid to their redistributive capacity, work incentives, eligibility and policy transparency. The research can focus on the perspective of the Czech Republic and other developed countries (possibility of comparison).

The Fiscal Illusions

There are many papers in the economic literature that deal with the creation or testing of various hypotheses used to measure the effects of fiscal illusions. The aim of the thesis is to design, conduct and publish an empirical study that attempts to either find and demonstrate a particular instance of an existing fiscal illusion in current public finance systems, or to measure the effects of a selected fiscal illusion.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Ivan Malý . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Competitiveness of healthcare markets

Healthcare markets have traditionally been subject to numerous government regulations. Their reactions, given by the interaction of supply and demand, depend to a large extent on the degree of their competitiveness. The aim of the thesis is to describe, measure and evaluate the competition in a selected segment of health markets in terms of scope, importance, influence on the behavior of providers/payers, etc.

Lobbying as a tool for influencing public policy

Choosing this topic assumes that the candidate will specify, in dialogue with the supervisor, the specific problem he or she wishes to address in the dissertation. The aim of the thesis may be, for example, to evaluate the effectiveness of lobbying, to propose appropriate regulation, to measure the degree of influence of interest groups, etc.

Corruption and political responsibility - the political factors of corruption

Objective: The objective of this thesis is to identify the political determinants of the corruption through a quantitative analysis of the dependence of the level of corruption on the level of political responsibility, and to propose steps to improve the quality of the political environment limiting the risk of corrupt behaviour.

Quantitative analysis can be supplemented by qualitative analysis of corruption cases in selected country.

Annotation: This thesis focuses on the factors of corruption growth resulting from the political environment. The research issue is the correlation between the level of corruption and the level of political responsibility. The research object (in case of a quantitative analysis ) is a sample set of countries of the world economy. The research object (in case of a qualitative analysis) is a sample set of corruption cases in selected country.

The complexity of the research object in the space of the world economy implies a high degree of abstraction in research of a secondary nature, which will focus, given the availability of data, on selected indicators of political responsibility assessment (for example the level of democracy reflecting political competition, the transparency of the political system determined by the freedom of the press – you should also identify other indicator throught theoretical analysis). The key research methods are the methods of classification analysis, comparison and abstraction in the development of the theoretical-methodological framework; the methods of causal analysis and comparison in solving the set research questions/testing hypothesis; and the methods of synthesis and partial induction in conclusions and methodological recommendations in relation to ensuring the enforceability of political responsibility and reducing the risk of corrupt behavior initiated by political factors. Secondary data collection is done through constructive method and its processing and evaluation through statistical methods with emphasis on cross correlation analysis (quantitative analysis). Primary collected data collection are processed and evaluated through case study method (quanlitative analysis). The expected contribution of the thesis is the proposal of steps to improve the quality of the political environment in order to reduce the risk of corrupt behaviour.

The supervisor for this topic is Professor Beáta Mikušová Meričková . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Evaluation of impacts of selected administrative reform

Public administration is reformed on continuous basis. However post-communist countries represent a specific context for administrative reforms (literature discusses focus, extent and success of administrative reforms in these countries in comparison to developed countries, also special theories like the theory of the neoweberian state have been discused with regards to specifics of public administration in transition/developed countries). In its theoretical part, the PhD thesis should address possiblities and difficulties of evaluation of administrative reforms (inc. the topic of their unexpected effects and paradoxes). In its empirical part the thesis should focus on evaluation of a selected reform (a comparative perspective can also be applied).

Aim: Based on secondary sources on evaluation of administrative reforms and data obtained through his/her own research, the PhD candidate is expected to evaluate impacts of selected administrative reform and lay down recommendation for improvement for practitioners.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor David Špaček . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Performance measurement and performance management

Annotation: Performance measurement and performance management are typical New Public Management instruments, used in the public sector also today. Their current use is connected with certain benefits, but also critical implementation problems. The task would be to select concrete public sector/ public administration subsystem and to analyze the use of performance measurement and management, to determine main factors and barriers related to their use.

Goal: Evaluation of the functioning of the concrete performance measurement/ management system, defining main factors and barriers determining the performance of such system.

