It is not possible to present detailed instructions for the structure of the text chapters of the thesis because theses are different in type, e.g., project-like or exploratory theses. However, all kinds of theses always have a framework consisting of an introduction, the processing of the matter, as well as the conclusions and/or a discussion. These sections are structured into chapters and subchapters in an appropriate way and headed as illustratively as possible.
In the reporting of the thesis, the Instructions for Written Work of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences are observed.
The thesis shall include a title page, abstracts in Finnish and English, a table of contents, a list of the terms and abbreviations used (if there are many of them), a list of the figures, pictures and tables (in case the thesis includes many figures, pictures, or tables). The introduction is chapter 1, after introduction is a presentation of related previous research and development knowledge and possible theoretical knowledge, problem setting (presentation of the goals and research problems or development tasks of the thesis), a presentation of the methods used in the thesis and the reasons for their use, the processing of the results, the conclusions, a discussion, the sources, and possible appendices.
Of the above-mentioned sections, introduction, background/theory, problem setting, methods, results, conclusions and discussion may also appear in a different order, or be combined. An example of combining would be writing about the background information and the results in such a way that previous knowledge is compared to the results obtained in the thesis. In this guide you can find a rough presentation of what the different stages of the report include. For further information about solutions related to reporting and writing, refer to the literature on the conducting of research.
The introduction describes the background and subject matter of the thesis. The aim is to offer the reader the basic elements of the content of the thesis and to evoke the reader’s interest in it.
The use of AI is reported in the last subsection or chapter of the introduction. There are many AI applications, the language model can be used in a very wide range of applications and the use of AI is also developing very rapidly, therefore the level and scope of AI use and the AI applications used should be reported as specifically as possible.
In this thesis, the ChatGPT language model has been used for text ideation and verification. All sources used in this thesis are those retrieved by the author of this thesis, not those generated by the AI. Where the AI application has generated new ideas for the text, originality of those ideas has been checked using the original sources. They have also been properly referenced. The English-language abstract has been written using DeepL Translator for translation and Grammarly for grammar checking.
If you use the AI application widely to brainstorm and structure your topic, include the discussion you had in the thesis appendix.
The section treating the background and theory of the thesis presents and analyses previous research and development knowledge and existing research knowledge related to the topic. In it, reasons are given for the topic of the thesis by dealing with the key literature on the professional field, previous studies, analyses, and reports.
The treatment of the background of the thesis shows how familiar the author is with the subject area of the thesis and how well they master its concepts. The focus is on the author’s ability to demonstrate why just their thesis is useful, topical, and justified. The presentation of previous knowledge and research must not be a mere collection of summaries, but it should be approached in an analytical, comparative, and evaluative manner. Consequently, the information in the source literature shall be considered from the perspective of the author’s own thesis and goal or problem setting.
The analysis of previous research and knowledge provides the basis for the more detailed formulation of the problems of the thesis, concept definition, setting of the goals, methodological choices, and, subsequently, a basis for comparison for the results and making conclusions. The reader shall get a clear idea of how the thesis related to previous research or development projects, projects, productions, and what new things the present thesis aims to create.
The problem setting of the thesis shall be formulated clearly and accurately. In problem setting, the aims of the thesis are expressed, as well as the development tasks or research problems set for reaching them.
The section on methods presents the target and data of the thesis, as well as the data collection and analysis methods used, together with a justification of their use. It also explains how the research or development work was carried out in practice.
All theses have some data collection method, and the phenomenon under study is analysed based on the data collected using that method. In exploratory theses, productions and development projects, some delimited topic, phenomenon or process is set as the target of observation, and the thesis focuses on its analysis or development. Data collection methods may be qualitative or quantitative, or a combination of both. Think carefully what data collection method is suitable for the research question or target for development of the thesis. To find a suitable method, the student needs to do some careful research and become familiar with methodological literature.
After data collection, the data collected must be analysed in some systematic way. Then, we talk about methods of analysis. The methods of analysis of qualitative and quantitative data differ from each other, and you should carefully acquaint yourself with them before the collected data can be turned into results.
To assess the representativeness and reliability of the thesis, the methods and the progress of the process must be reported in such a detail that the data collection and analysis could basically be repeated in the same way.
The results of the thesis are presented by research or development task or as otherwise clearly grouped themes. All the research or development tasks set for the thesis must be dealt with, irrespective of whether or not answers for found to them. When reporting the results, it is advisable to start from and highlight the main results. Also negative results and unrealized hypotheses must be presented.
In this section, no interpretations are made as to the reason for some result or what it can imply, unless the results and conclusions sections are combined. The key results can be illustrated to a suitable extent with tables, figures and direct quotes from the data. The content of the tables, figures and direct quotes must also be discussed in the text. It is easier for the reader if the key results are summarized in the end, which can also be done in the form of a table or figure.
It is also common to combine the results and conclusions sections.
In the conclusions
In the conclusions and discussion
The sources are presented in the form of an alphabetical list after the text section. The appendices are placed at the end of the thesis. For the instructions on making a bibliography and including appendices, see the Instructions for Written Work of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences.