The Master's thesis is a research- and development-oriented thesis related to the development of one's own organisation, using research and development methods related to the field. It is desirable that the development project is carried out for one's own employer or for another organisation (assignment). The development task can be related to the student's own work or to the development of the work community. The thesis can also be done for another client.
A typical feature of a thesis/development assignment for a Master's degree is that the student can bring his/her own professional competence to the project and deepen his/her competence in the manner required for the completion of the project. It is also typical for the student to go through a process of change that develops the activity and evaluate the outcome together with the client. When delimiting a research and development task, it is recommended to choose only one target phenomenon as the target. A good delineation helps in the setting of research questions and the completion of the entire thesis process successfully and in a controlled manner.
Thesis research strategy/approach can be
The thesis can be qualitative or quantitative, or a combination of these, i.e. mixed methods/triangulation/multi-method research. The thesis cannot be, e.g., reports of various events, acquisitions or learnings describing a phenomenon alone. The Master's thesis always has a research section and a research approach to development as well as a development section. The research methods to be applied should be those commonly used in the field of education (research strategies mentioned above). Development methods should be collaborative and involve the work community staff.