What kinds of information sources can be used to build the knowledge base for a thesis? What is a research article and what are its components? What is peer review? This module (Module 3) provides answers to these questions.

Simply put, two types of sources are needed for a thesis:

Methodological guides and writing guides
Actual research literature

The types of sources are described in more detail below.

Methodological guides and writing guides

When you start working on your thesis, you should familiarize yourself with the methodological guides that are appropriate for your work, as well as with writing and referencing guides which are available in Laurea Finna. Research methodological guides can answer many questions.

The University of Tampere's Research Methods Web Resource website contains a lot of useful information on qualitative and quantitative research methods in Finnish.

For information on other methods, see for example the Methods-Oppariapu website (in Finnish).

Actual research literature

Actual research literature will be used to build the knowledge base for the thesis. Research articles are usually used as the basis for scientific work, while a thesis can be based on a little more extensive material.

Sources may include:

research articles
research reports (e.g. by THL, VTT)
professional articles
books
theses, with dissertations as the main source. Professional theses and dissertations can be used to find sources and definitions
reports from public administration and organizations