Mika Alavaikko
The thesis plan is used for a variety of purposes. The thesis plan forms a) a practical tool for you as an individual student or for your student group to plan and manage your work process, b) a method for communicating your idea and your implementation plan to others (your peers, supervisors and working life partners), and c) a key instrument for obtaining the research permit.
When applying for a research permit, always follow the instructions of the organisation to which you apply. For more detail, see the article Ethical principles in exploratory and developmental work in this publication.
The thesis plan must be written in clear, factual style using source references in accordance with Diak instructions (see References and list of references).
The following paragraphs describe the contents of the different parts of a thesis plan. The structure follows that of the one presented in the article Structure of a Thesis Report in this publication.
1. INTRODUCTION
The introduction covers the following issues:
- the subject matter and its current significance
- the goal and purpose of the thesis (e.g. product X for the use of organisation Y)
- in a research-focused thesis, the research questions
- the intended impacts and/or effectiveness of the thesis
- background and stakeholders
- interfaces to projects and other ventures.
For a thesis that consists of partial achievements, the above issues must be discussed with a view to the entire thesis in addition to the individual partial achievements. The impacts and/or effectiveness of the thesis can be made clear in several different ways. For example, if a thesis consists of separate publications, the different parts may have different target audiences and each part may have a goal of its own. Similarly, results published in a work-community training session or team meeting during an oral presentation relate to different goals and audiences than do data published in social media. Nevertheless, these results may be united through a common subject matter and an overall goal.
2. THEORY AND KEY CONCEPTS
During the planning phase of your thesis, be sure to ensure that your goals, key concepts and methods form a systematic whole. Appropriate theoretical and conceptual contents weld the subject matter and methods of your thesis into one coherent entity.
Examine the theoretical debate about the subject matter of your work using research literature, development reports, project reports, professional journals and theses.
Define your key concepts and explain the reasons for selecting them; also discuss legislation and statutes if they are important for your subject matter (e.g. child protection or some other closely regulated area).
For a thesis that consists of separate publications, the theory and concepts must cover the entire thesis, not only the individual publications.
3. METHODS
Methods relate to the process of producing new information or a new product, or attaining some other goal. As early as the planning phase, it is necessary to be able to describe to the reader how the methods you apply will help in achieving the results desired of the thesis. Methods do not form a purpose in their own right; they are always applied in order to reach a goal. If the purpose of your thesis is to create a new product or to enhance a current one, your plan must show how your methods bear upon the development of the product.
Examples of methods include the following:
- literature review
- statistical methods
- observation and interview
- photography and video recording.
In addition, various working life development methods may be applied (e.g. Gothóni et al. 2015).
You may, for example, first chart the baseline and later ask your user group for feedback about the first version of your product (e.g. Honkanen & Tervahauta 2016). Videos can be used for documenting, assessing and developing the work process (e.g. Tarpila 2013). The foundations of a certain operating model can be studied through a literature review (e.g. Juvonen 2016).
The principles of investigative, participatory research must be visible in how you apply your methods. These principles include the ethical principles and rules.
Present the application of the various methods according to appropriate groupings. What groups do the activities and/or data collection target? Typical examples include e.g. customers of a certain organisation or work community, professionals, volunteers and stakeholders. What information do you require from these groups so that your thesis can fulfil its goals? If you plan to produce new materials for the use of young adults in a parish, you should collect their views concerning those materials. It is often well founded to collect this type of data through a functional method, e.g. revising the product in workshops together with the future users.
If your method consists of workshop activities such as the above, it is not always necessary to carry out traditional interviews. The methods applied in a workshop must be documented (e.g. Ylävaara 2016). Be sure to discuss the application and documentation of your methods with the supervisor of your thesis, and record them in your thesis plan.
Even though the users of a product form the key group in the previous example, it may be appropriate, in addition, to collect the views of parish workers as well concerning the issue. The data from parish workers function in a role that is different from that of the data from young adults: parish workers give the background for the subject matter and the process in that particular work community.
You may publish the new information, product or developmental outcome which you reached through the application of your methods either in separate articles that will form your thesis, or in a monograph (see 5 RESULTS)
4. PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The thesis process is described in the thesis report – see the article Different Implementation Methods for a Thesis in this publication.
5. RESULTS
While the thesis is being planned, it is not yet possible to present any results. However, it is necessary that you make it clear for yourself and for your reader what you are aiming for. If your thesis deals with developing a product (see Manninen 2014), then the product you aim at will form the outcome, or result, of your thesis. In that case, you do not need to propose any separate research results for your goals.
Similarly, if the goal of your thesis is a development activity, the results will relate to development.
The results of a research thesis will be research results.
Even though it is not possible to present results in the planning phase, it is possible to present views on the intended impacts of the process. For example, a product brought about through the thesis process may be used for improving the wellbeing of a certain customer group.
When a thesis consists of separate publications, the results are published in the individual publications. Even though it is not possible to give the precise contents of these publications in the thesis planning phase, it is possible to explain the intended contents and publication channels of the articles.
6. CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSION AND ASSESSMENT
In the planning phase, you may use methods such as the SWOT analysis to estimate your possibilities of carrying through the thesis process.