i

BBA Thesis Instructions and Guidelines

BIT thesis group

Bachelors Thesis Guidelines DP in Business Information Technology 2010-1

BBA Thesis Instructions and Guidelines

The purpose of this document is to guide parties of the thesis in the BBA thesis process. These parties are BIT- programme students and the sponsor's representatives as well as the teachers and supervisors in Haaga-Helia. The BBA Thesis Instructions and Guidelines, this document, holds a standard procedure of doing thesis in BIT-programme. This document describes what a thesis is, when and under which prerequisites students may start his/hers thesis process. Here is also explained what are the rights and the duties of each participant in the process, and how the thesis results and process will be assessed and evaluated. This guideline also links together other topic regulations and instructions of thesis process. All instructions concerning thesis work in the BIT-programme according this document is included in the HAAGA-HELIA extranet web pages Bachelors thesis in the Business information technology, Pasila. The Bachelors thesis instructions are as follows: Thesis seminar Bachelor Thesis Seminar (THE7TF007) - the course description, implementation schedule and material. BIT Thesis guidelines and templates BIT thesis guidelines and templates - the instructions modified for the BIT-students General HH Thesis instructions - the HH instructions which the BIT-student would also follow Thesis project management - the instructions and templates for the thesis project management Thesis delivery HAAGA-HELIA library - the case- in and other instructions for the public version of the thesis Theseus library - the instruction for students save their thesis to the Theseus , an electronic library Other HAAGA-HELIA instructions are Writing Reports at HAAGA_HELIA

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines

ii

Contents 1 The bachelors thesis and its objectives . 2 Thesis project types .... 2.1 Thesis is a research project ... 2.2 Thesis is a system project ..... 2.3 Outcomes of the thesis .. 3 Thesis guidelines 3.1 Bachelors thesis .. 3.2 Thesis seminar ............. 3.3 BIT thesis guidelines and templates 3.4 Common HH thesis instructions 3.5 Thesis project management .... 3.6 Thesis delivery .... 3.7 Theses in Haaga-Helia 4 Timing and workload ..... 5 Thesis process 5.1 Orientation . 5.2 Preparation . 5.3 Starting .. 5.4 Implementation .. 5.5 Closing .. 5.6 Maturity test .. 5.7 Evaluation .... 5.8 Publication . 5.9 Certification .. 6 Determination of the grade 6.1 Assessment .. 6.2 Assessment and Grading Criteria . 6.3 Urkund . 7 Thesis in a nutshell 8 Practical guidelines 8.1 Academic writing .. 8.2 Abstract ... 8.3 Use of source material . 8.4 Documentation . 8.5 Principle of publicity . 1 2 2 2 3

4 4 4 4 5 5 6 7

8 8 10 10 11 12 12 13 14 15 15 15 16

18 18 18 19 19

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 1(20)

1 The bachelors thesis and its objectives

The role of the Bachelors thesis is to give the student an opportunity to show his/her capability to apply the knowledge and skills accumulated during the programme for one fairly large problem of his education field. The thesis is a wide independent exercise the objective of which is to point out the student's readiness and maturity to adapt independently the theory and practice learned. The student also demonstrates his/hers ability to organize work, obtain information, cooperate and work independently. The thesis is also a process, where the student shows his/her capability to manage applied research and product development principles: logic, methods and communication. The student also learns to plan, monitor and report the progress of the thesis process. In the thesis process there is room for creativity, new applications and ideas and the experimenting touch, although applied research is in question. The aim of the thesis is always to solve a practical problem related to the education field. The thesis serves as the bridge between a theory and the practice at the final stage of studies integrating earlier studies to each other. The thesis is in most cases an individual effort but sometimes it is possible to do it in a couple. A thesis done by two students has to include distinct individual work by the two members. In case there are two students working in the thesis process the other student may also be from other than the BIT-programme. The student may do the thesis also in a theme group. The thesis coordinator gives information about the theme groups. The thesis process requires the student to: plan and report progress of his/her work work rationally and systematically cooperate and work independently gather and use information from diverse sources combine and apply the knowledge and skills acquired during his/her studies use applicable methods make rational decisions use creative problem solving show his/her skills in good written and oral presentation The student may propose the topic of the thesis or Haaga-Helia shall give the topic. Topics have to be always accepted by Haaga-Helia. Theses are mainly done for a sponsor. The student formulates the scope of the thesis as carefully as possible at the beginning of the process. When the thesis process proceeds, the student may clarify and define the scope, if it is necessary. The BIT thesis is always implemented as a project. The BIT- thesis must be written in English.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 2(20)

