School of Business, Society and Engineering

GUIDELINES FOR DEGREE PROJECT REPORT

Revised spring semester 2017

BOZENA GUZIANA EVA THORIN

CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 3

2 THE REPORT TEMPLATE ................................................................ 3

3 TITLE AND CHAPTER HEADINGS .................................................. 3

4 FRONT PAGE ................................................................................... 4

5 THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE REPORT .................................... 4

Abstract .................................................................................................................... 5

Preface ..................................................................................................................... 5

Summary/Sammanfattning ..................................................................................... 6

Table of Contents .................................................................................................... 6

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 7

5.5.1 Background ...................................................................................................... 7

5.5.2 Defining the problem ........................................................................................ 7

5.5.3 Purpose ........................................................................................................... 7

5.5.4 Research questions ......................................................................................... 8

5.5.5 Delimitation ...................................................................................................... 8

Method ..................................................................................................................... 8

Theoretical framework/Literature study ................................................................. 8

Current study ........................................................................................................... 9

Results ..................................................................................................................... 9

Discussion ............................................................................................................... 9

Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 10

Suggestions for further work ................................................................................ 10

References ............................................................................................................. 11

Appendices ............................................................................................................ 11

6 LOGICAL CHAIN OF THOUGHT AND THE RED THREAD OF THE

WORK ............................................................................................. 11

7 METATEXT AND WORDS FOR CONNECTION ............................. 11

8 HELP AND SUPPORT .................................................................... 12

9 PLAGIARISM .................................................................................. 12

1 INTRODUCTION

An employee in engineering needs to be able to present engineering orally as well as in

writing to colleagues, managers, clients and principals. Prospective employers are often

interested in looking at degree reports as expressions of the graduate’s professional skills. For

this reason, you should be motivated to write as good a degree project as possible. A good

degree project benefits from accessible knowledge and develops knowledge, has a logical

structure, cultivated and correct language and a good flow in the text. Remember also to

express yourself in such a way so that other people as well as experts within your own subject

area will be able to assimilate the text and the content.

These guidelines contain advice and instructions for how to write degree reports, and should

be able to be used by both students and supervisors.

2 THE REPORT TEMPLATE

Use the report template which can be accessed on MDH’s website (Student/ Study environment/Thesis and Examination).

3 TITLE AND CHAPTER HEADINGS

The title and chapter headings shall be informative. The reader shall understand what the

report is about by reading the title, and get a good overview of the contents of the report by

reading the headings in the table of contents. The title, headings and subheadings are of

great importance for readability so therefore it is worth putting a little extra work into how

they are worded.

A good title is a title that arouses interest, with a minimum number of words correctly

describes the contents of the report, and relates to the purpose of the work. It is most often

suitable to have a more overarching main title, and a more defined subtitle. If the report is

based on a case study, name the object of study in the subtitle. Example 1: Systematic Energy

Work in Practice: Energy optimisation by Karolinska sjukhuset in Solna. Example 2: The

Swedish Transport Administration’s Definition of BIM as an Object-based Information

Carrier: A study of the introduction and application of BIM at the Swedish Transport

Administration.

The report is divided into chapters with headings. The headings on level 1 are called chapter

headings, and headings on other levels are section headings. A chapter heading is placed at

the top of the page, after a page break, while a section heading follows directly after the

previous section. Avoid diving the text in too many headings. If a section only contains a

couple of sentences, the structure should be changes to better hold the text together.

The headings are divided into functional headings and content headings. The role of the

functional headings is to tell what function the chapter or subchapter has in the text. These

headings can be found in most reports and help the experienced readers to orientate

themselves in the text. The functional headings are mainly used in the introductory part (for

example Abstract, Summary, Introduction, Background, Aim, and Method) and concluding

part (for example Discussion, Conclusion) of the report. Content headings are mainly used in

the main part of the report.

The heading and the following text are two separate texts and therefore the text that follows a

heading should never refer to the heading.

4 FRONT PAGE

No pictures shall be on the front page. The client’s logo and MDH’s logo may be placed under

the text in the preface.

5 THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE REPORT

Scientific reports are divided into three parts: introductory part, main part and concluding

part. The introductory part contains information of various kinds to the reader, the main part

constitutes the main body of the text and the concluding part presents supplementary

information to the reader. The main part also includes introductory chapters (Introduction,

Aim/Purpose, and Method) and concluding chapter such as Discussion and Conclusions.

Scientific texts often follow a fixed pattern. Within engineering and natural sciences, where

reports usually concerns empirical investigations and experiments, the outline model IMRAD

(Introduction Method Results And Discussion) is common for the main part of the report.

The outline of a report for larger projects and degree projects will preferably look like the

model below, and often one or more relevant and informative subheadings for the various

sections are needed. In Figure 1, a suggestion on headings for a degree project report based

on IMRAD is given and can be used as a starting point. The headings should then be adapted

to the degree project to be written. The functional heading Literature study/Theoretical

framework favourably can be replaced with a content heading.

