Reflections On Academic Discourse: Skills Manual - Part I

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School of Business and Economics

REFLECTIONS ON
ACADEMIC DISCOURSE
EBS1001 – Period 3
Academic year 2019-2020

Skills Manual – Part I

© 2019, J. Muysken, W. Gijselaers, J. Hommes, M. Embrey, A. Westkamp, K. Bosmans, A. Baranski, Matthias


Wibral, and Hannes Rusch at the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics.
Nothing in this publication may be reproduced and/or made public by means of printing, offset, photocopy or
microfilm or in any digital, electronic, optical or any other form without the prior written permission of the owner
of the copyright.

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1 Introduction

This introductory section describes what we reflect upon and what the skills objectives are.
Furthermore, it briefly describes the skills structure and how it relates to the texts used.

1.1 What are the reflections about?


The present skills training is about the value of ideas in understanding our environment.
Whether it is for understanding business or economics, one needs to have ideas that explain,
that allow interpretation, or that may even predict future events. The present skills training,
however, is not about learning new ideas. We want to teach you to question ideas and to be
wary about taking ideas for granted.
There are plenty of reasons to doubt ideas. Some ideas are more fashionable than others.
For example, until ten years ago, no one seemed to doubt that the free market economy was the
best idea to increase welfare. Business schools were teaching the positive value of using
bonuses for bankers to optimize profits, and the EU was against any governmental support of
companies because it encouraged unfair competition. Since September 2008 these ideas are
being challenged. The economic crisis has provoked fundamental discussions in all areas of
business and economics on the state of theory and research.
As soon as ideas are shared among people, they may turn into a culture and a collective
programming of the mind. These processes occur also in the academic world. Researchers
develop ideas to understand nature, social phenomena and economic developments. They need
these ideas as tools to work with, to communicate with other scientists and to design solutions
for practical problems.
You may think that theories are abstract, non-existent in real life, or just toys for academics.
But they are not. Theories can help to make sense of our everyday life. The best theories are
those that are valid across time, culture and place. A good theory is not only relevant for one
situation, company or economy, but can be usefully applied to other situations, companies or
economies.
The present skills training will help you to reflect on the theories we use in our courses and
to better understand the nature of the scientific methodology in the social sciences. In some
topical areas you will focus on the discussions provoked by the economic crisis from 2008-
2015 and the challenges for standard economic theories. Other topical areas will be broader in
their scope but will still deal with real-world applications of theory. We will encourage you to
examine why, for many theories that seem to be quite successful, you can find an opposite
theory that is adopted by many other academics or practitioners.

1.2 What do we want you to learn in this skills training?


The minimum objective of this skills training is that in the end you will understand that benefits
of the scientific research methodology. With so many research findings bombarding us daily,
you will be able to form more informed opinions about those findings and how they may affect
your research and your life. But that is not all there is to it. In this skills training, the foundation
will be laid for a systematic constructive critical reflection on the various theories and
approaches that you will encounter later on in your studies.
In particular, we hope to enhance your understanding of the following:

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 That people learn in various ways about their world, the mistakes they make along the
way, and what makes science different from other ways of knowing.
 That much of what we know is by agreement rather than by experience. In particular,
two important sources of agreed-upon knowledge are tradition and authority. However,
these useful sources of knowledge can also lead us astray.
 That in everyday life we sometimes reason illogically. Researchers seek to avoid
illogical reasoning by being as careful and deliberate in their reasoning as possible.
Moreover, the public nature of science means that others are always present to challenge
faulty reasoning.
 That the methods of tenacity, intuition, authority, rationalism and empiricism are
different ways of acquiring knowledge. Each method has its strengths and limitations.
The scientific method combines the various methods to achieve a more robust way of
answering questions. The scientific method is empirical, public and objective.
 That the scientific method consists of five steps: (1) observation of behavior or other
phenomena; (2) formation of a tentative answer or explanation, called a hypothesis; (3)
use of the hypothesis to generate a testable prediction; (4) evaluation of the prediction
by making systematic, planned observations; and (5) use of the observations to support,
refute, or refine the original hypothesis. The research process is the way in which the
scientific method is used to answer a particular question.
 That there are (at least) three views of “reality”: the premodern, modern and postmodern
views. In the postmodern view, there is no “objective” reality independent of our
subjective experiences.
 That theory attempts to discuss and explain what is, not what should be. Theory should
not be confused with philosophy or belief.
 That inductive theories reason from specific observations to general patterns, whereas
deductive theories start from general statements and predict specific observations.

