1. Dissertation Course – Day 4
Autumn 2014

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

3. Writing proper conclusions

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. 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 …

8. 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

9. 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?

10. 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)

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

12. 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)

13. 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?

14. 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)

15. 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

16. 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 …

17. Writing proper conclusions
”What comes next”
From prototype to real product
Earning money on your product
Maintenance and extension
New ”spinoff” projects …

18. Report Structure

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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.

36. About the Exam

37. Exam
For both computer science and bachelor programme, preconditions are:
All previous tests are passed
Internship is approved
The report is handed in (Fronter)

38. 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. 

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

40. Questions??