Solent University

SCHOOL OF MEDIA ARTS and Technology

Name of your degree

Academic year of submission
Your name
“The title of your report”

Supervisor : Name of your supervisor

Date of submission : Month Year
Acknowledgements

Write a paragraph here acknowledging everyone who has helped you while
you have been preparing the content of your dissertation.

This may be you supervisor or other academic staff that have provided
guidance and support, other students or colleagues with whom you have
collaborated on any research or project work, interviewees, librarians, or
perhaps any external bodies that have given you assistance, such as access
to data or the opportunity for hands on experience.

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Abstract

The abstract is a summarised version of your complete paper, so write it at the

very end. A reader could get the main ideas from just the abstract, or use the
abstract to decide whether to read the rest of the paper.

Briefly outline what your paper aims to do.

Briefly outline the results and the conclusions you have drawn from them.

Note: Any pages which come before the content of your dissertation are given
using roman numerals, with the traditional numbering starting with the
Introduction on page 1. This is achieved by inserting a continuous section break
at the heading for your introduction, then setting the page numbers differently
for each section.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.........................................................................i
Abstract......................................................................................ii
1. Introduction.............................................................................3
2. Literature Review......................................................................4
3. Methodology.............................................................................5
3.1 Professional, Legal and Ethical issues..................................................5
3.2 Project Management.......................................................................5
4. Design & implementation.............................................................6
5. Results....................................................................................7
6. Conclusions..............................................................................8
7. Recommendations......................................................................9
8. Reference list..........................................................................10
9. Bibliography............................................................................11
10. Appendices.............................................................................A
Appendix A: Title................................................................................A
Appendix B: Title................................................................................B
Appendix C: Title................................................................................C

NOTE: This contents page has been automatically generated from headings formatted in the
main document. Use Heading 1 for the title of new sections, Heading 2 for the title of new sub-
sections and so on throughout the document. Once you have added your content, click on the
contents table below and select ‘update table’ to see changes. There is no need to edit the list
directly.

The tables and figures list on the next page has been automatically generated in the same
manner. Each time you add a new item in the main document, go to the ‘references’ menu and
select ‘insert caption’ to create the title of the table or figure. Then update the tables and
figures list for the new items to appear.

You might wish to add a section for Project Specification/Requirements after the
Literature Review if you are doing a software product/build type of project

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List of Figures

Figure 1: 2014 Logo Trends

GARDNER, 2014. 2014 Logo Trends [viewed 15 November 2014]. Available
from: https://www.logolounge.com/article/2014logotrends#.VJRtAA5xIw

Figure 2: Graph of Network testing March 2018

NOTE: ‘Figures’ refers to all charts, graphs, photographs, drawings and other illustrations.
Number everything in the sequence it appears in the text

These can be two separate lists for your tables & Figures (charts, Graphs, photos, diagrams
etc.) or just one list called Figures depending on the amount of table you have.

These should be structured with the figure number, the figure title, description and then the
Harvard reference source. If the figure was created by you, there is no need to include the
Harvard source, only the figure number and the figure title/description

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1. Introduction

Explain the purpose of your paper – set out the position you are taking on the
topic and give a little background to your area of research (though not the
literature survey which comes next). Outline the main points you will cover.

Leave a line space between each paragraph, or, if you know how to, set the
spacing after the line to 6pt or 10pt.

The introduction should be approximately 10% of your total word count.

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2. Literature Review

In this section you give a summary of the research you have done in your topic
area.

Introduce a long quote,

Indented quotation – must be 2 or more lines long. Notice there are no

quotation marks on an indented quote. Remember to reference your
quotation. (Name, Year, p.?)

Including shorter quotes inside a paragraph: ‘It must have quotation marks. Use
single quotes to show these are the original words.’ (Name, Year, p. ?).

Notice that you can use a quotation as ‘part of the sentence’ (Name, Year, p.?).
You do not need a comma before the quote if it is grammatically part of the
sentence.

Each paragraph should contain a complete idea. Introduce a point, discuss it,
refer to your reading.

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3. Methodology

Here you will describe the scope of your research and all of your research
methods. Start by describing the process you went through in selecting
particular methods of research.

Make sure you also describe any limitations or shortcomings in your research
methods.

Check your brief – you might not be expected to include a methodology.

3.1 Professional, Legal and Ethical issues

If you have different elements to your research, perhaps separate case studies,
or a variety of testing procedures, you may want to describe them in separate
subsections. Notice that subsections are numbered within the section.