1.3 Compulsory literature


The reading materials for this skills training are:
 Chapters 1 and 2 of “Babbie E., 2007. The Basics of Social Research. Fourth edition.
Cengage Learning: Wadsworth.”
 Chapter 1 of “Gravetter F.J. and L.B. Forzano, 2009. Research Methods for the
Behavioral Sciences. Third edition. Cengage Learning: Wadsworth.”
These three chapters are bundled in a single book, “Reflections on Academic Discourse in
Business and Economics” (ISBN 9781408030288). The book is available for €12.32 at
Studystore (https://www.studystore.nl/winkels/studystore-maastricht--locatie-binnenstad).
Experience shows that some of you will buy a used copy of the book from students who
took the skills training last year. For of this reason, Studystore will NOT order one copy per
student. If you plan to buy a new copy of the book, please try to place your order at Studystore
BEFORE the Christmas break. Then, in case they are sold out there is still enough time for
additional copies of the book to be printed. Having access to a copy of the book is your own
responsibility.
For each topical area, you will use a bundle of articles, all retrievable from websites. The
articles are listed in the Topical Area Manuals (which will be made available in early January
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through the Student Portal under “Course Material” in the folder “Topical Area Manuals”).
These articles will not be provided in hard copy.

1.4 Structure of the skills training


The skills training combines two approaches to help you reflect on academic discourse in
business and economics.
First, we provide material to learn the various methods to critically evaluate statements
made by academics and the underlying research. This material is the compulsory literature
mentioned in section 1.3. The building blocks of the so-called scientific method are covered in
the chapter of Gravetter and Forzano (2009). The more general background is covered in the
chapters of Babbie (2007). The material will be elaborated upon in the lecture and applied in
the first two tutorial meetings.
Second, we want you to apply the building blocks within a certain field. In our School
various ways of thinking are represented and various sub-disciplines have different scientific
cultures. We want this feature to be reflected in this skills training. Therefore, students can
choose between different “topical areas” in which they can learn to apply the reflection skills.
The topical areas are summarized in Table 1. You find descriptions of each topical area on the
Student Portal under “Topical Areas” in the folder “Descriptions”. A separate manual for each
topical area is available on the Student Portal under “Course Material” in the folder “Topical
Area Manuals”.
Table 1 Topical areas
Topical area Coordinator Department
Management control for innovation and creativity Dr. Katlijn Accounting &
Haesebrouck Information Management

Behavioral economics and paternalistic public policy Dr. Hannes Rusch Economics (MPE)
Is it smart to invest in education during an economic Dr. Lex Borghans Economics (MILE)
crisis?
Financial models failed when we needed them most — Dr. Thomas Post Finance
are they flawed?
The role of information and the internet in the economic Dr. Anant Joshi Infonomics
crisis
Irrational behavior and (more?) marketing science Dr. Elisabeth Brüggen, Marketing and Supply
Sabine Nievelstein Chain Management
Crisis Management: when global calamity reaches the Anna Bayne Organization & Strategy
work floor
Quants Dr. Dries Vermeulen Quantitative Economics

Students can freely choose a topical area (as long are there is capacity, see Section 2.2).
There are three tutorial meetings. In these meetings, the concepts from the literature are applied
within the chosen topical area and will be inspired by discussions related to the economic crisis.
This implies that, for each topical area, there will be some additional literature relevant for the
application. The application is based both on discussions in the tutorial meetings and by
working on an assignment in subgroups (see Section 2.3).

