Opinto-opas

Objective

Upon completing this course the student will:
- Construct a well-rounded thesis plan
- Understand the importance and impact of key methodological choices
- Apply trusted appraisal techniques in evaluating written work
Information search skills
Presentation skills (oral and written)
Strategic planning skills:
- Time management
- Information management
- Data collection and analysis

Content

Preparation for Bachelor’s thesis, including
- Information retrieval
- Critical appraisal techniques
- Bibliographic and citation methods
- Data collection and analysis
- Philosophy of science

Location and time

Thursdays, 14:00 - 17:00

Room B235, Myymäki campus

Materials

There are many good guides to research methods, including this:

Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill (2019) Research Methods for Business Students, 8th ed. Harlow: Pearson. (ISBN 978-1-292-20878-7)

There is a large selection of books that discuss research methods in the library. Almost all of these are suitable as reference books to consult during your research.

An essential reference is Metropolia Business School’s Thesis Guide, which is available in OMA, including from the workspace for this course.

Teaching methods

This course comprises a short series of lectures followed by student presentations based on the research topic of their choice. The focus is on learning about research methods by applying them in practice. It is not a course *about* research methods. Instead, it is an opportunity to use them in practice. Ultimately each student must produce a well-developed research plan that is intended to serve as the basis for their Bachelor's Thesis.

Employer connections

For students who wish to combine their thesis with their work experience, this course provides useful guidance about how to manage the sometimes conflicting demands of employers and the academic requirements necessary for a successful thesis.

Exam schedules

There are no exams for this course. The assessment work is as listed below.

Student workload

Activity Number of hours

Lectures 20
Assessment 60
Reading 50

Total 130

Content scheduling

Preliminary literature review - a presentation followed by the delivery of a written report one week later, using feedback and criticism gained from the discussion following the presentation. This is worth 25% of the total assessment.

Presentations are scheduled to take in the weeks following the Study Week in October. The first set of presentations will take place on 29 October. Depending on the number of students enrolled to this course, they may continue until the end of November.

The research plan, which is worth 75% of the total assessment, should be delivered by 10 December.

In this way, students who complete the course successfully will receive feedback that will help them continue their thesis work in the following semester, on the assumption that the research plan forms the basis of the thesis.

Further information

Regular attendance is strongly encouraged. This applies particularly to the presentations, which are often the most rewarding and informative parts of the course. Regardless of the topics chosen by other students, we are all able to learn from each other's experiences of problems in research work, and how to overcome these.

Evaluation scale

0-5

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Sufficient performance:
showing just enough understanding of the subject to merit a pass grade but requiring greater effort to achieve a more satisfactory result

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good performance:
showing strong understanding of basic concepts and good grasp of techniques, but with certain minor problems still requiring further attention

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent performance:
not only fulfils all standard requirements but demonstrates originality and imagination

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

Sufficient performance:
showing just enough understanding of the subject to merit a pass grade but requiring greater effort to achieve a more satisfactory result

Assessment methods and criteria

The grading scale employed in the course is the standard Metropolia grading scale:

Grade Percentage/points Explanation

5 90 – 100 Outstanding performance: not only fulfils all standard requirements but demonstrates originality and imagination

4 80 – 89 Excellent performance, fulfilling all tasks in an appropriate manner

3 70 – 79 Strong performance, showing strong understanding of basic concepts and good grasp of techniques, but with certain minor problems still requiring further attention

2 60 – 69 Good performance, demonstrating basic grasp of concepts and techniques but less adept at more advanced application of these

1 50 – 59 Adequate performance, showing just enough understanding of the subject to merit a pass grade but requiring greater effort to achieve a more satisfactory result

0 0 – 49 30 – 49: insufficient to pass but capable of achieving a more satisfactory result if greater effort is made
0 – 29: a result indicating a significant lack of effort on the part of the student, and a clear signal that major improvements are necessary in the organisation of study time

Qualifications

None

Further information

English language proficiency required
Recommended reading:
Jill Collis and Roger Hussey (2009), Business Research: A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students, 3rd ed., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Assessment:
Preliminary literature review 25%
Final research plan 75%