Thesis, Bachelor's degree

The topic of the thesis is typically chosen from the student's area of professional expertise. The topic should be of interest to you and serve the development needs of working life. Setting objectives and defining the thesis's scope are important steps in the process, and thesis advisors are there to support you. When choosing your topic, you should remember that thesis reports are public documents.

Finding a topic for you the thesis

Be proactive and alert to identify areas for improvement in your workplace or internship. Gather ideas by looking at existing theses on Theseus or HHthesis. See if you can find topics that interest you in Haaga-Helia's RDI projects. Follow the assignments posted on JobTeaser.

Commissioning Agreement

The thesis can be commissioned by a company, public corporation, association, university of applied sciences or other educational institution. In this case, the thesis project will be the subject of a written commissioning agreement.

Fill in the form and collect the necessary signatures. Haaga-Helia advisors do not sign any separate non-disclosure agreements drawn up by the commissioning party. In higher education institutions, confidential theses are not allowed, but they may contain confidential background material that is only known to the advisors/assessors. Background material will not be evaluated.

Haaga-Helia does not archive commissioning agreements.

Research authorization

If Haaga-Helia is the subject of the thesis or the research is conducted for Haaga-Helia students, staff or alumni, the research must be approved in accordance with the attached research authorization guidelines.

The research authorization application will be sent to Specialist Pekka Lahti: pekka.lahti@haaga-helia.fi.

Enrolment to the thesis process takes place in Wihi, where the thesis project progresses from registration to evaluation and publication of the report. Please register for the process according to the degree-specific instructions, which will tell you when you will receive the name of your advisor.

Once you start the process under the guidance of a designated advisor, agree a binding timetable and stick to it. You will receive guidance and feedback from your advisor throughout the process. Save the files created during the thesis project and the interim versions of the report in Wihi. All written communication between the student and the advisor is handled through Wihi.

Wihi instructions are in the program itself, on the right-hand side of the menu, behind the question mark button.

When starting the thesis process, you will be assigned an advisor. The thesis process starts with a plan, which is approved by your advisor. Your advisor will then give you advice on the process and feedback on your work. Agree a binding timetable with your advisor and stick to it. Use the thesis reporting guidelines from the start. Instructions for any thesis seminar will be provided by degree.

Reporting guidelines

Theses started in January 2022 or after:

• Guidelines for long reports and theses (pdf)
• Word template for writing a report (dotx file)
• Guidelines for the diary-based thesis (pdf)
• Word template for guidelines for the diary-based thesis (dotx)
• Guidelines for the product-based thesis (pdf)
• Guidelines for the research-based thesis (pdf)
• Confidentiality of Business and Trade Secrets in the Thesis (pdf)
• Guidelines for the portfolio thesis (pdf)

See also the LibGuides guidelines maintained by the library.

Theses started before January 2022:

• Guidelines for long reports (pdf)
• Guidelines for writing a report (docx)
• Guidelines for a diary-based thesis (docx)
  • See separately: (HELI, FINA) and (TIKO)
  • The diary-based thesis is reported on the basis of long reports

Tools for thesis

Dictation machine

A dictation machine for recording interviews etc. can be borrowed from the library.  You can check the loan status in HH Finna.

SPSS software

Haaga-Helia students can install IBM SPSS Statistics on their own computer free of charge.  

Webropol

Webropol allows you to implement web-based surveys. Please note that for HAKA login, the username and password are the same as the Haaga-Helia domain name and password.
 
If you have any questions, please contact Aki Taanila (aki.taanila@haaga-helia.fi) or other Webropol administrators:

• International Business Degree: Jutta Heikkilä
• Sports Instructor Degree, Vierumäki: to be announced later
• Hospitality Degree, Helsinki: Saija Laitinen
• Hospitality and Business Administration Degree, Porvoo: Marina Karlqvist
• Business Administration Degree, Helsinki: Pirjo Saaranen and Aki Taanila

All Haaga-Helia theses are checked using the Ouriginal application. The software can be used to determine whether plagiarism is possible in theses or other learning assignments. The Ouriginal check is done in Wihi. Submit your work to the Ouriginal plagiarism check when your advisor has given you permission to do so.

