Topic outline

  • 2) What is a Good Master's Thesis?


    Research is an essential component of graduate education. A master’s thesis is the site where you can to demonstrate your competence; your practical as well as academic knowledgeability and skills. For a student it is however quite difficult to understand what a good thesis is. The goodness of a master’s thesis is always evaluated within the traditions of the field of study as well as the institution granting the degree. Aalto University School of Business has constructed a master’s thesis evaluation rubric to articulate its evaluation criteria as well as the expectations we place upon thesis work (evaluation form with rubric below).

    One of the best ways to learn what a good master’s thesis is is to read a couple of good theses (examples in the materials folder), and to evaluate a thesis relevant to you topic yourself (assignment 1). You can search for electronic thesis at  https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/12345678/127 Please familiarize yourself with the master’s thesis evaluation form and rubric below. Please note, the final grade of the thesis is not the arithmetic mean of the measurable attributes of the thesis. It is an outcome of an overall evaluation of the thesis.

    Please be flexible with your grade expectations. Don’t hunt for a 4 or 5 if you do not have the time to invest in the process. Focus on getting a degree! Most employees do not care about your master’s thesis grade but they might be interested in the topic and what you have learned. Note also, that in the future (possibly already from the beginning of academic year 2021-2022) time spent on the thesis will be one of the measurable thesis evaluation criteria. There has also been a change in the rather loose study right extension policy of Aalto School of Business. In the future, it will be significantly harder to get an extension to your right to study. Working is not seen as a legitimate reason to grant an extension.


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3) Choosing a topic and formulating research questions