MSC CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ANTROPOLOGY (MCSA)

GRUADUATE SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES

FIELDWORK & THESIS MANUAL

Specialization Applied Anthropology 2018-2019

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Contents

1. INTRODUCTION FIELDWORK & THESIS MANUAL ................................................................... 3

2. DISCLAIMER ............................................................................................................................................. 3

3. THE MASTER’S PROGRAMME CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ANTROPOLOGY ........................ 3

3.1. INDIVIDUAL SUPERVISION ............................................................................................................. 3

3.2. FIRST-SEMESTER CLASSES ............................................................................................................. 4

4. FIELDWORK AND DATA COLLECTION ...................................................................................... 4

4.1. Fieldwork Reports ............................................................................................................................ 6

4.2. Final research report ....................................................................................................................... 8

5. THESIS AND THESIS SEMINAR ................................................................................................. 1210

5.1. OBJECTIVES OF A MASTER’S THESIS ................................................................................... 1311

5.2. CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. 1311

5.3. REQUIREMENTS OF MA THESES .......................................................................................... 1513

5.4. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA THESES ........................................................................................... 1614

5.5. CHECKLIST STYLE AND FORMAT .......................................................................................... 1715

6. REMARKS ........................................................................................................................................... 1816

7. PLAGIARISM ..................................................................................................................................... 1917

8. EXAMINATION DATE ................................................................................................................ 1917

9. APPENDIX 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 2018

10. APPENDIX 2 .................................................................................................................................. 2119

11. APPENDIX 3 .................................................................................................................................. 2220

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MSC CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ANTROPOLOGY THESIS MANUAL 2018-2019

SPECIALISATION APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

1. INTRODUCTION FIELDWORK & THESIS MANUAL Writing a Master’s Thesis is a very substantial part of obtaining your Master’s degree in Cultural

and Social Anthropology, track Applied Anthropology. Students who graduate with the

specialization Applied Anthropology, frequently combine the writing of the thesis with work

intended to report their findings to the commissioning organization. Some organizations prefer

an academic thesis, others may want a presentation to be given, a report or input for a policy

document. Therefore, the writing of the thesis is an academic venture as well as an undertaking

that involves a translation of your Anthropological knowledge into mundane language. The

combination of the two works often makes the post-fieldwork period a challenging period of

your studies. In addition to demanding academic skills, courage, self-discipline and good time

management are pivotal to complete your thesis. In this manual you will find all relevant

information for writing your thesis. Any questions? Contact your study adviser.

2. DISCLAIMER We have tried to make the Manual for Writing a Thesis in Cultural and Social Anthropology

(specialization Applied Anthropology) as accurate as possible, but nevertheless the information

may not be exhaustive. Please always use the digital course guide (studiegids.uva.nl) for the latest

information concerning your program.

3. THE MASTER’S PROGRAMME CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ANTROPOLOGY The Msc program in Cultural and Social Anthropology is divided into three phases. The first

phase involves writing a research proposal. This is followed by the actual research, and during the

final phase the thesis is written. During a mini-conference the main conclusions are presented to

an audience. During the entire program you also work on establishing and maintaining contact

with the commissioning organization. Students receive personal supervision from a member of

the teaching staff during each phase, along with collective guidance during courses.

3.1. INDIVIDUAL SUPERVISION

As a student, you will get a personal supervisor who is closely involved with every component of

the Master's project, and the supervisor therefore plays an important part in the overall study

program. The study advisor for the Master's program matches students with suitable supervisors,

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taking into account students' preferences for a particular supervisor insofar as possible. A

supervisor is assigned to each student early in the first semester of the studies. As soon as you

have been given the name of your supervisor, you should contact her/him and make an

appointment. This is your responsibility and it is crucial that you maintain close contact with your

supervisor in all stages of the program. Only after your supervisor has given you a passing grade

for the research proposal, you will have the permission to leave for the field. (If you leave prior

to this permission, you risk losing supervision and your fieldwork allowance.) In order to meet

the required passing grade for your proposal, you will need to contact your supervisor regularly

during the first semester of the program. Make sure to cc all course assignments that concern the

research proposal to your supervisor, and meet him/her for personal guidance and feedback.

