Considerations Writing and structuring reports
10. Proofread, check and correct. It is vitally important to proofread your report after
it is completed. Quite often, because you have been so close to your report for so long, reading through your report straight away might mean that you miss glaring errors or omissions. You know what you meant to write so this is what you read, whether it is written or not. With this in mind, it is a good idea to leave your report for a day or two before proofreading it or, preferably, get someone else to do it for you. Bear in mind that if you do this, you will need to complete your report a few days before its deadline to allow time for proofreading and correcting or changing any points that emerge.8.2.5 Structure
Your report should be structured into the following sections: n Title page or cover sheet – follow any guidelines provided your supervisor should advise you on this issue. If there are no guidelines, as a minimum you should include: title, author, date and degree award perhaps look at some past projects to see how they presented their title pages in your institution. n Abstract. n Acknowledgements – to people and organisationscompanies you wish to thank for helping you with your project. Avoid acknowledging friends, relatives, people, gods, organisations and others that have had only indirect influence on you or your project for example, ‘Uncle Arthur, who taught me the importance of managing my time when I was 8’. n Contents listing. n List of figures and tables – this is not compulsory and you should include these lists only if you feel they will add value to your report and will be useful for the reader. Otherwise, leave these out as they take time to compile and maintain. n The report itself three main sections:1. Introductionliterature review – the first chapter of your report should always be
an introduction. Quite often, introductory chapters serve to present the literature review. Alternatively, the introduction serves as a brief overview of the project and the report, and the literature review is presented as a chapter in its own right later. Your introduction should set the scene for the project report, include your pro- ject’s aims and objectives, introduce the project’s stakeholders and the topic area, and provide an overview of your report. Berndtsson et al. 2008:129 also suggest that the introduction should include the ‘purpose and situation – indicating why the report was written and what the purpose was.’ They go on to suggest that you should also target the reader – i.e., you should state clearly at whom the report is aimed – who will be interested in the report.2. Main body – the content of which depends on the type of project you are un-
dertaking. Some examples are provided below.3. Conclusionsrecommendations – summarises the contribution of the work and
identifies future work, etc. This is discussed in more detail below. n References – presented in an appropriate format. Referencing material is discussed in more detail later in this chapter. 8.2 Writing and structuring reports 189 n Appendices – labelled as Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, etc. These may include program listings, test results, questionnaire results, interviews you have tran- scribed, extracts from manuals, letterscorrespondence you have received and project details such as your initial proposal, your project plan and other project management documentation and meeting reports. You may also include a user manual and instal- lation guide and perhaps extracts or examples of data or data sets used. Consult with your supervisor over what should and what should not be included in the appendices of your report. n Glossary of terms – if required. n Index – if required – but avoid if possible. Following is a typical structure that many of my undergraduate students use for projects that have involved the development of a software system: n Abstract n Acknowledgements n Contents listing n Chapter 1 – Introduction n Chapter 2 – Literature review n Chapter 3 – Requirements n Chapter 4 – Design n Chapter 5 – Implementation and test n Chapter 6 – Evaluation n Chapter 7 – Conclusions n References n Appendices Figure 8.2 provides an indication of how the chapters in this kind of report struc- ture relate to one another those of you familiar with software engineering may recognise this as an adaptation of the v-process model. For example, the Conclusions chapter evaluates the project overall – how well it achieves its aims and objectives outlined in the Introduction and how it fits in and supports existing work in the Figure 8.2 The relationships between chaptersParts
» Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Introduction What are computing projects?
» Computing project types What are computing projects?
» Programming in computing projects
» Degree structures Degree requirements
» Degree requirements for projects
» Overview Your supervisor Stakeholders
» Clients and users Stakeholders
» Evaluators and testers Stakeholders
» Overview How this book is arranged
» Taught degree projects versus research degrees
» Summary Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» A definition What is research?
» Originality What is research?
» Gaincontribution What is research?
» Knowledge and understanding What is research?
» Identify the broad area of study.
» Plan how you will perform the research.
» Gather data and information.
» Analyse and interpret these data.
» Present the results and findings.
» Review the field – i.e., perform a literature survey.
» Build a theory – based on your understanding and interpretations of the field.
» Test the theory – does it work?
» Reflect and integrate – i.e., update your ideas based on your ‘tests’ and contribute
» Intellectual discovery The research process
» Research methods Research methods
» List or multiple choice. Provides the respondent with a number of options to
» Scale. Used to rate the respondent’s feelings towards something.
» Ranking. Used to order a series of options. You should not provide too many
» Complex grid or table. Used to gather similar responses on a range of questions.
» Open-ended. Used to obtain extended, qualitative answers.
» Summary Further reading Action points
» Techniques and Information Sources
» Additional considerations Choosing a project
» Follow any guidelines precisely. Most institutions require specific information; for
» Proofread thoroughly and get someone else to check it. Any errors or omissions
» Introduction to the subject area. This will provide the reader with an under-
» Current research in the field. This will emphasise that your project is not based in
» Identify a gap. You should be able to identify some aspect of the field that requires
» Identify how your work fills the gap. Having identified a gap in the field, your
» Identify risks and solutions. It is also useful in a project proposal to highlight any
» Explicit sections Preparing a project proposal
» Reviewing your proposal Preparing a project proposal
» Exercise Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» The project process Introduction
» Definition The project’s stages
» Planning The project’s stages
» Initiation The project’s stages
» Control The project’s stages
» Closure. The project’s stages
» Complete a literature search and literature review of existing stock market prediction
» Develop a suitable artificial neural network model.
