How to Write a Computer Science Dissertation

Instructions

• 1

  Choosing the Research Area:
  
  As a computer science student, first of all select the area of interest to carry out the research. Typical research areas include algorithms and data structures, programming, languages, computer architecture, operating systems and computer networks, software development, databases and information retrieval systems, artificial intelligence and robotics, computer graphics or human computer interaction.
  
  After that, narrow it down to a specific area that requires some research to be carried out and then explore it more and identify the problem area. Once you have identified the problem area, give the explanation of the problem that you intend to research on and then break down the problem into sub problems. If the problem is related to an analyses, testing or assessment then these sub problems should take the form of a question or hypothesis. In case of development of some technical solution to a problem, the sub problems should be in the form of testable goals.
• 2

  Choosing a Research Topic:
  
  Once decided about the area, choose a topic that is concise and precise enough and is self speaking of the document content. It is important to note that the research topic needs an in-depth study and investigation in order to support the arguments. If the dissertation is about an enhancement or implementation of some technological solution then there are two things about which you need to be very particular; the first one are the valid results and the second one are the findings from the secondary data, all of which calls for an in-depth study and investigation.
• 3

  Making a Computer Science Dissertation Proposal:
  
  After choosing the Computer Science dissertation topic, prepare the dissertation proposal and get it approved by the department research committee. This is a very important task to be done since on the basis of this proposal you will carry on your research.
  
  A research proposal should be a well written document and should be grasping enough to get your research accepted. Also it should throw light on every aspect of your dissertation so first give an introduction to the selected area and the proposed hypothesis. Also discuss any related work done in that field up till now, preliminary work done by you up till now, the main challenges to achieve the proposed hypothesis and how you will evaluate the hypothesis and how soon you expect your dissertation to get completed.
• 4

  Title Page:
  
  Let the title page of the dissertation cast a good impression in the first place with no spelling mistakes or errors. Usually the title page contains the name of the topic in center and then after a space of 4 lines the name of the author, university and department names are mentioned.
• 5

  Acknowledgments:
  
  This is an appreciation to all those people who helped you in carrying out your research. This may include your supervisor, parents, siblings, friends, people who participated in the survey or the librarians who have sought out information for you.
• 6

  Abstract:
  
  This is a very important part in the dissertation that gives an overview of the dissertation to the reader. Write a maximum of 500 words long summary in simple but formal language and give some idea to the reader about what follows in the document.
• 7

  Table of Contents:
  
  This is where you will mention each and every section that you have included in the dissertation in the form of an index. Give a properly formatted list of contents of the dissertation with proper page numbering.
• 8

  Introduction:
  
  A computer science dissertation introduction provides the explanation for conducting the research and this is where you grasp readers' attention.
  
  In the beginnig of the introduction highlight the research statement clearly. Also state the aims and objectives and discuss the background with proper details about what has happened up till now in that area of computer science. Write it for a naive reader who has no prior knowledge about the subject.
• 9

  Literature Review:
  
  The literature review is where you mention the details about all the available and published researches done by the scholars in that area of computer science up till.
  
  To make an appropriate literature review it is important that you first go through the all the previous works in detail and then spotlight the basic ideas and their problems. In  addition to this, you should also identify and mention what are their strengths and weaknesses.
• 10

  Methodology:
  
  In this section tell the reader how the research is done and what research methods have been used.
  
  First give a short summary of the available methods and then discuss which method you have adopted and the reason of adopting that method. After this, discuss in detail how you actually carried out the research.
• 11

  Results:
  
  In this part of the research document discuss what the findings are and what the conclusion is. It must not be a mere description but a vision for future development in that subject area.
• 12

  Discussion/Implications/Recommendations:
  
  Discuss the main findings and relate them to the literature review. For instance, if the research is about a system you made, then discuss the various reasons for the design decision and the feedback from the people who have used this system.
  
  Compare results with the literature review and answer questions like:
  
  - How do your results fill in the gap with the previous research?
  - How is your research a proceeding to the previous research ?
  - How your research disagrees with previously done research?
  
  After this, discuss the implications of the research and also discuss the future of your research.
• 13

  References:
  
  Include all the sources of written documents that have been referred to during the resarch.
• 14

  Bibliography:
  
  In this section include the books or published books you have referred to during the research.
• 15

  Appendices:
  
  In the appendices include all the questionnaires, tables and figures in a logical manner.