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The assignments will be reviewed by your fellow students and evaluated by your tutor. This
will form one part of the exam. The other part is a multiple-choice exam that is based on the
compulsory literature. For details, see Section 2.4.

2 Outline skills training


2.1 Forms of instruction
An outline of the skills training is provided in Table 2 below. This section discusses several
practical elements, such as the forms of instruction and the exam requirements.
Table 2 summarizes the course schedule. First, there is one lecture on Monday morning,
January 13, 2020. Since this is a very large course, the same lecture will be given twice. You
will be informed on which of the two lectures to attend. The lecture will provide an overview
of the course material and will link the various concepts. We focus on the role of science in
society in a time where people seem to be entitled to their own facts and interpretations of them
without regard for rigorous analysis. Second, there are three tutorial meetings in which the
various concepts are applied to a specific topical area. We will now discuss these different
forms of instruction.

Table 2 Skills schedule


Monday, January 13 Lecture
Group 1: 08:30-10:30
Group 2: 11:00-13:00
Tuesday, January 14 Tutorial meeting 1 Literature:
(per topical area) Chapter 1 of Gravetter and
Forzano
Thursday, January 16 Tutorial meeting 2 Literature:
(per topical area) - Chapters 1 and 2 of Babbie
- Topical area literature (1)
Tuesday, January 21 Group assignment
- Before 12:00: upload paper
- Feedback other paper
- Before 18:00: upload feedback
Wednesday, January 22 Tutorial meeting 3 Literature:
(per topical area) - Chapters 1 and 2 of Babbie
- Topical area literature (2)
Friday, January 24 Examination (10:30-12:00)

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2.1.1 Lecture
The lecture is partly based on the contents of the compulsory literature and partly material
that is unique to the lecture. You are encouraged to attend since the exam will likely include
questions relevant to the lecture. It will focus on summarizing, broadening and deepening the
subject matter, especially on the role of scientific knowledge in today’s society. Why do people
trust science for some issues and not others? Why do people disregard scientific findings that
can help us solve some world problems? We will go over historical accounts of when scientific
findings have conflicted with predominant religious or cultural views. The lecture will be given
by Dr. Hannes Rusch.
If you decide to attend the lecture, you are expected to follow the rules of the game. Do not
disrupt a lecture or interfere with other students’ ability to benefit from it. The lecture will not
be recorded. This means that if you want to know the contents of the lecture, you either have to
attend the lecture yourself or copy the notes of a fellow student. Lecture slides will be posted,
but students are advised to attend.

Rules of the game in following a lecture


- Be on time.
- Do not enter or leave the lecture hall during the lectures.
- Behave in an orderly fashion.
- Do not talk.

2.1.2 Tutorial meetings


What can you expect from the group tutorials? Certainly, you can expect the dedication and
willingness to cooperate as a group. This will demand a lot from you and your fellow group
members. For instance, it demands active participation during the meetings, preparation of the
meetings and keeping your appointments. Apart from that, you will have to be able to keep your
fellow group members in line if necessary. In short, frequenting the group tutorials goes far
beyond just being present.
We urge you to start your first meeting by making clear arrangements:
 Who takes minutes?
 Who chairs sessions?
 When to evaluate how well the group is performing?
It is clear that the group’s performance as a whole will improve if every group member takes
these duties seriously.

Rules of the game in following a tutorial meeting


- Be on time.
- Participate actively.
- Have an open attitude towards others.
- Prepare thoroughly.

