1 RESEARCH REPORT GUIDELINE

As a university student you are required to write a variety of reports for assessment purposes. A
research report is one type that is often used in the sciences and engineering. Here your aim is to
write clearly and concisely about your research topic.

You need to divide in a group of 3 students and choose one of the topics listed below (You can
take a subsection of the topic as well). In your research report try to compare different current
research approaches and technologies within the topic you have chosen. Your report must
include theory, current research in this field, examples, solutions/approaches/types, etc. You will
be evaluated based on your performance individually. Do not duplicate the information from the
lecture slides.

Table 1: The list of topics

1 Computer systems and computer systems architecture.

2 Software, human-computer interaction, comparing operating systems.

3 Networks and telecommunications.

4 Internet technologies, cloud and mobile technologies.

5 Database systems.

6 Cybersecurity and cybercrime.

7 Multimedia technologies.

8 Smart technology and data analysis.

2 REQUIREMENTS

You will need to submit three documents (one submission per group) in Moodle: a proposal, a
research report and a presentation. No late submissions will be accepted.

Your report needs to be .doc or .pdf format and at least 5 pages. Please use 12 size of the “Times
New Roman” or “Arial” fonts and 2.5 cm in margins. Please refer to https://owl.purdue.edu for
formatting styles.

The report should be original work. Detecting cheating is automatically penalized as a failure.
Plagiarism rules cover all types of cheating work including using someone concept, design,
ideas, part of the text, approaches, source code, etc.
 3 PROPOSAL

A proposal is a type of document that will let a particular writer to propose an idea. Students will
have to prepare a Proposal giving details of the proposed topic/study they want to work on. The
Proposal should not be of more than 3 pages. The main contents of the Proposal are given below:
a. Brief Introduction of the Topic/Study
b. Why this topic was chosen and your goal
c. List of the scientific articles you will use (at least three)
d. Responsibilities of each team member

4 RESEARCH REPORT

4.1 Report Structure

A report is made up of three main divisions: (1) preliminary material, (2) body and (3)
supplementary material. Each of the sections contains a different kind of content. Refer to the
tables below:

Table 2: Divisions and sections of a report

Broad Divisions Individual Sections
Title of Report
(1) Preliminary material
Table of Content
Introduction
Literature Review
(2) Body of report Discussion
Conclusion
Reflection
References or Bibliography
(3) Supplementary material
Appendices (Optional)

Table 3: Content of individual sections

Individual Sections Content of Each Section
Title of Report Concise heading indicating what the report is about
Table of Contents List of major sections and headings with page numbers
Introduction What you researched and why
Literature Review Relevant research in this topic and its comparison
Discussion Relevance of your findings, how it fits with the topic you chose
Conclusion Summary of findings
Reflection Each student reflects his/her role in the research
References or All references used in your report or referred to for background
Bibliography information
Appendices (Optional) Any additional material which will add to your report

4.2 Research Report Steps

STEP 1

Analyse the Task

As with any assignment task, you must first analyse what is expected of you. This involves
careful reading of the assignment task. You may find the following questions useful when
analysing the task:

 What is the purpose of the report?

(It could be analysing, persuading or reporting on an investigation.)
 Who is the audience for the report?
 What is the word limit?
 What is the topic of the report?
 What is the expected format of the report?

STEP 2

Develop a Rough Plan

Use the section headings (outlined above) to assist with your rough plan. Write a thesis statement
that clarifies the overall purpose of your report. Write down anything you already know about
the topic in the relevant sections.

STEP 3

Do the Research

Steps 1 and 2 will guide your research for this report. Keep referring to your analysis and rough
plan while you are doing your research to ensure that you remain on track.

Give yourself plenty of time for this step, as the research phase of your work will usually take
the most time of any step in producing your report. Also, ensure you keep correct bibliographic
details for all of the material you may later use in your report.

STEP 4
Draft the Body of Your Report

 Introduction - The purpose of your report. The thesis statement will be useful here.
Some brief details and an outline of the structure of the report.
 Literature Review - It may be useful to do a chronological format where you discuss
from the earliest to the latest research, placing your research appropriately in the
 chronology. Alternately, you could write in a thematic way, outlining the various themes
that you discovered in the research regarding the topic.
 Discussion - This is where you discuss the relevance of your results and how your
findings fit with other research in the area. It will relate back to your literature review and
your introductory thesis statement.
 Conclusion - This is a summary of the most significant results/findings. You should not
include any new material in this section. Sometimes you could indicate some areas where
your research has limits or where further research would be useful.
 Reflection – This includes reflecting your role in the research regarding each of the tasks.
Your reflection should clearly indicate your input into the report. Each member of the
group is expected to have an equal contribution. As a result, your final submitted
document should consist of three individual reflections. Failing to write the reflection and
explain your role in the final report is automatically penalized as a failure.

STEP 5
Draft the Supplementary Material

 References or Bibliography - This includes all references used in your report or referred
to for background information. This must be done using the referencing convention
specified by your lecturer/tutor.
 Appendices - These should add extra information to the report. If you include appendices
they must be referred to in the body of the report and must have a clear purpose for being
included. Each appendix must be named and numbered.

STEP 6
Draft the Preliminary Material

 Title of Report - Make sure this is clear and indicates exactly what you are researching.
 Table of Contents - List all sections, sub headings tables/graphs appendices and give
page numbers for each.

STEP 7

Polish Your Report

The final step is checking your report to ensure you have followed all of the guidelines.

4.3 Report Grading

Table 4: Report grading criteria

Introduction/Topic Strong introduction of topic’s key question(s), 10

terms. Introduction that grabs interest of reader
and states topic. Topic is clear and well-
developed.
Content knowledge: Quality of Information relates to the main topic. Topic is 30
 Research well-researched in detail and from at least 3
good sources.
Conclusion Strong review of key conclusions. Discusses 5
impact of researched material on topic.
Writing Style & Communication Document is well-formatted. Scholarly style. 15
Writing is flowing and easy to follow.
Citations & References All references and citations are correctly written 5
and present.
Presentation Present your work in class 25
Report structure Followed the report structure 10

5 PRESENTATION

You will need to create a .ppt presentation that contains the following:

1. Outline of the presentation

2. Introduction of your topic
3. Explain it
4. Provide some examples on how it works
5. Include the current and future developments
6. Try to compare different technologies depending on the topic you have chosen
7. Your summary of the topic including benefits, weaknesses and limitations
8. Specify responsibilities of each team member
9. References.

Your presentation should be 10-12 minutes in duration and contain at least 10 slides. Try to fully
explain your topic. Please do not just read from the slides. Your delivery also will be evaluated.
You need to present it in class during the date you chose. All members of the team need to
present.

Table 5: Presentation grading criteria

Clearly explains the topic

Well organized and flows logically
Enough essential information
Clear examples
Delivery: displays enthusiasm during presentation
Slides are well designed
Team is well prepared