3.2. FIRST-SEMESTER CLASSES

Students start with a four week intensive full-time course called Key Debates in Anthropology,

which addresses the latest developments in anthropological theory. After this, you take two

intensive courses (full-time study load) in parallel fashion: Theory for Ethnographic Practice and

Designing Fieldwork. During these courses, you also make contact with the organization that you

would like to collaborate with. In the past, we have seen that establishing this contact needs to be

undertaken early in the program. Only then you will be sure to have a commissioning organization to

work with by the time that you are ready to embark on doing fieldwork. This also involves

checking your research question with the collaborating organization. How you will work together

with that organization, can vary. Sometimes the collaboration is close and you will want to keep

close contact with the organization during all the phases of your preparation and research. In

other cases, the contact may be more instrumental.

The two courses finish in December. After the completion of the two courses, the

student works on the research proposal individually (see 'timeline'). This is followed by a research

period lasting 10 weeks, starting in January.

4. FIELDWORK AND DATA COLLECTION

The second phase of the Master's program consists of the actual research. In some cases, a

student may leave earlier, but this can only be the case when a supervisor agrees on the research

proposal and when the student has passing grades for the previous course components. Most

students conduct ethnographic fieldwork, but it is also possible to opt for research at an

ethnographic museum or archive, or to do a project with a visual-anthropological dimension. The

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research period is ten weeks for students in Applied Anthropology. IMPORTANT: Students

must in any case have returned from their fieldwork location by the date of the first scheduled

session of the course in Writing Applied Anthropology. It is also important to carefully review

the timeline for the Master's programme before planning the research or purchasing travel

tickets, as the dates in this timeline are binding. The timeline can be found at the end of this

document and online. View: http://studiegids.uva.nl/, go to ‘English’, then to ‘programmes’,

choose your programme (Cultural and Social Anthropology) and open 'Study schedules and

planning'. There you find the ‘Timeline Applied Anthropology’.

Fieldwork is a main component within the Master's program and is shaped by your interests and

prior knowledge. Spending time and participating in the field is absolutely vital, even if your

research location is right around the corner. During the fieldwork period you are expected to

devote all of your time to your research. You will immerse yourself in your subject. Using various

methods and techniques of investigation, like formal and informal interviews, oral history, life

histories, photo eliciting, observations, chats, drawing maps or genealogies, recording of

household expenditures or the use of social media, you will seek to collect material and gain

insights in order to formulate an answer to your research question.

During fieldwork you will be confronted with all sorts of problems and dilemmas (both practical

and theoretical), such as: how do people connect and how do you connect to people? Does your

research question hold in the field, or does it need adjustment to what you have been

encountering? How do the methods of investigation of your choice relate to what people actually

do or say? What does it mean when you feel “nothing” happens? How do you accommodate the

wishes of the commissioning organisation while not compromising your own ethical

considerations?

One of the main things students struggle with –before, during and after fieldwork– is moving

back and forth between theory and concrete data. This is why it is necessary to operationalize, in

the proposal, the key theoretical concepts in order to translate concepts to data and vice versa.

In the case of Applied Anthropology, the undertaking may even be more complex as the

commissioning organisation may also want to maintain contact with you while you undertake

your research. You may even feel as if the organization will want to [subconsciously] wish to

‘control’ your research. How do you navigate this in an ethically as well as emotionally

responsible manner? For students in Applied Anthropology, it is very important to critically

reflect on this process while in the field, and later in your thesis. If this is the case, you can always

ask your individual supervisor for advice.

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Data analysis does not start after returning from the field. It is part of the very process of

collecting data, revising and asking new questions, and taking unexpected data into

account. During fieldwork, it is important that the researcher constantly goes over the data to

evaluate whether or not the “right” questions are being asked (i.e. the ones that provide more

insights on the research questions and are applicable to the lives of informants in the field).

Always keep an open mind and try to determine what the key issues are for your interlocutors.

Ethical dilemmas inevitably emerge during research. Please think them through beforehand and detail this in your proposal in an extra section on ethics. Anthropologist approach ethics as an on-going processes rather than as forms of consent that need to be signed. We highly recommend consulting the home page of the AISSR for a list of questions developed by the UvA ethics board, to help you thinking through sensitive issues: http://aissr.uva.nl/research/ethics-and-integrity/ethics-and-integrity.html#anker-ethical-review-of-research

It is also essential to plan beforehand how to store and organize data efficiently,

particularly when/if confronted with limitations such as impossibility to use your computer or

tape recorder in the field. Making different types of field notes (quick notes,

detailed descriptions, analytical notes, diaries and logs) is very useful, as well as creating a system

to ensure data is easily accessible (working with various documents, use of different colours

or fonts, use of document names and labels, recording of dates, locations, key words, etc.).

