Dissertation on Data Warehouse Designs: An Investigation Study

REPORT STRUCTURE

Title Page
The Title Page contains the project title, your name, the date (month and year) of submission, your project supervisor and the title of the MSc Programme.

Abstract
The Abstract, occupying less than half a page, is a short description of the intention of the project.

Preface
The Preface includes any relevant observations that do not belong in the project itself. It is here that the justification for the project meeting the MSc programme requirements and the National Qualifications Framework.

Acknowledgements
It is customary to acknowledge any substantial help, with either the project work or the report, from people and other informal sources.

Table of Contents (including appendices)
The report should be divided into chapters each of which may be divided into sections which may again be divided into subsections and so on. Each chapter and numbered section should have a title, and the contents page should list the most significant of these.

List of Tables
Optional if no tables have been used in the report

List of Figures
Optional if no figures have been used in the report

Body of Report
In the body of the report, each chapter should start on a new page. Chapter headings should appear more important than section headings. The following usually have one or more chapters devoted to them.

• Introduction
The first chapter of the report is commonly an introduction, which gives an account of the work to be done and the context in which it is to be done, usually providing background information about when, and in what circumstances, the project was conceived. This should include a clear statement of aims and objectives and the methods used in carrying out the work involved in each stage of the project. It should also outline the structure of the report.

• Literature Review/Background Research
o Literature Review
A summary evaluation and critical analysis of the literature read, relevant to the project topic, together with its possible application to the project. The focus of the literature review is to summarise and synthesize the arguments made by other researchers without adding any new contributions to it.

o Background Research
This is concerned with finding out knowledge about your topic, showing where you got the information from and providing a brief overview of the important facts.

Primary Research: Study of subject through first hand
knowledge and investigation

Secondary Research: Information collected from the work of other researchers.

Examples:

Primary Secondary
Interviews Research articles
Questionnaires Journal articles
Observation Conference articles
Company data Articles from relevant sources
Experiments Books

There is always a summary at the end of this section outlining the key
factors that form the foundation of your work.

• The "middle" chapters
They would usually include the description of work done and the presentation and analysis of results.

• Closing chapters
The closing chapters commonly include a summary and a conclusion together with any recommendations. In summarising, highlight the important stages and outcomes of the project. The conclusions, would normally consider and comment critically upon the results of the project; this includes both the process and the product. This should include a consideration of the extent to which the aims of the project have been achieved. Finally, recommend ways in which the work could be applied or extended.

List of References
References should be ordered alphabetically by the name of the author (or, if there is more than one, the name of the first author. The Harvard system is used (more information is available on the project website) and each reference should state the author's name and initials, date (in parentheses), title, publisher and place of issue (if known) e.g.