Dissertation Course – Day 4. Day 4: ”The End is near” Writing proper conclusions Report...

Dissertation Course – Day 4

• Day 4: ”The End is near”• Writing proper conclusions• Report structure• Handing in through Fronter• LinkedIn group– Keep contact with each other++

• About the Exam• (Lunch Break)• Info about top-up bachelor programmes

Writing proper conclusions


• The conclusion is the culmination of your report – do not underestimate it!

• Your last chance to convince the reader that your work was interesting and significant

• Main purpose: Provide answers to questions posed in the problem formulation


• A certain level of symmetry should exist between the problem formulation and the conclusion

• A reader should (in principle) be able to read the problem formulation and the conclusion, to dermine if it is worthwhile to read the entire report


• Problem formulation (essentially):• Question 1• Question 2• Question 3• …


• Conclusion (essentially)• With regards to Question 1, we can see from

(…) and (…) that we did in fact succeed in (…)• With regards to Questions 2, we …


• For the questions posed in the problem formulation, the conclusion should:– State what the answer to the question was, and – Provide references to the specific sections in the

report that provide ”evidence” for the answer


• Example A (problem formulation)• Can we improve the usability of the website (…) by applying

Jacob Nielsen’s 10 rules of usability to a redesign of the website?


• Example A (conclusion)• Answer to question is: Yes• Because we:

– Established a framework for measuring usablity (section A)– Applied the framework to measure the usability of the existing

website (section B)– Redesigned the website using the 10 principles (section C)– Applied the framework to measure the usability of the redesigned

website (section D)– Verified that the measurements were in favor of the redesigned

wesbite and were significant (section E)


• Example B (problem formulation)• Can we implement a software application which corresponds

to the needs of organisation (…) in relation to (…)


• Example B (conclusion)• Answer to question is: Yes, but not entirely• Because we:

– Established a proper set of requirements (section A)– Designed and developed an application according to the

requirements, using the process (…) (section B)– Devised a test framework for the application, corresponding to the

stated requirements (section C)– Applied the test framework to the developed application (section D)– Evaluated the outcome of the test results, and determined that most –

but not all – requirements have been implemented in a satisfactory way (section E)


• There is obviously room for a lot of reflection in a conclusion, in particular when things did not go as planned…

• Main reflections:– Did I not use the correct methodology?– Was the methodology correct, but were the

results too vague on inconclusive (and why)?– Did I try to solve the wrong problem?


• Should reflection be part of the conclusion section, or be in a separate section?

• Both are possible, but try not to mix conclu-sions and reflections on a paragraph level…

• It should be clear to the reader when you are concluding (objective), and when you are reflecting (subjective)


• A conclusion (section) can also contain an ”outlook”

• Often you end up investigating a much narrower problem than you originally intended

• During an outlook, you can discuss some ”what if” and ”what comes next” scenarios


• ”What if”– I applied this methodology within another domain– Scaled up the number of users or data volumes– My application must be available on other types of

devices– A certain technology or trend changes– …


• ”What comes next”– From prototype to real product– Earning money on your product– Maintenance and extension– New ”spinoff” projects– …

Report Structure

Report structure• Front page• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography + Webography• [Word list (optional)] • [Index (optional)]• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Front page– Project Title– Project group members' names– Educational Programme (Computer Science or WEB-

Development)– Project period– Name of the educational institution– Name of supervisor– Any informative illustration

• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Title leaf– Project Title (again)– Project group members' names (again)– Project period (again)– Supervisors' name (again)– Any permission to lend out the report.– Abstract: a brief summary with special focus on

project issue(s) and conclusion

• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Preface– The purpose of the report– Recipient group(s) - it may be practical to recognize primary and

secondary recipients– Readability instructions– To whom are individual sections interesting?– Where to find a bibliography, a word list (optional) and an index?– Acknowledgements of external interested parties and

supervisors– Date and signatures

• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Table of Contents– Is to be readable on its own merit• You should read it!

– It is not necessary to show all levels of sub-sections

• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• List of figures (optional)

• The content• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Front page• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)

• The content– Chapters:

1. Project start2. Problem analysis3. Method4. Problem solving5. Conclusion

– Number the chapters of your report!– Use headers and footers!

• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures



1. Project start–Who you are–Why you are together

2. Problem analysis3. Method4. Problem solving5. Conclusion




1. Project start

2. Problem analysis– Your interests in relation to this dissertation project– Your problem definition (questions)

3. Method4. Problem solving5. Conclusion




1. Project start2. Problem analysis

3. Method– Activities (what you plan to do in order to answer the problem

definition question(s)– Your plan(s)

4. Problem solving5. Conclusion




1. Project start2. Problem analysis3. Method

4. Problem solving– The main chapter of the report– Documents your activities– Ordered the same way as in the plan(s)

5. Conclusion




1. Project start2. Problem analysis3. Method4. Problem solving

5. Conclusion– Relate to your problem definition


Report structure• Front page• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content

• Bibliography– Author(s), title, publisher, year, brief (a few lines)

mention of contents. – Refer to your bibliography in the report whenever

necessary. – State source of quotes and other directly copied

passages in the report.

• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Front page• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography

• Webography– Internet sources, www. – To be organized like a bibliography.

• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Front page• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography• Webography

• Word list (optional)

• Index (optional)• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Front page• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional)

• Index (optional)

• Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure• Front page• Title leaf• Preface• Table of Contents• List of figures (optional)• The content• Bibliography• Webography• Word list (optional) • Index (optional)

• Appendix and Enclosures– Material that the group has produced, but which is too

comprehensive to include in the report,for instance documents relating to charts, program code listing (put it on Github), decision logbook, minutes of meetings and a manual for developed systems (optional), results of questionaires, or the like.

– Selected parts of your appendix may be shown and substantiated in your report

– All appendices should be introduced.– Appendices and enclosure may optionally be submitted

separately.

About the Exam

Exam

• For both computer science and bachelor programme, preconditions are:

– All previous tests are passed– Internship is approved– The report is handed in

Exam

• The dissertation/bachelor project is tested at the exam by an individual, oral defence of a duration of 30 minutes.

• The process of the exam is as follows: – First the student(s) gives a 10-minute individual

presentation of the project, followed by a 20-minutes examination dialogue.

– One mark is given which covers assessment of the report and the oral part of the exam.

Dissertation Course – Day 4. Day 4: ”The End is near” Writing proper conclusions Report...

Documents

Transcript of Dissertation Course – Day 4. Day 4: ”The End is near” Writing proper conclusions Report...