2. Thesis project types

The bachelors thesis in the BIT-programme is either a research project or a system development project (a system project).

2.1 Thesis is a research project

In a research project the student does one applied research work from his own subject. In the research project the student produces a solution and a report from some practical ICT-topic. A work process for a thesis project plan will base on the common research process and methods (qualitative/quantitative research methods). The results of the research project are going to be documented using the Thesis Report guidelines for a Research Project. In the research work the determination of the research problem is essential. Before the beginning of the thesis the student set research problems, which the research should find answers to. The research problems direct the work during the whole research process: choice of sources, framework and scope of reference, survey questions and analysis of the answers obtained. And above all, the research results must solve the pre-formulated research problems.

2.2 Thesis is a system project

In a system project the student develops a new ICT-solution and produces required documentation. The subject of a system work may be feasibility studies, requirements engineering, software development (analysis, design, implementation), database or network design and implementation as well as software product acquisition and adoption etc. A work process for this type of a thesis project plan will base on some system/software development model and methods. There are several system/software engineering models and documentation practices, which specifies development activities, rules and description types that should be applied in system/software development projects. These practices also determine the maintenance and storing procedures of the documents. Many thesis sponsors have their own development models and documentation practices. If the sponsor organization has its own development, documentation practices and standards, and they are at least as covering as Haaga-Helias, they can be used in a system project thesis. An essential matter of an information system development is to describe data, data processing and ICT-solutions. The results of the system project are going to be documented using the selected documentation practices and the Thesis Report Guidelines for a System Project.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 3(20)

2.3 Outcomes of the thesis

The outcomes in each type of the thesis are a thesis (report) a project administrative folder The thesis Each thesis includes concrete results and reporting of the results with arguments, conclusions and references to theoretical backgrounds evaluation of the result, and a story of implementation and experiences The thesis is an aggregation of thesis results, which in case of a research project is the research report, where confidential part of the results (if any) are in appendices. in case of a system project holds the work objectives, implementation description and others information concerning the thesis, and all actual deliverables (the system documentation) are in appendices. Due to the characteristics of the work, the weights of the parts in the thesis vary. In the system project the system and its documentation are the most essential part. In the research project the written research report forms the main part of the thesis. See detailed instructions in BIT thesis instructions and guidelines: Thesis report guidelines for a research project Thesis report guidelines for a system project.

Project administrative folder The project administrative folder includes all project management material. The project final report should include the students self-assessment of learning. See detailed instructions in Thesis project management/Contents of an administrative forlder.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 4(20)

3 Thesis guidelines
3.1 Bachelors Thesis
The course description of the Bachelors Thesis is meant for the student. In the course description there are written basic information of the thesis. The course description is a part of the annual study guide.

3.2 Thesis Seminar

The Thesis Seminar (THE7TF007) is a study unit which the student must take before starting his/hers thesis. The descriptions and implementation plan of the Thesis Seminar study unit may be seen on the extranet - BIT Bachelors thesis/Thesis seminar. There is also a link to the study unit materials.