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2.2 Choosing a topical area
As mentioned above, you can choose a topical area within which you apply the skills. The
topical areas are summarised in Table 1 and a description of each topical area is provided on
the Student Portal.
Rules of the game in registering for a topical area
 Registering through the Student Portal is possible from December 9, 2019,
9:00 a.m. onwards.
 Students will be assigned on a first come first serve basis. The longer you wait to
sign up the less likely you will be able to select your preferred choice.
 Instructions will be provided on how to enroll (it will be very easy).
 At the latest on January 5, 2020, 12:00 (noon), you should have registered for one of
the topical areas.
 Failure to register before the deadline will result in a penalty (see below).
 By January 10, 2020, your personal timetable will be available on MyUM. Once
allocated to a tutorial group, you will stay in that group. Switching between groups
is not possible.
 Do not email the coordinator for issues about registration. Questions about
enrollment and registration should be asked via www.surfyourself.nl.
Failure to enroll by the deadline will result in a 5% penalty. This means that whatever grade
you obtain for the course, it will be multiplied by 0.95. If your grade is an 8, then after the
penalty your grade will be 8*0.95=7.6, which will be rounded to 7.5. The reason we are
introducing this penalty is because too many people in the past simply forgot to register which
creates considerable additional administrative work.

2.3 Tutorial activities


2.3.1 The general structure
As indicated, three group tutorial meetings have been scheduled. The contents for the sessions
are given in the manual for the topical area. We present the general structure here:
 Preparation for tutorial meeting 1: Prepare Task 1.
 Tutorial meeting 1:
- Get acquainted and make arrangements.
- Discussion of Task 1.
- Pre-discussion of Task 2.
- Make subgroups for the group assignment.
 Preparation for tutorial meeting 2: Prepare Task 3.
 Tutorial meeting 2:
- Post-discussion of Task 2.
- Discussion of Task 3.
- Pre-discussion of Task 4.
- Opportunity to discuss questions or problems concerning the group assignment.
 Intermezzo (Tuesday, January 21, 2020):
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- Hand in draft of the group assignment (before 12:00).
- Give feedback to draft of the other subgroup (before 18:00).
 Preparation for tutorial meeting 3: Prepare Task 5.
 Tutorial meeting 3:
- Post-discussion of Task 4.
- Discussion of Task 5.
- Each subgroup presents the final version of the group assignment and reacts to the
written review.
- Each subgroup hands in to the tutor a final version of the group assignment together
with a copy of the received feedback and the reaction to the feedback.
The planning group has opted for variety in the tasks. This means that not all tasks are
suitable for a strict application of the “seven-jump approach”. Sometimes you will have to do
some accounting, analyse a graph, or discuss a quote or some data. We deliberately chose such
variety in order to make you think thoroughly about how to tackle the problems addressed in
the tasks.
Tasks are of course a cornerstone of the PBL system, so we expect you to cover them
meticulously. The following considerations are always essential:
 Make an inventory of the existing knowledge in the group.
 What do you have to know to solve the problems?
 What do you know already?
 The differences between the previous two lists are your learning objectives. They
constitute the homework you assign to yourselves.
During the next group tutorial, you will have to put your homework to the test: does the
information that you have collected enable you to solve the problems? This phase of the “seven-
jump approach” is crucial to the learning process. The tutor will see to it that this step is
performed adequately.

2.3.2 The group assignment and peer review


In the first tutorial meeting, the tutor will make four subgroups of three or four students. For
each subgroup, the assignment consists of a joint subgroup paper, a review of another
subgroup’s paper, and a reaction to the review received by the subgroup.
 In each tutorial group, there will be four subgroups, labeled A, B, C and D.
 Each subgroup is expected to choose a topic as indicated in the manual for the topical
area, to analyze the selected topic, and to write one paper.
- The paper should be at most 2000 words in length (excluding title page and
reference list), with line spacing 1.5 and font Times New Roman (12pt).
- The title page should mention the names and ID numbers of the students, your
tutorial group number and the name of your tutor.
- The paper should apply what you learned in Academic Writing in period 2.

