Dissertation Course – Day 4 Autumn 2014

Day 4: ”The End is near” Writing proper conclusions Report structure About the Exam Uploading to Fronter

Writing proper conclusions

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

Writing proper conclusions 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

Writing proper conclusions Problem formulation (essentially): Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 …

Writing proper conclusions 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 …

Writing proper conclusions 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

Writing proper conclusions 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?

Writing proper conclusions 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)

Writing proper conclusions Example B (problem formulation) Can we implement a software application which corresponds to the needs of organisation (…) in relation to (…)

Writing proper conclusions 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)

Writing proper conclusions 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?

Writing proper conclusions 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)

Writing proper conclusions 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

Writing proper conclusions ”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 …

Writing proper conclusions ”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 (no company name) Project group members' names Educational Programme (Computer Science or WEB-Development) Project period Name of the educational institution 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) Front page Title leaf Project Title (again) Project group members' names (again) Project period (again) Supervisors' name 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 Front page Title leaf 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 Front page Title leaf Preface Table of Contents Is to be readable on its own merit 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 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 The content Chapters: Project start Problem analysis Front page Title leaf Preface Table of Contents List of figures (optional) The content Chapters: Project start Problem analysis Method Problem solving Conclusion Number the chapters of your report! Use headers and footers! Bibliography Webography Word list (optional) Index (optional) Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure The content Chapters: Project start Who you are Front page Title leaf Preface Table of Contents List of figures (optional) The content Chapters: Project start Who you are Why you are together Problem analysis Method Problem solving Conclusion Bibliography Webography Word list (optional) Index (optional) Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure The content Chapters: Problem analysis Front page Title leaf Preface Table of Contents List of figures (optional) The content Chapters: Project start Problem analysis Your interests in relation to this dissertation project Your problem definition (questions) Method Problem solving Conclusion Bibliography Webography Word list (optional) Index (optional) Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure The content Chapters: Method Front page Title leaf Preface Table of Contents List of figures (optional) The content Chapters: Project start Problem analysis Method Activities (what you plan to do in order to answer the problem definition question(s) Your plan(s) Problem solving Conclusion Bibliography Webography Word list (optional) Index (optional) Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure The content Chapters: Problem solving Front page Title leaf Preface Table of Contents List of figures (optional) The content Chapters: Project start Problem analysis Method Problem solving The main chapter of the report Documents your activities Ordered the same way as in the plan(s) Conclusion Bibliography Webography Word list (optional) Index (optional) Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure The content Chapters: Conclusion Front page Title leaf Preface Table of Contents List of figures (optional) The content Chapters: Project start Problem analysis Method Problem solving Conclusion Relate to your problem definition Bibliography Webography Word list (optional) Index (optional) Appendix and Enclosures

Report structure Bibliography 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 Webography Internet sources, www. 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 Word list (optional) Index (optional) 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 Index (optional) Appendix and Enclosures 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 Appendix and Enclosures 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, decision logbook, minutes of meetings and a manual for developed systems (optional) 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 (Fronter)

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. 

Exam See the section ”The Dissertation exam” in the ”Dissertation Writing…” document for further details about the exam

Questions??