SAQA

All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.

SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED QUALIFICATION THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Master of Commerce: Economics: Research

SAQA QUAL ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE
16982	Master of Commerce: Economics: Research
ORIGINATOR
University of the Free State
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY			NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education			HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework
QUALIFICATION TYPE	FIELD		SUBFIELD
Master's Degree	Field 03 - Business, Commerce and Management Studies		Finance, Economics and Accounting
ABET BAND	MINIMUM CREDITS	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	QUAL CLASS
Undefined	120	Level 8 and above	Level N/A:Pre-2009 was L8+	Regular-Provider-ELOAC
REGISTRATION STATUS		SAQA DECISION NUMBER	REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		SAQA 06120/18	2018-07-01	2018-12-31
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2019-12-31		2022-12-31

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This qualification does not replace any other qualification and is not replaced by any other qualification.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

Apply educational knowledge, skills, principles and methods to exercise management and analytical skills required in a specialised field of economics at top management level as an economic analyst.

Responding to the needs of the community

Responding to business and industry needs

In life-long learning and the appreciation of the value of education and society.

Qualifiers will demonstrate knowledge, skills and applied competence in the field of study that provide opportunities for continued personal growth, gainful economic activity and rewarding contributions to society.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

Learners who register for this qualification can:

Learn from predominantly written material;

Communicate what they have learnt comprehensively in the medium of instruction;

Learn and take responsibility for their own progress.

Recognition of prior learning:

The qualification recognises formal and non-formal prior learning (incorporating experiential learning) at a Higher Education and Training Certificate Level 7 in Commerce or a functional equivalent.

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES

The planned combination of learning outcomes are integrated with critical cross-field outcomes for this qualification:

Practical Competency:
The demonstrated ability/skill to achieve the major Skills/Applied Competency of the qualification.

Foundational Competency:
The demonstrated understanding, by the Learner, of the embedded knowledge that underpins the end result/outcome.

Reflective Competency:
The demonstrated ability/skill to integrate or connect our performances and to reflect on, evaluate and adopt the above competencies.

To successfully complete the qualification the learner will have to demonstrate his/her learning via module specific learning outcomes as well as critical cross-field learning outcomes.

Module specific outcomes will include capabilities relating to module knowledge and the understanding thereof within a management leadership context and capabilities relating to integrated knowledge and skills from a variety of disciplines within the management leadership field.

Critical cross-field outcomes will include those specified in the learning outcomes for approved modules in the certificate and as appropriate to the learner's field of practice.

1. Formulating a scientific research proposal/problem.
2. Doing research in the field of economics.
3. Being competent in research methodology procedures.
4. Applying research results in solving economic problems.
5. Demonstrating competency in applying research methodology on masters degree level in the field of economics.

The learner will be able to analyse and apply the basic principles relevant to the following:

1. Gather relevant information about the research problem.
2. Integrate and critically analyse available information on the research problem.
3. Draw scientific conclusions and translate it into practical proposals.
4. Write a research report according to scientific and linguistic requirements.

ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

A learner should provide evidence of learning competency (knowledge, skills and attitude) by means of the following:

1. A dissertation in a specialised field of economics.

Integrated assessment:

Competence is achieved, through continuous assessment by demonstrating the ability to achieve the outcomes of the Qualification

Internal and external evaluation of the dissertation by a panel of examiners.

This will be supported by a module credit system, followed by a final exam on the modules for which credit was not obtained

Assessment documents are moderated to ensure that:

They conform to the scope and context of the competency as stipulated in the qualification.

They are constructed in such a way that the Assessor assesses the critical outcomes applied, during the Learners activity performances, towards achieving an outcome.

Assessments are:

To include confirmation of the Embedded Knowledge component to ensure that the Foundational Competency is achieved.

To be verified by Internal Verifiers to ensure valid, credible, true and fair results.

ARTICULATION OPTIONS

Vertical: Gives access to Doctoral studies.

Horizontal: Gives access to Masters studies of other SA universities.

MODERATION OPTIONS

A system of external peer review and evaluation of departments including evaluation of the standards and assessment practices per Department.

Qualifications: The minimum academic and workplace experience requirements at a level above the level of moderation.

Appropriate professional criteria will be drafted in the case of workplace assessment.

Mentorship: All junior and new members of staff are mentored by senior members as they work together in teams. All assessment done by external assessors is quality controlled by internal staff.

Any moderation criteria as determined by the ETQA.

CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS

The academic staff of the University of the Free State complies with standards set by Senate and will exercise their assessment within the approved quality assurance system of the University. Assessors will also meet all criteria as stipulated by the relevant ETQA.

Assessors are:

Subject matter specialists

Registered with the awarding body

Accredited by the awarding body after achieving competency against Unit Standards of competence for Assessors

To be administrated, advised and coached by an Internal Verifier.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2006; 2009; 2012; 2015.

NOTES

N/A

LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION:

NONE

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

1.	University of the Free State