Front page with title etc.

Abstract in English and keywords

Preface

Summary

Table of contents with page references

List of figures and tables

Designations, abbreviations, definitions or glossary

1. Introduction 1.1. Background with definition of problem 1.2. Aim/Purpose and research questions 1.3. Delimitation

2. Method 3. Literature study/Theoretical framework (theory) 4. Current study (empirical study) 5. Results and analysis (empirical study) 6. Discussion 7. Conclusions 8. Suggestions for further work

References

Appendices

Figure 1. The outline of a degree project report.

Abstract

An Abstract is a very brief summary in English consisting of 100-400 words written

continuously without paragraphing and in the past tense, since it summarises what has

already been done. It shall give an informative overall picture of the report and comprise the

most important parts, i.e. purpose, method, results and conclusions. It is important that the

text in the Abstract follow the structure purpose, method, results and conclusions.

The abstract shall contain only text, which means no figures or tables, and shall be able to be

read entirely independently of the rest of the report. Immediately after the abstract the

keywords, ca 6-8, are given. A good and well-written Abstract and well-chosen keywords are

very important for the dissemination of your report and the results of your study. It is the

keywords that facilitate the possibility to find your report and the Abstract is decisive for

whether the reader wants to study your report.

Preface

The preface is used to say why the report has come into being and where it was written. Here

you say whether the work has been done within the framework of a certain project. If two

students have done a joint degree project it is appropriate to describe in the preface who has

done what.

Introductory part

(without chapter numbering)

Main part

After the table of contents follow

the various chapters of the

report (with chapter numbering)

Concluding part

(without chapter numbering)

The preface is also used to thank possible contributors and other persons who in one way or

another have assisted in the work, e.g. with checking information or with proofreading. Start

with people at external organisations and/or respondents in surveys/interviews.

Bear in mind that this section shall neither constitute an introduction to the report nor

mention your results. The preface shall be short, dated with place, month, year and the

authors’ names. Under the text can be placed your client’s and MDH’s logotypes.

Summary/Sammanfattning

As opposed to the Abstract, which contains only the most important parts (purpose, method,

results and conclusions), the summary shall contain a brief synopsis of the entire report.

Keep in mind that only what is in the report may be presented in the summary and it shall be

possible to read the summary independently from the rest of the report. The contents of the

chapter before the Results is summarised more briefly whereas the results and conclusions

are described in more depth. The text should fit into 1-2 pages and be divided into

paragraphs. Literature references or references to the text, tables or figures in the report shall

not be included here. It is important that the text follow the structure

background/problem formulation, purpose, method, results, discussion and

conclusions.

Even though the report is written in Swedish it is good to have a supplementary English

summary; in this way English speakers can also learn about the report. If the report is written

in English it naturally has a Summary in that language. In this case the Summary should be

supplemented by a corresponding Sammanfattning in Swedish. The summary in the

language in which the rest of the report is written is to be placed first.

It is important that the summary is good since this is the part of the report read by most

people and it can determine whether the reader will become sufficiently interested in reading

the whole report.

Table of Contents

It is important that the table of contents gives the reader an idea of what is described in the

report and how the work is planned without it being confusing. It shall help the reader to

easily find their way around the body of text and to see the context. If you find it necessary

when the report is completely finished and the contents in the table of contents will not be

changed, you can edit the table of contents to make it more lucid; for example decrease the

spacing, decrease the font size of the letters, or bold type the main chapters.

Use numbered headings; the internal order between the chapters will then stand out clearly.

Furthermore numbering will simplify references to other sections of the text and facilitate for

the readers to orientate themselves in the report. It is only the chapters in the main part that

are to be numbered. The headings Abstract, Preface, Summary, References and Appendices

shall not have any numeric designation. The table of contents shall contain page indications

for all parts; this is an important part of the service to the reader.

Introduction

The first chapter of the report has the function heading Introduction and always contains a

description of the background, problem, purpose and research questions, and delimitations.

The introduction shall introduce the reader to the area of the report and capture the reader’s

interest in the report.

5.5.1 Background

The background shall be relevant to the subject and lead to a clear formulation of the

problem and of the purpose of the study. The background should include motivation to why

the subject of the report is of interest from a scientific and technical point of view. Previous

work in the area, for example degree projects and scientific journal papers, should be referred

to in order to put the problem area in a context. With support of previous work, it is easier to

describe in what way the degree project contributes to increased knowledge. Use source

references, both to previous research and to background facts.

It is often a good idea to imagine the background as a funnel, which gradually approaches the

purpose of the report. The funnel is broad at the top and the background should therefore

begin with general or overall facts and, as the funnel becomes increasingly narrower, to

gradually delimit and refine the information. The background shall provide a logical

transition to the purpose and research questions.