Decide beforehand whether you will use qualitative data analysis software and take into account

what this may require of organizing your data.

Please refer to the following bibliography for further information on ethnographic methods and

techniques:

Bryman, A. (2004) Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Emerson, Robert, Rachel Fretz and Linda Shaw (2011) Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago:

University of Chigaco Press. O'Reilly, K. (2005) Ethnographic Methods. London: Routledge.

On ethics, see the resources on the AAA webpage:

http://www.americananthro.org/ParticipateAndAdvocate/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1895

4.1. Fieldwork Reports

Upon arrival in the field, always let your supervisor and the study advisor know that you have

arrived and provide your fieldwork address and phone number. A crucial aspect of fieldwork

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consists of keeping a daily record of your research. The form in which you report on your

activities is determined by you and your supervisor. At minimum, you must send two interim

reports (at intervals of roughly three-four weeks) describing your research progress to your

supervisor, who will respond as quickly as possible with comments. These interim reports must

be structured and should contain an overview of your entry in the field and networking progress,

your research activities, an account of your collected material in relation to your main question

and sub-questions, the relevance of your activities to the research topic, any questions or

problems you may have experienced, as well as the solutions you came up with. The content of

such reports should always refer back to the theoretical starting points formulated in the research

proposal, as data from the reports is to be presented with a certain degree of analysis. Depending

on the nature of your collaboration with the commissioning organisation, you can also send the

reports to the organisation.

Of course, you may experience problems you encounter in the field and ask your supervisor’s

advice. You need not wait for this until submitting your interim report. Just email your supervisor

when you experience acute problems related to the research or, more generally, connected with

being in the field. In the case that your supervisor does not react within a week, please contact

your study advisor so that she can help you further. When you return from the field, a Final

Fieldwork Report is due in the beginning of April (see timeline). You will find that writing good

and precise interim reports during the fieldwork phase will be greatly helpful in keeping an

overview of your activities, the relevance of your collected material and the adequacy of your

questions. For detailed instructions on how to write the final report see the next paragraph. Do

not forget to submit the final fieldwork report in time! Individual supervisors may prefer to set

other criteria for the fieldwork report, so discussing the assignment with your own supervisor

beforehand is crucial.

For students in Applied Anthropology, the final fieldwork report may or may not be a

moment to report back to the organization that you collaborate with. How you plan to report

back and whether or not you will use the final fieldwork report for that, primarily depends on

what you deem most suitable, but of course also on the agreements that have been made with the

organisation. During the first meeting of Writing Applied Anthropology you will discuss this, and

in the following week you will make a plan concerning the work that you will do for the

commissioning organisztion during the entire period until the end of the MCSA program.

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The supervising lecturer gives his/her approval for the fieldwork report in the form of a passing

grade (AVV) on a grade slip (15 ECTS credits). This certificate also serves as proof for the

purpose of acquiring a GSSS subsidy (or the remaining portion thereof) for the research project.

Fieldwork periods last for a minimum of 10 weeks and must be completed before the start of the

course on Ethnographic Writing. You will be expected to plan your fieldwork to fit within the

`Timeline Master Cultural and Social Anthropology, specialisation Applied Anthropology'. If you

wish to deviate from this timeline in any way, please contact your study adviser first. Permission

usually needs to be sought from the Examination Committee and will be granted only in

exceptional cases.

4.2. Final research report

At the end of the research period, you will write your final research report for your supervisor.

This report will be based to a large extent on the interim reports that you sent 'from the field.'

The deadline for the report is stated in the `Timeline Master Cultural and Social Anthropology'.

Below, you find a format on how to structure this report. However, in consultation with your

supervisor you may decide to write the report in a different form. You can also choose to write a

report that covers the wishes for an update by the organization as well. If that is the case, it is

important that you use understandable language, that is sensitive to the local concerns of the

organization. You can further discuss this in the class Writing Applied Anthropology, as well as

with your supervisor.