Ouriginal compares the content of the document against three different types of sources: the open internet, material from publishers (e.g. certain e-books and e-journals) and student-produced material previously stored in the Ouriginal database. The comparison will result in an analysis report that will highlight the similarities found. On the basis of this report, the advisor will conclude whether plagiarism is present in the work.

The advisor will accept the Ouriginal report at Wihi if there is no evidence of plagiarism in the report and the work can proceed to assessment. If there is a suspicion of plagiarism, a preliminary investigation is initiated, including consultation with the student.

The document will be stored in Ouriginal's database, so that any potential plagiarism of your work will be revealed in the future. If you do not want your work to be the source material for plagiarism comparisons by other Ouriginal users, click on the link at the end of the confirmation message: "Follow this link if you wish to prohibit the use of your document as described above."

Ethical principles

See the Rectors’ Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences Arene's guidelines for students and advisors.

Deceit and how to deal with it

Haaga-Helia's examination regulations define deceit and how to deal with it. The Act on Universities of Applied Sciences defines the sanctions for violations.

Suspicion of deceit is reported in the Finnish or English electronic form. Suspicions of plagiarism in connection with theses are dealt with by Haaga-Helia's Thesis Ethics Committee.

Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK) defines plagiarism in the RCR guidelines (Responsible Conduct of Research) defines misconduct as follows:

• Fraudulent activities include unauthorized quotation, i.e. plagiarism, fabrication, falsification and misappropriation.
• Unauthorized quotation or plagiarism is the representation of another's text or part of it as one's own
• Fabrication is presenting invented findings and results
• Falsification of findings is the deliberate manipulation of original findings to distort results or omit essential results or data
• Misappropriation is the impersonation of the original findings, idea or plan.

After the advisor has approved the Ouriginal analysis, save the evaluation version of the thesis in Wihi. Once approved, the thesis is assessed on a scale of 1-5 usually by two assessors (according to the Degree Regulations) using an assessment criteria framework. This procedure is designed to ensure the objectivity of the assessment. In August 1, 2022 the new unweighted thesis assessment criteria are applied to the starting theses. The theses, that has been started earlier, are assessed by the old criteria until July  31, 2023. After that, all theses are assessed following the new criteria. Once the thesis has been approved, the grade cannot be increased (Degree Regulations). The assessment report is a public document which can be consulted by anyone in the HH library.

Feedback from the commissioning party

Ask for feedback on your thesis using the feedback form (docx). The commissioning party sends the feedback form as an email attachment to the advisor. The thesis assessors will use the feedback to assess the thesis.

Rectifying procedure

If you feel that the evaluation criteria have been incorrectly applied in the assessment of your thesis, you have the possibility to request a third assessor. In this procedure, a third assessor will re-evaluate your thesis. You will then still have the opportunity to request a correction from the examination board, which will not re-evaluate your thesis, but will examine whether the assessment process and criteria have been followed.

Once you have submitted your thesis for assessment, agree with your advisor on how to complete the maturity test (Decree 2003/352, § 10).

The maturity test has two main functions: it demonstrates the student's knowledge of the field of his/her thesis and an approved maturity test is proof of Finnish or Swedish language skills according to Act 424/2003 (Act on the language skills required of public sector staff).

You will take the maturity test in the language of your school education. This is the Finnish or Swedish language for which you received an approved mother tongue grade in your Finnish comprehensive school or upper secondary school leaving certificate. If you have passed the matriculation examination in a language other than the language of school education (Finnish or Swedish), you are deemed to have completed your school education in the language in which you passed the matriculation examination in your mother tongue or obtained at least the grade magna cum laude approbatur in the examination in Finnish as a second language or Swedish as a second language (Decree 481/2003).

The language of the maturity test is determined by the language of the student's school education:

Agree with your advisor the time of the maturity test. Maturity test can be:

• Essay
• Item in Staff newsletter
• Media release

The maximum duration of maturity test done in Exam or otherwise supervised is 1 h 55 min, and it is done without study materials or other aids (e.g. dictionary/reading aids).

Evaluation of the maturity test

The maturity test is assessed on a pass-fail scale. The thesis advisor will evaluate the final examination. The maturity essay may be renewed. If the student does not meet the requirements for the maturity test, he/she must apply for exemption from the Degree Director. The exemption will be noted on the diploma.

