Thesis guide - Bachelor's degree

All final projects and theses are unique and original work-life development assignments. However, there are a number of things that all authors of theses have to pay attention to. These include a strong knowledge base, a combination of development methods and prolific writing. 

In addition, all UAS basic examination thesis writers need to be able to follow the research and development ethical guidelines listed below

• Responsible conduct of research in the thesis work process 

• Responsibilities of research practice 

• General ethical principles for research on people 

• The premises of, need for, and advance evaluation procedure of ethical advance evaluation. 

For more information

• Ethical recommendations for thesis writing at Universities of Applied Sciences 
• Responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland 
• The ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland 
• Office of the data protection ombudsman FAQ 

Humak also provides templates for informing research subjects 

Humak is committed to the HTK guideline for good scientific practices. Good scientific practices consists of research ethics guidelines, which include informing subjects, requesting the subject’s consent and complying with the data protection regulation in the processing of personal data, among other things. The Rectors’ Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (ARENE) has prepared ethical guidelines for UAS theses to support thesis studies and supervision. Humak follows these instructions. Good scientific practice also includes referring to the publications of others in an appropriate manner. You can find Humak’s source reference guide here.

When researching organizations, the process also includes applying for a research permit. An permit is usually requested via the organisation’s own research permit form. Humak also has a research permit, which is used when researching Humak’s own operations, for example by conducting surveys that are answered by Humak’s students or staff.

Humak is a member of the Ethics Committee of Humanities of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Polytechnics. Upon request, the Commission conducts an ethical evaluation of its member organizations and issues opinions on plans that are not subject to the evaluation of regional medical ethical activities under the Medical Research Act. The committee does not deal with bachelor’s theses, but the master’s thesis plan may require an ethical pre-assessment. The need to apply for a statement is discussed with the thesis supervisor.

For more information

• Ethical recommendations for thesis writing at Universities of Applied Sciences (Arene 2019)
• Responsible thesis (Arene 2020)
• Responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland (TENK 2012)
• The ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland (TENK 2019)
• Office of data protection ombudsman (Office of data protection 2019)

Document templates – such as Participation Information Sheet and Participant Consent Form – can be found in the Student’s Guide under Thesis > “Other forms needed for your thesis.“

If a personal data register is formed during the research, a separate data protection statement must be made. This statement can be made by filling out the Research Data Protection Privacy Policy form. This can also be found in the location mentioned above. The form is then saved to Wihi. Read more about the personal data register and in what cases one is formed from tietosuoja.fi/en. If you are unsure whether you need a data protection statement or not, contact your thesis supervisor. 

In the implementation of almost all theses, various forms are needed. This text covers four of them:

• Participation Information Sheet
• Participant Consent Form
• Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form
• Research Permit Form

You can find them in the Student’s Guide under Studies > Thesis, under the subheading ’Other forms needed for your thesis’. Save all the forms you use in your thesis and the confirmations received for them in Wihi apart from Participant Consent Forms. Keep the Participant Consent Forms securely in your own possession and destroy them once your thesis is completed and any potential appeal process has ended. 

Participation Information Sheet and Participant Consent Form

When researching people, you must inform them. Based on the information they receive, they make an independent decision on whether to participate in your research. This decision must be clearly expressed, and whether the answer is affirmative or negative, it must be respected. Participant Consent Form requests consent for two different things: participation in the research itself and the processing of personal data as described in the Participation Information Sheet and in the Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form.

The Participation Information Sheet and Participant Consent Form are meant to be customized, so add essential information related to your work and remove the instructions and irrelevant sections from the Participation Information Sheet that are not relevant to your work. To allow the participant sufficient time to consider participation, it is important that informing takes place before requesting consent. This is why the templates are separate. For example, you can formulate text from the Participation Information Sheet that you send to the subject when asking them to participate in the study. After they have agreed to participate, you can then send them the Participant Consent Form and the Description of Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form.

The subject confirms their consent either by signature or by email. If they confirm it by message, save the entire email response in a way that shows the sender’s email address. Also, ensure that the email response is from the specific personal email address of the sender and the response clearly indicates what they are consenting to. Instruct the respondent to copy the text from the form into the response message.

Description of Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form

The Description of Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form is related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union. According to it, there must be a description for all registers containing personal data, describing the principles of processing that data. Personal data is created surprisingly easily. For example, the aforementioned Participant Consent Form, which includes the name of the person participating in the study, contains personal information. Also, an audio or video recording of an interview and its transcribed version (transcription) identify the individual and are considered personal data. The interview transcription can be anonymized or pseudonymized, but there will inevitably be enough details in the interview content that it is not completely anonymous despite this.

The Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form must be completed whenever the voice or image of the interviewee is recorded, or other direct or indirect identifiers leading to the identification of an individual are created. Indirect identifiers refer to the fact that an individual can be identified based on factors such as age, gender, place of residence, interview content details, or a combination of these factors. More information about the personal register and the cases in which it is created can be found at www.tietosuoja.fi.

When you retain these documents and files in your possession, even if only temporarily, you become the data controller, and you must complete the Description of Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form. The form describes in detail all the information related to the collection, processing, and destruction of data containing direct or indirect personal identifiers. Include in this form the information about all the registers generated in your thesis, such as Participant Consent Forms, recordings, and transcriptions.

Relationship between the forms

You can think of the Participation Information Sheet, Consent of the Subject Template, and the Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form as a kind of trio: the Participation Information Sheet informs the purpose of the research, allowing the subject to know what they are consenting to with the Consent of the Subject Form. The Participant Consent Form filled with the subject’s information contains personal data, so simply based on that, the threshold for completing the Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form is crossed. This description must, in turn, be consistent with how the data processing is described in the Participation Information Sheet.

You have likely gathered information in your previous studies through interviews, observations, or surveys. In those cases, the described forms were not needed, as studying is considered household use where they are not required. However, it is still important to handle the processing of those materials with special care and ethics. The thesis differs from your previous learning tasks in that the thesis is a public document in status. Therefore, a different permit process is applied to it compared to previous exercises.

Research Permit Form

If your research subject is an organization, you may need a separate permit from that organization to conduct the research. Ensure this in good time before starting the work. Organizations requiring such a permit usually already have a ready-made form for this purpose, so use it. The research permit form in the Student Guide is intended for situations where the research subjects are students or staff of Humak.

For Surveys, the Process Is Slightly Different

The use of the aforementioned templates and forms is particularly relevant in situations where people are being interviewed or observed. However, in surveys as well, informing and obtaining unambiguous consent are essential. Information is included in the introductory statement of the survey (cover letter), and a separate section is added to the form where the respondent specifically indicates their desire to participate in the research.

If the survey requests direct or indirect personal information, a data protection statement created using the Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form is also needed. This statement can be linked in the introductory statement, for example. If personal data is requested, the form must also have a separate mandatory tickable section where the respondent can express their consent to the processing of personal data under the conditions outlined in the data protection statement.

Checklist:

• Apply for a research permit (if necessary)
• Complete the Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form
• Inform the research subject using the Participation Information Sheet
• Request consent from the subject using the Participant Consent Form
• Save the completed forms in Wihi apart from the Participant Consent Form which you keep yourself.

If you are unsure about which forms and templates you need for your thesis, contact your thesis supervisor.

Example 1:

In your thesis, you are developing online education for institution X. For this, you want to find out what experiences the students at the institution have on this matter. You conduct an extensive anonymous survey and also interview some students. Proceed as follows:

• Obtain a research permit from the organization in question.
• Ensure that the survey produces genuinely anonymous data, meaning respondents cannot be identified even indirectly based on their responses.
• Inform about the survey in the survey cover letter. Since you do not collect personal information, you do not need a description of personal data processing actions. Add a mandatory tickable section to the survey where the respondent indicates their desire to participate in the research.
• Complete the Description of Research Data Protection Privacy Policy Form for the interviews.
• Inform the interviewees using the Participation Information Sheet formulated by you.
• Request consent from the interviewees using the Participant Consent Form ap

In order to succeed in projects commissioned for the development of operations, the author must be very familiar with the specialised professional literature of the field and have a concept of what kind of knowledge or competence the field is lacking. Often the author must familiarise him- or herself with similar projects both in Finland and abroad. Before starting the development work, the student should obtain a clear understanding of what is already known about the topic. The goals of a thesis often become clear only once the student has researched the subject extensively. 

Existing knowledge, such as research and reports, makes up the knowledge base of the thesis. Learnedness and the ability to apply the literature are key issues for theses in higher education. In the best case, the student is able to demonstrate how the new knowledge gained from the final project increases the competence and knowledge base of the entire professional sector. 

