Critiquing bachelor candidates' theses: are the criteria useful?

Nursing education programmes should be at an academic level and connected to research. In Sweden, empirical studies are generally required in order to obtain a Bachelor's degree; hence, in some cases, these studies are replaced by a literature review. A study was conducted using 11 criteria. Thirteen theses produced in a department of nursing science were examined, elaborated and reproduced by reviewing international and national literature. Thereafter, the criteria themselves were scrutinized. Principal findings when critiquing the theses were that in eight theses the purpose was dearly identified and well defined in relation to the study accomplished; in three theses the purpose was indistinct and vague; and in two the definitions and research questions were lacking. The topic was relevant for the area of nursing in all theses. General problems identified were poor spelling and grammar, and unsatisfactory thesis structure. This article discusses whether criteria are useful when examining the Bachelor candidates' theses. The authors report that the criteria seemed to be useful, giving some guidance for scrutinizing theses and facilitating correspondence. Criteria could be appropriate guidelines for using to increase the quality of the theses as well as the quality of nursing.