SUNY Canton

CITA481 Senior Project

A Plan for Writing a Paper

Like any other project, writing a paper can be managed with a project plan. The plan is a logical path to follow so you can achieve a final goal and includes intermediate goals, or milestones, that must be met along the way. The Gantt chart below shows most of the presentation as sequential tasks. This plan includes a Notecard step that is highly recommended but not required. The research step is documented for grading by the content of several required submissions.

To turn the chart into a schedule, you should assign start and stop dates to each task. Rather than clutter the chart with additional information, this is best done in table format. Note: Dates are included only for those items that must be turned in for a grade. 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 7.1 Task Start of Spring Semester Select Topic Research Project Proposal Detailed Outline Annotated List of References Note Cards Write Paper 1st Draft Start Date 3/12/2012 3/12/2012 3/12/2012 3/15/2012 3/19/2012 3/24/2012 End Date 3/14/2012 3/30/2012 3/18/2012 3/23/2012 3/30/2012

3/22/2012

5/1/2012

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CITA481 Senior Project

7.2 8.0 10.0

Instructor Review and Final Draft Submit Paper End of Spring Semester

Comment 5/11/2012 5/25/2012 5/25/2012

5/25/2012 5/25/2012

Papers submitted for the Senior Projects course must conform to the APA style as described in Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition. This book is also referred
to as the style guide throughout this paper. To ensure your work meets this requirement, you should obtain a copy to use as a reference. As you consider each one of these tasks, keep in mind that they are arranged in this sequence because the results of one task enable you to perform the next. As an example, it is not likely that your preliminary outline will be correct until you have done your research and know what information is available to support your thesis statement. Similarly, you will not be able to write a project proposal without a preliminary outline and a list of references.

Selecting a Topic In the Fall of your Senior Year you will have the opportunity to investigate different ideas related to the Information Technology field. To start, you should look for two or three topics that interest you. The final topic selected may be the one for which you find the most references or it may be one that you would like to begin with this paper and continue learning about it after you complete your Bachelors Degree. In the latter case, the topic could be further developed as a Masters Thesis. Thesis Statement When submitting you topic for approval, you need a thesis statement. The thesis statement is the hypothesis that you are going to support with facts gathered during your research. The initial presumption is that you will justify your thesis statement but you could end up proving it wrong. Either way, your paper will present your thesis statement in the beginning; the results of your research in the middle, and a conclusion that states whether the thesis statement is or is not supported and summarizes the reasons why. Lets assume you decide to write about one aspect of artificial intelligence natural language processing, specifically the use of automated answering systems to direct telephone calls within a company. Your thesis statement could be The use of automated answering systems enhances a companys operations by directing calls more effectively than a human operator can. This statement is included in the Introduction along with a few sentences that prepare the reader for the body of the paper. Many pages later, you will reach the conclusion of your paper. If your research shows the thesis statement to be true you will restate the hypothesis and summarize the main points that support it. Alternatively, your research may show that it is not true or possibly that it is situation dependent (maybe it depends on the size of the company). In this case you will say

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CITA481 Senior Project

something like, Based on the results of the consumer survey, people become frustrated with automated answering systems that force them into an extended dialog with a machine rather than quickly assessing their needs and directing them to the correct office immediately. You would then summarize the other points which support the idea that the thesis statement was not true. Topic Proposal Your topic proposal should include your thesis statement, a paragraph about why you think this is a good topic, and where you expect to find information to support you work. If you plan on doing a survey or conducting and experiment, you need to include the protocol for the task. The protocol will describe the methods, required resources, expected results, and other information about the survey or experiment. You should check the style guide for additional information and requirements that are part of the protocol. Research Research starts on the first day and continues until you begin to write the 1st Draft. When you start writing the paper, you should only return to research if you find you need additional information to support a specific idea. You should read the section on note cards and consider starting that task at the same time you are doing your research. First, it will save you the effort of going through each source twice; and second, it will help ensure you dont remember a fact but forget where you saw it. Research is finding any source that can provide information on your topic. It includes, but is not limited to libraries and the Internet; professors, scientists, engineers, and technicians; government agencies and private companies; and surveys. Research may also include conducting an experiment to collect data about your topic. See the APA style guide, chapter 7, to determine what information you need to record for each different type of reference. While attending SUNY Canton, you have access to the Southworth Library through the college web site. Here you will be able to find books and periodicals that have information pertinent to your topic. With the proliferation of electronic books, finding a reference thought the electronic library is the same as finding the paper book on a library shelf. If you are not familiar with the on-line library, there is a tutorial on the CITA481 Angel page. Keep in mind that there is a difference between scholarly journals and other periodicals/e-zines. Scholarly journals are typically published by professional societies like the IEEE or the ACM. The important feature of scholarly journals is that the articles are review by a professional board and evaluated to be sure they meet standards for credibility. Project Proposal By the time you get this far, your thesis topic will have been approved. As you consider your research you may find that the topic is much bigger than you first thought. One way to limit the

