Tik-76.650 – Software Engineering Seminar Writing the Seminar Paper – Tips and Guidelines

1. Tik-76.650 – Software Engineering SeminarWriting the Seminar Paper – Tips and Guidelines http://www.soberit.hut.fi/T-76.650/ Casper Lassenius Casper.Lassenius@hut.fi

2. 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

3. 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 Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

4. 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

5. Typical Paper Structure • Title page • 1 page executive summary • Introduction • Body • Summary and Conclusions • References Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

6. 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 Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

7. 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

8. 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. Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

9. 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

10. 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 Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

11. 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 26 rules for writing... Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

12. 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 Tips to Gain Acceptance Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001

13. References Hirsjärvi, 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. Casper Lassenius / HUT 2001