MPH_DIS1 Diploma Thesis Seminar 1

Faculty of Economics and Administration
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 12 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. Ing. Ondřej Částek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Ing. Mgr. Michal Krčál, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Ing. Mgr. Jakub Procházka, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Ing. Bc. Petr Suchánek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Tomáš Ondráček, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Ing. Bc. Alena Šafrová Drášilová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Ing. Bc. Petr Suchánek, Ph.D.
Department of Business Management – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Contact Person: Vlasta Radová
Supplier department: Department of Business Management – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Timetable of Seminar Groups
MPH_DIS1/01: Mon 8:00–9:50 P101, O. Částek, M. Krčál, T. Ondráček, J. Procházka, P. Suchánek, A. Šafrová Drášilová
Prerequisites (in Czech)
MPH_TEDP Master Thesis
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is a) to teach students to solve complex professional and research problems in the fields of business, management or business informatics using scholary publications and primary and secondary data; b) to teach students to think critically about existing scientific knowledge and data obtained using various research methods. In the short term, the course helps students write a quality master thesis. From a long-term perspective, it prepares them to work with new knowledge in the field and to solve new problems in various positions in companies or in research.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will be able to:
- prepare a complex review of scholary publications on the topic of business, management or business informatics,
- identify problems in research designs and in conclusions of the scholary papers,
- formulate a research or managerial problem and justify the need to solve it,
- use a method for obtaining valid primary data useful for solving a research or managerial problem,
- use new data and knowledge described in scholary papers to solve research and managerial problem,
- evaluate the costs and economic benefits of their proposals,
- follow the rules of research and publication ethics.
Syllabus
  • Teaching takes place in two forms. The first is writing a bachelor's thesis under the supervision of a consultant. The second form consists of 12 seminars focused on the methodology of social science research and solving of professional problems in the fields of business, management and business informatics.
    Seminars:
    1. Introduction
    - Requirements for master theses at the department and faculty
    - Literature and onther resources

    2. Research problem, research question and hypothesis
    - How to identify a salaient research / professional problem
    - Justification of the need for research / solution of a managerial problem

    3. Review of scholary literature
    - Systematic review
    - Technologies supporting reviews
    - Writing review

    4. Critical work with text and argumentation
    - Science, non-science, pseudoscience and para-science
    - Components schemes and evaluation of the argument
    - (Critical) discussion of new knowledge

    5. Solving a managerial problem
    - How does a good diploma thesis focused on managerial problem look like?
    - What managerial problems make sense to solve?

    6. Research designs
    - How to choose a proper research design
    - Experiments, correlation studies, surveys and qualitative designs incl. case studies

    7. Methods of data collection
    - How to choose a suitable method of data collection
    - Why data can be unreliable
    - How (not) to formulate questions in the questionnaire and interview

    8. Data analysis
    - When it is and when it is not appropriate to use statistical analyses
    - Standards of work with statistical methods in business, management and business informatics

    9. Economic evaluation of proposals
    - How to economically evaluate a solution of managerial problems
    - How to take into account the economic aspects of the recommendations resulting from research

    10.-12. Presentations
    - Some students voluntarily present their bachelor projects and get feedback from peers and teachers
Literature
    required literature
  • • KULHAVÝ, Viktor aj. Doporučení pro zpracování závěrečných prací. Interní materiál. Dostupné v elektronické podobě ve studijních materiálech předmětu
  • SAUNDERS, Mark, Philip LEWIS and Adrian THORNHILL. Research methods for business students. Eight edition. Harlow: Pearson, 2019, xxxiii, 83. ISBN 9781292208787. info
  • ČSN ISO 690. Informace a dokumentace – Pravidla pro bibliografické odkazy a citace informačních zdrojů. 2011. info
    recommended literature
  • RABUŠIC, Ladislav, Petr SOUKUP and Petr MAREŠ. Statistická analýza sociálněvědních dat (prostřednictvím SPSS) (Statistical data analysis (with SPSS)). 2. přepracované vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2019, 573 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-9247-1. URL info
  • The SAGE handbook of qualitative business and management research methods : history and traditions. Edited by Catherine Cassell - Ann L. Cunliffe - Gina Grandy. Los Angeles: Sage, 2018, xxii, 597. ISBN 9781526429261. info
  • FIELD, Andy. Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. 5th. Sage Publishing, 2017. ISBN 978-1-5264-4578-0. URL info
  • FIELD, Andy P., Jeremy MILES and Zoë FIELD. Discovering statistics using R. First published. Los Angeles: Sage, 2012, xxxiv, 957. ISBN 9781446200452. info
  • GERŠLOVÁ, Jana. Vádemékum vědecké a odborné práce. 1. vyd. [Praha]: Professional Publishing, 2009, 148 s. ISBN 9788074310027. info
  • ŠANDEROVÁ, Jadwiga and Alena MILTOVÁ. Jak číst a psát odborný text ve společenských vědách :několik zásad pro začátečníky. Vyd. 1. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, 2005, 209 s. ISBN 8086429407. info
  • PIMPLE, Kenneth D. Six domains of research ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics. 2002, vol. 8, No 2, p. 191-205. ISSN 1353-3452. info
Teaching methods
Frontal presentations (within seminars), solving model problems (within seminars), learning by doing (writing a master thesis), feedback and mentoring (from the supervisor and during final presentations)
Assessment methods
Outputs from the course are a) final presentation or final test and b) half of the text of the master thesis. At the end of the semester, the student chooses whether he wants to present his master thesis project or whether he wants to write a final test.
- If a student registers for the final presentation and is selected, he / she will receive feedback on the presentation from the teachers. If the presentation is rated as good, the student is not obliged to write the final test.
- If the student registers for the final presentation, is selected, but does not make the presentation without an apology or is unprepared, he / she fails in the course.
- In other cases, the student writes the final test. The test is based on the content of seminars. The test is written online via IS, has multiple-choice questions, and the students are allowed to use any literature and their notes when writing. To successfully complete the test, the students should get at least 40% of points.

The credits are awarded by the supervisor of the master thesis. Credit will be awarded to a student if the student a) has a good final presentation or passes the test, b) submits a part of his / her master thesis.
The student should submit about half of the master thesis, after at least one consultation and no later than one week before the end of the semester. The expected range and the exact deadline are agreed with the supervisor at the beginning of the semester.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
Teacher's information
Any copying, keeping a record of tests or carrying the tests out, using forbidden aids including any communication devices or any other breach of objectivity of the exam is regarded as a failure to meet the obligations of the subject and as a serious breach of study regulations. As a consequence, the teacher grades the student with "N" and the dean is allowed to initiate a disciplinary action, which might lead to the termination of the studies.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Spring 2014, Autumn 2014, Spring 2015, Autumn 2015, Spring 2016, Autumn 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017, Spring 2018, Autumn 2018, Spring 2019, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Spring 2023, Autumn 2023, Spring 2024, Autumn 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2020, recent)
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