The report at least discusses the following:

1. Your entry 'in the field':

- Contacts, gatekeepers and sponsors:

- Who helped you getting entry (so-called sponsors), into what networks?

- Who entertained some kind of control on your access, or claimed you (gatekeepers), and

how did you deal with them and their actions?

- What 'informants' did you get in touch with, and what social groups or categories. Can

you organize them (compare backgrounds, age, gender, etc.: compatible or exceptional as

group or category within your broad research population)?

- Where did you live, with whom did you stay?

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- Language: communication problems? Use of an interpreter, and if so, how did that work

out?

- Any entry problems other than gatekeepers and language issues that affected your

research?

2. Central questions:

- What was the central question that guided your research, has it changed during the

research, and if so, why.

- What were the sub questions that guided your research, did all show to be relevant, did

other questions pop up? Why?

- What research activities did you undertake to answer these questions, and explain why

you chose these methods. Offer a clear overview of, and for, each sub question. For

example, in the case of interviews: with who (classify, for example: 7 Dutch-Chinese

owners of restaurants, 1st generation migrants), how many, about which topics in

particular. Also describe the type of research method (e.g., informal interviews: how,

where, what did this method offer).

3. Evaluation of your research:

- An overview of your research material:

- Interviews about . . .

- Observations about . . .

- Case studies about . . .

- Event analysis of . . .

- Photos

- Documents

- Etc.

- What went well/wrong, and why?

- Which methods and techniques offered the best insights, and why? Which did not?

- A brief summary of your preliminary research results: a first, provisional answer to your

(newly formulated) research question in a few points.

- In addition, discuss: What has interested you the most in the research? What struck you

the most? Any information and insights that surprised you, that were not expected, but

that you would like to give a place in the thesis?

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4. Reflection on your research.

- What obstacles and setbacks did you encounter, and how did you try to deal with these?

- What effect did this have on your research? Be frank: All researchers have to deal with

unexpected twists and turns in the research. The point is to acknowledge this and reflect

on how it affected the research, e.g. in your contact with informants or the topics that

you could discuss. Sometimes setbacks also have unintended positive results.

- What positive outcomes did/do you experience from your research, personally, socially,

and/or scholarly?

- Particularly relevant for students doing Applied research: analyse how you came to

understand the theoretical issues that you prepared to investigate in local terms.

5. A first draft of the table of contents of the thesis: of chapters and, preferably also of sections

of each chapter, structured along your main topics and argument. N.B.:

- Go back to your theoretical framework, the definitions and classifications as used in your

research proposal and define which theoretical discussions you wish to partake in with

your thesis.

- Legitimate your chapters and sections each in 3 sentences. What are they to contain?

- Keep in mind the maximum length in pages for your thesis (approx. 50-60 pages, or

25.000 words). Basic structure of the thesis: 10 p. Introduction; 3 chapters of 15 p.; 5 p.

Conclusion). For more info on the thesis requirements see the digital course guide

(http://studiegids.uva.nl/, go to ‘programmes’, choose your programme (Cultural and

Social Anthropology) and open ‘study schemes and planning’.

- Think about what ‘genre’ you deem fit for your thesis in relation to your main topic(s),

how these topics were discussed and empirically dealt with amongst the people

concerned, the argument and methods. Consider the use of vignettes, presentations of

dialogues (chats, interviews, life histories) or in-depth descriptions (from participant-

observation), the role and place of photographs and other visual research material, etc.

These matters will be elaborated upon in the ‘Ethnographic Writing’ module following

your period of fieldwork.

Length of the final research report: max. 10 pages words or approx. 3000 words.

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The report is discussed by the supervisor and student. The supervisor fills out an exam slip

('tentamenbriefje') with an 'AVV' (pass) when the research report is deemed satisfactory. This

covers the 15 EC of the research.

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5. THESIS AND THESIS SEMINAR

The final phase of the Master's program begins after students return to the UvA. Students

register for the course Writing Applied Anthropology (6 EC). Upon returning from the field the

students hand in their fieldwork report. The seminar Writing Applied Anthropology is designed

to give students the opportunity to share their thoughts about general issues encountered whilst

writing their theses. For the students in the specialization Applied Anthropology, three extra

dimensions are very important during this seminar:

- It gives students the possibility to discuss the form and language (as well as the necessity

or not to ‘translate’ Anthropological knowledge) in which they will communicate about

the results of their research to the commissioning organization

- It gives students the possibility to discuss the complexity of the undertaking of both

maintaining independence while working together with a commissioning organization.