5.5.2 Defining the problem

The research question shall be clearly defined. The definition of the problem can be the

concluding paragraph/s/ of the background, and can, though not necessarily, have its own

heading.

Note that definition of the problem, purpose and research questions belong together, but they

are not the same thing. The problem is specified as to its purpose and the purpose in its turn

is broken down into research questions.

5.5.3 Purpose

The purpose of the study shall be specified briefly and carefully, in a couple of sentences. The

purpose shall express the intention of the degree project, and the reader shall immediately be

able to understand what the aim of the project is and what the author plans to do. All the rest

of the work shall hereafter relate to the purpose.

Note that the purpose shall be consistent with what has actually been achieved. Sometimes it

is necessary to adjust the purpose and research questions in the final stages of the work and

the writing of the report to better reflect what has actually been done in the investigation.

5.5.4 Research questions

The purpose is broken down into research questions or hypotheses. These and no other

questions/hypotheses are then investigated in the report. The questions shall be answered

while the hypotheses are verified or discarded.

Research questions that can be answered with a yes or a no shall not be used. The question

must require a comprehensive answer for the research question to be regarded as having

been answered. All research questions shall be covered by the purpose, and the purpose may

not contain parts that are not included among the research questions.

5.5.5 Delimitation

Delimitations state the limits of what one claims to express opinions about in the project; in

other words, what is included and what is not included in the study, for example, that

financial considerations have not been taken into account or that just one section has been

analysed. The delimitations most often concern time, space/location and matter.

Method

In this section, you give a description of what you have done to get to the answers to your

questions and justifying the choices you have made in the empirical and investigatory parts.

Refer back to the purpose and research questions. Methodological considerations shall be

supported by references; however, you shall not refer in the method section to general

descriptions of different methods taken from more basic textbooks on the subject.

Structure your text well, with subheadings. Give a clear account of the empirical study’s

structure, the method for collection and analysis of empirical material. Regarding the

structure of the empirical study, you shall explain whether you have made e.g. a case

study, survey, modelling or experiments. You shall briefly describe how collection of the

empirical material has been done, e.g. by laboratory measurements, field measurements,

manual calculations, computer calculations, surveys, interviews, document analysis, or

observations. In the method section, you shall also briefly describe how analysis of the

empirical material has been carried out. Detailed information shall, if appropriate, be

included in the chapter about the current study.

Theoretical framework/Literature study

The purpose of the theoretical framework and subject deep literature study is to show that

you have deep knowledge about the relevant research and development work within the area

of the subarea of the subject and that this knowledge is the basis for the study in question.

With focus on deep knowledge, it means that this chapter should not consider knowledge on

basic level but refer to that. The chapter should contain synthesis, analysis and critical review

of methods and previous results within the area that constitute the basis for the methods and

starting points you use in your study. Think about that the copyright includes figure and

tables and you need permission from the copyright owner to publish them. This means that it

is not enough to only refer to the source.

Current study

Headings and subheadings are adapted to the work in question. Examples of contents:

Description of the object of study. You can use either a function heading, Object

description, or a content heading with the name of the studied object.

Material used to obtain the results (empirical study), including methods of

sample-taking and analysis, collection and processing data and methods of

calculation, assumptions, mathematical models and assessment criteria. It shall be

shown that methods of calculation and analysis are linked to the scientific base of the

area of engineering, for example by the fact that the formulas used stem from/are

linked to their scientific origin. Complete calculations, raw data, lengthier tables,

surveys and interview guides are presented as appendices. Headings like

Calculations, Simulations can be appropriate for this part of the report.

Results

Under the heading of Results, the findings obtained from the current study are presented.

Only data, which have a direct connection to the purpose and research questions, shall be

presented. The results section is descriptive and shall be impartially worded, i.e. not contain

conclusions, evaluations, or the results of other studies. The reader shall personally be able to

interpret and assess the reliability and relevance of the results.

The results shall be clearly structured so that the reader can quickly assimilate them, with

subheadings. It can be a good idea to compile the results in tables and figures; remember to

refer to tables and figures and in the main text briefly to state what can be seen in these.

Discussion

In a scientific report it is important that the author makes personal reflections on the method

used in the study and the results arrived at. In the discussion, you shall deal with:

The main results

How the results can be interpreted and what they mean

The consequences of the results and why the results are important

Explanations of the results

How the method has influenced the results

What the limitations and weaknesses of the study are

How the results relate to other studies

The Discussion section most often does not contain any new references, but the results are

discussed with the support of the references found in the background and in the literature

study. However, if your study gives new angles that were hardly relevant to illustrate in the

literature study, a new reference may be used to discuss your result.