Theory is an integral part of understanding the topic which can be used to develop the operations. With theory, the author will be able to identify the need for development and to find clues as to how the development work should be carried out in practice. In most universities of applied sciences, including Humak, the term knowledge basis is used instead of theory in order to better highlight the practical nature of the applied knowledge. The concept of knowledge base also refers to the knowledge which is not necessarily peer-reviewed research literature, but can also be different strategy papers, documents and unwritten experiential knowledge which can help in the developing task. However, the knowledge base must not be purely based on experimental knowledge, or so-called tacit knowledge. Any references to tacit knowledge should also be documented. 

Students are often shy about modifying the text in the source literature. An inexperienced writer may be afraid of misrepresenting the message of the source. This is evident, for example, in a generous use of direct citations from the research literature. However, a thesis must be written in the student’s own words and ideas, by combining different sources. This way, the knowledge base is shaped to become a unique text that conveys precisely the perspective of the particular student writing the thesis. If the student is limited too much to using a single source, the knowledge base will inevitably become too much of a summary of that source.  

Where will the student find the right sources? The supervising teacher can, of course, recommend sources if he or she is sufficiently well read for this. Informaticists can also be asked to help find concrete sources, and also for making sure the sources the student has found are up-to-date and relevant. Finding relevant sources is primarily the student’s task and a part of the thesis process. 

The minimum requirement is that the student is able to define the key concepts relevant for the project, and use them to search for sources in the following databases: 

•    Humak Finna 

•    Melinda

•    Google Scholar

All databases can be easily found online, for example by using Google. In Humak Finna and Melinda, it may be best to use the Advanced Search function, which will enable the student to search for sources with combinations of two or more search terms. Humak Finna also has a tab for International e-resources search, which can be used to find scientific publications available in electronic format. In addition, the ARTO – Reference Database of Finnish Articles in Humak Finna finds both scholarly articles and newspaper articles. The search function in Google Scholar works in the same way as the search function in Google in general, which means that search terms are entered in one field without any words in between them. 

Today, many people are accustomed to googling the information they need, trusting that almost all relevant information can be found with search engines. However, this is insufficient for theses and final projects in institutions of higher education. Help using databases is available from the supervising teacher as well as the library staff. 

In academic institutions, method means something slightly different from what is meant by method at universities of applied sciences. In many faculties at universities, empirical research methods refer to either quantitative (e.g. questionnaire studies and surveys) or qualitative research methods (including interviews and observation). The objective of academic research is generally not the development of operations; rather, the results of the research are more in dialogue with the theory than with actual working life. The possible application of the research results into practice remains the responsibility of others. Instead of copying research methods from academic research, be inspired by the systematic approach and in-depth familiarisation with the previous knowledge of the field, which are typical traits of academic research. 

The objective of final projects and theses at Humak is to develop the operations of the commissioner of the project. Therefore, it is more appropriate to talk about methods for research-based development work, rather than research methods as such. These include, for example, various collective brainstorming methods, think tanks, process analyses, peer reviews and future workshops. For further information about such methods, you can look up “Kehittämistyön menetelmät” (2009 or 2015, Katri Ojasalo et al). Methodological questions will be discussed in the course Research-based Development. 

The methods of development work are characterised by combining different methods in order to achieve the objective. For example, the author of the thesis may begin the development work with a group interview to identify the need for development. After this, a think tank or brainstorming session can be used in the work community to together find different solution models. Benchmarking can be used to discover good practices in Finland and abroad. After the concrete completion of development work, you can collect feedback, for example, through an e-mail questionnaire. 

Development work is often done in the spirit of the increasingly popular culture of experimentation. The starting point for a culture of experimentation is not so much in making numerous reports and preliminary reports to reports, but rather diving into genuine operational experiments quickly and on a low budget. The experiment may be small, but even small experiments always aim at a bigger change. The idea is also to experiment with things that cannot be tested in any other way than experimenting. Experiments can be very bold and original, and they produce important information also when they do not succeed. It is important that experiments are carefully and systematically documented, and data is collected by means of participatory observation, for example. The culture of experimentation can be interpreted as one approach to development work, in the same way as action research or case study. 

Development work is usually carried out in collaboration with the working community. Even if the ideas and solution models had been developed in a collaborative way, the student can make full use of them in the thesis. The ability to engage in development work with an open mind together with others prepares students for working in teams and networks also after the studies, which is a highly valued working life skill. In collaborative development processes it is essential that the student itself plays an important part (for example as a development process leader). The student needs to be able to analyse received information systematically and objectively, using them to arrive to concrete conclusions. 

