Assessment of Master Thesis – Opponent
Study programme:International Economic Relations Field of study:International and Diplomatic Studies Academic year:2020/2021
Master Thesis Topic:A comparative analysis of calls to boycott the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics
Author’s name:Jack Prunty
Ac. Consultant’s Name:doc. Jeremy Alan Garlick, M.A., Ph.D.
Opponent:Fangxing Qin
Criterion Mark
(1–4)
1. Overall objective achievement 1
2. Logical structure 1
3. Using of literature, citations 1
4. Adequacy of methods used 1
5. Depth of analysis 2
6. Self-reliance of author 1
7. Formal requirements: text, graphs, tables 1
8. Language and stylistics 1
Comments and Questions:
This thesis aims to compare the calls to boycott the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The author successfully revealed that large-scale sports events such as the Olympics are not only related to sports but also closely related to international politics and international relations.
The calls to boycott the Olympics based on the alleged wrongdoing of the Olympics host country could, on the one hand, affect the soft power of the host country to varying degrees, but on the other hand, it may become the driving force for the host country to enhance domestic unity and nationalism and demonstrate uncompromising strength. The structure of this article is highly completed. The author uses symbolic interactionism theory as a theoretical foundation and provides a very clear methodology and research questions. The author described the theoretical structure and important theoretical concepts in detail.
Through empirical analysis, the conclusion part echoes the research hypothesis and research questions, making the three parts of the theory, research design and empirical analysis coherent. I am impressed by such a high-quality framing of master’s thesis. The literature review conducted a great review of existing knowledge and pointed out the research value of this thesis. The overall analysis of this thesis is very great, but if the empirical parts are extended, it will make this thesis even better. For instance, the author mentioned the influence of economics and transnational corporations on boycott discourse. I expect a more detailed and specific discourse analysis in this part. For instance, what specific discourses are used by those companies to eliminate the influence of boycotts, and whether these discourses have changed with the occurrence of boycott activities and some violent incidents? In addition, the basic methodological structure of this thesis is comparative analysis. If the similarities and differences between the calls to boycott these two Olympics could be summarized more comprehensively, such as providing a table or figure, the results of the comparison will be clearer. Nevertheless, the empirical part of the thesis is persuasive, which has achieved the research goal. Despite some shortcomings in language, mainly the use of some spoken words, the author expresses his views clearly, and some expressions are excellent. In conclusion, I suggest this thesis meets the standards of ’excellence’.
Questions for defence: 1. Can you further analyse the role played by transnational companies in the two boycotts? 2. Can you comprehensively summarize the similarities and differences between the two boycotts?
Conclusion: The Master Thesis is recommended for the defence.
Suggested Grade: 1
Date: 03/08/2021 Fangxing Qin
Opponent
