Degree Project in Marketing

Course Director: Magnus Söderlund

Course TBE251 is a CIVICA engaged track course

The aim of this course is to facilitate your completion of a BSc thesis in marketing. Writing a thesis of this type is an exercise in formulating a purpose for a study, motivating why this purpose is needed, relating what you want to do in a study to what has already been done (and not done), and to actually do the study based on theories and with a suitable method. Thus, many choices are needed in the thesis completion process – and much of the responsibility for making these choices rests on you. In that sense, this is an exercise in independence. It is also an exercise in creating new knowledge as opposed to consuming what others have already produced (such as the content of textbooks for courses). Watch this video for additional arguments about why it is useful to write a theis in marketing.

We encourage you to use what has happened in the marketing specialization (i.e., BE0252 and BE0253) as input to your process. You can use either quantitative or qualitative data, or both, in your thesis. Many methods are possible for the collection of data, including interviews, content analysis, experiments, and questionnaire-based surveys. As support for your thesis project, we offer a set of seminars as well as a supervisor that will guide you through the process. The output is your BSc thesis, which will be made available online by SSE’s library to everyone who may be interested.

Prepare for TBE251

Think back on what happened during the marketing specialization course. Was there any particular topic that you found interesting and/or is in the need for additional studies? This may be the point of departure for your thesis project. All TBE251 theses are written in pairs of students, so you should consider with whom you are going to conduct your thesis project. We will have a kick-off session for an intitial talk about topics and approaches suitable for a thesis in marketing.

Three parts in TBE251

Part one introduces you to the task of writing a thesis and provides support in the form of seminars on issues that call for attention in a thesis project. Part two is your actual work on the thesis; here, you will be supported by a supervisor. Part three comprises presenting the thesis and giving feedback to others who present their theses.

The final thesis

We will provide you with a template for your thesis, which is to be written in English and comprise maximum 45 pages. The thesis should include an empirical study conducted by the authors and the topic should be a marketing topic.

Course administrator: Tina.Bengtsson@hhs.se

After taking this course, you are expected to have acquired as well as demonstrated the following skills:

1. Practical knowledge of writing a BSc thesis in marketing.
2. In-depth knowledge of research in a chosen topic of marketing.
3. Knowledge of scientific methods and their application in quantitative and qualitative studies.
4. Ability to critically evaluate academic research and BSc theses in marketing.

To begin writing the Degree Project during the autumn or spring semester in the third year of study, the student must, no later than in the beginning of that fall or spring semester, have passed at least one of the two courses (BE0252/BE0253) within the specialization in which the project is to be written and also have fulfilled all course obligations (for instance, assignments and project work) except for the final written exam in the second course within that specialization.

• Bell, E., Bryman, A., & Harley, B. (2022). Business Research Methods (6th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Other editions of this textbook can also be used.
• In addition, there will be articles for the seminars. In the beginning of the course, you will find them on Canvas.

It is the thesis itself that is the examination in this course (i.e., your grade is based on an assessment of your thesis).

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).