Writing a Seminar Paper

CS-E5000 Fall 2017

Marjo Kauppinen

With slides by lots of people including Casper Lassenius, Tomi Männistö

Harri Töhönen, and Marko Komssi
Outline

• Learning goals of the course

• Elements of a good seminar paper
• Research plan
• Summary

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Learning goals of the seminar course
• You can deepen your knowledge about an interesting topic of software and
service engineering.

• You learn to define a clear goal by formulating a good research question.

• You learn to analyse research papers and other material in a systematic way.

• You learn to report the results of the analysis clearly.

• You learn how to do research and to prepare for writing your thesis
– Picking a topic
– Doing a literature review
– Academic writing style
– Process writing – drafting, writing, rewriting, rewriting, and revising ☺
– Working with an instructor

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Group work
What are the characteristics of a good seminar paper?

- 3-5 min individual brainstorming

- 10+ min discussion in small groups
- Wrap up

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Elements of a good seminar paper
Title Abstract

⇒ Catch the eye and search machine ⇒ Hook the reader

Backgrounds to understand
the study and the results
How plausible and The meanings Conclusions
repeatable your findings
Introduction ⇒ So what?
Discussion
⇒ Motivation and goal
Methods ”Results”
⇒ Evaluating

⇒ How you do it ⇒ Findings

Good standard structure of the seminar paper,

the master's thesis and the doctoral thesis.

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Elements of a good seminar paper
Title Abstract

⇒ Catch the eye and search machine ⇒ Hook the reader

• Scope/domain? • Motivation: why this study is interesting and important?

• Key concepts • Research question: what’s the point, finding answer(s) to what?
• What? • Method(s): how you found the answer(s)
• (How?) • Results: your main answer(s) and
• The most important conclusion (=> so what?)
Backgrounds to understand • Keywords
the study and the results
How plausible and The meanings Conclusions
repeatable your findings
Introduction ⇒ So what?
Discussion
⇒ Motivation and goal
Methods ”Results”
⇒ Evaluating

⇒ How you do it ⇒ Findings

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 Elements of a good seminar paper
Title Abstract

⇒ Catch the eye and search machine ⇒ Hook the reader

• Scope/domain? • Motivation: why this study?

• Key concepts • Research question: what’s the point, finding answer(s) to what?
• What? • Method(s): how you found the answer(s)
• (How?) • Results: your main answer(s) and
• The most important conclusion (=> so what?)
Backgrounds to understand • Keywords
the study and the results
How plausible and The meanings Conclusions
repeatable your findings
Introduction ⇒ So what?
Discussion
• Your unique
⇒ Motivation and goal contributions
Methods ”Results” • ’THE thing’ the
• Playground: domain and scope, ⇒ Evaluating
reader should
main concepts • Comparing your results memorize
• Motivation: why your study is ⇒ How you do it ⇒ Findings against existing knowledge • Proposed further
interesting and what’s the problem • Reliability/validity of your research
• Research question: what are you • How did you search articles • What kind of answer(s) results
• How did you select articles you found
looking for • Implications to practice
• How did you analyse articles • What kind of data and and research
• Structure: what the reader should analysis backs up your
expect answer(s)

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Writing the Seminar Paper

• The style should be scientific

• Simple, Clear, Precise and Readable
• Formal
• Logical, Coherent and Internally consistent
• Critical
• Humble but Convincing
• Clearly separate your own ideas, opinions and experiences from
those of others – use references
• Beware of conclusions that don’t follow from the data,
unsubstantiated claims and unfounded speculation!
• Don’t write a consultancy report!
• BUT: Don’t be dry – you should argue some point!

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Search relevant and interesting Literature
• Start with keywords and use articles in the course material, databases, and journals
• Rule of thumb: go back 10 years
• Databases of importance: IEEE Explore, ACM Digital Library, Scopus, EbscoHost, AbiInform,
Elsevier ScienceDirect
• Google / Google scholar?

