Topic outline

  • Useful Stuff

    1. BASICS: GUIDES, FORMS AND DATES

    Update completed 7.8.23

    • Thesis guide (valid 1.8.2022 onwards), Opinnäyteohje (voimassa 1.8.2022 alkaen) is the bible which covers all the basic requirements of the thesis. Read it, reflect upon it and do as is instructed.Notice, that there are some big changes in this new guide so even if you are familiar with the guide valid until 31.7.2022, read the new guide. Changes with most impact: submission date of thesis is also the graduation date;thesis can be submitted in the last working day of the academic term. Also the oral presentation changes and it is given before submitting the thesis so the feedback given in the oral presentation can be utilised when finalising the thesis.

    • Thesis plan explained. Video requires signing in to Panopto with Aalto-credentials. Panopto works well at least with Safari and Firefox. This is a video lecture by Turkka Keinonen.

    • Thesis plan proposal/Thesis plan template (PDF). This structure for the thesis plan is a suggestion and it can be adopted according to the thesis. In case your supervisor provides you with research plan instructions different from the template, act according to the instructions of your supervisor, and, of course, MA Thesis Guide.

    • Contract template for thesis in/with a company. Should you plan to do thesis for a company, here's a helpful contract template. Remember that it is not only you who promises a thesis to the company but that also the company needs to promise support to you.

    • Copyright and personal data explained. This is a video lecture by Mari Pesola. Here are the slides of the talk.

    • Information retrieval explained. This is a video lecture by Marika Sarvilahti. Here are the slides of the talk.

    • Library's resource guides, including Citation Guide, Copyright Guide and Information Retrieval

    2. RESOURCES FOR WRITING & READING

    • Lyhyt opas viittaamiseen (in Finnish) explains in an economic manner why, when and how to write correct references in an academic text. In English helpful is instructions to Harvard referencing because (Author, date) format is commonly used in the Department. Remember, though, that ARTS or Aalto does not have recommended referencing system so you can use whatever system you feel is most appropriate. A key principle is simple: your text must be as easy as possible to read and evaluate. Use your user-centred thinking skills to achieve that. In general, academic readers tend to prefer seeing sources in the text while commercial writers typically have endnotes.

    • Useful website for referencing: https://www.citethisforme.com

    • Some article-size texts discussing writing the different sections of the thesis:
    (PDF) How to read a book, v5.0 by Paul N. Edwards, University of Michigan School of Information
    (PDF) Newport, C. (2007). How to become a straight-A student. Chapter about how to write college-level 30-50 pages research paper. New York: Broadway Books. Even though this is not specifically about writing the thesis, the example of "Mindy's Art History Research Paper" fits very well with how to construct and write a good thesis.
    (PDF) Webster, J., & Watson, R. T. (2002). Analyzing the past to prepare for the future. Writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly, 26(2), xiii-xxiii.This is an informative and comforting article written by the editors of MIS Quarterly to help their contributors to write good quality literature reviews.
    (PDF) Ladik, D. M., & Stewart, D. W. (2008). The contribution continuum. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(2), 157-165. This article is about how to write your thesis contribution.

    • Some useful handbooks if writing does not come easily:
    Becker, H. S. (2020). Writing for social scientists. How to start and finish your thesis, book, or article. Third updated edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
    Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2007). “They say/I say”. The moves that matter in persuasive writing. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
    (PDF) Gruba, Paul, and Justin Zobel. 2017. How to write your first thesis. Springer.
    Ilyin, N. (2019). Writing for the design mind. London: Bloomsbury.
    Svinhufvud, Kimmo (2016) Gradutakuu. Helsinki: Art House.

    3. SOFTWARE

    • If you feel that your MA thesis is not going to be your last time writing long or complicated manuscripts, consider using professional software and practices. 

    • Professional writers tend to write either with a basic text editor (such as TextEdit) or a full-blown manuscript composer (such as Scrivener (the best) or Ulysses(also really good)), accompanied by a reference manager (such as Zotero, Paperpile or Bookends). If you are not likely to need a full-blown referencing system after writing your thesis, then for example spreadsheet programmes (MS Excel and Apple Numbers) will keep your references organised well enough if a text file feels too simple.

    • Word processors (such as MS Word and Apple Pages), which are half text editors and half layout design software, are ok for those who do not plan to write long manuscripts after the thesis. Even with word processors, it is best to keep the styling of text at a minimum and do layout design with e.g. InDesign. You can outsource your layout design, provided you credit the graphic designer properly. It is also perfectly okay to make use of Aalto Thesis template, which you will find on Design programme's "Thesis"-page in the Student Guide (Link).

      4. MISCELLANEOUS

    • Small selection of design handbooks and readers below. Most of the titles can be found online through Primo.

    • A literature list for three research competences of Aalto Design Research:
      - Design for Sustainability
      - Collaborative and Human-Centred Design
      - Practice-based Research

      Ceschin, F., & Gaziulusoy, A. I. (2019). Design for sustainability. A multi-level framework from products to socio-technical systems. London: Routledge.
      Clark, H., & Brody, D. (Eds.). (2009). Design studies. A reader. London: Bloomsbury.
      Egenhoefer, R. B. (Ed.). (2017). Routledge handbook of sustainable design. London: Routledge.
      Gorman, C. (Ed.). (2003). The industrial design reader. New York: Allworth Press.
      Koskinen, I., Zimmerman, J., Binder, T., Redström, J., & Wensveen, S. (2012). Design research through practice. From the lab, field, and showroom. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
      Rodgers, P. A., & Yee, J. (Eds.). (2015). The Routledge companion to design research. London: Routledge.
      Simonsen, J., & Robertson, T. (Eds.). (2013). Routledge international handbook of participatory design. London: Routledge.


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