1 Task completion​

Pass
The task has been completed in all areas at least satisfactorily.

Fail
The text does not address the given topic.
The text poorly follows the assigned text type, i.e. essay, item for a staff newsletter, or media release.

2 Text structure

Pass
The text has a heading that communicates the key contents and point of view and is also interesting.
The text matches the structure of the assigned text type.
The text proceeds logically.
The paragraph division is appropriate and clearly indicated.
The text is of appropriate length: essay 450–600 words and the other text types 150–230 words.

Fail    
The text does not have a headline or the headline is poorly formulated.
The text poorly matches the structure of the assigned text type.
The text does not proceed logically.
The text is list-like.
The paragraph division is unclear, not to the purpose, and not clearly indicated.
The text has tables and figures.
The text is too long or too short.

3 Topic discussion

Pass
The text sufficiently indicates the writer’s expertise.
The text addresses the topic in a way that is interesting to the target group.
Thesis concepts or background theory are well or excellently incorporated with the topic.
The text stands as an independent text and can be understood without consulting the thesis.

Fail
The text contains factual errors or does not sufficiently indicate the writer’s expertise or contains factual errors.
The text does not take into account the target group.
Thesis concepts or background theory are not discussed or are faulty.
The text does not stand as an independent text, and cannot be understood without consulting the thesis.

4 Readability

Pass    
Clause and sentence structures are clear, understandable, varied, and grammatically correct.
The grammar adheres to the standard. Attention has been given to:

• punctuation
• conjunctions
• upper and lower case
• numbers, abbreviations, special characters, and their conjugation
• relations of reference (e.g. pronouns)
• congruence
• use of non-finite clause
• word order
• government
• symmetry of parallelism
• word conjugations
• foreign words
• buzzwords
• noun style and other colloquialisms
• spelling of words

Fail
Faulty and poorly constructed clause and sentence structures hinder the reading and understanding of the text.
The grammar is inconsistent and does not adhere to standard norms and recommendations (cf. list above).

Students publish their thesis in accessible pdf/a format to online library Theseus, which is the open collection of the national universities of applied sciences. If the commissioning party does not want the thesis to be published in the open collection, the thesis is stored in the restricted collection of Theseus. The thesis is always a public document, so anyone has the right to request to read it.

In the open collection of Theseus, the thesis can be read online in its entirety. A thesis stored in the restricted collection can be read on the Haaga-Helia intranet, in the same way as a thesis stored in HHthesis. The thesis metadata and abstract are openly available in both Theseus collections. As the thesis is public, please ensure that the thesis, its abstract or other metadata do not contain any information that is subject to trade secret, privacy or other confidentiality protection.

NOTE! If the thesis commissioning agreement has been drawn up before 1.1.2022 and the commissioning organisation has prohibited saving the thesis in the open collection of Theseus, the student must make sure the commissioning organisation allows the thesis to be saved in the restricted collection of Theseus instead of HHthesis. Unlike in HHthesis, the metadata and summary of theses stored in Theseus restricted collection are openly available online. In case of doubt, you should contact the library kirjasto.ont@haaga-helia.fi.

When your thesis and maturity test have been evaluated, publish your thesis in Theseus. After publishing, save your thesis link in Wihi. Please note that the publication link is activated only when the library staff has approved the thesis and published it in Theseus. This can take 1-2 work days. When your thesis advisor has accepted the link, the evaluation is saved to the student register.

• Theseus submission guide
• Theseus submission page
• Search Theseus publications

For more information on Theseus collections, please contact Haaga-Helia library or send email (kirjasto.ont@haaga-helia.fi).

Note! If your thesis has not been published in Theseus after a couple of days, please check the email you have provided when submitting your thesis. You may have received a notice of a failed submission.

If you have problems with publishing your thesis, you can contact Haaga-Helia library (kirjasto.ont@haaga-helia.fi). If you need personal guidance with the publishing, library's specialists would be happy to help you also in a Teams meeting. Please tell in your message, if you wish to get guidance via Teams.

Open UAS students can't submit their thesis to Theseus. They can contact library staff, who will take care of the submission: kirjasto.ont@haaga-helia.fi

Your feedback on the thesis process

Feedback on the thesis process is included in the AVOP feedback at the end of the studies.