A student who has completed this course or acquired similar competence is able, in his/her own thesis or in other development project:

• gather relevant information and critically evaluate sources and reliability of the information
• describe the research process in a matter-of-fact and structured way and mark the sources appropriately
• use a method suitable for one's own thesis or project to gather and analyse data and working life information
• justify the choices made and make concrete development proposals
• apply ethical principles at all stages of one's own research or development work
• develop a topic for one’s own thesis
• identify the method options needed to complete one's thesis, and recognize the stages of Haaga-Helia's thesis process.

The course precedes the Bachelor´s thesis. During or after the course, the student registers for a thesis process in Wihi-system.

Please see the learning targets. More detailed information of the content can be found in the implementation descriptions.

Assessment criteria - grade 1

The student
- Is able to find sources necessary for development and research work and masters reference techniques.
- Is able to write a research and development plan.
- Recognizes different research methods and ethical questions related to research work.

Assessment criteria - grade 3

The student (in addition to the previous)
- Is able to choose and apply suitable methods for gathering working life information.
- Can analyse information and data, and justify one’s choices.
- Can describe the research process and suggest concrete development proposals.

Assessment criteria - grade 5

The student (in addition to the previous)
- Is able to critically assess the reliability of information, analyses and research.
- Can apply ethical principles throughout one’s research and development work.
- Is able to assess development proposals and their implementation in working life.