The supervisor for this topic is Professor Juraj Nemec . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Budgeting and financial management on the local level

Annotation: The quality of local budgeting and local financial management represent one of core determinants of local performance. However, in many countries local self-governments still use old-fashioned approaches, their budgets just show revenues and expenditures and cannot be effectively used for managerial purposes. This is true also for large cities, where local self-governments manage significant amounts of own and transferred resources. In many cases, the budgeting process is also not supported by already available technologies.

Budgeting, including local budgeting represents the area of significant potential innovations – like performance budgeting, participatory budgeting, SDG budgeting, gender budgeting, green budgeting etc. The level of implementation of these instruments is also very different between countries.

Goal: Determining factors and barriers of the quality of local budgeting and local financial management in selected countries, preferably in the comparative perspective.

Contracting/outsourcing in the public sector

Annotation: Contracting/ outsourcing are typical New Public Management instruments, used in the public sector also today. Their current use is connected with certain benefits, but also critical implementation problems. The task would be to determine the scope of contracting/ outsourcing and its success in the selected public sector area.

Goal: Evaluation of the functioning of the concrete contracting/ outsourcing scheme, defining main factors and barriers determining the performance of such system.

Intentions and reciprocal behavior

This topic proposes to study the importance of intentions on reciprocal behavior. The key contribution will be to design a series of experiments that will allow to vary the level or nature of intent as opposed to only controlling for intent as observed in the existing literature (Cox, 2004; Charness, 2004; Cox and Deck, 2005; McCabe, Rigdon, and Smith, 2003). The research will involve laboratory and field experiments and might be conducted as a cotutelle (double degree) under the supervision of Prof Maroš Servátka at Macquarie Business School in Sydney.

The supervisor for this topic is Professor Jiří Špalek . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Social influence in charitable giving

Charities often publicize generous contributions as fund-raising strategy and encourage individuals to donate more. This topic proposes to analyze the effect of social influence in charitable giving and experimentally test the conjecture that different types of social information about other donors’ decision will have different effects on donors. The research will involve laboratory and field experiments and might be conducted as a cotutelle (double degree) under the supervision of Prof Maroš Servátka at Macquarie Business School in Sydney.

Uncovering Motives for Volunteering and Charitable Giving

Volunteering is often a two-stage process. People first register their interest to volunteer and then, on the day, they decide to whether to indeed volunteer or not, if asked to. For example, in some countries people first decide to join a blood or bone marrow registry and later, when approached by the registry, decide whether to actually donate or not. This two-stage decision is particularly interesting from the perspective of moral consistency and moral licensing academic debate in social psychology. According to moral licensing, behaving in a moral or sociably desirable way, such as signing up for a registry, might result in people later on being less worried about the negative consequences of their subsequent actions and thus displaying behaviors that are in contrast with their original choices. For example, they may not volunteer when contacted by the registry when there is an urgent need for their help. Moral consistency gives the opposite prediction – to stay consistent with the initial action of joining the registry the individual will be more likely to volunteer when contacted later on. Getting an individual to sign up for the registry might also increase psychological affiliation with the registry´s administering organization, and more so the higher cost to sign up. The time dimension between has been shown to influence volunteering and other prosocial activities. The time elapsed between the expression of interest to volunteer and volunteering itself is therefore a probable factor interacting with moral licensing/moral consistency, influencing the decision to actually volunteer. The objective of this dissertation is to theoretically and experimentally examine the relationship between the good deed of expressing the interest to volunteer that likely creates warm glow and the likelihood of following through when contacted by the volunteering organization. The understanding of the relationship is crucial for providing policy recommendations aimed at increasing the efficiency of volunteering process. The research will involve laboratory and field experiments and might be conducted as a cotutelle (double degree) under the supervision of Prof Maroš Servátka at Macquarie Business School in Sydney.

Social Enterprises (Entrepreneurship) in the Czech Republic

Spanning sectoral boundaries is now perhaps accelerating, especially with the development of social enterprises that seem to transcendent sectors. Nevertheless, a complex approach that would enable reflection on the specific nature of social entrepreneurship in a transitional context as well as on current public debates and policy making discourses on the subject is lacking. This dissertation thesis intends to fill this gap. Since the economic crisis, the interest in social enterprises has increased and various forms of social enterprises have spread. The emergence of social enterprises is associated with the advancement of a civil society in which corporate altruism is on the rise. The discourse on social entrepreneurship is quite different across countries; each region produces specific debates. The definitions of social enterprise are diverse and tend to describe the functions of different types of social enterprises. To deepen the discussion on social enterprises as embodied in Western and Eastern Europe, it is useful to underline the distinct development the civil society in these regions experienced. The process of the institutionalization of social enterprise has often been closely linked to the evolution of public policies, especially regarding the real-world challenges the civil society has to face.

