9.3. Structuring the report¶
This section describes some top-level structures that you could use for your project report. This top-level structure will suit the majority of projects; however, it is possible to use a different structure. If you are thinking about a different structure, please discuss your proposed structure with your project supervisor.
Engineering projects¶
A plan-driven engineering approach might use the following top-level structure:
Chapter 1 Background, Analysis and Process
Chapter 2 Design
Chapter 3 Implementation
Chapter 4 Testing
Chapter 5 Critical Evaluation
Annotated References This is a formally-structured list of the reference sources that you have used. Each item in it should correspond to one or more citation marks in the text. See separate guidance on Good Academic Practice and Referencing.
Appendices Extra documents that show work that has been undertaken, e.g. a requirements specification and a design specification.
An agile engineering project might change Chapters 2 to 4 to show an iterative approach, rather than three distinct stages. If you are using an iterative methodology, e.g. XP, Scrum or FDD, then do consider how someone reading your report would appreciate the final outputs of your design. That might mean it is appropriate for you to include an extra chapter to summarise the design before or after reporting on the iterations.
Research projects¶
A research project might use the following top-level structure:
Chapter 1: Background, Analysis and Process
Chapter 2: Method Design
Chapter 3: Software Design, Implementation and Testing
Chapter 4: Results and Conclusion
Chapter 5: Critical Evaluation
Annotated References This is a formally-structured list of the reference sources that you have used. Each item in it should correspond to one or more citation marks in the text. See separate guidance on Good Academic Practice and Referencing:.
Appendices Extra documents that show extra work, e.g. experiment results. Speak to your supervisor about what might be relevant.
It is important that in addition to the experiment, you can describe the software that you develop. This will include the design, implementation and testing of the software. As an example, that might be in one chapter, as listed above, but could easily be split into more chapters. If you are following a methodology that uses iteration, see the notes above for ‘Engineering Projects’.
