BACHELOR’S THESIS 2014-2015

INFO SESSION 3

Joan Lofgren, Program Director

Tomi Heimonen, Development Manager

Jaana Santala, Information Specialist

AALTO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESSMikkeli Campus

BScBA Degree Program15 October 2014

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Agenda

Part A: General discussion, see topics below & lead discussant

1. Information retrieval – Jaana

2. Choosing a topic & keeping it manageable – Joan

3. Methods & data – Tomi

4. Company projects -- Tomi

5. Literature review, eg showing examples – Joan

6. Other issues raised in the session

Part B: Open-ended Q&A with Joan and Tomi

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1. Information retrieval

Good information retrieval skills

•improve your performance in your academic life•save your time and effort•lead to better results

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Information resources

• Books and journals• Reference works• Theses• Reports and conference publications• Archive materials• Internet

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How to find the resources?Printed books:•Kaakkuri•Alli•Melinda

Digital materials:•eCampus

Internet•Google Scholar

You can find links to these databases from Mikkeli Campus library webpage in Into

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Evaluate!

Information has to be•reliable•relevant•current

Information should never be accepted without a critical approach!

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Need help?

• Self-study guide to information retrieval• Individual information retrieval sessions in the library – book

time with information specialist• library-mikkeli@aalto.fi

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2. Choosing a topic. . .• Ask yourself:

• In which field are you most interested, for personal or professional reasons?• What are you good at – or want to become good at? • Where is the question, the controversy, the puzzle in what you are

researching? (We are rooted in a positivist tradition, explaining things).• Dig a bit into the literature to familiarize yourself with the topic.

• Seek advice from experts online or in books, eg Badke (in library)• He says: Define a “working knowledge” of your topic and explain

why it’s important to have one.• “You have a working knowledge of a topic when you can talk

about it for one minute without repeating yourself. It isn’t complete knowledge, but it’s enough to tell you what the topic entails, what its boundaries are, even what some of its controversies, mysteries and dangers might be.” Source:

https://sites.google.com/site/researchstrategiesweb/home/teaching-guide-key/studyquestionskey

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And keeping it manageable

• Badke advises to narrowing your topic to one major aspect – that is distinct enough to really work with it (Badke 2008). Consider your resources: time, money, literature

• Stakeholders or key players/actors• Who besides yourself and your supervisor would play a major role in making

your research a success?• Or will you only do desk research – if so, can your topic/questions be

addressed effectively by only doing desk research? If no. . .• Then think about other methodologies, eg interviews, eg. . . • Do you have sufficient contacts in businesses in your target industry – or are

you bold enough to create them – to get the interview subjects you need?• Sometimes students get stuck, choosing a topic that needs a large N survey

to address it, but then don’t get enough responses . . .

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Think of an hourglass!http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/strucres.php

For other descriptions, Google: hourglass in research

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3. Methods and Data

• The choice of method is directed by the nature of the research problem, event or phenomenon at hand

• Therefore, establishing a central research question is critical

• Traditionally research methods have been classified under two main categories:• Quantitative research methods• Qualitative research methods

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Data collection • Can involve one or a combination of several data collection methods• Data may consist of words, images and numbers

– Interview• Structured, unstructured or semi-structured

– Focus groups

– Observation• Complete participant, participant as observer, observer as participant, complete observer

– Survey

– Documents• Private and public documents/sources• Accounts• Diaries• Articles• Reports• Blogs• Audio-visual materials

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• Refers to the systematic empirical investigation of economic/business/social phenomena via statistical, mathematical, numeric data or computational techniques

• Objective of quantitative research is to test theories and hypotheses pertaining the phenomena

• Further, to develop and employ mathematical models, theories pertaining to phenomena

• Explaining and predicting what, where, why, how and when phenomena occurred

• Quantitative method provide the fundamental connection between empirical observation, mathematical expression of quantitative relationships and generalization opportunities of the results (e.g. correlation between variables, cause-effect (causal relationships or associations between variables)

Key characteristics of the quantitative research method

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• Quantitative data is any data that is in numeric form (e.g. statistics, percentages, financial/accounting figures, survey data)

• Quantitative methods could be used to verify which defined hypotheses are true or not true (rejected)

• Descriptive statistics: distribution, across tables, correlation tables, mean, mean square deviation, median

• Statistical (explaining, predicting) models: Khiin-test, T-Test (used testing hypotheses), Regression models (complex models)

Key characteristics of the quantitative research method

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• Aim to gather an in-depth understanding of Economic/Business/Social/Human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior

• The qualitative method investigates the why and how decision making

• Objective of qualitative research is to discover meanings and patterns of relationships, including classifications of types of phenomena and entities, in a manner that does not involve mathematical models

• Further, refers to the examination, analysis and interpretation of observations

Key characteristics of the qualitative research method

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• Smaller but focused samples are more often used than larger samples

• Qualitative methods produce information only on the particular cases studied

• Many choices related to data collection such as grounded theory practice, narratology, storytelling, classical ethnography, action research and most commonly used interviews and case studies, further, forms of the data collected can include observation, field notes, various texts, pictures and other materials (e.g. annual reports)

• Data analyzes methods: e.g. observer impression, content analyzes, coding, classification

Key characteristics of the qualitative research method

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Quantitative research approach

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Define central research question(s)

Define central research question(s)

Theory (literature review)Theory (literature review)

Hypothesis formulationHypothesis formulation

Research designResearch design

Sampling and choice of technique

Sampling and choice of technique

Data collectionData collection

Data analysisData analysis

ConclusionConclusion

Qualitative research approach

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DesignDesign

ExperiencingExperiencing Data collectionData collection

Interpretation (analysis)Interpretation (analysis)

TheoryTheory

• Starting points: Own motivation to do empirical thesis study Company/Organization offers thesis topic

• Need to contact and negotiate with the company/organization Fulfill Thesis co-operation participant needs

Example of the company/organization case study plan:• Collect background information

• Context and perspectives• Why should this study be undertaken?• What needs to be studied?• Is there any theory that can inform you about the task?

• Procedures - resources and time plan?• What are your central research questions?• Who is the target company/organization or target group?• How to select cases and informants?• How to analyze the data?• What are the criteria for quality?• How is data going to be presented?

4. Thesis topics for companies and other organizations

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5. Literature Review, briefly• See the thesis instructions, eg the lit review:

– Charts what is already known about the topic– Facilitates problem definition– Exposes you to various theoretical and methodological

approaches to your topic– Helps you develop a framework for analysis

• What it is: a survey and discussion of the relevant literature organized thematically

• What it is not: a list of article summaries (he said this, she said that. . .)

• What it demonstrates: that you have positioned your own research in a broad body of literature

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Tips for the lit review

• Browse through some theses from past years in the library. Note how the best lit reviews are organized thematically.

• You’ll get guidance from your supervisor and Sophia Butt if you register for the writing workshop/s. . .

• Meanwhile here are some examples. . . • Parts of last year’s theses – these electronic

versions are available in hard copy in the library

• Questions?

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6. Other issues, questions?

After the session, several questions were raised related to working with companies. Tomi and other staff will follow up on these questions.

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References

Badke, W. (2008) Research Strategies: Finding your Way through the Information (3rd edition). New York: iUniverse.

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Good luck!

Joan, Tomi and Jaana

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