Aim : The aim of the dissertation thesis is to conduct a critical reflection of the current scientific discourse focused on research of the social entrepreneurship and to provide a comprehensive picture of the social entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Gabriela Vaceková . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

New Public Governance and the Czech Republic Reality

Several authors argue that New Public Governance concept should be leading motive for public administration developments in the world. The principle of modern governance and its contents is for example defined by the OECD. The goal of this research is to assess if/how the NPG paradigm is applied in the public administration reality of the Czech Republic. The thesis is about to explore the nature of NPG in the Czech context from the point of the theory and practice of administrative services, public services delivery and public policy implications. Offering a range of theoretical perspectives and providing a critical examination of up-to-date empirical research the thesis is expected to provide answers and explanations to the NPG as a new paradigm for public services delivery in the Czech Republic.

Hybrid organizations and public service delivery

The ongoing transformation of horizontal cross-sectoral links in providing public services is a topic that has been discussed not only in the Anglo-Saxon environment. Hybridization is a highly relevant and, even in (post-) transition economies, still insufficiently explored phenomenon. The existence of a mix of public service providers (e.g. in the educational, health care, water management, power industry, and transportation sectors) and of various hybrid models (such as purchaser–provider models, contracting out, outsourcing/commissioning, corporatization, publicprivate partnerships) gives rise to new challenging issues requiring a systemic solution at both the theoretical and practical levels. They will be researched in the dissertation which is expected to determine the percentage of hybrid organisations in the selected sectors of public services and provide comprehensive evaluation of the current state of hybridization under the conditions of the Czech Republic (or, as the case may be, other transition economies) in identifying quasi-market principles. By measuring the impacts of hybridity on the provision of public services (focusing on a specific dimension of such an impact as well as on availability, expense-to-revenue ratio, influence on the labour market, accommodation of target groups’ needs, etc.), it is possible to quantitatively evaluate even qualitative attributes of so called mixed enterprises collaboration, while taking account of the legislative, economic and institutional environments and possibly also predicting potential changes. Purpose: The goal of the dissertation is to establish the share of hybrid organisations in the selected sectors of public services and analyse specific impacts of hybridity on their provision under the conditions of the Czech Republic/Slovakia, or, as the case may be, other (post-) transition economies.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Gabriela Daniel . Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects are available here .

Need any help?

Mgr. Lucie Přikrylová

PhD studies coordinator, office no. 209

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PhD Thesis Proposal

List of PhD Thesis Proposal Defences

Students are requested to enroll the mandatory DTEDI course one semester before they intend to submit the thesis proposal. It is highly recommended by the Doctoral Board to enroll this course no later than for the 4th semester of study . - enroll DTEDI course for Autumn semester/September -- submission of the thesis proposal at the end of Autumn semester/mid of January -- defence of the thesis proposal and taking the State Doctoral Exam at the end of Spring semester/June) - enroll DTEDI course for Spring semester/February -- submission of the thesis proposal at the end of Spring semester/first week in September -- defence of the thesis proposal and taking the State Doctoral Exam at the end of Autumn semester/January)

The thesis proposal for the doctoral state examination is submitted by the student in writing in advance. It consists of a detailed overview of student’s research area and the proposed research plan. The thesis proposal may also contain original results already obtained by the student, but that is not mandatory. The proposal is then reviewed by independent experts, and the task of the review process and the subsequent defense is to determine whether the research plan is realizable (i.e., the student is capable of carrying out this research) and whether the expected outcomes would bring a sufficient original material for the defense of a future doctoral dissertation.

Thesis proposals are requested to be submitted to the Office for Doctoral and International Studies in two bound copies. Thesis proposals can be written in Czech or English.

Students are also requested to submit to nazarej op-yoB5Cv @fi AAiT-fmfn .muni FVVK8nRBY .cz an abstract (1/2 - 1 page) in an electronic form, the purpose of which is to describe the intent of the thesis (i.e. the description of the problem and expected results). The abstract is requested in both Czech and English.

Thesis proposals should comprise 15 - 40 pages and should follow the recommended structure given below.

With their signatures supervisors confirm their approval of the content of the thesis proposals.

