Design, Technology And Society MA with Thesis

Application Requirements

NOTICE: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Applying by the appropriate deadlines ensures that your application will be considered for the relevant academic term and current research projects.

Deadline for submission of all application documents please click here.

*DTES program application requires a project proposal and students are strongly advised to contact  a faculty member they would like to work with for project design and proposal. Final date suggested to contact faculty members is provided above.

Application Instructions for MA Programs

1.Please carefully review the program website for announcements and information about ongoing projects. See this page for application requirements (e.g. standardized test scores, minimum GPA).

2.If available, carefully review the application instructions posted on the website of the lab / research group / faculty / project you are interested in. Some entities may have slightly different procedures for application. Applicants who do not observe these procedures will not be considered.

3.Contact the faculty member(s) with whom you would like to study,observing the general instructions on this website and any instructions they may have published. Please include the the following documents/data if possible:

  • Link to online CV (web page or PDF file download)
  • Link to online portfolio (if applicable)
  • ALES/GRE scores
  • TOEFL/ E-YDS/ YDS/ YÖKDİL scores
  • GPA

If you cannot provide one or more of these documents at this time, please consult to the faculty member(s). Please be aware that ultimately all of these documents will be required by the university.

4. If you are accepted as a potential applicant, the faculty member(s) will provide instructions for the the preparation of your research proposal.

According to the instructions you receive from the faculty member(s) and those on the research proposal instructions page, develop your proposal under the supervision of the faculty member(s). Please be aware that this process may take around two months.

5. Submit your research proposal to Turnitin for an originality check and receive an originality report. The faculty member(s) will provide detailed instructions regarding this process.

6. Receive your approval document from the project coordinator/ faculty member stating that your final research proposal is appropriate and you may be considered for the DTS program.

7. Following the approval, please submit the documents listed below, observing the deadline for applications:

  • Research proposal (PDF format)
  • Research proposal approval document from project coordinator/ faculty member (PDF format)
  • Originality check document for the research proposal from Turnitin (PDF format)
  • Link to online CV (web page or PDF file download)
  • Link to online portfolio (if applicable)
  • Official transcript from your university
  • Proof of English language proficiency – TOEFL, YÖKDİL, YDS, E-YDS
  • ALES scores, or (for non-Turkish citizens) GRE scores
  • 2 letters of recommendation

Please review and follow the instructions carefully. Applicants who do not observe the procedure completely will not be considered.

Please note that the evaluation may take approximately 2 months and start the process as early as possible.

Application Requirements for MA Programs

  • Minimum GPA of 3.00/4.00
  • Proof of English language proficiency:
    • TOEFL: IBT min. 80, CBT min. 213, PBT min. 550
    • YDS: min. 80
  • Standardized tests:
    • ALES: min. 70 equally weighted (EA); min. 80  for PhD applicants without a masters degree
    • GRE: min. 685/154 Quantitative (for non-Turkish citizens)

The MA program with thesis consists of:

  • 7 credit courses (3 required and 4 elective), amounting to a minimum of 20 credits in total
  • 4 non-credit courses : TEACH 500 Class Management and Teaching Experience(every semester), KOLT 500 TA Training, ENGL 500 Advanced English Writing, DTES 590 Seminar, and DTES 595 Thesis)

The length of the MA program is 2 years, or 4 semesters.

Course Structure

Semester 1

  • DTES  501 Interdisciplinary Research Methods (3 credits)
  • Elective 1 (3)
  • Elective 2 (3)
  • KOLT 500 TA Training workshops
  • TEACH 500 Class Management and Teaching Experience (0 credits)

Total: 9 credits

Semester 2

  • DTES 544 Media and Visual Arts Project (3 credits) 
  • Elective 3 (3 credits)
  • Elective 4 (3 credits)
  • Elective 5 (3 credits)
  • TEACH 500 Class Management and Teaching Experience (0 credits)

Total: 12 credits

Semester 3

  • DTES 595 Thesis (0 credits)
  • DTES 590 Seminar (0 credits)
  • TEACH 500 Class Management and Teaching Experience (0 credits)

Semester 4

  • DTES 595  Thesis (0 credits)
  • ENGL 500 Advanced English Writing (0 credits)
  • TEACH 500 Class Management and Teaching Experience (0 credits)

General Total: 21 credits

Research Proposal Instructions

Your proposal has to convince members of the academic community that you have identified a scientific problem and a methodical approach to solve the problem within a realistic time-frame and at reasonable cost.

