Master's Dissertation
Code: 44117 ECTS Credits: 10| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic Planning in Advertising and Public Relations | OB | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Mariluz Barbeito Veloso
- Email:
- mariluz.barbeito@uab.cat
Teachers
- Patricia Lazaro Pernias
- Juan José Perona Páez
- David Roca Correa
- Estrella Barrio Fraile
- Maria Leonor Balbuena Palacios
- Elaine Aparecida Lopes Da Silva
- Maria Montserrat Vidal Mestre
- Carlos David Badajoz Dávila
- Leila Mohammadi
- Ileana Lis Zeler
- Sara Vinyals Mirabent
- Carolina Serra Folch
- Anna Fajula Payet
- Ana Maria Enrique Jimenez
- Cristina Martorell Castellano
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for taking the course.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The objectives of this module are:
-Carry out a research/project that offers an unprecedented contribution in the field of communication. The work may follow the approach of applied research, within the framework of the research tasks inherent to strategic planning in advertising or public relations, or it may consist of theoretical research on strategic communication.
-Verify the acquisition of the knowledge and skills associated with the master's degree.
-Acquiring experience in the development of scientific research, so that students who wish to do so can carry out doctoral research in the future.
Competences
- Analyse market data (competition and brand image) and, in accordance with the advertiser's briefing, design a strategic communication plan.
- Be able to evaluate inequalities for reasons of sex or gender to design solutions.
- Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
- Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
- Demonstrate systemic, scientific thought, oriented to results.
- Identify research problems and apply the most suitable qualitative and quantitative methodologies and tools in studies on communicative phenomena in advertising and PR.
- Set communication objectives and design strategies that are suited to the dialogue between brands and consumers.
Learning Outcomes
- Develop a plan for effective communication.
- Distinguish the best sources of information, based on the research objectives set.
- Draw the most significant conclusions in a research project.
- Evaluate the different variables of advertising effectiveness.
- Identify and be able to analyse the structure causes and effects of violence against women and other gender violence.
- Identify and question the biases, stereotypes and gender roles in the discipline and in professional practice.
- Identify the contributions of gender study to the research topic.
- Know and use the contributions of women and gender studies in the discipline.
- Know how to carry out an adequate and informative treatment of sexist violence, excluding elements which could create unhealthy interest and avoiding banality.
- Know how to collect, systematise, conserve and disseminate information about women, works written by women, documents referring to the laws and policies of equality and those generated by research into gender studies, evaluating gender bias which may be included in existing searches and descriptors.
- Know how to create and use qualitative and quantitative indicators including statistics to gain a better understanding of gender inequalities and differences in the needs, conditions, values and aspirations of women and men.
- Know how to distinguish in theoretical and empirical analyses the effects of sex and gender variables.
- Know how to identify the intersection of gender inequality with other inequalities (age, class, race, sexuality and identity/gender expression, functional diversity etc.).
- Know how to undertake research with a gender perspective.
- Know how to use inclusive and non-sexist language.
- Learn to make visible the contributions made by women in all areas of society and consider their experience as a documentary source of primary importance.
- Make a good diagnosis of a brand's communication problems.
- Successfully defend the master's dissertation before a committee.
- Take part in research projects and scientific collaboration.
Content
Students will have to carry out and defend an original work that meets the academic parameters and requirements of a scientific research. To develop the Master's Thesis (*TFM) and ensure an optimum level of quality, students have an Academic Tutor (with a doctorate degree) who will guide them throughout the module in each of the stages of the development of the proposal.
The calendar of procedures related to the *TFM is established by the Faculty of Communication Sciences and its published annually on the Faculty's website.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials with the TFM tutor | 7 | 0.28 | 4, 8, 3, 1, 2, 17, 6, 19, 14, 15, 10 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Student personal work | 240 | 9.6 | 16, 4, 8, 3, 1, 2, 17, 6, 5, 7, 19, 14, 12, 9, 15, 13, 10 |
The supervision of the *TFM by the tutor will be carried out through regular meetings that will help students to define the topic of the *TFM and to monitor the development of the work.
At the first meeting with the tutor, the proposal of the topic of the work is defined, the conditions of the follow-up are set, as well as the schedule of tasks and deliveries. Subsequently, there will be at least 3 obligatory periodical meetings and the student will have to sign the monitoring sheet. This follow-up consists of both the holding of the meeting and the delivery of the assigned activities within the pre-set and agreed deadlines. The person tutoring may decide to carry out a higher number of tutorials, which will have to be agreed with the students.
A detailed schedule will be presented on the first day of the course and will be available on the course’s Virtual Campus, where students will find all teaching materials and necessary information for following the course properly. Should the teaching modality change for reasons of force majeure, according to the competent authorities, the teaching staff will inform students of any modifications to the course schedule and teaching methodologies.
The specific requirements of the TFM: structure, length, formal issues, etc. can be consulted on the website of the Faculty of Communication Sciences.
Note: The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content and public defense of the TFM | 100 | 3 | 0.12 | 16, 4, 8, 3, 18, 1, 2, 17, 6, 5, 7, 19, 14, 12, 9, 15, 13, 10, 11 |
The examining board will award 70% of the final mark. The student's tutor will make an evaluation report to enable the defence and will award 30% of the final mark.
The evaluation of the *TFM is based on the following items:
- Report (rubric) of the tutor (30% of the final grade). This report evaluates both the final work as a whole (use of theories, methodology, practical proposal, formal issues, etc.) and the student's follow-up of the tutorials.
- Report (rubric) of the examining board, made up of two PhD graduates (70% of the final mark). This report evaluates both the final work as a whole (use of theories, methodology, practical proposal, formal issues, etc.) and the oral presentation of the *TFM during the defence.
The rubric documents are public and can be consulted on the website of the Faculty of Communication Sciences.
Not Assessable
The Master’s Thesis (TFM) will be graded as "Not Assessable" if any of the following three circumstances occur:
- The supervisor considers that the thesis does not meet the minimum academic requirements for submission and assessment.
- The student fails to complete satisfactorily the 3 mandatory tutoring sessions and does not have the consent of the supervisor.
- The student does not submit the Master’s Thesis.
Plagiarism
In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation act, he/she will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instituted.
Re-evaluation
Pursuant to Article 261 of the UAB Academic Regulations, the Master’s Thesis (TFM) are not subject to the recovery process.
Use Artificial Inteligence
For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches,text correction, or translations. Students must clearly identify any parts generated with these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how AI has influenced the process and final outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total penalty to the assignment grade, or more serious sanctions insevere cases.
Bibliography
Support document: Guide for the preparation of the Master's Thesis. Course 2025-2026 (available in the TFM module in the Virtual Campus).
Software
No specific programming is required.
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.