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CITA481 Senior Project

scope of a topic is to concentrate on single aspect, for example, look at the advantages of using only solar energy rather than all renewable energy sources. Although limiting the scope of the paper may make it easier to focus on the topic, it may also result in the need for additional research as many of your note cards may no longer apply to the topic. The format of the project proposal is defined in the Document Guidelines folder in Angel Course Documents. You should refer to it and make sure you include all the necessary parts. Preliminary Outline This is a recommended step where you will begin to organize your thoughts and define the scope of your topic. After completing your research you will have some idea of the scope of your topic and what you want to say about it. The preliminary outline is a list of the major and secondary divisions of your topic. This is where you organize the topic into logical units in preparation for your project proposal. If you chose to write your note cards while doing research, you can use them now to divide the information into the categories that will make your preliminary outline. Detailed Outline Again, if you chose to write your note cards as you continue your research, you can prepare the detailed outline is to resort your note cards within the major categories. If you have three or four cards that relate to the same subject, they probably should become a subsection of that major category. As you are beginning to see, the quality of your research and note taking has a direct bearing on the ease with which you can accomplish the rest of the paper. Note Cards Each note card should include only one fact or quotation. The purpose of this exercise is to organize your thoughts and information into a logical order for writing your paper. Historically this was done by shuffling the individual note cards to put them in order. If you keep your research in table form, you can cut and paste the rows to change the order of the chapters and organize your facts into a sequence that flows naturally form one concept to another. The resulting list of information will make it easier for you to write the Project Proposal and the Detailed Outline. A final comment, you don't have to use all the note card information in the paper. It is better to gather too much information than not have enough to support your project. 1st Draft Here is where you combine the detailed outline, your note cards, and any survey or experimental data that you gathered. The outline will provide the structure and the note cards will help you get the facts straight. If you write each chapter separately, each current task will not seem as large.

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CITA481 Senior Project

This is the time to create tables, charts, and graphs that augment you text. These elements should include only the data that supports the point you are making so the conclusion will be clear to the reader. If you have three sets of data; A, B, and C; and you need to show a relationship between sets A-B and sets A-C it might be better to use two different graphs rather than crowd all the information on a single graph. This is especially true if there is no secondary relationship between sets B and C. Before submitting the 1st draft you should add a cover page, table of contents, list of references, and any appendices that you refer to in your text. If you have tables, charts, graphs, or images, you need to have a list of tables and/or a list of figures following the table of contents. Although not a finished product, your paper at this point should be very close to its final form. You would be wise to ask your mentor to proof read it for spelling and grammar because an independent person usually spots problems that the author overlooks. Citing References Not every paragraph will have a citation but when you use information for one of your references, it is easier to enter the citation while you are typing than it is to go back through the paper to find cited material. Remember to use quotation marks if you are copying the exact words from an article or you are using the exact words you recorded during an interview. Additional Drafts Depending on the number of corrections you need to make or additional material you need to add, you may need to make additional drafts that can be reviewed prior to publishing the final paper. Final Draft The final draft is what you will submit for a grade. It should include any changes you need to make in response to reviews of previous drafts. It should also be checked both electronically and manually (print it and reread it) for spelling and grammar errors. You should also make one final check to be sure you have followed the APA Publication Manual. When submitting your paper electronically, be careful to submit the final draft and not a previous one. Carelessness at this point might mean the difference between passing and failing.