Keep in mind that you are the author of the research proposal. Any text passage from another source has to be appropriately cited. This applies even to single sentences taken from other authors. Plagiarism may result in your disqualification.

Submission Format

A single PDF document containing your name and proposal.

Please consult with the project coordinator regarding the  citation and formating style.

Source: How to Write a Research Proposal by Paul T. P. Wong

Most applicants and beginning researchers do not fully understand what a research proposal means, nor do they understand its importance.

The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed project, but also on the quality of your writing. A good research project may run the risk of rejection simply because the proposal is poorly written. Therefore, it pays off if your writing is coherent, clear and compelling.

This guide focuses on proposal writing rather than on the development of research ideas.

Please use following structure in your proposal:

Title:

It should be concise and descriptive. For example, the phrase, “An investigation of . . .” should be omitted. Often titles are stated in terms of a functional relationship, because such titles clearly indicate independent and dependent variables.If possible, think of an informative but catchy title. An effective title not only attracts the readers’ interest, but also predisposes them favorably towards the proposal

Introduction of research problem (max. 2 pages):

The introduction typically begins with a general statement about the problem area, with a focus on a specific research problem, to be followed by the rationale or justification for the proposed study. The introduction generally covers the following elements:

  • State the research problem; this is often referred to as the purpose of the study.
  • Provide the context and set the stage for your research question in such a way as to show its necessity and importance.
  • Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing.
  • Briefly describe the major issues and sub-problems to be addressed in your research.
  • Identify the key independent and dependent variables of your experiment. Alternatively, specify the phenomenon you want to study.
  • State your hypothesis or theory, if any. For exploratory or phenomenological research, you may not have any hypotheses. (Please do not confuse the hypothesis with the statistical null hypothesis.
  • Set the limits or boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a clear focus.
  • Provide definitions of key concepts. (This is optional.)

Literature Review (max. 2 pages, including reference list):

Sometimes the literature review is incorporated into the introduction section. However, most faculty members prefer a separate section, which allows a more thorough review of the literature.

The literature review serves several important functions, as it…

  • …ensures that you are not “reinventing the wheel.”
  • …gives credit to those who have laid the groundwork for your research.
  • …demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.
  • …demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to your research question.
  • …shows your ability to critically evaluate the information presented in the relevant.
  • …indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature.
  • …provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model as the conceptual framework for your research.
  • …convinces your reader that your proposed research will make a significant and substantial contribution to the literature (i.e., resolving an important theoretical issue or filling a major gap in the literature).

Most students’ literature reviews suffer from the following problems:

* Lack of organization and structure
* Lack of focus, unity and coherence
* Repetitiveness and verbosity
* Failure to cite influential publications
* Failure to keep up with recent developments
* Failure to critically evaluate cited publications
* Citing irrelevant or trivial references
* Depending too much on secondary sources

Your scholarship and research competence will be questioned if any of the above applies to your proposal.

There are different ways to organize your literature review. Make use of subheadings to bring order and coherence to your review. For example, having established the importance of your research area and its current state of development, you may devote several subsections to related issues, such as theoretical models, measuring instruments, cross-cultural and gender differences, etc.

It is also helpful to keep in mind that you are telling a story to an audience. Try to tell it in a stimulating and engaging manner. Do not bore your readers, because it may lead to rejection of your research project. (Remember: Professors and scientists are human beings, too.)