3.3 BIT thesis guidelines and templates

On the extranet BIT Bachelors thesis/BIT Thesis guidelines and template there are the thesis instructions and guidelines modified for BIT students: BIT Thesis instructions and guidelines - for students and staff, this document Thesis process a process diagram from the view of the student Topic proposal - a template Thesis Commission Agreement - a template Agreement of Confidential Appendices - a template Thesis report guidelines for a research project and for a system project Abstract - a template Feedback Commissioning Party Form - a template Maturity test - instructions Thesis Assessment Criteria & Form Case-in the public thesis Deliver the public thesis

3.4 Common HH thesis instructions

The instructions which are on the HH extranet- Studies/Thesis and which the BIT-student must also consider: Publication - Thesis to Theseus library: saving instructions and Theseus Service Agreement Urkund instructions for students and staff, to detect and deter plagiarism Thesis Report Guide - academic writing, bibliography, use of sources Misconduct and Fraud in Thesis Thesis Cover Example

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 5(20)

3.5 Thesis project management

The thesis of the BIT-programme is always carried out as a project irrespective of the type of the thesis. The general principles of the project management are applied: a project plan is required, actual work may start after the approval of the project plan, and the work is then carried out in a disciplined way according to the approved project plan. The project plan is accepted and approved by the steering group that has been established and assigned for the project. The steering group consists of the chairman, who is normally the sponsor's representative, the thesis supervisor assigned by Haaga-Helia, and the student, who does the thesis, as the secretary. The student acts as the project manager and the main resource of the project. At least three steering meetings must be held during the work: the starting meeting, one progress meeting and the closing meeting. If necessary more than one progress meetings may be held. Any of the members of the project organization can convene an extra steering meeting. At the closing meeting, the results of thesis are delivered, and the project will be ended. In case the sponsoring organization applies a well documented project practices, which are at least as covering as BIT-programmes ones, they can be used. Otherwise, the project instructions given to the BIT thesis project must be applied. On the extranet BIT Bachelors thesis/Thesis project management are the BIT thesis project administration guidelines: Project plan a template Project status report a template Notice of a steering meeting a template Minutes of a steering meeting three templates Project final report (Final report) a template Contents of an administrative folder

3.6 Thesis delivery

All thesis outcomes are sent to the supervisor for the final evaluation. This includes both the thesis (with deliverables to the sponsor) and the project administrative material. There must be two copies of the thesis and the project final report for the second evaluator. The public part of the thesis and the Word-version of the abstract are stored in HAAGAHELIA library. Look at the BIT Bachelors thesis/Case-in the Thesis and Deliver the thesis. The student should save the PDF-version of his/hers public thesis to the Theseus electronic library (Theses and Publications of the Universities of Applied Sciences in Internet). Detailed guidelines are in the HH extranet: Studies/Thesis/ Publication/ Saving instructions.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 6(20)

3.7 Theses at Haaga-Helia

The list of the approved theses will be seen on the HAAGA-HELIA library web pages. You may also have a look at the electronic library Theseus which holds theses and publications from Universities of Applied Sciences on the Internet. See BIT Bachelors thesis/Thesis at Haaga-Helia/ Thesis made at HAAGA-HELIA and Theseus.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 7(20)

4 Timing and workload

The bachelor thesis is carried out at the final stage of studies and it is compulsory to everybody. The extent of the thesis is 15 credit points, in other words 50 study/working days, which is about 400 working hours (a working day = 8 working hours). The thesis process takes normally one semester, at least three months.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 8(20)

5 Thesis process
There is a Thesis process diagram in website of the BIT Thesis guidelines and templates which describes the thesis activities. Here are the detailed descriptions of the these activities.

Prerequisites
The student will carry out the thesis normally at the last stage of his/hers studies, when the student has a sufficient knowledge to implement a wide practical exercise. The beginning of the thesis requires that the student has completed all compulsory and professional studies. Also the work placement must be done acceptably. The indication of this is the grade and performance notes that have been recorded in the study register.

5.1 Orientation
The orientation is a stage, which precedes the thesis process and in which the student studies the thesis guidelines. For orientation the student must participate and pass the compulsory Thesis Seminar (THE7TF007). After that the thesis process may start.