Observations produced in the development work are usually called the material. In universities of applied sciences, the term research material is usually not used, and the more descriptive concept, development material, has not yet been established in wider use – that is why we simply talk of material. Material can also be called a primary source. This means that the material has been gathered specifically for this project and is now used for the first time. The word material also appears as a part of the word source material. Source material and material are different things, however. Source material refers to the knowledge base, while material is subject to analysis. These two intertwine in theses analysis and conclusion chapters. Both have meaning as a base for refining and producing new information. 

The material should be documented carefully. However, often the students are so focussed on managing and completing the interviews, etc., that they tend to forget to document their efforts. The material obtained through interviews and collaborative brainstorming methods should be recorded and transcribed with sufficient precision in terms of the objective of the project. In operational experiments, it is often necessary to keep a journal of the final project, as otherwise a big part of the important observations will simply be forgotten. The material will not be attached to the thesis as an appendix, but questionnaires and interview structures are. 

A careful assessment of the success of the project and identification of the need for further development are crucial aspects of any development work. Development work involves a pragmatistic understanding of knowledge: the better something works, the closer we are to the correct knowledge. Too often students forget to evaluate how well the work or project functions. Collecting feedback from the commissioner and other interested parties is one way to evaluate success. Another is identifying application opportunities for the project elsewhere. Sometimes the success of a final project can be assessed by objective, pre-determined criteria. The main thing is that the critical assessment is more profound than simply the presentation of one’s superficial opinion. The supervising teacher should also stress that evaluation does not just mean simply praising one’s work: a careful analysis of failures and a complex reflection of development needs are also an important part of evaluation in successful development projects. 

Development work does not always need to involve numerous different methods and materials. In some cases, the development project may be based on one set of materials, such as one interview or survey. In such cases, the analysis of the material requires more than cases where interview or query is used just to collect feedback. The minimum requirement for quantitative analysis can be set at the level of cross-tabulation, i.e., the material is examined separately and cross examined. Simply listing percentage distributions is seldom sufficient for the development of operations. The minimum level for interview studies and surveys is grouping the transcribed material in a meaningful way, or in the case of expert interviews, systematically seeking new factual information. 

The most common question students ask their supervisor about the material is: How much material is enough? When using qualitative methods, the adequacy of the material is often assessed by means of reaching the saturation point of the material. Often, however, resources are exhausted before the saturation point. A good rule of thumb is that five interviews will suffice if the content of the interviews is relevant and the interviews are the central material for the development work. In surveys, the representativeness of the data is more important than the amount. If the data is collected with the Webropol survey tool, it is good to prepare for the fact that only 10 to 20% of recipients of the survey will answer the survey. If data collection fails, it is good to have a backup plan. 

When conducting interviews or surveys, it is good to bear in mind that the ultimate goal is to develop the operations of the commissioner. The thesis cannot end with the presentation of the results. As a minimum requirement, the author of the thesis will have to make recommendations to the commissioner for the development of operations. In many cases, the student can present the results of the project as well as the development proposals to the commissioner in a dedicated meeting and finally report this in the thesis. In the best case, the author will get to apply the results of the final project in practice as a paid employee. 

The thesis shall be written in accordance with good practices of academic writing. Even though this objective may sound intimidating, do not be put off, as the good practices of academic writing apply to the production of any expert-level text. The text of a good thesis is clear, reflective and easy to read: a text which is written clearly is also thoroughly thought through. Stylistically, the thesis should represent good, formal writing rich in nuances; however, no colloquial language is allowed. The objective, sober style does not mean dry and boring, but rather those interested in the subject should find the text very interesting and convincing. 

In the thesis, source material is utilized. Information from the sources is extracted and rephrased in one’s own words. The information is indicated as originating from the source with reference markers. Sometimes, finding the balance between one’s own text and the text from sources can feel challenging. Turnitin Draft Coach program, available with Humak’s Microsoft account in Word Online, can be helpful in this regard. The program compares the written text with the sources and highlights their similarities.

When writing the thesis, consider the text from the reader’s point of view. The thesis is not written only to the commissioner, and especially not to the supervising teacher, but ultimately to a broader readership. The development tasks carried out in one’s own long-term workplace may easily become very insider-like, making it difficult for both the supervisor and any outside reader to follow the thread of the text. One way to avoid such a near-sighted approach is to imagine the reader being a cultivated specialist of your professional field, living far away in another city, and then writing as if to that reader. In the same vein, it is a good idea for students to let someone outside the organisation read the thesis. 

A thesis should not be thought of as a report. The word report is in many ways problematic in connection with the thesis. However, the final project is too extensive a work to be reported in this way. Writing is not just a method of putting your thoughts on paper, but also one of the most efficient methods of thinking and producing ideas. This is why it is a good idea to keep continuously writing your thesis. If a thesis is heavily based upon development practices, it’s easy to forget writing. Keeping a thesis journal is a good way to keep track of the project’s phases, and it can be applied to every type of project. It’s important to remember that the actual thesis is not a journal-like product. 

Stiffness or rigid formality are not virtues in a thesis. Overtly long sentences made up of chains of dependent and subordinate clauses, or opaque jargon, have no place in a thesis. Avoid the heavy noun-based style characteristic to bureaucratic texts, such as “carry out an examination”, “perform an analysis”, or “execute an interview”, etc, which can be expressed simply with verbs such as to examine, analyse and Interview. Use abbreviations sparingly. In general, a good text contains abbreviations only within parentheses. Introductory phrases such as “However, it is important to consider that…”, are often unnecessary. A good guideline for writing is to get straight to the point and keep the text simple. 

Beware of using the passive voice too much, as it may confuse the reader as to who did what. Expressions such as “the material was collected” and “the material was analysed” evoke the impression that the author has a mysterious data collection and analysis group working in the background. The thesis can usually be written in the active voice, and even prolific references to the author as I are not forbidden. However, expressing the author’s subjectivity does not mean that the thesis is just a neatly expressed personal opinion, in the sense of a letter to the editor. The reader has the right to know what the author’s views are based on. 

Careful references to the sources and the bibliography will make the thesis more convincing, as will neat and consistent layout and formatting in accordance with the applicable instructions. The references must be made in accordance with the instructions approved by Humak and discussed with the supervising teacher. It is a good idea to mark the references in the correct way from the start, because finding missing sources afterwards can be a laborious task. It important also to make sure that the questions raised at the beginning of thesis have been answered in the conclusion chapter at the latest. In addition, the thesis should be grammatically correct and not include anything that the student does not fully understand. 

The abstract is usually written last, which does not mean that it should be given any less attention. The reader often decides whether or not to read the rest of the thesis based on the abstract. A good way to structure a good abstract is to follow the same model of four key areas as in the plan: for example, to write one paragraph about the need for the work, one about the objectives, a couple of paragraphs about the measures taken, and a couple of the results and outputs. Many students forget to write about the results and outputs in the abstract, which is why particular attention should be paid to them. In addition, a summary of the assessment of whether or not the objectives of the project were met should be included in the abstract. The abstract shall therefore answer the following questions: 

• Why did the commissioner’s operations need development?  

• What were the objectives of the project?  

• How was the development work done?  

• What new information was discovered and what kind of new knowledge did the project bring to the whole professional field? 

• What concrete outputs did the work generate for the commissioner? 

• How were the objectives met? 

Writing problems are quite common. Excessive self-criticism can prevent the process from even getting started, fear of failure may paralyse the student, and fear of mediocrity may encourage the student to polish the text indefinitely. Try not to be too harsh on yourself in the early stages of writing: the final version will only contain a fraction of the first drafts. Remember that when it comes to writing, quantity is more important than quality to get you going. Even vague observations and considerations are best put-on paper, rather than endlessly turning them over in your mind. Even just one page of text is much more than a blank page with the word Introduction typed at the top. Fear of failure can be reversed into pursuit of success, and respect for the set schedule sets a clear deadline for polishing. 

A good way to get started is to draw concept maps, listing the items in each chapter on paper, or writing them on Post-it notes. You should decide in advance when and how long to write. It is a good idea to mark the time reserved for writing on your calendar – and to stick to that decision. One good way to get going with writing is to start by reading and editing the text written the last time. You should only stop writing when you have an idea about what to write in your next session. 

There are many myths associated with writing. It is often said that writing requires long, completely peaceful moments. Preferably, writing would only take place when you are alone, in a quiet cabin in the middle of wilderness, in the early hours of the morning, and in a particularly creative state. It is best to simply let go of such myths. Leading writing experts say that sometimes just getting twenty minutes of writing done in the middle of every-day noise and business is a good goal. You can start by laying your fingers on the keyboard without having to necessarily feel like you have anything special to say. An experienced supervising teacher will appreciate an abundance of text, never mind the quality, in the early stages of the process. 

What if there simply is not enough text or the thesis seems too short? It is never a good idea to try to artificially inflate a concise text with adding text that has no content. The right way to expand the text is to compare, apply, combine, analyse and present arguments for and against your statements or results. This will keep the text concise and deepen processing and understanding of the topic. 

