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A Student’s Guide Second Edition
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A Student’s Guide
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This book is the essential guide for any student u
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undertaking a computing/IS project, and will give you i
n Second Edition
everything you need to achieve outstanding results. g
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d Christian W. Dawson
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Undertaking a project is a key component of nearly all Christian W. Dawson is f
computing/information systems degree programmes currently a senior lecturer at o
at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Loughborough University. In rm
Projects in Computing and Information Systems covers this book he uses a number of
a
the four key aspects of project work (planning, real-life case studies to pass on t
conducting, presenting and taking the project further) the experiences of past student io
in chronological fashion, and provides the reader with projects so the reader gets a n
the skills to excel in the following essential areas: genuine understanding of how S
• Writing project proposals to avoid pitfalls and ensure best y
s
• Surveying literature and writing literature reviews practice in their own project. t
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• Project management m
• Time management
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• Managing risk New to this second edition:
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• Team working • Updated sections on ethics and plagiarism St
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• Working with your supervisor • Updated section on agile methods de
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• Software development • New section on poster presentations t’s
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• Documenting software • Extended sections on team work u
id
• Report writing • New section on software quality. e
• Effective presentations Second
Edition
• Viva voce examinations.
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www.pearson-books.com
Front cover image: © Getty Images
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A01_DAWS1314_02_SE_FM.QXD 3/25/09 5:22 PM Page i
Projects in Computing
and Information Systems
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We work with leading authors to develop the
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Under a range of well-known imprints, including
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A01_DAWS1314_02_SE_FM.QXD 3/25/09 5:22 PM Page iii
Projects in Computing
and Information Systems
A Student’s Guide
Second Edition
CHRISTIAN W. DAWSON
A01_DAWS1314_02_SE_FM.QXD 3/25/09 5:22 PM Page iv
For Jacob and Ben
Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
England
and Associated Companies throughout the world
Visit us on the World Wide Web at:
www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published 2005
Second edition 2009
© Pearson Education Limited 2005, 2009
The right of Christian W. Dawson to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the
publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the
Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
All trademarks used therein are the property of their respective owners. The use of any
trademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark ownership
rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation with or
endorsement of this book by such owners.
ISBN 978-0-273-72131-4
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Dawson, Christian W.
Projects in computing and information systems : a student’s guide / Christian W. Dawson.
—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-273-72131-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Electronic data processing. 2. Information technology. I. Title.
QA76.D3333326 2009
004—dc22 2009006227
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
13 12 11 10 09
Typeset in 9.75/12pt Galliard
Printed in Great Britain by Henry Ling Ltd., at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, Dorset.
The publisher’s policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests.
A01_DAWS1314_02_SE_FM.QXD 3/25/09 5:22 PM Page v
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
Section 1 – The background 1
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 What are (computing) projects? 4
1.3 Degree requirements 9
1.4 Stakeholders 11
1.5 How this book is arranged 13
1.6 Summary 14
1.7 Action points 14
2 Research 15
2.1 What is research? 15
2.2 The research process 20
2.3 Classifying research 23
2.4 Research methods 25
2.5 Summary 35
2.6 Further reading 36
2.7 Action points 36
v
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vi Contents
Section 2 – Setting your project’s foundation 37
3 Choosing a project and writing a proposal 39
3.1 Introduction 39
3.2 Choosing a project 40
3.3 Preparing a project proposal 50
3.4 Choosing your supervisor 57
3.5 Summary 57
3.6 Exercise 58
3.7 Action points 58
Solutions to selected exercises 58
4 Project planning and risk management 59
4.1 Introduction 60
4.2 Project definition 62
4.3 Project planning 65
4.4 Risk management 80
4.5 Summary 85
4.6 Further reading 86
4.7 Exercises 86
4.8 Action points 86
5 Literature searching and literature reviews 87
5.1 Introduction 87
5.2 The literature survey process 91
5.3 Literature searching 93
5.4 Managing information 102
5.5 Critical evaluation 103
5.6 Writing literature reviews 104
5.7 Summary 109
5.8 Further reading 109
5.9 Action points 109
Section 3 – Conducting your project 111
6 Software development 113
6.1 Introduction 114
6.2 The software development life cycle (SDLC) 115
6.3 The earliest ‘model’: build-and-fix 118
6.4 The stage-wise and classical waterfall models (conventional models) 119
6.5 The incremental model 120
6.6 Prototyping 124
6.7 Agile methods 128
6.8 Extreme programming (XP) 128
6.9 Configuration management 129
6.10 Which approaches should I use? 130
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Contents vii
6.11 Top-down and bottom-up development 133
6.12 Verification, validation and testing 136
6.13 Quality 142
6.14 Summary 145
6.15 Further reading 145
6.16 Exercises 145
6.17 Action points 146
Solutions to selected exercises 146
7 Controlling your project 148
7.1 Introduction 149
7.2 Dealing with problems 152
7.3 Managing your time 156
7.4 Working with your supervisor 165
7.5 Working in teams 168
7.6 Summary 176
7.7 Further reading 177
7.8 Exercise 177
7.9 Action points 177
Section 4 – Presenting your project 179
8 Presenting your project in written form 181
8.1 Introduction 181
8.2 Writing and structuring reports 182
8.3 Writing abstracts 195
8.4 Data presentation 197
8.5 Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism 208
8.6 Documenting software 215
8.7 Writing papers 218
8.8 Summary 219
8.9 Further reading 219
8.10 Exercises 220
8.11 Action point 220
9 Presentation skills 221
9.1 Introduction 222
9.2 Oral presentations 222
9.3 Poster presentations 235
9.4 Demonstrating software 245
9.5 Viva voce examinations 248
9.6 Summary 250
9.7 Further reading 251
9.8 Action points 251
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viii Contents
Section 5 – The future 253
10 Final considerations 255
10.1 Introduction 255
10.2 Examiners and the marking of your project 256
10.3 Taking your project further 260
10.4 Publishing your work 262
10.5 Additional topics 263
10.6 The future 264
10.7 Top ten tips for successful projects 266
10.8 Summary 268
10.9 Further reading 268
10.10 Action points 269
References 270
Index 274
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Preface
Projects are a major component of virtually all undergraduate and postgraduate com-
puting and information science courses within universities. They require students to
draw on a number of separate but highly important skills; surveying literature, report
writing, developing and documenting software, presentational skills, time management,
project management skills and so on. For students to excel in all of these areas is a ma-
jor accomplishment, yet it is something that academic institutions have come to expect
as part of the independent learning process.
While there are books available that cover some of these topics in great detail, there
are none that draw allthese skills together and which are aimed specifically at students
on computing and information systems courses of one kind or another. This text fills
this gap and provides a foundation in the skills both undergraduate and postgraduate
students require to complete their projects successfully.
This book is structured in a chronological fashion so that the main stages through
which projects progress are discussed in sequence. It is split into the following five main
sections:
The background.This section provides a general introduction to projects, the different
degree structures that are in place and the stakeholders involved. It also provides a useful
introduction to research in the context of computing projects.
Setting your project’s foundation. This section describes the skills you will need during
the initial stages of your computing project. It covers such topics as choosing a project,
writing a project proposal and planning your project.
Conducting your project. This section covers the skills you will need while you are
actually working on your project – from doing your literature survey to managing your
time and any information and data that you collect, as well as how to liaise effectively
ix
