It is a literature review. The document should have a separate title page, and begin with an abstract or summary of 150-200 words in length that is able to stand alone as a concise and comprehensive description of the research problem, your project's objectives, significance, approach (methodology) and outcomes.
The body of the document should consist of a series of numbered sections and subsections; the exact nature and content of these will depend on the specifics of your project, as will the proportion of the available space accorded to each. Typically, you would have an introductory section that outlines the problem you are a.iming to solve, and provides a road-map of the remainder of the document; this would then be followed by a background section that describes related work; then a number of sections which describe the work you have carried out, followed by a conclusion section which summarises what has been achieved, and what future work might be pursued.
5. Finally, you should have a consistently formatted reference list or bibliography that contains full details of all materials cited in your paper. Ensure that you follow appropriate conventions here.
Please ensure that your final report is submitted with a file-name that has the following format:
‹FamilyName_Givenname›_FinalReport.pdf
Strictly follow the headings defined below:
Table of Contents: (see template) List all sections, sub headings tables/graphs appendices and give page numbers for each.
0. Summary: Summary gives a very brief overview of the report in a condensed form. Concise summary of main findings, include the research problem, aims, significance of research project, methodology used, and expected outcomes. Make sure you insert each one of these in your summary.
1. Introduction: Explain what you researched and why, the general purpose of your report, some brief details of your methods and an outline of the structure of the report.
1.1. Background: Background information may include a brief review of the literature already available on the topic so that you are able to ‘place' your research in the field.
1.2. Significance: Explain why this topic is important and deserves investigation.
1.3. Research Focus: This section includes the Research Problem , Research Question, and Research Aim. Make sure you insert each one of these in your Research focus.
2. Literature review: Literature review includes other relevant research in this area. You must carefully structure your review on literature. 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. As an alternative, you could write in a thematic way, outlining the various themes that you discovered in the research regarding the topic. Again, you will need to state where your research fits and which gaps in literature it fills.
3. Research Methodology: Explain what you did and how you did it. Here you clearly outline what methodology you used in your research. It must be clearly written so that it would be easy for another researcher to duplicate your research if they wished to. It is usually written in a 'passive' voice (e.g. the participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire attached in Appendix 1) rather than an 'active' voice (e.g. I asked the participants to fill in the questionnaire attached in Appendix 1). Clearly reference any material you have used from other sources. Clearly label and number any diagrams, charts, and graphs. Ensure that they are relevant to the research and add substance to the text rather than just duplicating what you have said. You do not include or discuss the results here.
4. Evaluation of Results and Findings: This is a summary of the most significant results/findings. Here also discuss the significance of results and opportunities for future work. Sometimes you could indicate some areas where your research has limits or where further research would be useful.
4.1 Discussion: You interpret the results in Discussion, 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. This may include a critical analysis of the research literature or a comparative analysis of research methods. Make sure you include a discussion on the relevance of your results, how it fits with other research in the area, and your recommendations (what needs to be done as a result of your findings). Recommendations include suggestions for what needs to be done as a result of your findings. They are usually listed in order of priority.
5. Conclusion: Insert a summary of the work conducted and explain once again your results and findings (what you found) as an answer to your research questions.
References: All references used in your report or referred to for background information.
Appendix: Any additional material which will add to your report. Appendices 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.