The general aim of the master thesis is for the student to acquire general research skills and experience, and to gain skills in independent critical thinking.

There are three possible approaches to organizing the content of the thesis work:

1. Narrative literature review, combined with new data collection and data analysis
2. Semi-systematic literature review, combined with minimal or no data collection, but with analysis of existing research data
3. Extensive literature review on a topic with a solid rationale, grounded in a well-described theoretical framework, and including a detailed evaluation of each paper¿s methodological strengths and weaknesses

1. To develop one or several specific research questions based on a solid rationale and grounded in an appropriate theoretical framework
2. To carry out a critical literature review on a well-defined and relevant health-related topic
3. To design, carry out or critically evaluate research methods using the standards of the qualitative or the quantitative variant of the scientific method, and according to appropriate ethical and efficiency standards
4. To discuss research findings with due attention to the internal and external validity
5. To present a written thesis with the structure and logical composition that characterizes an academic text

Oppgåva skal skrivast individuelt i siste studieår (heiltid), og tilsvarer 60 studiepoeng.

Studenten har rett til totalt 30 timar med rettleiing individuelt og i gruppe, der deler av dette kan vere IKT - basert. I tillegg kjem kurs i søking etter litteratur, kjeldebruk og kjeldevising samt i forskingsetikk knytt til kjeldebruk m. v.