Thesis topics and research questions

Research is motivated by questions. Whether you are doing a literature review or producing original research, it is crucial to be clear about what the research question is. (Usually one is the right number of research questions in an MSc thesis). To determine whether a question is interesting, it is worth considering what would be the use of a credible and precise answer if you (or the literature that you review) obtained it? The hypothetical "user(s)" may be firms, governments, other organizations, or consumers.

The thesis must allow you to show learnedness in Economics. ("Opinnäyte" = "Demonstration of learnedness"). It is not meant to show your learnedness in all aspects and all fields of economics. In particular, there is no need to include both theory and empirical sections in every thesis. Original research and original literature reviews are equally meritorious. However, there needs to be some part in every thesis that addresses the main research question while going deeper into the subject from at least one angle in a way that requires MSc-level Economics.

It is valuable to pick a topic that you find interesting, so that working on the thesis feels less like work. However, not all interesting questions in economics make for good MSc thesis topics. It would be wise to discuss the topic with a faculty member before becoming invested in it.

Examples of thesis topics

List of examples of topic areas and specific thesis topics suggested by faculty.

If you are interested in working on a listed topic, contact the faculty member who suggested it. However, students may be reassigned between advisors in order to keep their numbers balanced across advisors, and also due to faculty leaves of absence.

The list contains also topic areas, which are broader than thesis topics and where you could discuss many types of potential research questions suited for various levels of ambition. It would result in a literature review or in original research in some subset of the topic area.

One purpose of the list is to help students formulate their own research questions by showing what is a proper depth and breadth of a thesis topic. If you have a potential topic, you can simply approach a faculty member with an email that includes an informal description (a couple of paragraphs). If you would like to get started on your thesis, but have no idea for a topic, you can simply ask a faculty member for a topic of their choice in some broad area of economic interest. If you don't know which faculty member to turn to, don't worry, the first one will forward you to a more appropriate one if necessary.

Resources for choosing a thesis topic

What is going on in economics research?

What is going on in the economy?

Open data

See also

Enrolling in the 2024-25 seminars

To enroll in the thesis seminar a student must have a topic accepted by a faculty member at the Department of Economics. The deadline for the Fall 2024 seminar is May 31st and November 20th for the Spring 2025 seminar. Adjusting the topic to be suitable for approval may require some back-and-forth between the student and the faculty, so students should make sure to begin the process several weeks before the deadline. The student must then notify Kristiina Huttunen (for participation in the Fall seminar) or Marko Terviö (Spring seminar) by email about the topic in the form of a provisional title for the thesis with the faculty member who approved it in cc. After that the student can enroll in the seminar just like in any other course (code 31E99905). The initial approved topic is not set in stone: it can be changed subject to the same approval procedure as the initial topic.

The purpose of the MSc thesis seminar is to learn to present, critique, and comment economic research. When the seminar begins the participants must therefore have already made some progress on their thesis, and need to be ready in the second week of the seminar to give their first presentation (in which the research question is introduced in the context of a broader topic). In the second seminar period students give their main presentation, accompanied by the main paper. These focus on communicating the results of economics research, either your own or the research that your review. The main paper is max 30 pages and the presentation 20-25 minutes. For more information, see the seminar page at MyCourses. The seminar is not meant to substitute for thesis supervision, for which purpose each thesis writer has an individual faculty advisor.

Further information

The seminar is organized by Kristiina Huttunen in Fall 2024 and Marko Terviö in Spring 2025. See the seminar page at MyCourses (search for "31E99905") for current information on seminar work. The official course descriptions for the new academic year won't be published in Oodi until August.

The working language of the seminar is English. The main paper can be written in either Finnish or English, but presentations and discussions in the seminar will be in English.