Topic outline

  • Course home page

    The goal of the course is to introduce the participants to research methods, approaches and processes in software engineering and business both in academy and industry. In addition, the course provides students practice on formulating research questions and planning empirical studies for their doctoral or master's theses.

    After the course, a student is able to:

    • Explain the goals, nature and process of scientific research
    • Compare different research approaches and methods
    • Plan and implement different studies
    • Evaluate the suitability of research methods for scientific and industrial studies
    • Evaluate the validity and reliability of research results


    Sari Kujala, Iiris Hörhammer and Paula Valkonen are the teachers of the course. If you have questions, please use general discussion forum or send email to Iiris (firstname.secondname@aalto.fi).

    Rough plan for the course


    Period 1: Lectures about scientific research and research methods

    Period 2: seminar/course assignment presentations - research planning

    The lectures and presentations are on site, in Computer Building, lecture hall T4, on Wednesdays at 14:15-16:00.
    An exam is includes a reading package. Here is the list of articles for the exam: EXAM ARTICLES.

    On-site lectures

    1. Introduction to research methods 7.9.
    2. Qualitative methods 14.9.
    3. Quantitative methods 21.9. (Transferred to Zoom)
    4. Case and action research 28.9.
    5. Design science 5.10. (Remote lecture by Prof. Tomi Männistö)
    6. Analyzing and reporting 12.10.
    Lecture slides will be here.

    Seminar presentations

    The research plan presentations are in the second period, in the normal lecture time:
    7. Student presentations 2.11.
    8. Student presentations 9.11.
    9. Student presentations 16.11.
    10. Student presentations 23.11.
    11. Student presentations 30.11.

    Each date has four presentations. You do not need to submit the report before the presentation. The deadline for the report is 3.12.2022.

    Passing the course

    Lectures are not obligatory but highly recommended as the topic is challenging to study alone. Passing requires 50% of the maximum points.

    • Weekly learning tasks: min 24, max 48 points (Lecture task 1-4 points, max 24, Exam reading task 1-4 points max 24)
    • Assignment, presentation: min 13, max 26 points
    • Exam (voluntary): max 26 points
    • Sum: min 37, max 74 (without exam) / 100 (with exam) In both cases, the grades 1-5 is between the min and max points (37-74 without exam, 50-100 with exam)

    Important dates


    Date Event
    7.9. First lecture
    28.9. Research topic selection (more information later)


    3.12.
    		 Deadline for final research plans
    13.12. First exam
    20.2. Second exam