It gives students the possibility to discuss how to show the theoretical significance of the

concrete recommendations they are going to present to the external partner.

The thesis seminar concludes with a mini-conference at which students present their work.

Throughout the whole program, the supervisor gives the student concrete guidance and is also

responsible for appointing the assessment committee and for the final assessment of the

student's thesis. The thesis is chiefly an argumentative text in which a theoretical argument is

formulated, based on and substantiated with the ethnographic material collected as part of the

fieldwork. This ethnographic material is supplemented with / embedded in a study of the most

relevant (theoretical) literature. See for more information and the requirements the digital course

guide http://www.studiegids.uva.nl/xmlpages/page/2017-2018-en.

Students who opt for writing their thesis in Dutch should use the guidelines as described

in their “Vaardighedengids”, see http://student.uva.nl/ca/az/content/semestergids/studie--en-

semestergids.html. Students who write in English, can use the Writing Skills and Style Guide [see

http://student.uva.nl/mcsa/az, go to ‘thesis’]. For matters that are not covered by the Skills and

Style Guide, we recommend that you utilize the style guide of the American Anthropological

Association (downloadable at http://www.aaanet.org/publications/style_guide.pdf).

Students can decide to conclude the MCSA with a hybrid thesis, in which they combine a

thesis with a text that is written especially for the organization. For more details, see § 5.3 , where

the length requirements are also discussed .

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5.1. OBJECTIVES OF A MASTER’S THESIS

To present a written account of a research carried out by the student individually; to demonstrate

familiarity with the methodological and ethical aspects of social-scientific research; demonstrate

the ability to extrapolate theoretical insights about society and culture from empirical knowledge;

demonstrate the ability to become familiar with the social world and beliefs of other societal

structures and cultures in practice and to analyse these in their own unique terms.

5.2. CONTENTS

The Master's thesis is written on the basis of the fieldwork material.. You and your lecturer will

agree on the timeline in which the thesis is to be written and revised, keeping in mind the

deadlines as stated in the supervision agreement that you both have signed. Upon your return

from fieldwork, you will also make your individual planning concerning the text that you will

provide for the commissioning organization. 1 When will you deliver it? This needs to be

communicated first with your supervisor and then with the commissioning organization. The

total of your work for both the thesis as well as the required text for the organization has a

maximum of 25.000 words, which you can divide in such a way that it fits with the requirements

agreed upon with the organization. The minimum amount of words for the academic thesis,

however, is 15.000 words. The general instructions on the thesis that you see below, show the

flexibility concerning the length of the constituting parts of the thesis. These lengths may vary,

depending on the work for the organization that you will produce.

Academic thesis:

Chapters are written and submitted in succession according to the deadlines you and your

supervisor agreed upon. The lecturer reads the submitted work and provides detailed comments

at each meeting (held no more than three weeks after each submission). Where he/she deems it

advisable, the lecturer may ask you to rewrite the discussed and annotated chapter first before

proceeding to work on the next chapter. This procedure continues until a draft of the thesis has

been completed. The supervisor makes a last round of comments and indicates whether he/she

wishes to review the final version before the concluding meeting.

Although there is no one-way of composing a good thesis, the basic organization of the

thesis can be as follows:

1. Introduction (approx. 7 to 10 pages, max 4000 words) including sections on the following

1 I use the word ‘text’ here, but the organization can also be content with a presentation or other form of output.

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• An introduction to the topic and research question: what is the empirical and/or

theoretical issue at hand?

• Elaboration of relevant theoretical debates (usually: as discussed in the theoretical section

of your research proposal).

• The relevance of the topic for present-day academic and/or public debates

- A brief discussion of your methodology and reflection upon the research, including

ethical questions.

