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NB. Student conferenceNB. Student conference
Weds 12Weds 12thth March 2008 March 2008 Chance to tell everyone about your workChance to tell everyone about your work
– presentation / demonstration / posterpresentation / demonstration / poster Get evaluation of your artefact for your reportGet evaluation of your artefact for your report Talk to staff, PhD students, business peopleTalk to staff, PhD students, business people Looks good on the CV!Looks good on the CV! Support available for getting things readySupport available for getting things ready Contact Penny.Hart@port…. for more detailsContact Penny.Hart@port…. for more details
Writing up your Project
Prepare for writing up at a very early stage by:
• Making copious notes
• Keeping FULL bibliographical details of all sources used
• Organising your material
StructureStructureYou will probably have seen by now that Study projects tend to follow a similar pattern:
AbstractIntroduction
Research questionsMethodology
Literature reviewFieldwork/Primary research (if applicable)DiscussionSummary/conclusionsBibliographyAppendices
Structure
This structure is not compulsory, but it is one that suits most projects, if you feel your project requires something slightly different that’s fine, but discuss it with your supervisor.
What is required of you ?
• IF you haven’t already done so - it would be useful for you to look at the following documents on the Project Web Pages:
• “How to Mark a Project”
• “PJS30 Study Project Marking Form” This is what your marker will have to complete. It forms part of a formal record as well as providing a set of marking criteria.
Abstracts
Quite difficult to get right
• They are a precis of the aims, scope, methods and outcomes of the project in circa 150 – 250 words. Abstracts are the distilled essence of a project.
• Basically, the What?, Why?, How? and brief a indication of findings/conclusions
• The language used must be clear, precise, written in the ‘third’ person and necessarily brief.
• Look at examples from past projects and journal articles to see how they are constructed.
Project sections/ layout
• For details about what goes into the individual sections of a project see the notes from my previous lecture: “Study Projects: How to get a First”
Presenting and interpreting quantitative evidence
• Question 3 results:
Agree
Disagree
Don't Know
What does this chart indicate?
Presenting and interpreting quantitative evidence
All charts are utterly meaningless unless they are correctly titled, labeled and with the correct units of measurement !
Agree
Disagree
Don't Know
Presenting and interpreting quantitative evidence
Furthermore ! Once you have the results and the data you still need to contextualize and analyze them with reference to some theory or hypothesis
Agree
Disagree
Don't Know
Presenting and interpreting quantitative evidence
• Be aware of the difference between correlation and causation !
Presenting and interpreting quantitative evidence
Remember !
A good graph is worth a thousand tables !
A bad graph is worse than useless !
Reviewing the literature: A recap
Whether your project is based around:
•A case study
•Primary Research (finding your own data)
or is
•Investigative (dissertation)
You will need to review relevant literature
Reviewing the literature: A recap
This means:
1) Searching for appropriate* literature in books, journals, magazines, websites, government publications, etc. etc.
2) Sorting out which materials are relevant to your needs.
* Where appropriate means any or all of: “authoritative, accurate, up-to-date, scholarly, relevant, comprehensive”
Reviewing the literature: A recap
3) Variously comparing, contrasting, evaluating, synthesising, analysing and criticising the literature.
4) Re-presenting & summarising the literature (i.e. re-writing it) in your own words, whilst adding value to it in some way by adding:
• A new insight
• A new interpretation
• A new critique
• A new perspective
Reviewing the literature: A recap
To sum up:
• For an dissertation/investigative project without primary research the project IS a long literature review in effect.
• For Case Study projects, or those with some primary research, the literature review sets the context for the case/research.
Plagiarism
The University defines plagiarism as:
“the incorporation by a student in work for assessment of material which is not their own, in the sense that all or a substantial part of the work has been copied without any adequate attempt at attribution, or has been incorporated as if it were the student’s own when in fact it is wholly or substantially the work of another person or persons.”
PlagiarismYou MUST therefore attribute ideas and data by
citing the source in the body of your report, e.g. (Smith 1998) and also acknowledge quotations thus “…………………………” (Smith 1998. p. 57)
and give the full reference in the bibliography:
Smith, J. (1998). Corporate Marketing for the 21st Century. London: Routledge.
PlagiarismNon-attribution of the work of others is
plagiarism.
Plagiarism in final projects is relatively rare but the consequences for the student can be disastrous, leading to failure in the project unit and possibly their degree.
If in doubt, consult your supervisor.
The CD …The CD …
The soft copy of your work may be checked using The soft copy of your work may be checked using plagiarism detection software. As you should know, plagiarism detection software. As you should know, strict rules apply. In particular, all quoted material strict rules apply. In particular, all quoted material MUST be included MUST be included in quotes marksin quotes marks: “……”, omitting : “……”, omitting these, but putting the reference somewhere in the these, but putting the reference somewhere in the body of the text or your reference list is NOT body of the text or your reference list is NOT SUFFICIENT TO AVOID THE CHARGE OF PLAGIARISM.SUFFICIENT TO AVOID THE CHARGE OF PLAGIARISM.
Another useful resource is:Another useful resource is: http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/
types_of_plagiarism.htmltypes_of_plagiarism.html NB. As a rough guide, no more than circa 20-25% of your NB. As a rough guide, no more than circa 20-25% of your
coursework should be quoted material in any case. The coursework should be quoted material in any case. The other circa 75-80% should be written in your own words.other circa 75-80% should be written in your own words.
References and Bibliography
• Anything less than accurate citation, referencing and bibliographies may detract from the project and could lose you marks.
• The University has adopted a common format – Harvard APA, which you ought to use. Use the library style guides – also on the web site (If in doubt ask a Librarian or your supervisor)
References and Bibliography
The Library has free pamphlets describing how to use the Harvard APA system of referencing – also available on the web via the Library Website.