3.2 Project Management

You can continue to add further subsections if these are necessary. However,
try to avoid if possible as the structure may get too complex.

If you are using graphs, charts or illustrations, write a paragraph introducing

the figure here and then make sure each figure is numbered sequentially.

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 Figure 1 Write a descriptive title for your illustration or graph here

4. Design & implementation

This section will document the implementation, testing or the conduct of the
investigation of your project. There will also be a discussion on any
issues/problems that arose and how each was resolved.

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5. Results

Here you will detail all of the results you collected. You may choose to use
tables or graphs to show your results.

If you are using a table of information, write a paragraph introducing the figure
here. Make sure each table is numbered sequentially.

Table 1 Write a descriptive title for your table here

Table of information

You may only need brief, connecting text between your tables of results.

If you have carried out purely qualitative research, it might make more sense
for you to combine your results and discussion section.

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6. Conclusions

In this section you apply your own reasoning and judgement on the findings of
your research in order to draw conclusions.

Show how all the different elements you have examined fit together, influence
each other, or have an impact on each other.

This should also be about 10% of your word count.

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7. Recommendations

Check your brief – you may not be expected to include recommendations.

If you are, the recommendations arising from this report are as follows:

1. Make sure you number your recommendations.

2. You may also want to give levels of priority or suggested dates for
implementation of your recommendations

3. However, first find out whether your supervisor or School expect your
dissertation to include a recommendations section.

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8. Reference list
ARMBRECHT, J. and T.D. ANDERSSON, 2017. Event impact. Abingdon:
Routledge

BBC, 2017. Huge Spain unity rally held in Barcelona 2017. [viewed Oct 8,
2017]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41544849

BASSOT, B., 2016. The reflective journal. 2nd ed. London: Palgrave BECKER,
L.M. and J. VAN EMDEN, 2016. Presentation skills for students. 3rd ed. London:
Palgrave

WEINSTEIN, E., 2017. Adolescents’ differential responses to social media

browsing: Exploring causes and consequences for intervention. Computers in
Human Behaviour, 76 (Supplement C), 396-405
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.038
And so on. These should all be in alphabetical order, so they are easy for the
reader to find and single line spaced

Note: A ‘Reference List’ is a list of citations for all sources you have referred to in the body of
your dissertation.

Use the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) link for the papers and journals in your lists so your
supervisor/marker can easily locate and check them:

WEINSTEIN, E., 2017. Adolescents’ differential responses to social media browsing: Exploring
causes and consequences for intervention. Computers in Human Behaviour, 76 (Supplement C),
396-405 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.038

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9. Bibliography

A ‘Bibliography’ is a list of all sources you have used in preparing your

dissertation, whether you have referred to them in the paper or not.

Check whether your School requires you to include a reference list or a

bibliography (in some cases they may want to see both, if so, put them on
separate pages).

Make sure your list is given in Alphabetical order of the Author’s surnames, or
the Name of the company or institution providing the website if no author is
given.

For more information, visit the tutorial on succeed@solent:

https://learn.solent.ac.uk/succeed/referencing

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10. Appendices

Appendix A: Title

An appendix is for anything you feel is useful for your reader to see, but which
isn’t essential for understanding your dissertation. It is optional.

Column heading 1 Column heading 2

Write table text here. Write table text here.

Note: An appendix normally includes research related material that does not fit
easily or suitably in the body of the report. Start each appendix on a new page
Notice that the sequence of your appendices is given using letters ‘Appendix A’,
‘Appendix B’, etc.
Also, the numbering of the pages in your appendix is done at the bottom of the
page as ‘A-1, A-2’/ ‘B-1, B-2’ etc.
To get this separate numbering, you need to insert a continuous break at the
heading of the appendix, this will start the numbering again. Then click into
the footer and uncheck the box which says ‘same as previous’. You should then
be able to change the letter next to the number (e.g. ‘A-1’ changed to ‘B-1’)to
match the letter of your Appendix.

In-text citation (link) to an Appendix should look like this: (Appendix A)

Use a footnote reference system Foo Bar1

If you have any difficulty doing this, just ask at the help desk on Floor 2 of the
library and the Advisors will be happy to assist.

A
Appendix B: Title

Paragraph.

Paragraph.

Column heading 1 Column heading 2

Write table text here. Write table text here.

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Appendix C: Title

Paragraph.