5.2 Preparation
The student 1. The student will fix the topic proposal based on the assignment received either from the external sponsor or Haaga-Helia. Also the students own topics are possible. The system project is always carried out based on the needs of a sponsor or Haaga-Helia. When filling the topic proposal the student also agreed that his/hers thesis can be checked with a programme designed to detect and deter plagiarism, in Haaga-Helia the Urkund application is used.. The detailed guidelines of the topic proposal are in the BIT thesis guidelines and templates/ Topic Proposal template. 2. The student may enroll on a theme group (optional) in order to execute his/hers thesis process. The thesis coordinator gives information about theme groups. 3. The student sends the topic proposal to the thesis coordinator. The theme group must be mentioned in the topic proposal, if that is the case. 4. The coordinator accepts the topic and appoints a thesis supervisor for the thesis. After accepting of the topic, the student has to contact the supervisor within two (2) months otherwise his/hers topic proposal is cancelled by the supervisor.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 9(20)

5. The approval of the topic proposal signifies permission to begin the project planning and working with the HAAGA-HELIA assigned thesis supervisor and the sponsors supervisor. The responsibility of the thesis process is on the student from now on. The Coordinator 1. On the basis of the description of the student's topic proposal the thesis coordinator estimates prerequisites for the student taking into consideration the topic and the study modules performed by the student. The coordinator discusses possibly with an expert of the topic or asks, discussing with the student, for the focused description. 2. The coordinator accepts the topic. If it is a question of a topic proposal of the student team of two, it is accepted only as a whole, not as parts. HAAGA-HELIA accepts the thesis topic of a system work proposed by the external organization, if it fills the following characteristics: the topic is independent enough so that it is not too dependent on the external parties and out of the range of the influence of HAAGA-HELIA the sponsor assigns a supervisor and sufficient other resources for the project the project schedule required by the sponsor is suitable for a thesis process the topic is wide enough for individual thesis or a couple work the topic is interesting also from the learning viewpoint the implementation of the thesis project does not require HAAGA-HELIA extra investments on device, tools or methods a public report and an abstract can be made out of the topic the topic is ethically acceptable. 3. After the accepting the topic, the thesis coordinator appoints a thesis supervisor of Haaga-Helia. The coordinator informs the student about the thesis supervisor. The supervisor 1. The potential thesis supervisor gets the topic proposal from the coordinator, approves it and becomes the supervisor of the suggested thesis. 2. The supervisor waits contact of the student. If that does not happen within two months after the approval, he/she will cancel the proposal and informs the student and the coordinator.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 10(20)

5.3 Starting
1. The student prepares the project plan and contact with the thesis supervisor and agrees on the starting activities. The student reviews the project plan with the thesis supervisor before the project starting meeting. The detailed guidelines are on the Thesis project Management/ Project plan. 2. The supervisor validates the project plan. 3. The student prepares the notice of the starting meeting, the thesis agreements concerning the commissioning party and possible confidential parts of the thesis work. The detailed guidelines are on the Thesis project Management/ Notice of the steering meeting templates and BIT thesis guidelines and templates/ Thesis Commission Agreement and Agreement of Confidential Appendices. 4. The student calls up the steering group for the starting meeting. 5. The actual thesis project will start at the starting meeting. The student presents the project plan, the thesis commissioning agreement and the agreement of confidential appendices (optional) at the starting meeting. 6. The steering group approves the project plan as such or with the changes. The thesis commission agreement will be signed at the starting meeting and, if needed, the agreement of the confidential appendices of the thesis will be agreed, too. (The thesis supervisor delivers the commissioning party agreement of the thesis project to the student affairs office at the end of the thesis process with the thesis assessment statement.)

5.4 Implementation
1. After approval of the thesis project plan the thesis is carried out according to the plan. The progress of the thesis project will be monitored according to the plan and good project practices at the steering meetings. The student will prepare a status report for each steering meeting and represent it and the results to the steering group. If necessary and jointly agreed in the steering group, the project plan may be changed to secure a successful performance and final result.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 11(20)

The detailed guidelines for a status report are on the Thesis project Management/ Status report template.