2. Three chapters (approx. 35 to 45 pages in total) in which the central argument of the thesis is

developed. In these chapters the research findings are presented and discussed in such a way that

they contribute to the main argument of the thesis. Depending on the topic and the nature of the

research, chapters can be organized around the following subthemes – not necessarily in this

order:

• Introduction to the 'field' (setting or specific subtopic to be discussed in the particular

chapter), including secondary literature (for instance on regional or historical issues)

• Case studies or analyses of events

• Interviews and key-informants

• Other empirical data and discussions

3. Conclusion (approx. 3 to 5 pages) which:

• Briefly summarizes the central questions and research findings

• Discusses the central argument

• Elaborates upon the scope of the argument and its relevance for public concerns,

theoretical debates, or further research.

Final text for the organization:

See Appendix 2.

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5.3. REQUIREMENTS OF MA THESES

1. The thesis must be based on your own, original material. This material is usually

collected ‘in the field’. Alternatives to fieldwork may include: a study of source material,

a museum internship or a practice-oriented internship (provided there is an independent

research component resulting in an independent report).

2. Depending on the length of the work a student writes for the commissioning

organization, the thesis has a maximum between 15.000-25.000 words. The combination

of the two kinds of text has a minimum of 20.000 words. The text of the thesis is broken

down into different chapters and sections. The bibliography must contain a minimum of

15 titles.

3. The content of the thesis can have a theoretical character or a more

ethnographic/empirical character. A clear link between empirical material and theory

should however be discernible.

4. The thesis contains the formulae on plagiarism as formulated by the Examination

Committee of the Msc Cultural and Social Anthropology, signed by the author of the

thesis. See Appendix 1 for the formulae.

5. The thesis starts with a summary of the argument (max 1 page) in English.

6. The thesis must furthermore meet the following criteria:

1. It should define a clear research question followed by a presentation of the relevant

empirical/theoretical material, an analysis of that material and a conclusion.

2. It should provide a clear substantiation for the guiding theoretical principles and research

method chosen.

3. It should show a clear development in the argumentation / argumentative thread and a

conclusion that corresponds to and answers the research question.

4. Quotes must be reproduced free of error; literature cited in the text must correspond

with the bibliography and the bibliography itself must be compiled in conformity with the

prevailing guidelines. It is carefully edited on spelling and formulations. Theses that do

not meet these requirements or exceed the maximum length will not be considered for

examination.

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5.4. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA THESES

A thesis should include at least the following elements:

• Title page (title, and if applicable subtitle; your name; UvA ID number; the name of the

program; the name of the department (= GSSS); the name of your supervisors; date and

place of submission).

• Table of contents.

• Introduction.

• Body of the thesis (divided into chapters, in which the theoretical framework is

presented, the research method is explained, the argument is elaborated and the research

results are analyzed).

• Conclusion (where your theoretical and empirical findings come together).

• References (footnotes, endnotes or references in the text) – according to the Writing

Skills and Style Guide

• Bibliography.

The criteria used for assessing the thesis are as follows:

• Formulation of the problem/hypothesis: clarity and precision, originality, argumentation

and delineation; how is the formulation of the problem operationalized?

• Construction of the argument: systematic elaboration of the formulation of the problem,

logical consistency, linking of the components of the thesis, clear line of argument, well-

founded conclusions.

• Knowledge of the topic of the thesis shown by, among other things, the degree to which

and the manner in which one has made use of relevant literature.

• Scholarly insight: how are theories and methodologies used, justification of theoretical

assumptions, description and application of theoretical concepts (consistency in use),

novelty of the argument. Make clear how the concrete recommendations for the

commissioning client are theoretically informed, if that is the case. Use reflection on this

process of translation from theory to recommendation if this is enlightening.

• Quality of the research: manner of collecting material (operationalization of concepts,

research techniques, choice of empirical field), justification of method(s) used and the

choices made therein, reflection on positionality, analysis of the data.

• Accountability: accurate references and quotation of one’s sources, well recorded

quotations, footnotes, bibliography, accountability of any calculations.

• Language: precision, clarity, legibility

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• Presentation: layout, spelling, punctuation, orderly arrangement (table of contents, etc.),

titles of chapters and paragraphs etc.

• Degree of independence in above mentioned points.

• Degree of creativity in above mentioned points.

• In the thesis, the researcher shows independence as a researcher vis-à-vis commissioning

client.

• In the thesis or an additional text written for the commissioning organization, the

researcher is able to show the relevance and sometimes also concrete recommendations

that will support the commissioning organization.

