Specifications & notes

• ...

This is the procedure preferred by the FG for the completion of theses at Bachelor's or Master's level. In justified cases, the requirements listed in the table may be waived.

With regard to formatting and citation style, please follow the guidelines of the core curriculum of the University of Kassel (individual arrangements are permitted):

We will provide you with individual supervision and support when working on your thesis. At the same time, it is not possible for us to train you in the basic aspects of scientific work or in the writing of scientific texts. If you need to catch up, please refer to the literature below and the linked web and software resources. In addition, you can also enrol in the Moodle courses "Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten Kernstudium - Modul 1C (Goller)" of the different semesters (e.g. "25/26 Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten Kernstudium - Modul 1C (Goller)") using the password "Wiss.Arb.1C" and use the resources listed there.

We would also like to draw your attention to the following university advisory services:

• LEOs - Student Learning & Writing Advice (questions about academic work, writing skills training, etc.)
• ProStudium - Coaching for students (especially for demotivation, procrastination and psychodynamic difficulties in the context of writing the thesis)
• Self-study material from the Teaching Service Center

Otherwise, we strongly recommend that you look for writing partners or groups in which you can discuss problems on a peer level. You should also seek support in your own private circle at an early stage for the final correction of your thesis.

In all empirical projects, the requirements of European, German and Hessian data protection standards must be taken into account. In particular, the collection (e.g. written surveys, interviews) and evaluation (including transcription) of personal data (e.g. names, voice recordings) must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Information on this can be found on the website of the data protection officer of the University of Kassel:

https://www.uni-kassel.de/hochschulverwaltung/organisation/beauftragte/datenschutz.html

On these pages, there are also sample formulations for informing test subjects about data protection issues and corresponding consent forms, some of which must be signed. Please ask your supervisors about this. If in doubt, you may otherwise be liable to prosecution.

• ...

Methods in general

• Baur, N., & Blasius, J. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of methods of empirical social research: Volume 1 (2nd ed.). Springer VS.
• Baur, N., & Blasius, J. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of methods of empirical social research: Volume 2 (2nd ed.). Springer VS.

Statistics and quantitative methods

• Field, A. P., Miles, J., & Field, Z. (2012). Discovering statistics using R. Sage. (The new edition is currently - as of 02/2026 - in print).
• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2018). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Cengage.
• Wickham, H., Çetinkaya-Rundel, M., & Grolemund, G. (2023). R for data science: Import, tidy, transform, visualize, and model data (Second edition). O'Reilly. (Freely available online: https://r4ds.hadley.nz/)

Qualitative content analysis

• Kuckartz, U., & Rädiker, S. (2022). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse: Methoden, Praxis, Computerunterstützung: Grundlagentexte Methoden (5th edition). Beltz Juventa.

Reviews with PRISMA

• Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Studies That Evaluate Health Care Interventions: Explanation and Elaboration. PLoS Medicine, 6(7), e1000100. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000100
• Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., ... Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, n71.https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71

Q method

• Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2012). Doing Q methodological research: Theory, method and interpretation. Sage.

• ...