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 In addition to writing the paper, each subgroup has to review the paper of one of the
other subgroups. Subgroup A reviews the paper of subgroup B, subgroup B reviews the
paper of subgroup C, subgroup C reviews the paper of subgroup D, and subgroup D
reviews the paper of subgroup A.
It is important to quickly start on the paper with your subgroup. We advise you to do this
immediately after your first tutorial meeting. The time schedule is very tight. In tutorial
meeting 2 you will have the opportunity to raise questions or to address problems you
encountered.
Some important guidelines:
 Each subgroup has to upload its paper on the Student Portal at tutorial group level in the
discussion board AND in Safe Assign on course level by Tuesday, January 21, 2020,
12:00. No other form of submission for the paper will be accepted. The deadline is strict
and there will be absolutely no exceptions.
 Each subgroup has to review the paper of the other subgroup assigned to it (see above)
before tutorial meeting 3 and has to upload this review on the Student Portal at tutorial
group level in the discussion board by Tuesday, January 21, 2020, 18:00. No other
form of submission for the review will be accepted. This deadline is strict and there will
be absolutely no exceptions. Since your assigned subgroup will upload its paper on the
Student Portal at tutorial group level by Tuesday, January 21, 2020, you will have at
least 6 hours for your review. Use the review form in Appendix 1 of this manual.
Indicate your names, ID numbers and tutorial group number on the review form.
 Each subgroup reads the received review and fills in the form in Appendix 2. Indicate
your names, ID numbers and tutorial group number on this form. Make copies of the
received review and your reaction to the review. Bring these copies along to the third
tutorial meeting.
 In the third tutorial meeting, the improved final version of the paper, the review, and the
reaction to the review has to be handed in to the tutor.
In the second part of the third meeting each subgroup gives a 5 minute oral presentation of
its paper (no PowerPoint for a change!). Then the review group for this subgroup gives a
5-minute oral presentation of its review of the paper (again no PowerPoint). Finally, the
subgroup gives a 5-minute oral reaction to the review it has received. Table 3 gives an overview.

Table 3 Presentations for the group assignment


Subgroup A - Presentation - 5 minutes
- Presentation of the review by group D - 5 minutes
- A’s reaction to D’s review - 5 minutes
Subgroup B - Presentation - 5 minutes
- Presentation of the review by group A - 5 minutes
- B’s reaction to A’s review - 5 minutes
Subgroup C - Presentation - 5 minutes
- Presentation of the review by group B - 5 minutes
- C’s reaction to B’s review - 5 minutes
Subgroup D - Presentation - 5 minutes
- Presentation of the review by group C - 5 minutes
- D’s reaction to C’s review - 5 minutes

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Hand in the copies of the received reviews and the reaction on the review to the tutor (see
Appendices 1 and 2), together with the paper. The tutor grades the assignment (consisting of
the paper for each subgroup, the review the subgroup made for one of the other subgroups and
the discussion of the review the subgroup has received on its own paper).

2.4 Exam requirements


The exam for this course consists of three elements: (1) a multiple-choice examination, (2) the
peer-reviewed group assignment, and (3) the course assignment. The final grade of the course
is the average of the grades for the multiple-choice examination and the group assignment,
provided each of these two grades is at least 55 out of 100, and provided that you have passed
your course assignment.
(1) The multiple-choice examination consists of 30 questions (90 minutes, closed book).
Each correct answer yields one point. To pass you need to answer at least 20 questions
correctly. The grading scheme is as follows:
Points 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Grade 5.5 6 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10