• An AA thesis is assessed according to the same criteria as a non-AA one. The only

difference may concern its theorization; whereas in a ‘regular’ thesis the theorization is

usually quite explicit, AA research is undertaken upon the request by an external partner

who wants to get concrete recommendations or answers out of it. These are theoretically

informed, and it is important that these considerations and ‘translations’ are made

explicit.

5.5. CHECKLIST STYLE AND FORMAT

Included in the requirements for the style and format are:

• The thesis should have a title page which states: title, name of author, name of the

program, name of the department, name of the supervisors, student number, thesis type,

and place and date of submission.

• A legible, functional and consistent lay-out (lettering)

• Chapter titles and section titles

• Consistent typography with regards to chapter- and section titles

• Use of spacing between the lines, moderately wide margins (2,5 x 2,5 x 2,5 x 2,5)

• Numbering of pages

• No spelling- or typing mistakes

• Correct punctuation

• References and Bibliography: Please view the Vaardighedengids (Dutch) or Writing Skills

and Style Guide (English).

• Spacing 1,5, font- Times New Roman/Garamond (size 12)

• A functional and clear reproduction of diagrams, tables and graphs

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• Write for a reader. Remember that your thesis demands the attention of other readers and

that you will be responsible for someone's reading experience. Try to formulate clearly.

Avoid using sentences that are longer than three lines.

• Check and re-check spelling, grammar and punctuation. If you are not an English native

speaker, have your thesis read by one.

• The final version of the thesis also contains the text that you write for the organization. If

no final report has to be written for the organization, the thesis contains information on

how and in what way the student has communicated with the commissioning

organization. This can be done in the academic thesis, as part of the chapters that have

been written, or in a separate reflection that is added to the thesis in the form of an

appendix. If the commissioning organisztion wants to see a presentation as a result of the

research, a simple list of recommendations or a translation of the research results in

another form, this output should be added to the thesis (as a separate product).

• The final version of your thesis should be bound. You hand in this final version to your

supervisor at the deadline. Once your supervisor gives you green light, hand in two

additional bounded copies for the two additional readers. Also hand in a digital version of

your thesis to your supervisor and the programme secretariat. Be aware that a digital

version of your thesis must always be available for your supervisors and/or student

secretariat upon request.

6. REMARKS

At the start of the program all students sign a supervision agreement. The document also

mentions the deadline for the master’s thesis. You can also check the timeline (see 'schedules and

planning') for the information on the deadline that applies in the case of your program. For

graduation ceremony dates and exam application procedures, see the A-Z overview on the

Anthropology website: http://student.uva.nl/mcsa

To ensure that you can graduate at the earliest possible date after completing your thesis, you can

start the diploma application procedure immediately after receiving the grade for the fieldwork

report from your supervisor. You should apply at the latest before the 15th of the month in

which you wish to graduate. A student is furthermore required to submit a digital copy of the

thesis to the program secretariat, so that the thesis can be added to the University Library.

University Library only accepts Master's theses in digital format, as a single document. The

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administration is responsible for collecting all submitted theses and sending them to the library.

All this needs to be done before the graduation ceremony.

7. PLAGIARISM

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, to plagiarize is to take the work or an idea of

someone else and pass it off as one’s own. This means that if you copy, paraphrase or translate

materials from websites, books, magazines or any other source in your thesis without giving full

and proper credit to the original author(s), you are committing plagiarism. If you do so, you may

be facing the possibility of expulsion from your program and the University of Amsterdam, not

to mention having to live with the reputation of dishonesty.

The fair use of evidence from primary and secondary sources is the basis of academic discourse.

The abuse of this fairness undermines the very nature of scholarly research. Plagiarism is a form

of theft and fraud and should be avoided at all costs. If you find yourself in doubt about

quotations or correct use of a source, it is always a good idea to provide full information. Your

thesis supervisor or specialization tutor can help you if you have doubts. On the program website

you can find more specific information on the rules and regulations regarding plagiarism and

academic fraud (http://student.uva.nl/rmss/az/item/plagiarism-and-fraud.html).