5.5 Closing
Timing In order to get his/hers thesis to an evaluation meeting the student must, three weeks prior to the evaluation meeting, have completed following: has finalize his thesis has send the abstract to the English teacher for inspection and corrected the abstract following given instruction has held the closing meeting has delivered the thesis and project management material to the thesis supervisor and within two weeks after the above bullet points: the supervisor and the second evaluator should have approved the thesis the supervisor has arranged the maturity test for the student after the approval the student has passed the maturity test. Closing 1. When the results of the thesis project are ready, the student finalizes his thesis, prepares the project final report and arranges a project closing meeting. He/she delivers the deliverables of the thesis project to the sponsors supervisor and HAAGA-HELIAs thesis supervisor. At the closing meeting the steering group approves the deliverables and ends the project, if the results are acceptable. 2. The student delivers, by an e-mail, the abstract of the thesis to the English teacher for inspection and corrects it following instructions given by the teacher. The corrected abstract must be in the delivered thesis. The student delivers, three weeks prior to an evaluation meeting, his/hers thesis to the supervisor for evaluation. The outcomes are the project administration folder with two copies of the project final report, the thesis in two copies. The thesis holds all results, which are going to be evaluated. The student delivers the agreement of the confidential appendices, if any, to the supervisor for signature of the second evaluator. 3. The supervisor approves the thesis and names the second evaluator and informs the student.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 12(20)

After approval of the thesis the grading process will start. The thesis supervisor sends the copies of the thesis and project final report to the second thesis evaluator for assessment. The second evaluator signs the confidential appendices, if any, in order to assess the thesis.

5.6 Maturity test

The student must perform the maturity test in which he/she shows that he/she masters the topic and is capable of communicating in written English. The maturity test must be carried out within two weeks after the student has sent the thesis outcomes to the supervisor. After approval of the thesis the student agrees the maturity test with the supervisor and performs the test. The supervisor evaluates and approves the content and language of the maturity test. The assessment scale is pass or fail. If the student wants a Finnish language clause to BBA certification, he/she must write the maturity test in Finnish.

5.7 Evaluation
1. After approval of the maturity test the thesis supervisor and the second evaluator assess the thesis and the supervisor writes the thesis assessment statement for the evaluation meeting. It is possible that the second evaluator does not approve to thesis though the maturity test has been passed. In this case the supervisor and the second evaluator discuss and decide corrections that should be made to the thesis and the student makes those corrections. 2. The thesis supervisor presents the thesis assessment statement at the evaluation meeting and writes the final assessment statement (two copies) after the evaluation meeting. 3. A day after the evaluation meeting the thesis supervisor sends one signed assessment statements to the student and the other to the student affairs office with the commissioning party agreement. Or, the supervisor sends both copies of the assessment to the student affairs office, which sends the assessment statement to the student. The student should get his/hers assessment statement at the beginning of next week after the evaluation meeting.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 13(20)

5.8 Publication
1. The student attaches a copy of the assessment statement to his/hers public thesis (next after the cover page) and take 2 or 3 copies of the public thesis and cases-in them. Three copies are taken when the grade of the thesis is 5/5.The student may case-in one extra copy to the thesis supervisor, too. Detailed guidelines are on the BIT thesis guidelines and templates/ Case-in the public thesis. 2. The student delivers the 2 cased-in theses to the thesis dropping point, which is in the lobby of TIKO management, on the 6th floor in the Helia-building 1. The cased-in versions must be in the thesis dropping point till next Thursday after the evaluation meeting at 12:00. In case of the grade 5/5 the student delivers the 3th cased-in version to the thesis supervisor, who sends it to the thesis coordinator. All theses that have the grade 5/5 will participate in the thesis competition. Variation If the student has delivered the cased-in copies of the thesis before the evaluation meeting, the thesis supervisor will attach copies of the assessment statement to the casedin copies of the thesis. They must be attached permanently. In this variation there must be always 3 cased-in copies of the public thesis. The thesis supervisor sends the 2 copies of the thesis to the thesis dropping point. These should be in the dropping point till next Thursday after the evaluation meeting at 12:00. 3. The student affairs office records the grade of the thesis to Winha, after delivery of the cased-in theses to the thesis dropping point. 4. The student must send the abstract of the thesis to the Haaga-Helia library by e-mail as a Word-file attachment (doc, docx). The student should save a PDF-version of the public thesis to the Theseus electronic library. Detailed guidelines are in the HH extranet: Studies/Thesis/ Publication/ Saving instructions.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 14(20)