A Thesis proposal is necessary to hand over together with the application for the Doctoral state exam according to the Academic calendar .

A Thesis proposal defence is a part of the Doctoral State Exam. Students are expected to start with a 12-minute introduction of the intent of their thesis and continue with a defence speech towards the external examiners' reports. A discussion, then two topics (areas) exam and a secret voting by the Thesis Defence and State Examination Committee follow.

Students can submit an application for the recognition of their Thesis proposals as RNDr theses to the Office for Research and Development. Further info here.

For RNDr theses only: Author's publications are supposed to be a part of his RNDr thesis, so they should be inseparably appended to the Thesis proposal (in both electronic and printed versions).

Recommended Structure of a Thesis Proposal:

Masaryk University

Faculty of Informatics

Supervisor:

Brno, date:

Supervisor's Signature:

Introduction

Area of your interest, motivation, summary of chapters, 2-3 pages.

State of the Art

Overview of related scientific work, summary of classical and up-to-date results and their comparison, intent of the thesis, 8-12 pages.

Aims of the Thesis

Aims and methodology of the thesis ("what, why, how"), expected results, achieved results, schedule of planned steps, at least 2 pages.

External examiner assesses if the thesis topic is dissertable and the schedule is realistic.

Achieved Results

Obligatory for RNDr theses, 3-5 pages.

Author's Publications

For publications with more co-authors describe your part briefly (1-2 sentences) and give your overall contribution (in per cent).

Bibliography

Dissertation thesis topics serve as an important checking mechanism particularly as far as the presumptions for a successful continuation of the student's work on the dissertation theme are concerned.

Thesis topics are requested to be submitted at the Office for Research and Development in three binded copies and also in an electronic form (pdf, ps). Thesis topics can be written in Czech or English.

Students are also requested to submit an abstract (1 page) in an electronic form (txt) the purpose of which is to describe the intent of the dissertation thesis (i.e. the description of the problem and expected results). The abstract is requested in both Czech and English.

Thesis topics should comprise 15 - 25 pages and follow the recommended structure given below.

With their signatures supervisors confirm their approval of the content of the thesis topic.

Thesis topic defences are held at an open meeting of the Specialist Board. Students are expected to start with a 12-minute introduction of the intent of their dissertation thesis and continue with a defence speech towards the external examiners' reports. A discussion and voting by the Specialist Board follows.

Since 1st September 2006 thesis topic defence is part of Doctoral State Examination. Thesis topic is necessary to hand over together with the application to the Doctoral State Exanination according to Academic calendar.

Recommended Structure of Dissertation Thesis Topic:

Dissertation thesis title.

Dissertation Thesis Topic

Brno, (date):

Supervisor's Signature:

Introduction (2-3 pages)

Brief Determination of the Problem; Dissertation Thesis Intent; Methods of Solving the Problem; Comparison of Key Results; Justification of Expected Results

Report on Current Results (8-12 pages)

Detailed and Complete Overview of Achieved Results and their Comparison

Dissertation Thesis Intent (at least 2 pages)

Clear Determination of the Dissertation Thesis Intent; Expected Results; Schedule for Further Development; Expected Outcomes

Summary of Study Results (2 pages)

Responsible contact: Ada Nazarejová, DiS.

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Energy Policy Studies Masters program

Master's thesis

What topic should you choose? With whom and when should you begin consulting? What are the formal requirements? How can you be sure to avoid plagiarism? To answer these questions, first read our detailed thesis writing guidelines  and check the thesis template .

The thesis writing process in a nutshell

• 1st semester: read the thesis guidelines and check the template –
• 1st and 2nd semester: read, learn and think about what your topic might be –
• Early 3rd semester: contact your prospective supervisor and get the topic ready –
• Mid 3rd semester: register the topic via IS (see "Current semester" for exact deadlines) –
• Late 3rd until mid 4th semester: do the research and write the thesis –

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International Relations and European Politics – Faculty of Social Studies

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Your Master's thesis

Your Master’s thesis is part of receiving your degree. It is written over two semesters, graded by your supervisor and a reviewer, and finally defended in front of the master’s degree committee.   