• Read titles and abstracts, search for relevant material

• Browse through 10-100 times more material than you actually use

• Narrow down the search based upon what you find, also look for new keywords

• If you don’t find anything relevant, try to rethink you keywords or research focus

• Prepare a preliminary literature list for review with your instructor

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Search relevant and interesting Articles
• By using key concepts
• Snowballing
• Papers that use the interesting article as a reference
• By the author name

• Keep record how you searched and selected the papers.

• This will help you to write the section called “Research method”
• How did you search interesting and relevant articles?
• How did you select articles to be analysed?
• How did you analyse the selected articles?

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About the Writing Process

• Start early

• Do a lousy first draft

• Rewrite
• good writers rewrite more than bad ones

• Writing is thinking

• Write often — every day is preferable

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Seminar Process
• Research plan (3.10.)
• Topic
• Motivation: why the topic and research question are interesting
• Research question(s)
• Tentative literature list

• Initial draft (17.10.)

• All the above, refined
• Storyline outlined, (structure of the paper)
• Content created, (bullets, figures tables)
• Text does not have to be finalized

• Complete draft = first complete version (7.11.)

• From your point of view: ready (everything is there).
• “Final version” of text, figures, tables, etc.

• Final version (24.11.)

• Instructor’s comments on the first complete version taken into account

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Working with an instructor
• The instructor’s job is to help you
• will point you in the right(?) direction and give feedback

• Don’t expect the instructor to do the job for you

• e.g. literature search, structuring, etc.

• Meet the deadlines

• Come well prepared to the meetings

• Ask questions

• Take the comments and suggestions seriously, but form your own view

• You are the person who is responsible for the final decisions and report

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Next: The Research Plan

• Identify
• Tentative topic and research question(s)
• Related literature (this means: start searching the literature NOW!)

• Meet with your instructor and discuss

• Write a first draft using the recommended structure (see next page)
• Prepare for the meeting

• After the meeting

• Update topic, research question(s), tentative literature list
• Submit research plan document by 3.10. 23:55

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Structure of the Research Plan (~A4)
• Topic
• Interesting
• Doable
• Clear – based on a set of the key concepts
• Later, this will be specified and refined to be the title of the seminar paper

• Motivation
• Why the topic and research question are interesting
• Create text based on references (if possible)
• Can also contain general knowledge
• A couple of paragraphs

• Research question(s)
• Goal of the seminar paper that can be updated later if needed
• Put effort on this

• Tentative literature list

• Start searching interesting papers as soon as possible

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Characteristics of good research questions
• interesting
• relevant from the perspective of practice
• simple and easy to understand
• can be answered – not too broad, not too challenging
• is based on the key concepts

• Typically, it is better to have one clear research question.

• If the seminar paper contains more than research questions,
• the research questions need to form a logical whole and
• the order of the questions is also important.

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Characteristics of good research questions

The definition of the question(s) is

• important and critical
• intellectually challenging
• an iterative process.

Interesting articles can help you to formulate the research question.

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Summary

Start early and write iteratively

Focus on quality

Deep understanding and analysis of the

scientific articles

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References

Hirsjärvi, S., Remes, P., Sajavaara, P. 2000. Tutki ja Kirjoita. Helsinki: Tammi.

Kakkuri-Knuuttila, M. (toim.). 1998. Argumentti ja Kritiikki: lukemisen, keskustelun ja vakuuttamisen taidot.

Helsinki: Gaudeamus.

Kauranen, I., Ropponen, P., Aaltonen, M. 1993. Tutkimusraportin kirjoittamisen opas. Otaniemi: TKK.

May, E. 1993. Tiedettä Englanniksi: akateemisen kirjoittamisen käsikirja. Jyväskylä: korkeakoulujen kielikeskus.

Sternberg, R.J. 1993. The psychologist's companion : a guide to scientific writing for students and researchers.
Cambrige: Cambridge University Press.

Uusitalo, H. 1991. Tiede, tutkimus ja tutkielma: johdatus tutkielman maailmaan. Helsinki: WSOY.