5.9 Certification
The student must apply the BBA certification at latest next Friday after the evaluation meeting, if he/she wants to graduate in the next graduation. The thesis supervisor stores the whole thesis (that for evaluation) till the student is graduated, anyhow not over six months after the evaluation meeting.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 15(20)

6 Determination of the grade

6.1 Assessment
The assigned Haaga-Heliss thesis supervisor and the second evaluator have the main responsibility of the assessment and grading of the thesis. They write a statement about the thesis (Thesis Assessment Criteria and Form). The sponsor supervisors statement concerning the results and working process is required and has effect on the grade too (Feedback Commissioning Party form). The final grade is determined at the evaluation meeting of theses. The decision is based on the statement of the thesis supervisor and evaluator. A day after the evaluation meeting the thesis supervisor sends one signed assessment statements to the student and the other to the student office with the commissioning party agreement. Or, the supervisor sends both copies of the assessment to the student office, which sends the assessment statement to the student. The student should get his/hers assessment statement at the beginning of next week after the evaluation meeting.

6.2 Assessment and Grading Criteria

Assessment and grading criteria is described in the separate document Thesis Assessment Criteria and For, which is on the BIT Bachelors thesis/ BIT Thesis guidelines and template website.

6.3 Urkund
Urkund is a software application to track plagiarism. Use of Urkund increases awareness of plagiarism and its prevention. If the evaluator (supervisor or the second evaluator) suspects a student of plagiarism, he asks the student to send his/her text to the supervisors/evaluators personal Urkund analysis address as an attachment. Urkund will analyze the document within 24 hours. If the evaluator suspects that plagiarism has occurred in the thesis, he/she contact the thesis coordinator. Suspicions of plagiarism are reviewed by Haaga-Helias thesis ethics committee. The student gives permission to use Urkund in his/her topic proposal. More detailed information, see HH extranet studies/Thesis/Urkund/ Urkund instructions for students and Urkund instruction for staff.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 16(20)

7 Thesis in a nutshell
Prerequisites 1.The student has completed all compulsory and professional studies. Also the work placement must be done acceptably 2. For orientation the student must participate and pass the compulsory Thesis Seminar.

Preparation and starting (about 40 working hours) 1. The student fixes and sends the topic proposal to the thesis coordinator. 2. The coordinator approves the topic proposal and names the supervisor for the thesis. 3. The student contacts his/hers supervisor named by the coordinator within two (2) months. 4. The student prepares the project plan of the thesis and contact with the thesis supervisor and agrees on the starting activities. 5. The thesis project plan is approved in the starting meeting and the thesis project starts.

Implementation (about 360 wh, three months) 1. The student carries out the thesis project. 2. There should be at least one steering meeting during the implementation.

Three weeks prior to an evaluation meeting, 1. The student must have completed following: has finalize his thesis. has send the abstract to the English teacher for inspection and corrected it following given instruction. has held the closing meeting. has delivered the thesis and project management material to the thesis supervisor.

Within two week after delivery of the thesis outcomes The student takes the maturity test. The steps are as follows: the supervisor has approved the thesis the supervisor arranges the maturity test for the student after the approval the student has passed the maturity test.

Evaluation meeting 1. The supervisor and the second evaluator assess thesis and write an assessment statement. 2. The thesis is evaluated at the evaluation meeting. 3. After the evaluation meeting the supervisor writes the final assessment statement, which is signed by the supervisor and the second evaluator.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 17(20)

A day after the evaluation meeting 1. The thesis supervisor sends one signed assessment statements to the student and one with the commission agreement to the student affairs office.

Till next Tuesday after the evaluation meeting. 1. The student should get his/hers assessment statement.

Till next Thursday after the evaluation meeting at 12:00 1. The student attaches a copy of the assessment statement to his/hers public thesis, takes two or three copies of the public thesis and case-in the thesis copies. 2. The student delivers the two cased-in theses to the thesis dropping point and, in case of grade 5/5, the 3rd copy to the coordinator. 3. The student sends a Word-version of the abstract of the thesis to the Haaga-Helia library. 4. The student affairs office records the grade of the thesis to Winha.