(2) The grade for your group assignment is given by your tutor as discussed in Section 2.3.
To pass you need a final score equal to or higher than 55 out of 100. All results below
55 (also 54 and 53) will lead to a failure.
Subgroups that failed for their group assignment will be informed about this by
their tutor. The subgroups who failed have to hand in a revision of the group assignment
before February 12, 2020, 18:00 to their tutor (by email and with a CC to econae1office-
sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl). If your grade is again below 55, you will have to
participate in the skills training again next year.
(3) Finally, the course assignment (see Section 3) is related to your attendance and
participation. You need to attend at least two of the three sessions (the regular 75%
requirement). As we feel that mere presence at the group tutorials is not enough, but that
the effectiveness of the sessions depends on your efforts both at home as well as during
the meetings, we include a formal evaluation of the extent of your participation during
the course. Thus, next to sufficient physical attendance, you also have to score
sufficiently on participation in the tutorial group in order to be exempted from writing
a course assignment.
Each meeting, your individual efforts will be evaluated by your tutor. The tutors
are instructed to evaluate two aspects:
 First, the extent to which you demonstrate that you study and prepare thoroughly
between two tutorial meetings (i.e., preparation).
 Second, the extent to which you actively contribute during group discussions
(i.e., participation).
The evaluation procedure for each meeting is as follows. Each aspect (i.e.
preparation and participation) can be graded as “+” or as “–”. You will receive a “+” for
a meeting if the tutor regards your efforts as sufficient on both preparation and
participation. You receive a “0” if your efforts are insufficient on either preparation or
participation. You are graded a “–” if your efforts are insufficient on both preparation
and participation.

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Consider the following example. In the beginning of each meeting students post-
discuss what they have learned at home. If you are not able to summarize and criticize
the relevant literature or to answer questions posed by your tutor or fellow students
related to this literature or you do not participate in discussing the literature, etc., you
get a “–” for preparation. The main point is that you should demonstrate that you worked
at home. It is important to stress that posing questions on the literature does not result
in a negative evaluation, on the contrary. As already mentioned, you should use your
fellow students to increase your own understanding. Next, the meeting goes on with
pre-discussing the next task. Here, again active participation is important. So, if you do
not contribute to the analysis of problems, to the brainstorming process or you do not
help in formulating learning goals etc., you receive a “–” for participation. It is clear
that silence cannot be evaluated. So, if you say nothing during the meeting you
automatically get a “–” for that meeting. At the end of the course, the number of “+”s
will be counted.
You are exempted from the course assignment if you have attended at least two
meetings, and obtained at least two “+”s during these meetings. Students who fail one
or both of these requirements have to do the course assignment. The course
assignment is presented in Section 3 of this skills manual. It involves a considerable
workload and will be graded on a pass/fail basis.

3 The course assignment

The course assignment consists of:

A. Giving a full description of the answers and discussions of :


 Task 1
 Task 3
 Task 5
That is, for Task 1 and 3:
 What are your first thoughts on possible answers to these questions?
 What are your answers to these questions after having read the literature? Relate
the answers explicitly to relevant passages in Babbie (2007) and Gravetter and
Forzano (2009).
For Task 5:
 Prepare two multiple choice questions, as described in the skills manual.
 Also, present a brief discussion on the requirements of a good multiple-choice
question.
 Illustrate that discussion by pointing out a “good” and a “bad” question in the
examination of last year and motivate why these questions are “good” and “bad”.

B. The coordinator will assign a topical area to you.


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 Briefly discuss Tasks 2 and 4. Explain their relevance to the skills training and
the paper.
 Prepare the paper of at most 2000 words, as instructed in the skills manual.

C. Prepare a written review (see Appendix 1) of a paper assigned to you by the coordinator.

Case Assignment

Missed all tutorials Parts A,B,C

Missed 2 tutorials and did not participate in Parts A,B,C


writing the group paper or review

Missed 2 tutorials and did participate in Part A


writing the group paper

Did not receive two “+” in participation Part A

The course assignment must be handed in before January 31, 2020, 18:00 by email to
econae1office-sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl. Students who failed for their course assignment
have to hand in a revised version before February 28, 2020, 18:00 by email to econae1office-
sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