8. EXAMINATION DATE

The study program concludes with the submission of the thesis to an assessment committee and

its defense at the final meeting. The committee's composition is determined by the official

supervisor, with the student's agreement, and consists of the supervisor him/herself and two

other members of academic staff selected by the supervisor. The supervisor approaches the other

candidates and fixes a date for the thesis meeting in consultation with all participants. Each

committee member receives a copy of the thesis at least three weeks before the date of the final

meeting. During this final meeting, which lasts approximately one hour and is chaired by the

supervisor, the student will be expected to present a substantiated defense of the written text. On

concluding the meeting, the student will be asked to leave while the assessment committee agrees

on a mark. The supervisor will subsequently inform the student of his or her mark and provide

any remarks in person. These remarks can be recorded and sent to the student upon demand. All

three members of the assessment committee sign the grade slip for this component.

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9. APPENDIX 1

Please view here the plagiarism formulae that you can cite in your thesis: "Verklaring: Ik heb de UvA regels ten aanzien van fraude en plagiaat gelezen en begrepen [http://student.uva.nl/mcsa/az/item/plagiarism-and-fraud.html]. Ik verklaar dat dit geschreven werkstuk volledig mijn eigen werk is, dat ik alle bronnen die ik heb gebruikt zorgvuldig en correct heb aangegeven, en dat ik volgens de regels heb geciteerd. Ik heb dit werkstuk, in deze of gewijzigde versie, niet eerder ingediend voor een ander vak of als onderdeel van een ander werkstuk." "Declaration: I have read and understood the University of Amsterdam plagiarism policy [http://student.uva.nl/mcsa/az/item/plagiarism-and-fraud.html]. I declare that this assignment is entirely my own work, all sources have been properly acknowledged, and that I have not previously submitted this work, or any version of it, for assessment in any other paper."

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10. APPENDIX 2

Final work for the commissioning organization

Msc Cultural and Social Anthropology, Specialization Applied Anthropology

This appendix is only made to support students, therefore not everything mentioned here is

binding. While the instructions on the title page are mandatory, the structure of the content of

the report may be different.

Title page: Msc Cultural and Social Anthropology, specialization Applied Anthropology Date: Name student: Student ID nr and email address: Name report / concluding text:

More detailed information about the research internship: Research intern name: Telephone Academic supervisor of the research internship (lecturer) Name Telephone E-mail …….@uva.nl Organisation providing internship Name Address Telephone E-mail Internship supervisor/contact person at the commissioning organisation Name Function Telephone E-mail Contents:

1. Objectives and research questions of the project as originally defined 2. Changes to the objectives and research questions in the course of time 3. Detailed description of the activities undertaken within the framework of the project 4. Results and analysis 5. Recommendations 6. Financial report

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11. APPENDIX 3 TIMELINE APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

September 2018

Start Key Debates in Anthropology: two weekly meetings of three hours each, literature study and assignments.

October – December 2018

The two parallel taught courses Theory for Ethnographic Practice and Designing Fieldwork start. For each course a weekly meeting of three hours, plus literature study and assignments.

October 2018

First contact is made with the commissioning organization

October 2018

A supervisor will be assigned to each student. Parallel to the courses, the student follows an individual trajectory with the supervisor, who advises the student on readings and on the way the student should develop the research proposal.

December 2018

Revision and finalization of the research proposal that you submit to your supervisor for assessment.

January - March 2019

Fieldwork: Fieldwork should last 10 weeks. You are required to be back in Amsterdam by the 15th of March 2019

End of March 2019

The student writes the fieldwork report and hands it in with the supervisor. For details on the requirements, view http://www.student.uva.nl/mcsa Go to Fieldwork → Fieldwork guidelines and then choose Final Fieldwork Report CSA.

Week of 18 March 2019

First meeting Writing Applied Anthropology. Start writing your thesis and maintain close contact with your individual supervisor.

21 June 2019

Deadline Master thesis. If your thesis is not meeting the minimum requirements, you will get a chance to re-examination before 2 August 2019.

First half of July 2019

Defense of the Master thesis. The examination commission is formed by your supervisor, the assigned second reader and one fellow staff member who is asked by the supervisor. The supervisor also proposes a date for the defense of your thesis.

2 August 2019

Re-examination rewritten version of the thesis, if required. Only students that have handed in their finalized thesis for the deadline of 21 June 2019, can use this resit opportunity. The defense of the thesis for the examination commission takes place in August.

September 2019

Graduation ceremony. Information about the graduation: http://www.student.uva.nl/mcsa/az → graduation. Questions: antropologie@uva.nl