At latest next Friday after the evaluation meeting 1. The student must apply the BBA certification, if he/she wants to graduate in the next graduation. 2. The student saves PFD version of the public thesis with the abstract to the Theseus library (optional).

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 18(20)

8 Practical guidelines
8.1 Academic writing
Academic writing A good reporting skill is an important part of BBAs professional profile. One of the evaluation criteria of thesis is the good linguistic form and readability of the thesis report created as a result. Bibliography and use of sources The reader of a thesis must be able to see what is the writer's own text and reasoning, and what is borrowed from other sources. For this reason the writer must be careful in the choice and use of sources, in the note of references and in the compilation of the bibliography. Writing thesis at HAAGA-HELIA guideline gives instructions on the scientific writing, and guides to look for, to choose and to use written sources duly. The instruction also guides how to use a bibliography in the note and compilation of references.

8.2 Abstract
The abstract is tight, independent presentation which fits for one A4 sheet and can be published separately. It describes the objective of the work, working methods, results and conclusions. The template for an abstract in found BIT thesis guidelines and templates/ Abstract. In order to facilitate a later search, the ACM classification standard is added to the end of the English abstract. An abstract of the thesis is written only in English. The student sends the abstract as an attachment of an e-mail to the English teacher for inspection and corrects it following instructions. The abstract will be placed to the thesis. A separate electronic file as a Word-document must be delivered by e-mail to the HAAGA-HELIA library.

8.3 Use of source material

Good sources are the following: peer-reviewed and academic writings professional (scientific) books of the industry professional magazines Other source material conference publications of the industry material of the conferences and seminars of the industry standards

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 19(20) interviews of the experts electric documents and publications user manuals articles in the magazines of the industry.

In the search of materials use the Haaga-Helia library and open reference databases and materials of libraries which can be reached through the network. It is worthwhile to study the possibilities of the network already in good time before the beginning of the thesis. A personal index from the sources found is worth maintaining. A perfect bibliographic reference information must be given about all used sources. The information must also be presented in a uniform way. The notions that have been made to the used sources must be marked with a uniform way. Instructions of presenting source information and references technique are given in the guide Writing your thesis at HAAGA-HELIA. All the referred sources must be included in a bibliography and there must be a notion to all the sources of the bibliography in the document itself. In the source information of the material that has been received from the data networks, also a date, when the material has been obtained, must be seen. Furthermore, one must remember that the material to be obtained from the data networks requires usually a more source criticism than a pressed source material.

8.4 Documentation
The student writes all documents in English. There are different demands for the documentation of the thesis according to what type of work is in question. The thesis documentation contains however at least the following items: 1 The project administrative material 2 The thesis (report) where all results are. A list of administrative documents can be seen in the guide Contents of an administrative folder on the BIT Bachelors thesis/Thesis project management. Instructions of writing a thesis report the Thesis Report Guidelines for a Research Project the Thesis Report Guidelines for a System Project. In a system project the documentation practices of the sponsor or Haaga-Helia are used when describing the IT-solutions.

8.5 Principle of publicity

Bachelors theses are public according to the practice, which is followed in the universities and polytechnics.

HAAGA-HELIA BIT

Thesis instructions and guidelines 20(20)

If the thesis contains business or trade secrets, then 1) primarily the sponsor and business branch are blotted out from the report and its appendices. If that is not possible, 2) then the confidential appendices are removed from the public thesis report (which goes to the HAAGA-HELIA library and to the electronic Theseus library) and in the appendices there are only a list of the results with short descriptions of the purpose. In the case of confidential information a confidential agreement is made, where all confidential parts and their secrecy degree are defined. It should also be agreed upon the principles of how to deal with the confidential information and documentation received during the thesis work. If necessary, HAAGA-HELIAs agreement of confidential appendices can be used (Agreement of Confidential Appendices). The project final report of the thesis is always public and other project management material, too. In the project final report there must be the basic evaluation of the project and the self-assessment aspect concerning the students own experiences and learning.