» Identify and collect suitable data for analyses and evaluation.
» Evaluate the model using appropriate statistical techniques.
» Complete final report. Setting objectives
» Step 1 – Work Breakdown Project planning
» Step 2 – Time estimates Project planning
» Step 3 – Identify milestones Project planning
» Step 4 – Activity sequencing Project planning
» Step 5 – Scheduling Project planning
» Step 6 – Re-planning Project planning
» Rolling wave planning Project planning
» Risks. Include a list of critical risk factors and means of dealing with these risks
» Organisation. If you are undertaking a group project it would be worthwhile
» Alleviate critical risks Introduction
» Identify risks Risk management
» Alleviate critical risks Risk management
» Controlling risks Risk management
» Research degrees versus taught degree projects
» A starting point Introduction
» The literature survey process
» Format of information Literature searching
» Tracing the information Literature searching
» Inter-library loans Literature searching
» Some tips for performing a literature search
» Critical evaluation Writing literature reviews
» Overview The past Introduction
» Introduction The software development life cycle SDLC
» Requirements definition Requirements capture
» Requirements specification Requirements capture
» Functional specification Requirements capture
» Design The software development life cycle SDLC
» Build The software development life cycle SDLC
» Test The software development life cycle SDLC
» Implementation The software development life cycle SDLC
» The earliest ’model’: build-and-fix
» The stage-wise and classical waterfall models conventional models
» explore the requirements of the system with the user – requirements capture, andor
» explore the technical feasibility of a system – experimental prototyping.
» Which development approach should I use?
» Which programming language should I use?
» Introduction Top-down and bottom-up development
» Top-down development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Bottom-up development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Verification Verification, validation and testing
» Validation Verification, validation and testing
» Testing Verification, validation and testing
» Who is involved with testing and evaluation?
» Test plans Miscellaneous testing types
» Quality assurance and quality control
» Exercises Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Getting started – project initiation
» Managing the five project elements
» Introduction Dealing with problems
» Weakening Dealing with problems
» Personal problems Dealing with problems
» Hardware failure Dealing with problems
» Data availability Dealing with problems
» Discovering your workresearch has been done before
» Analyse what you are currently doing.
» Change what you are doing to achieve your aims.
» eliminate activities you don’t need to do; and
» be more efficient doing the things you have to do.
» Time management tips Procrastination
» Using your supervisor effectively
» Introduction Working in teams
» Team development Working in teams
» Managing the team Working in teams
» Teamwork tips Working in teams
» Considerations Writing and structuring reports
» Approaches to writing Writing and structuring reports
» When should I start writing?
» Identify structure. This relates to the content of your report, using a report break-
» Identify presentational style. You should also try to set standards at this stage on
» Draft the introduction. The introduction gives the reader an idea of the
» Develop the main body. The main body of your report is the next part you
» Articulate conclusions and make recommendations. Quite clearly, your conclu-
» Complete the introduction. As part of the evolutionary approach to writing,
» Write the abstract. You cannot really write a clear abstract for your report until
» Add references and appendices. Although you will be collating references and
» Arrange contents list, index. Leave the completion of an index if one is required
» Proofread, check and correct. It is vitally important to proofread your report after
» Introductionliterature review – the first chapter of your report should always be
» Main body – the content of which depends on the type of project you are un-
» Conclusionsrecommendations – summarises the contribution of the work and
» Style Writing and structuring reports
» Word processing Writing and structuring reports
» Tips Writing and structuring reports
» Presenting charts and graphs
» Common mistakes Data presentation
» Miscellaneous charts Data presentation
» Other data presentation Data presentation
» Introduction Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Citing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Listing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Commenting program code Documenting software
» Writing user guides Documenting software
» The presentation content Visual aids
» Introduction. One or two slides that introduce you and your talk.
» Main body. The slides that constitute the bulk of your presentation and cover the
» Summaryconclusion. A few slides that summarise your presentation and perhaps
» Dealing with questions Oral presentations
» Poster preparation tips Poster presentations
» Introduction Preparation Demonstrating software
» Demonstration tips Demonstrating software
» Introduction Viva voce examinations
» Introduction Examiners and the marking of your project
» General. Examiners will look at the relevance and appropriateness of the topic
» Report. Examiners will look for clarity, consistency, an appropriate use of
» Defence. Examiners will assess the types of arguments you have made to support
» Other. Examiners will review the administrative issues of your project. For example,
» What was the research question?
» Is it a ‘good’ question? This involves a comprehensive literature review to ensure
» Has the student answered the question adequately?
» Has the student made an adequate contribution to knowledge?
» The project approach from a technical perspective i.e., not a project management
» General project considerations subject independent
» Literature reviewproject foundation Assessment criteria
» Project approachmethods Assessment criteria
» Results and contributions Assessment criteria
» Introduction Taking your project further
» Seeking funding Developing commercial software packages
» Copyright and patents Taking your project further
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