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Faculty of Management, Economics and Social SciencesInstitute of Sociology and Social Psychology (ISS)

Information on master theses in Economic and Social Psychology

Dear students,

we offer master students interested in economic psychology or social psychology the opportunity to write an empirical master thesis at our chairs for Economic and Social Psychology.

Empirical master theses usually focus on questions in line with the research topics of the respective chair.

Applications for the supervision of Master's theses at the chairs of economic and social psychology (Chair of Prof. Dr. Erik Hölzl and Chair of Prof. Dr. Detlef Fetchenhauer) for the degree course “Sociology: Social and Economic Psychology” are organized jointly. Further information on the application procedure can be found below.

General information on Master's theses at the Chair of Prof Fetchenhauer

For capacity reasons, the Chair of Prof. Dr. Fetchenhauer will only be able to supervise students enrolled in the "Sociology: Social and Economic Psychology" degree program (PO 2021) from the summer semester of 2023.

For general questions about the process, please contact Nadine Lomny. Please be aware of the new examination regulations of 2021. Under these regulations, attending the colloquium or thesis seminar is a required part of the "Master's Thesis" examination. This means that participation in the colloquium or thesis seminar is mandatory. The final module examination for the Master's Thesis consists of presenting the planned content of your final thesis during the colloquium or thesis seminar ("passed" or "failed") and the written thesis (graded). If you do not attend the colloquium or thesis seminar, your thesis will be graded "failed".

Registration for the colloquium is available during the second enrolment phase through KLIPS. It is not possible to register for multiple Master's colloquia or thesis seminars at the same time.

If you miss this registration window, subsequent registration in KLIPS for the same semester is not possible, and you will need to wait until the following semester to attend the colloquium. Before registering, you should decide on an examiner and confirm that they are willing to supervise your chosen topic. It is essential to review the research focus of the examiner's chair, which is available on the homepage, to ensure alignment with your interests. Please note, you must consult with your examiner prior to registering. If you register without this consultation, we cannot consider your topic preferences; instead, you will be assigned a topic from the chair’s research area, which you will be required to work on. Once registered, it is not possible to withdraw from the colloquium. Should you wish to change your registration, you can only do so in the next semester by re-registering through KLIPS with a different chair.
 

(Last updated 27.06.2024 by Thomas Graczyk)

Master theses at the chair of Prof. Hoelzl

For capacity reasons, from summer term 2024 on only students from the programmes "Business Administration" and "Sociology: Social and Economic Psychology" can be supervised at the chair Prof. Hoelzl.

Students in "Business Administration"

The thesis should be a quantitative empirical study (preferably with an experimental design) with primary (i.e., self-collected) data. The thesis topic should be in the field of economic psychology (with a focus on consumer psychology). You should have completed the courses in the supplementary section "Economic Psychology". For supervision in the summer term 2025, the following timeline applies:

  • Before 15.01.2025: You contact me to to schedule a Zoom meeting for an individual orientation talk. (contact)
  • Before 20.01.2025: You inform me whether you are still interested in a supervision place in the winter term 2024.
  • Before 25.01.2025: I inform you whether I can offer you a supervision place.
  • Before 30.01.2025: You inform me whether you accept the offered supervision place.
  • From end of March 2025: Start of master theses; the specific topical focus will be developed within the first month of supervision.

[Last updated 14.10.2024 by Erik Hoelzl]

Students in “Sociology: Social and Economic Psychology"

Applications for the supervision of Master's theses at the Chairs of Economic and Social Psychology (Chair of Prof. Dr. Erik Hoelzl and Chair of Prof. Dr. Detlef Fetchenhauer) for the study program “Sociology: Social and Economic Psychology” are organized jointly. Please note the following information on the forms of Master's theses and the application procedure:

At the Hoelzl Chair, Master's theses are supervised by Prof Dr. Erik Hoelzl. The Master's thesis consists of a quantitative empirical study (preferably with an experimental design) based on primary data (i.e. data collected by yourself). The topic should be in the field of consumer psychology and you should have completed the course "Consumer Psychology" for your application to be considered. It is recommended to make an appointment for an orientation talk via Zoom by email to Prof. Hoelzl before 15 January 2025.

At the Fetchenhauer Chair, Master’s theses are currently supervised by Prof. Dr. Detlef Fetchenhauer, Sebastian Winterhagen and Thomas Graczyk. Four possible types of Master's theses are supervised:

1) A combination of a literature review and a qualitative study on a freely chosen topic, involving approximately eight interviews.

2) The implementation, evaluation and reporting of a psychologically based intervention on a freely chosen topic. This includes applying the PATHS model used in the course "Addressing Societal and Organisational Problems".

3) Conducting, analyzing and reporting a quantitative (experimental) study on interpersonal trust (with a theme provided).

4) Conducting, analyzing and reporting a quantitative (experimental) study on a topic of your choice

Applications to write a Master's thesis in the coming Summer semester 2025 at one of the two chairs of economic and social psychology must be submitted by 31 January 2025 at the latest using the following link: https://ww3.unipark.de/uc/CSEP_MastersThesisApplication/

There you will be asked to indicate your preferred supervisor, the preferred type of Master's thesis (literature review/qualitative, intervention, quantitative/experimental) as well as a short letter of motivation with the topics you can imagine for your Master's thesis (2 - 3 suggestions , 150 - 250 words per suggestion). Please be aware that while we will try our best to accommodate your preferences, we cannot guarantee your first choice will be available. You can expect to hear back from us about 4-6 weeks after the application deadline. 

(Last updated22.10.2024 by Nadine Lomny)