1. Topic
You can choose to:
- Design your own project
- Participate in an ongoing project at PSI
- Join a larger interdisciplinary project at UiO or other research institutions
A good place to start is to check for existing projects at PSI or UiO (Link to projects at PSI seeking students, link to all projects at PSI). If you find a project you are interested in, you need to contact the project coordinators and arrange potential collaboration. You can also directly contact staff at PSI to inquire about ongoing projects (note that not all are open to master's thesis students). Some study programs present relevant projects to students during the 2nd semester.
If you want to design your own project, you can for example, draw inspiration from your academic interests, societal relevance, literature review, or current affairs. You will need to find a supervisor willing to guide your project. By designing your own project, you have greater responsibility for implementation and data collection.
2. Supervisor
After you have identified a topic you want to write about, you must find a supervisor.
How to find a supervisor? You can contact staff at UiO and ask if they are willing to supervise you, or if they have a project you can participate in. Everyone is not open to supervision, but most can help you find someone who is.
More information about supervision here:
- Master's studies: Master's thesis at PSI: Guidelines and requirements, C) Supervision
- Clinical studies (profesjonsstudium): Thesis at PSI: Guidelines and requirements, C) Supervision
Supervision agreement: must be filled out by you and your supervisor and submitted to PSI. In the links above, under C) Supervision, you will find more information about the contract, and a template.
Deadline for submission of signed supervision contract:
- Master's studies: Must be submitted before September 1, 3rd semester.
- Clinical studies: Must be submitted before March 1/October 1, 11th semester. See more information here: Theses at PSI: Guidelines and requirements, C) supervision, supervision agreement
Two people writing together? The PSI administration prefers joint supervisory agreements from those writing together.
3. Preparatory Documents for Project Evaluations
Once you have found a supervisor and a project (at least a topic and methodological approach), you can start preparing the documents you need for different project evaluations. It is common practice to seek evaluation from SIKT (privacy assessment), REK (ethical assessment if you are conducting health research), and/or an Internal Ethical Committee at PSI (consult your supervisor whether this is needed). To apply, you will need to write the following documents:
- Project description
- Data management plan
- Information letter
- Interview guide (if you are conducting interviews)
For more information about these documents, see preparatory documents for project evaluation in the menu to the left.
There are many decisions to be made even before you start writing these documents. Read through the rest of this timeline for an overview, or seek more information about each topic in the left-hand menu.
4. Application to SIKT, REK, and/or Internal Committee
Once you have completed the necessary documents for seeking project evaluation, you can proceed with submitting your applications. Learn more about the application processes under Ethics in the left-hand menu.
Clinical students must also submit the 'Application form for thesis submission' by February 1/September 1, no later than the 12th semester of the study. Read more here: PSYC6100 course page
5. Data Storage
It is important to store your data with an appropriate level of security, based on the sensitivity level of the data you collect. At UiO, a color-coding system is used (Classification of Data and Information). Qualitative projects involving interviews will often be of yellow, red, or black data. You can also refer to the Data Storage Guide for more information.
If you are handling sensitive (red or black) personal data, the next step is to create a TSD folder storage location (where you can store interview recordings, transcriptions, linking keys, and any documents with personally identifiable information). For more information about storage, data color coding, how to create a TSD, and what TSD is - see Storage in the left-hand menu.
6. Participant Recruitment
(If you are using pre-existing data, you can disregard this step.)
Once you have submitted the necessary applications and received an assessment indicating that the project can proceed, the recruitment process can begin. Remember that you have already created a recruitment plan in the project description, and this should be followed. The method of recruitment should be tailored to the study's theme and level of sensitivity. There are many standard methods for recruitment that are covered in qualitative methodology courses and in textbooks. If you have more sensitive topics or want to reach a small group of people, here are some good tips:
- You can create an online form for individuals to express their interest in the project. This online form can be integrated into a project page (see below). For red data, it is important to ensure that this online form is linked to TSD. See Storage/Online Form in the left-hand menu for more information on this.
- If you are recruiting for interviews via social media, it may be appropriate to create a student project page (Read more here: Advertising, recruitment, and research communication on social media).
7. Conducting Data Collection
In most qualitative student projects at PSI, interviews are involved. It is often wise to conduct a pilot interview with someone you know or a person relevant to your sample. Use this opportunity to test your interview guide.
Before conducting the interviews, you need to have a plan for recording and storing them.
- Recordings are done using: Nettskjema-Diktafon. More information about setup, backup, and usage can be found under Online Form-Voice Recorder in the left-hand menu.
After the interviews have been recorded and saved, you need to transcribe them (convert the recordings into text). This can be done automatically (but requires manual review) or completely manually. Afterwards, you must review the transcription and remove any information that could lead to the identification of the participant. For more information, see Transcription in the left-hand menu.
8. Analysis
The approach you should follow for analysis depends on the methodological approach you have chosen (which should align with your project and research questions). Information about different analysis methods is covered in qualitative methodology courses throughout your studies and in associated textbooks. There are various analysis software programs that can be helpful in the process. Investigate if there are analysis tools that are well-suited for your chosen analysis method. You can find more information about different analysis software programs in the left-hand menu.
9. Writing the Thesis
Now you have completed all the necessary steps to write your thesis. However, it may be wise to start working on the different sections of your thesis along the way (for example, work on the methodology section during the recruitment and interview process).
You can find more information about the actual thesis writing process in the guidelines and requirements for the Master's thesis or the Clinical thesis under "Form and Style".
It can also be useful to look at previous thesis that have been written with a similar methodological approach and examine how they have addressed form and structure in different ways.
10. Submission
Master's thesis must be submitted to both DUO vitenarkiv and Inspera. The submission deadline is mid-May (exact date is published early in the 4th semester on the master's program subject page and in StudentWeb).
Clinical theses (hovedoppgave) must be submitted to DUO knowledge archive and Inspera. The submission deadline for the spring semester is mid-April, and for the fall semester, it is mid-October (exact date is published early in the 4th semester on the subject page and in StudentWeb)
11. Closing the Project
When you conclude your project, it is important to send a final report to Sikt, and adhere to what you have indicated regarding data deletion.