Date: 26^th November 2012

Week 04 : Day 01

Final Year Project 
This project is the final project done by an undergraduate student. The student is given nine months (33 weeks) to do the project. The work done in FYP is the peak of the students academic achievement  Project should be feasible, useful and balanced. In four months time there will be a midpoint interview where the student must attend with the research completed. The project must be:

• Feasible - it should be completed in the time allocated. A gantt chart is made to record all the work done and the time taken for each task to be completed. The midpoint interview is conducted four months before the submission date where the student must have the research completed and it carries 20% of the marks given to the final grade.
• Useful - the solution proposed must result in a usable method and practical.
• Balanced - Should include both qualitative and quantitative material.

Project proposal

A problem statement is a short descriptions of the selected issue, which includes a vision and the methods that could help to solve the problem.The vision is what effect it will have on the public if it is a macro problem and how solving a micro problem will affect an organisation. The chosen problem should be logical and writing the problem statement ideas must be included from primary and secondary sources. Should include objectives of maximum 4-5 points that will be gained.

The contents that should be included in the proposal are the problem statement based on a macro or micro environment and the selected research area.The objectives given must be time focused, measurable and the change that will be implemented. Next is the research methods used and if the project is feasible academically and technically. Lastly the outcomes, conclusion and recommendations are given.

Primary data - Data collected by the person conducting the investigation. Example: Interviews, Questionnaires.This data is expensive and takes time to collect.

Secondary data/Qualitative sources - This data is not original and is work of other people,much cheaper. and mostly out of date. Example: Reports, Newspapers.

According to Ceptara (2013), The first step to think about when writing a problem statement are the following questions (5 W's)

1. who does the problem affect? (who will face changes once problem is solved)
2. what does it affect (what is the result when it is solved)
3. when does the problem happen/when it needs to be fixed
4. where the problem is happening (type of organisation)
5. why is it essential for the problem to be fixed (what are the advantages)

Project contents

• Abstract - this includes three paragraphs separated into the introduction, problem statement, methods used in the project and what will be achieved at the end of the project and key words that are being used.
• Introduction - Contains the table of contents, table of figures and the table of tables and introduction to the  proposed solution.
• Body 

Chapter 01: Introduction, Problem Statement, Research Question, Aims and Objectives
Chapter 02: Industry Analysis (SWOT, PEST, Value Chain, Porter's Analysis) - External environment
Chapter 03: Academic research (Literature review, Design)
Chapter 04: Initial design specification - Compare and contrast databases (Midpoint interview)
Chapter 05: Design - how it is being developed (ERD, DFD, Use case)
Chapter 06: Testing
Chapter 07: Implementation

• Conclusion
• List of references
• Bibliography
• Appendices

Referred books/websites  

Ceptara (2013) How to write a problem statement
[Online] Available from: http://www.ceptara.com/blog/how-to-write-problem-statement

[Online] Available from: http://curriculum.leeds.ac.uk/rbl/final-year-project