4 Rules regarding emails

If your email concerns something that is explained in this manual or the manual for your topical
area, then it will NOT be answered. Generally, please keep emails to the coordinator, topical
coordinators, and your tutor to a minimum. BEFORE you write an email, think whether it really
cannot wait until the next tutorial meeting: you will have time to ask questions regarding the
course material, the papers and reviews you have to write, and so on, in these meetings.
The general rule regarding emails is therefore very simple: Emails will only be answered
in exceptional cases. It is hard to say in advance what an exceptional case may be, but here is a
(non-exhaustive) list of things that are NOT exceptional:
 “I would like to attend a different tutorial in week X because of other commitments. Is
this possible?” No. This is a very large course and it is NEVER possible for you to switch
tutorial groups.
 “I will be on vacation/have a doctor’s appointment/missed my train and will not be/was
not able to come to the examination. Is there a way to make up for this?” The only
possibility is to take the resit examination.
 “We had problems with our computers and weren’t able to upload our paper and the
review in time.” The deadline is strict and you are responsible for meeting it.

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 “We were only one minute late in submitting our paper. Can’t you make an exception?”
Again, there will be absolutely no exceptions to the deadline. You know the deadlines
well in advance and this allows you to plan ahead. It is your responsibility to meet the
deadline, not anyone else’s.
 “I was not able to sign up for the topical area of my choice. Can I exchange my topical
area with someone else?” No. The assignment of topical areas is on the basis of “first
come, first served”. If the topical area of your choice is already full when you want to
sign up, you will have to choose another topical area. There will be absolutely no
exceptions to this policy.
If you have problems with the Student Portal (for example, when signing up for a topical
area or uploading your paper), please contact www.surfyourself.nl BEFORE the relevant
deadlines.
If you think you have a valid reason for being absent from a tutorial meeting (going on
vacation or missing a train are NOT valid reasons), then please contact your student dean. If you
think that you are in an exceptional case that requires the attention of the course coordinator,
then send an email to econae1office-sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
Always use your Maastricht University email account. Emails from other email accounts
will not be responded to. This will ensure that your emails are not filtered out by a spam filter,
so that you can be sure that your email was received in good order. If you do not receive an
answer to your email, it means that the case you have brought up was not deemed exceptional
(and this evaluation of your case will not change if you send your email again).

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Appendix 1: Peer review of the paper

Tutorial group: …..

Review BY subgroup: A/B/C/D


Name student 1: ..... ID: .....
Name student 2: ..... ID: .....
Name student 3: ..... ID: .....
Name student 4: ..... ID: .....

Review ON the paper of subgroup: A/B/C/D

Criterion 1: A clear problem statement


What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

Criterion 2: The chosen concepts are explained


What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

Criterion 3: The example is well chosen


What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

Criterion 4: The development of arguments


What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

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Criterion 5: References to texts are made
What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

Criterion 6: The paper is coherent


What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

Criterion 7: The Empirical Cycle is illustrated


What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

Criterion 8: Grammar, accuracy, spelling and punctuation


What did the group do well and why?

What didn’t the group do well and why?

If we were you we would………………


Maybe you could…..
It would even be better if you…..

Conclusion:
◊ Reject the paper, because………………………………………..
◊ Major revisions suggested, like………………………………….
◊ Minor revisions suggested, like………………………………….
◊ Accepted, because……………………………………………….

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Appendix 2: Reaction on the review of subgroup A, B, C or D

Tutorial group: …..

Reaction BY Subgroup: A/B/C/D


Name student 1: ..... ID: .....
Name student 2: ..... ID: .....
Name student 3: ..... ID: .....
Name student 4: ..... ID: .....

From the comments of our reviewer and reviewing a paper of another subgroup we learned that…

We would revise our paper:

1. With regard to criterion 1: A clear problem statement


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

2. With regard to criterion 2: The chosen concepts are explained


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

3. With regard to criterion 3: The example is well chosen


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

4. With regard to criterion 4: The development of arguments


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

5. With regard to criterion 5: References to texts are made


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

6. With regard to criterion 6: The paper is coherent


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

7. With regard to criterion 7: The Empirical Cycle is illustrated


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

8. With regard to criterion 8: Grammar, accuracy, spelling and punctuation


Because .....
And we will try to solve this by .....

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