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Faculty of Human Sciences and Education

Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology

  1.  University of bamberg
  2. Faculties
  3. Human Sciences and Education
  4. Academic Institutes
  5. Psychology
  6. Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology
  7. Studies
  8. Theses

Theses at the Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology

Here you will find some information about theses at the Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology.

1) Finding a topic

If you are interested in writing a thesis (bachelor, diploma, or master's thesis) in the field of Work and Organizational Psychology, please inform yourself first on our homepage about the current research topics, to find a possible match between your and our interests.

If you are interested in our research fields and you are planning a thesis at the Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology, you should keep an eye on the current calls for thesis topics. Current proposals for topics are always published on the homepage of the professorship. If you are interested in a specific topic, please contact the responsible person for the professorship directly. A suitable research question as well as an appropriate study design can then be developed together.

In special cases, we will also supervise your own proposed topics. The supervision of your own research idea is possible if:

  • There is a content-related fit between your interests and the interests of the reviewers,
  • It has a sufficiently scientific novelty value, and
  • You have access to a sufficiently large sample or data set.

2) The Exposé

With the beginning of a thesis at the Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology, an exposé has to be written. The preparation of an exposé is the first step in the research process and serves as a basis for discussion between you and your supervisor. It provides the working basis for further work on your topic.

In 10 to 15 pages, you describe what your thesis will be about and how you intend to proceed with your investigation (should a survey take place).

The following information should be included in the exposé:

  • Title page (name, incl. date of birth and contact details, supervisor, university, department, working group, working title).
  • 1st part of the exposé: the naming of the research question, presentation of the scientific and practical relevance, justification/derivation of the hypotheses
  • 2nd part of the exposé: description of the planned research project (sample, sample size, operationalization of constructs to be recorded, measuring instruments, statistical analysis methods)
  • Literature
  • Timetable

The exposé can be written in German or English.

We recommend writing the exposé in English if you are interested in writing your thesis in article form(208.2 KB, 1 page) (Punkt 4 „Das Schreiben“), since the exposé ideally forms the basis for your thesis.

Detailed instructions for writing an exposé can be found, for example, in Sonnentag, S. (2006). Theses and dissertations in applied psychological research. Göttingen: Hogrefe Verlag.

3) Presenting your thesis in the Research Seminar

Theses (bachelor as well as master theses) are presented at least once (preferably twice) in the Research Seminar of the Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology.

The presentation can occur at different points within your research process. You can either (1) present your elaborated concept and the planned research design during the preparation of the survey or you can (2) present your first results after the survey.

The first option offers you the advantage of getting informed about possible improvement options at an early stage and clarifying open questions regarding your concept. The preparation of the presentation often helps you become aware of your own approach and deficiencies in the planning.

The second variant, in turn, can be especially helpful for writing the discussion since, for example, results that do not conform to the hypothesis and further analysis possibilities can be discussed together.

Helpful implications for the presentation of the research concept (variant 1) or the research results (variant 2) in the context of the research seminar can be found, for example, in Sonnentag, S. (2006). Theses and dissertations in applied psychological research. Göttingen: Hogrefe Publishers.

4) Writing

For writing your thesis you have two choices at the Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology: Either you decide to write a Monograph or an Article.

Both options offer advantages and disadvantages, which you can find in the following overview (Monograph vs. Article(208.2 KB, 1 page)).

All theses at the Professorship of Work and Organizational Psychology must be consistently prepared according to the current version of the American Psychological Association (APA) Manual.