Tik-76.650 – Software Engineering Seminar

Writing the Seminar Paper – Tips and Guidelines

http://www.soberit.hut.fi/T-76.650/

Casper LasseniusCasper.Lassenius@hut.fi

Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

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Seminar Purpose

To prepare you for writing your M.Sc. thesis Picking a subject Doing a literature search Academic writing style Process writing – drafting, writing, rewriting, rewriting, and revising Working with a supervisor

To teach you about a specific, modern topic Agile software development processes

Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

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Picking a seminar subject

Requirements for a good subject interesting provocative DOABLE!

Define research problem & state research questions research objectives methods scope

Literature study vs. empirical subject Literature study strongly recommended! Empirical study is hard to do within the time and hours available

Ideas Contrast two or more approaches Search for empirical evidence for or against some approach

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Writing the Seminar Paper

The style should be scientific Formal Logical, Coherent and Internally consistent Critical Humble but Convincing Simple, Clear, Precise and Readable Explicit presuppositions (to a degree )

Clearly separate your own ideas, opinions and experiences from those of others – and beware of conclusions that don’t follow from the data, unsubstantiated claims and unfounded speculation

Don’t write a consultancy report!

Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

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Typical Paper Structure

Title page 1 page executive summary Introduction Body Summary and Conclusions References

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Typical Paper Structure

Introduction Background

why is the research done – provide motivation!

Research problem & research questions what is the paper looking at / trying to solve

Objectives what is the main objective of the paper

Scope what is included in / excluded from the study

Methodology how was the research carried out?

Structure of the report

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Typical Paper Structure

Body Description of existing knowledge (cite references) Analysis / synthesis of existing knowledge Use e.g. table to summarize Discussion

what did you learn/do you think based upon the existing knowledge

Summary and Conclusions restatement of most important findings (no new ones!) practical/theoretical recommendations evaluation of the research (strengths, weaknesses) ideas for future research

Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

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Typical Paper Structure

References Use author-date in-text citation style

”Agile Software Development (Cockburn, 2001) is a new approach...””The Goal/Question/Metric approach (Basili & Rombach, 1984)...””It has been claimed (Kellner et al., 1994) that software process modelling...”

Use author-date ordered bibliography

Anonymous. 1980. A Good Book on an Interesting Topic. Boston, MA, HBS Press. 294p.

Beck, K. 2001. An Overhyped Phenomenon: Thoughts on eXtreme Programming. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Modern Approaches to Software Engineering Hype, 121-1121. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.

Heck, M. 2002. I can code better than you – no more pair programming! IEEE Software (June-July), 12-13.

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About the Writing Process Start early

Do a lousy first draft

Rewrite good writers rewrite more than bad ones

Writing is thinking

Many authors recommend writing every day

Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

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Working with a supervisor

The supervisor’s job is to help you will point you in the right(?) direction

Don’t expect the supervisor to do the job for you e.g. literature search, structuring, etc.

Meet the deadlines

Come well prepared to the meetings

Ask questions

Take the comments and suggestions seriously

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26 rules for writing...

1. Interest, inform, persuade 2. Write for the reader 3. Write clearly 4. Eliminate unnecessary redundancy 5. Avoid digressions 6. Don’t overexplain 7. Avoid overstatement 8. Avoid unnecessary qualifiers 9. Use the precise word 10. Prefer simpler to complicated

words 11. Use concrete words and examples 12. Prefer simpler to more

complicated sentences 13. Use the active voice

14. Prefer affirmative to negative constructions

15. Avoid dangling constructions 16. Avoid participles without referents 17. Avoid pronouns without

antecedents 18. Avoid the indefinite this 19. Avoid split infinitives 20. Use summary statements 21. Use transitions 22. Place yourself in the background 23. Cite sources as well as findings 24. Proofread 25. Request a critical reading 26. Avoid sexist language

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Tips to Gain Acceptance

1. Start strong (not previous research...)

2. Tell readers why they should be interested

3. Write what you say you will do 4. Write a focused, complete and

balanced literature review 5. Explain what the results mean 6. Consider alternative interpretations 7. End strongly

8. Write clear and readable sentences 9. Emphasize logical flow and

organization 10. Explain what, say it, restate 11. Be creative, give concrete

examples 12. Don’t assume people will know

what you mean – no jargon or abbreviations

13. Write to be interesting 14. Write for a broad audience 15. Avoid autobiography

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ReferencesHirsjärvi, S., Remes, P., Sajavaara, P. 2000. Tutki ja Kirjoita. Helsinki: Tammi.

Kakkuri-Knuuttila, M. (toim.). 1998. Argumentti ja Kritiikki: lukemisen, keskustelun ja vakuuttamisen taidot. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.

Kauranen, I., Ropponen, P., Aaltonen, M. 1993. Tutkimusraportin kirjoittamisen opas. Otaniemi: TKK.

May, E. 1993. Tiedettä Englanniksi: akateemisen kirjoittamisen käsikirja. Jyväskylä: korkeakoulujen kielikeskus.

Sternberg, R.J. 1993. The psychologist's companion : a guide to scientific writing for students and researchers. Cambrige: Cambridge University Press.

Uusitalo, H. 1991. Tiede, tutkimus ja tutkielma: johdatus tutkielman maailmaan. Helsinki: WSOY.