The structure of the thesis should be kept simple. A good number of main chapters is about 6 to 7. 1 to 2 chapters of background information, one chapter about methods used, 1 to 2 analysis chapters and a chapter to end the thesis. The introduction stirs the reader’s interest and introduces the topic of the thesis. The introduction explains why the operations of the commissioner should be developed, what are the objectives of the project, and what is the concrete output the project will produce. The introduction should not be confused with the abstract: the role of the introduction is to justify the importance of the development task and the thesis and to present the objectives of the final project. A good introduction is clear, concise and logical. 

The content of the knowledge base is discussed in Chapter 3.1 of this guide. In between the knowledge base and the content chapters, a chapter describing how the methods for the development work were applied in practice in the work may be place. Thesis material is introduced and applied in the analysis chapter of the thesis.The chapters that describe the operations should be sufficiently detailed to enable the reader to see how the author has arrived at the results. All matters discussed should be examined in light of the available materials, the practical professional experiences and the perspective provided by the professional literature. 

In the conclusion chapter the results of the work are compiled, and the final result of the work is presented. The final result can be applied as an attachment to the thesis, if it can be applied directly to the text because of its form or length. In this case the student needs to clearly describe the relation between the actual thesis and the separate product/result. How has the knowledge base and material affected the end product/result. 

The final chapter assesses the success of the development work and describes how the results of the project work were applied and implemented in the commissioner’s operations. Finally, the perspective presented in the beginning should be revisited and the general significance of the development work should be described. Justified ideas and bold, original operational experiments can even challenge an earlier understanding, or at least bring more complex perspectives to it. Therefore, the final chapter should not be considered as a summary, which merely recapitulates the topics discussed in the content chapters. 

The conclusion chapter is followed by a separate reflection chapter, where the success of the development work is objectively evaluated with well-reasoned arguments, and the implementation of the results into the commissioner’s operations is described. At this stage, the feedback provided by the client about the work is also discussed. Towards the end, the perspective introduced at the beginning is revisited, and the overall significance of the development work for the advancement of the field is outlined. The thesis can, through its example, provide applicable knowledge and ideas for a broader professional audience, especially if the thesis has been conducted with quality and transparency, combining practical and conceptual knowledge. Well-founded development proposals and bold experimental actions may even challenge previous understanding or at least diversify it. The reflection chapter should not be considered merely a summary that repeats what has been mentioned in the previous chapters.

The structure of the titles should be reader-friendly. The two heading-level structure is significantly better than headings on three levels. The fourth heading level should not even be considered. The chapters should not be too short. Sections should include at least three paragraphs, and each of them should contain at least three sentences. Sections are only used if at least two are needed.  

A thesis is not just any written assignment comprised of isolated sections. Headings should not only relate to the content of the chapter, but also to each other. In practice, however, it is wise to think of the chapters as relatively independent entities – after all, it is easier to eat an elephant one bite at a time. The thread of the thesis can and should be clarified at later stages of the process. Although writing is usually started with the introduction, it can also be started at any section which feels easier. However, it is often sensible to return to the introduction once more and to re-write it, once the conclusion and development suggestions of the final project have been written. 

The ability to harness artificial intelligence is an important skill in many professions, and in the future, it will be even more crucial. Humak encourages its students to utilize the possibilities of artificial intelligence during their studies, including various stages of thesis work. In the early stages, feedback can be sought from AI for thesis ideation. AI may also propose useful, innovative, creative, and participatory development methods when encouraged to do so. When building the knowledge base, AI may suggest relevant sources. In the final stages, AI can assist in proofreading for correctness. 

It is permissible to use artificial intelligence, for example, in testing and developing ideas and as a content commenting aid. In the data analysis phase, AI can be a useful tool, but the thesis author is always responsible for the interpretations presented in the thesis. 

At its best, AI is an excellent conversational partner and an interactive collaborator. Text written by AI should rarely, if ever, be directly copied into one’s own thesis. Familiarize yourself with the terms of use of AI applications. Do not input datasets containing personal information into AI applications. 

The use of AI in the thesis should be transparently disclosed. The student must write a description at the end of the thesis detailing which AI applications were used and how. The description should be sufficiently detailed for the reader to understand the role of AI in various stages of the work. Humak does not recommend leaving direct quotations from AI-generated text in the thesis. If this is done, the citation should follow the guidelines in Humak’s citation guide. 

This guidance is based on the recommendations of the Rectors’ Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (ARENE). The guidelines may be quickly updated with technological developments and changes in common policies among universities. Any new guidelines will be promptly added to the thesis guides.