Writing a Dissertation Report (1)

What is a Dissertation?

• Different to a normal essay or body of work you may have previously submitted
• A larger piece of writing, typically between 6,000 to 10,000 words
• The report should be:
  • contestable and focused
  • assert your own conclusions based upon evidence
  • provocative, whereby you take a stand and justify the discussion you are presenting
  • provides a route to the reader to guide them through your work
• The report should not be written in first-person and avoid vague language

Writing a Dissertation Report (2)

Structure of the Dissertation Report

Writing a Dissertation Report (3)

Creating a Title for the Project

• The title page will reflect the whole content of the dissertation
• It should be informative, and to the point
• The title will also be in harmony with the content of the thesis
• The goal of the title is to draw the reader’s interest
  • typically, will be between 8 and 15 words long
• You will want to be specific and accurate with the title
• It is recommended to avoid phrases such as:
  • “An investigation of…” or “A study into…”

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Writing an Abstract

• The abstract will provide a summary of the most important facts or ideas
• It is considered to be a mini-version of the paper
• You should state the field of study and the definition of the problem
• You should also provide a main conclusion of the project
  • i.e. what was the main outcome?
• Typically, an abstract will be between 300 and 500 words long
  • it should be no more than a single side of A4
• The writing of an abstract should be in past tense and third person

Writing a Dissertation Report (5)

Introduction Chapter

• The introduction chapter should be clear, concise and organised
  • it will aid in setting up the project and its importance
• It should be written in an engaging manner to make the reader interested in your project
• The purpose is to make an underlying foundation to the project
• It will provide an overview of the subject area
• Also used to define the structure of the dissertation
  • details what will be discussed in each chapter
• A structure similar to:
  • describe what is known about the problem
  • describe what is unknown about the problem
  • discuss why the study is important

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Literature Review Chapter

• Provides a review of research paper, and details:
  • the complete story about your research topic
  • how your project fit within existing work in the area
• Gives a theoretical background to the project area
• Enables you to justify how your findings are relating to the body of knowledge in your research area
• Helps establish a link between what you propose to examine and whats already been done
  • assist you in refining your research methodology
• It is not a summary of literature, but an argument
• Follow these rules:
  • only provide literature which helps the research
  • cite and reference each paper correctly
  • provide a summary of what the author did and how it informs your research
  • critique the work — what was good and what was bad?

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Methodology Chapter

• Explain how the work will be done and the methods you are using
• Essentially, this is your research design
  • explain as much as necessary so the reader can reproduce the project
• Start writing this chapter as you are performing any experiments/investigations
• Provide a reference if necessary to procedures you are copying and or those that have been described previously
  • i.e. following another researchers’ methodology, cite them

Writing a Dissertation Report (8)

Implementation Chapter (if applicable)

• Explain the important aspects of your implementation
• Discuss and show algorithms that are necessary for your work
  • should be shown as a code listing and labelled appropriately
• Provide details about the key technology and tools
• Give a detailed description on the development process
  • were there any challenges? if so, how were they addressed?

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Results and Analysis, and Discussion

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Project Management Chapter

• This chapter will contain your reelection on the management of your project
• You should consider the social, legal or ethical issues
• Provide a discussion to responses you received from the feedback of your supervisor
  • the first supervisor will know how well you tackled the problem
  • your second marker will not
• Consider the following:
  • what problems did you encounter? how did you overcome them?
  • how diligently did you work?
  • how did you seek advice? and how did you respond to the advice?
• This should be evidence driven
  • provide evidence in the form of meeting logs in the appendices etc
• Reflect on the timeline of the project
  • create a new Gantt chart and compare it to the one provided in the project proposal

Writing a Dissertation Report (11)

Conclusion Chapter

• This will be your opinion after considering all the information
• You should:
  • summarise your principal findings
  • emphasise what should be accepted as the new established knowledge
• It will link back to your introduction
• Must contain a summary of evidences supporting each conclusion made
• Provide a brief statement on how your solution addresses the problem stated

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Bibliography/References Chapter

• Not a chapter of sorts, it is a list of citations used in your project
• Necessary to provide validation to the work undertaken
• Lets the reader know where you have collected relevant information from
• Use the APA referencing style, seventh edition

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Narrative Convention

• The report should be written in a third-person manner
  • except for the Project Management Chapter
• The choice of words and phrasing is formal
• Which of these is a better approach of writing?

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Dissertation Report Templates

• Two templates are provided for your report:
  • LaTeX
  • Microsoft Word
• Use a template you will be most familiar with
  • if you do not know LaTeX, do not use it!
• There are no marks associated with which template you use
• However, it is imperative you stick to the template and sections provided

Goodbye (1)

Some Advice…

1. Do not start with the introduction or conclusion
   • the purpose of the study may change, you do not want to re-write the introduction again and again
   • start with the literature review
     • this is one of the most time-consuming parts of the report
   • then work on the methodology, results etc.
2. For each chapter, you will need the following:
   • an introduction
   • the main body of that chapter
   • a conclusion
3. Do not write in first-person
   • work should be written in third-person
   • when writing the methodology, do not write it as if the study has already been done
4. Write with conciseness and brevity in mind
   • do not include stuff not pertinent to the topic being discussed

Goodbye (2)

Questions and Support

• Questions? Post them in the Community Page on Aula
• Additional Support? Visit the Module Support Page
• Contact Details:
  • Dr Ian Cornelius, ab6459@coventry.ac.uk
  • Mr Terry Richards, ac6860@coventry.ac.uk