This section contains the comments from students in two seminar groups when presented with the following question: "Advice for new students (For example, what do you recommend? What do you not recommend? What do you wish you had known in the beginning that you know now?)."

 

I recommend that the student should familiarize him/herself with the methods and data THOROUGHLY (before doing the actual research) so that no surprises will come up later. It is wise to start writing the thesis early (e.g. two months before deadline), because then the result is much better. This is a fun course where you can do almost anything you desire. Aim high, and learn while doing so. Don't be too ambitious when choosing the topic and when you do choose make sure you have the ability to apply the research methods needed to obtain results. -J-P

In connection to coming up with a topic for the research plan make sure that the topic can be done with the data available to you and that the methodology won't be too complicated to you e.g. whether VBA skills are needed. Consult your instructor already in the early stages. He will probably point you to the right direction in terms of topic feasibility and focus. Cooperation with another student in the data gathering stage could be a good idea if your data needs are similar enough. -Ville

 

Place less weight on literature part, more on empirical part, i.e., critical inspection of results of the study, doing all kinds of robustness check of results, discussion and critical analysis of results. -Julia

The seminar is going to be the most important and educational finance class you've taken so far. Complete it carefully and you'll get the most out of it. The data processing is going to take at least three times as much time as you expect beforehand.

 

I can't stress enough the meaning of starting to do your thesis early on in the course. This leaves time to either correct or polish ones work. If you have an extensive data set you'd like to use, knowing VBA basics can save you from a lot of manual work. Also when doing research on a data set, first plan what you will do, what results it will provide and is it really the simplest way of doing this. When doing a thesis one should also pay attention to the appearance of the work. It is easy to make the thesis better by adjusting the body of the text, the composition and description of tables and by tying your writing to what the titles and subtitles actually say.

If you have difficulties in selecting the subject, go to the library and go through old Master's Theses.

Start your work with searching data for your empirical section, as it takes a lot of time. Turn to your instructor if you are uncertain about something. It would be good if somebody could read your paper before you hand it in. Make time for finishing the paper.

I would recommend to think very carefully about the research problem. The most important thing I learned on the course is that from a poorly defined research problem it is very difficult to write a good thesis. So, I would encourage to consult the instructor early on to make sure that your research problem is such that it satisfies the course criteria and that you can find data on it. Another important thing to remember is to start working early enough!

 

The old truth still applies: well planned is halfway done!

 

Most importantly, do not leave everything to the last month. You will have more fun, and do better, by working on the thesis from the very start. Secondly, make sure to look at articles from prestigious journals, maybe even a couple of Master's theses, before deciding on your topic. Also do this to realize what is the exact style, level of writing, and visual appeal of academic writing. Finally, understand the 20-80 rule*, and accept (and expect) the fact that data does not exist to cooperate with you. Its job is to make your life miserable by introducing all kinds of quirks into your analysis, and best of all, in most cases it will not even exist at all in the form you are looking for. * 20-80 rule, sometimes quoted as: "20 % of your work will take 80 % of your time, and that 20 % is the last thing you are working on."

 

It seems to be hard to make a good thesis out of a case study. The result is often interesting only to the case company, therefore impact fator of the study may seem small. It is probably better to do some statistical analysis. The student do need to meet with the instructor and discuss.

 

I recommend going to see your instructor early enough during his/her office hours in order to benefit from his/her advice concerning your study. -Kaisa

 

Start working on the paper and gathering data well in advance the deadline. If there are problems, ask if your instructor or other professors could help you. In order to avoid spelling errors, it is good to ask your friend to read your thesis before you submit the thesis. -Kari

 

Plan your topic carefully. Reserve enough time for the seminar course. Don't hesitate to ask help from other faculty staff than just your instructor. Don't panic (advice from Hitchiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams) -Heikki

 

"Well prepared is half done."Do the base work as carefully as possible before starting to work on your report or empirical tests. Nothing is more frustrating than finding some relevant earlier work on the topic which contradicts your work that you've already started to work on. If you think of doing an empirical test, make absolutely sure that you will get the data before deciding the topic of your thesis. Make sure the empirical tests you've thought of conducting are possible to execute. Also, find out exactly what methods and how you will use before starting to work on the thesis. In an empirical paper, start from running the tests. The rest of the paper is dependent on the outcomes. In general, do not try to invent anything innovative and/or very special in your BSc thesis. The best way is by far to replicate the earlier papers by actual scientists and then apply them to e.g. a new data set! As to the process of writing the paper, the best way to do it is to sit down once and do the whole show there and then. The more you divide the work (both in terms of time and content) the longer it will take to finish it.

 

Avoid using Finnish data if you do not have a very novel idea or aren't sure of the findings. Generally, very few theories work here. Start your work well before the mid semester to avoid rushing things in the end. Always leave time for a final touch. Also, leave more than one evening for making graphs and tables. They often grab the readers attention are easy targets for critique. -Big G

 

Start early and ensure that there is data available of the topic you choose. In addition, try to choose an interesting topic which has not already been thoroughly studied. -Panu

 

Make sure that the data you request is available and if not a literature review is good way to solve that problem. If the topic is interesting, it is easy to conclude an excellent thesis so concentrate on choosing the subject.

 

It is important to start thinking about the topic and the research question of the thesis early enough. Coming up with an interesting and suitable research topic and finding the necessary material is clearly the most time-consuming task of the thesis. After having topic and methods clear, and data and sources available it's only a matter of couple of weeks to finish the study. -Tomi

 

Reserve enough time to get to know the literature related to your topic and the methods used in previous studies. This can improve both the outlook and content of your thesis substantially. Plan your use of time well during the period you're writing the thesis. Preferably reserve more time than you think you´d need, because you never can no how easily you are able to "squeeze" the results.

 

Read literature and previous thesis about your intended work BEFORE your final decicion on the subject and BEFORE your actually start writing your own work. Make sure data is available.

 

The classics, which I hope I had followed: Start your work early and have it checked by one or more others. Also, do not over-interpret the results, i.e. comment on every detail you find interesting. The reader might not share your interest.

 

First of all make sure that you have enough good data in your dataset. The second thing to think about is that there is a sense in your research. You should also check beforehand that you have enough literature to look in for the theory suitable for your research.


Last modified: Friday, 22 December 2017, 1:13 PM