The thesis shall consist of between 20,000 and 26,000 words, including notes and a bibliography. Format and submit the manuscript according to the  university template (the first page must follow the template exactly, others may loosely). The thesis may be written in five specific genres:  

Deadlines and guides

SEMESTER DEADLINES

Creating a topic (GUIDE)

• The Master's thesis is written over the course of two semesters. SEE DEADLINES IN SIDEBOX. 
• In your penultimate semester (typically 3 rd ) ,   enroll   in Diploma Seminar I.    
• Seek a supervisor based on the topic   on which you would like to work.   There are various strategies how to find one. Firstly, you might ask according to themes and topics you have seen them discuss during your courses. Secondly, look at supervisor general fields or at medallions of lecturers on the Department’s website. Finally, if   these avenues have been exhausted ,   contact the program’s study advisor ,   who will help you to choose a supervisor.  
• Contact   the selected advisor  personally or by email  and consult   them   about the topic. Create a specific topic and enter it into the IS list (see sidebox for .pdf visual guide and deadline ). 
• Fulfill the requirements of Diploma Seminar I. by submitting part of the thesis into the homework vault labeled by the name of your supervisor.    
• You will   receive   feedback; unsuccessful submissions may be resubmitted before the end of the examination period.  
• In your final semester (typically 4 th ) ,   enroll   into Diploma Seminar II.  
• You continue cooperating with your supervisor and fulfill the   course requirements   by submitting   the majority of the thesis as per Diploma Seminar II course instructions.  
• You will receive   an   evaluation ; unsuccessful   submissions will not proceed to the handing of a final thesis . They   rework   the thesis   next semester.  
• Students submit   complete   thesis according to the deadline.  

Theses genres

Students choose among four* types of thesis format: 1) Research paper 2) Literature review 3) Policy paper 4) Extended position paper

* Other Master's thesis formats which do not correspond to any of the above are permitted only in exceptional, duly justified cases, and only with the express consent of the head of program.

• Each Master's thesis must contain an abstract explicitly stating which of the it follows.
• An active approach to consultations with the supervisor, as well as the student's own initiative in writing the thesis is part of the thesis evaluation.

1. Research paper

The aim of the research paper is to enrich our knowledge of a certain phenomenon or topic. The basis of the research paper is therefore the novelty of the knowledge it brings. The research paper sets out a research question, evaluates how existing scientific literature answers this question, determines what is missing in the existing literature, and fills this knowledge gap. In doing so, the research paper proceeds to answer the question with reference to its theoretical underpinnings.

A research paper should adhere to the following structure:

• Introduction: The introduction of the topic, the justification of its practical and theoretical importance, the formulation of the main research question (i.e. the general objective of the paper), a brief explanation of why a given phenomenon needs to be examined. It concisely summarizes the results of the analysis and briefly introduces the main thesis of the paper that the author has developed. • Literature review (theoretical part): Conceptualization of concepts, presentation and critical abbreviated evaluation of the existing literature on the topic (a short version of section 2. literature review). A more detailed presentation of the rationale for why a given phenomenon needs to be examined (why existing literature is not enough). Formulation of hypotheses or specific research questions. • Data and methods: Description of the data used in the analysis (including data collection description), variable operationalization, data processing method. Of course, data and variables may be qualitative to quantitative depending on the subject matter of the research. Chosen method of analysis is presented. • Analysis: Presentation of analysis, discussion of results, evaluation of hypotheses / answers to research questions. • Conclusion: Will briefly recall the goal of the paper and the contribution of the paper. It concisely summarizes the results of the analysis and answers the research questions. It will give thought to aspects that potentially weaken the validity of analysis results. It can propose the direction of future research.

The topic of the research paper must consider the extent of the thesis and the necessity to cover all parts of the research paper (literature review, theoretical grounding, data, method). The problem to be examined should therefore be rather limited and well defined and testing should be limited to specific parts of theories or models. We recommend that the topic and the assignment of the research-oriented paper be consulted in a timely manner with the potential supervisor.

Recommended literature: Murray, R. (eds.). How to write a thesis . 3rd ed. Maidenhead, England: McGraw Hill, 2011, 325. ISBN 9780335244294

2. Literature review

The aim is to describe and evaluate the state of research on a topic. The aim of the literature review is to familiarize the reader with existing research on the subject and find out which areas are unexplored and require further research. In other words, the literature review critically summarizes what we know about the subject, what we do not know, and what needs to be further explored.

A literature review is not intended to be a list of annotations for individual scientific papers but should be structured according to topics and sub-topics. Thus, the literature review structure is not based on individual authors (or works), but is based on individual concepts, theories or approaches. While reference to authors and their works is important, it serves only as support for the discussion of concepts, theories, and approaches.