The discussion shall tie together the whole study – purpose, method and results, and show,

with the aid of the collected material, if the questions related to the purpose can be answered

and reflect on the reliability and incorrect sources of the results. The Discussion section can

benefit by division into discussion of results, discussion of methods, and when the literature

needs to be discussed, also discussion of the literature. The discussion of results deals

primarily with support, generalisation and practical application; the discussion of methods

deals with choice of methods and incorrect sources.

The results are supported by being related to the theory or the model that the study may

build on according to the previous description and by you comparing your results,

similarities and differences, with results from previous studies. It is also important to discuss

whether the study and its results can be used outside the current object of study, i.e. whether

the results can be generalised. The more similar the relationships are between the object of

the study and the situation one wishes to generalise to, the more likely it is that the results

are transferable. In a discussion it shall also be stated how the results could be used in

practical applications.

In the discussion of methods the choice of method(s) are reflected upon. What are the

strengths and weaknesses of the chosen method(s)? Could we have worked in a different way

using other methods? Could we have answered any of the questions better or in another way

if the approach had been different?

Conclusions

Based on the results arrived at and the discussion carried on, conclusions shall be formed. In

the Conclusions section, you should answer the questions you posed in the introduction or

you should discuss to what extent your hypothesis held.

If specific questions have been posed the conclusions shall answer them, and these questions

can be used to advantage as subheadings. Conclusions can be presented either in running text

or in bullet form. Everything taken up in the conclusions must have its basis in the study; no

new references may be introduced! This section shall be relatively short.

So that conclusions can be read independently this section shall be introduced with a very

brief description of what has been done, for example “In this project………….has been

studied”, “In this project suggestions have…………”, “The purpose of this project has been …”.

Suggestions for further work

Here your own views on the need of continued work within the area dealt with in the study

are stated.

”Results in this study show ………It should be of interest to determine/further study ….”

” In this study ….in single family houses have been studied. A future study about …. in

apartment blocks would be valuable.”

”In this study the XX model was used. It would be of interest to see what results would be

achieved if the model YY or any other model would be used for the same dataset.”

References

For all important facts referred to there must be source references. Wikipedia is not regarded

as a reliable source; however, you may refer to degree projects. The reference system to be

used is the APA system. Remember that there has to be a one-to-one relationship between

the source references and the list of sources. Every source referred to in the text must be able

to be found as an item in the list of sources. Conversely, the bibliography shall contain only

works referred to in the text and not works that one has been inspired by in a vaguer way.

More information about source references and the APA system is to be found on Mälardalen

university webpage Student/Student environment/Thesis and Examination.

Appendices

Appendices are placed last in the report and shall be numbered in the order named in the

text. In the appendices are placed such documents that demand too much space in the

running text and thereby disturb the reading. Typical examples of appendices are complete

calculations, raw data, lengthier tables, surveys, interview guides etc. Summary tables that

are required for understanding the text shall not be an appendix.

6 LOGICAL CHAIN OF THOUGHT AND THE RED THREAD OF

THE WORK

The report should be hold together in logical chains on all levels. There should be a

connection between the content of the different sections forming a chapter. Also the

reasoning in the sentences that forms a section should be connected.

On a general level the chain problem definition-purpose- method- framework-current study

-results-discussion- conclusions should form a red thread through the degree project report.

To keep the different parts together they need to be built on the previous parts. Conclusions

should then proceed the discussion, results and purpose, the discussion should proceed from

the results in relation to the theoretical framework, the results should be built on the current

study, the theoretical framework should proceed from purpose and research questions and

the purpose should proceed from the problem definition

7 METATEXT AND WORDS FOR CONNECTION

Meta text means ”text about text”. It is text that helps the reader to orientate in the text and it

contributes to form the red thread. To make the reader see the connection between the

different parts the text needs to be tied together by for example reconnecting to things that

have been described earlier in the text or by preparing the reader for what will come in the

following text. Introducing text in the beginning of a chapter that introduce the sections of

the chapter and also explains the connections between them is an example on meta text that

prepare the readers for what will come. On the level of sentences, words for connection or

connecting signals are used to explain how different things are related to each other.

8 HELP AND SUPPORT

Apart from various books about report writing there are other means of support which can be

of assistance in your writing.

Writing rules for Swedish and English from TNC (The Swedish Centre for

Terminology) (2001), which is also found on www.tnc.se.

The writing rules of public authorities

9 PLAGIARISM

It is always prohibited to plagiarise (copy without stating the source) from other sources. In

the case of quotations, summaries and paraphrases, sources shall always be stated. Suspected

cases of cheating are always reported to the University’s Disciplinary Board, and those who

have plagiarised can be convicted of cheating and suspended from their studies. Read more

about plagiarism and cheating on the MDH website.

You are to send the final revised version of your degree project to the examiner both in Word

and in PDF format, in addition to ordinary email via Urkund as well.