A literature review should have the following characteristics:

• summarizes relevant literature and analyzes it critically • evaluates the current state of knowledge in terms of its completeness and quality • presents the author's insight into the strong and weak points of current knowledge. Furthermore, it identifies which topics do not yet have unambiguous conclusions and where blanks remain in the topic. • presents and analyzes the state of knowledge of the given topic in a synthesizing form, not in the form of a list of authors or scientific works • at the end, clearly summarizes the current level of knowledge, identifies its strengths and weaknesses, and proposes appropriate research questions or hypotheses for future innovative research • a literature review may include a description of the subject, but a critical discussion of the literature still represents the core of the thesis.

Recommended literature: Knopf J.W. 2006. Doing a Literature Review. PS: Political Science and Politics 39(1): 127-132 .

3. Policy paper

The aim of the policy paper is to provide a proposal for solving a social problem. Unlike "research work", the policy paper does not have the ambition to contribute to the theoretical debate on the issue. The policy paper identifies a practical, politically relevant issue that needs to be resolved (such as religious intolerance, corruption, human rights violations in foreign countries, etc.), identifies possible solutions, evaluates these solutions, and clearly suggests a recommended solution to the problem.

The policy paper sometimes distinguishes between "policy study" and "policy analysis". The bachelor thesis expects a policy study, not a policy analysis (see Young and Quinn 2002 for more about differences). Therefore, a work that is not written for a particular client with a specific assignment is expected, but will be about the problem itself. The work will target readers from experts on public policy analysis, not decision makers (i.e. policy makers). In order to support the argumentation, this genre admits and in specific cases even requires the collection of primary data, not just summarizing the already tested one. With regard to the target audience of the readers, the language of the work should be expert and the reasoning should be appropriate in depth.

A policy paper should include the following points: • Abstract clearly summarizing the main argument / recommendation • A description of the serious policy issue and the rationale for addressing the problem. It is necessary to clearly describe the context in which the problem arises and to communicate clearly the purpose / aim of the paper. • The policy paper contains a methodological section (although it differs from a research paper). It is necessary to clearly describe what data is used, how it is analyzed, and what pattern the workflow and argumentation will follow. • Limits of the paper are stated and acknowledged as one study cannot include all aspects of the policy issue being examined. Likewise, data availability issues must be acknowledged. • A description of possible solutions to the problem. • Analysis of the likely impacts of each of the described alternatives, their strengths and weaknesses. • Suggestions of preferred alternatives and arguments for the choice of the offered best solution to the problem.

Recommended literature: Eóin Young a Lisa Quinn. 2002. Writing Effective Public Policy Papers. A Guide for Policy Advisers in Central and Eastern Europe. Open Society Institute.

4. Extended position paper

The aim of the extended position paper is adopting an argumentative stance developed in response to a specific position or theory typically exemplified by a monograph or monographs presenting a coherent view (e.g. world becoming more peaceful as exemplified S.Pinker, normative power Europe as exemplified by I. Manners, microfinancing in international development as exemplified by M. Yunnus).

The position should be made clear throughout the paper. An extended position paper differs from a research paper in lacking the necessity of a methodological approach in answering a yet unanswered question, but does require research. It must consider and evaluate relevant evidence both in support and against the adopted stance and present coherent and persuasive argumentation which will stand up to refute. Furthermore, the extended position paper should not only borrow criticism or supportive arguments from already existing works, but also offer some innovative insight as part of the adopted stance.

An extended position paper should include the following points: • Abstract clearly summarizing the main topic chosen and the stance adopted • A clear introduction of the relevance of the topic to the readership, the reasons for varying stances on the issue at hand, and the stance adopted • A concise and analytical revision of the target monograph/text’s main points, strengths, and weaknesses while identifying clearly the tenets to be argued for or against • Clear argumentative sections encompassing evidence and counter-evidence on the chosen points which best represent the body of the argument • Innovative insight into argumentation on the topic and suggestions on types of research which might strengthen the stance adopted • A conclusion which does not simply restate the position adopted, but assesses its strength in light of the evidence provided and refuted

Recommended literature: Ian Johnston. 2000. Essays and Arguments: A Handbook on Writing Argumentative and Interpretative Essays. VIU.

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