A comprehensive guide to writing an effective project report for students

After examining the project copies of the previous students on the current project topic and other related research papers published in journals, find a topic that has not been covered or studied in the previous research and explain its need. It should be stated that there has been no research on this topic in the past or very little research has been done or the current topic has been neglected in the past by the researchers and therefore there is a great need to conduct research on this topic.

Research Objectives and Hypothesis: After identifying the study needs based on the review of previous project research, the current project report should explain what you expect, prove and recommend to users. Setting objectives in this way will not only help you to continue your project report but also help those who will review or use your project to understand your point of view.

Data Collection: After setting the research objectives, the necessary information should be collected. Depending on the research topic, the method of collecting the data should be decided. Depending on the need, the required data can be collected from the primary data or secondary data or both the sources. Primary data means information/data collected for the first time i.e. the data that has not been collected before. Secondary data means data that has been already collected and recorded before and readily available to use. Both these types of data are required for the project report. Another important point is that richer the data, higher the quality of the result is likely to be.

Methodology: The researcher should indicate what he actually intends to do in his study and how he intends to do it. Thus, the research design, how the required information was collected, by which statistical tools the collected information was evaluated and how the results of the study were analyzed, etc. should be explained. This methodology section should be written in a well-structured, concise and factual manner.

Data Analysis and Interpretation: This is the most important part of the project report design. All the collected data should be presented well with tables & charts. The data in the tables should be analyzed using appropriate statistical tools and the results should be obtained. For this, modern computer software like SPSS, R, Eviews, XLStats, NumXL etc. can be used. Currently available computer tools like artificial intelligence (AI), ChatGPT can also be used. Each result should be analyzed skillfully. Special explanations should also be added to each result. Then only the purpose of the project report be will fulfilled.

Findings, Suggestions and Conclusions: The results obtained from the analysis of the collected data using statistical tools and computer software such as SPSS, R, Eviews, StatsXL, NumXL etc. should be briefly explained. The suggestions needed for improving the results should be given in a clear and practical manner. Then, a summary of the entire project report should be briefly explained in the form of a conclusion.

Editing: Before printing the project report, students must present to assigned project guide or project supervisor and take their suggestions. It is useful to have your report reviewed by the project mentor/project guide or project supervisor. They will provide clear feedback and identify any mistakes that are found in the report. If there are any errors, they should be corrected as per their suggestions. The project report should be re-reviewed for any grammatical, spelling mistakes and formatting issues to ensure the clarity.

References: References are the sources from which the needed information is gathered. After preparing the project report, students should list all the books, journals, and websites they have referred at the end of the project report. By providing detailed information about each source in this way, project users can easily locate the source of information, if they want to learn more about the project topic or verify the information used in the report. Most importantly, it shows that students are given due credit to the original authors whose works are mentioned in the project. Citing sources properly is a sign of academic integrity. It proves that they are not claiming the research done by others as their own. A well-structured reference list, in this way, shows that students have researched the current topic in depth. This increases the credibility of the project report.

Adhere to Ethical Standards: Students should adhere to ethical standards while doing their project report. If the material in the report involves human subjects, the necessary permissions and consents must be obtained from the relevant individuals and the necessary confidentiality must be maintained. Transparency and integrity in the research process are very important for producing a credible and respectable report. Direct copying from others’ works should not be done without their permission. Similarly, plagiarism, i.e. stealing information, should not be done. The university allows plagiarism upto 25% to 30%. If it is more than that, the project report will be rejected. Therefore, due care should be taken while preparing the project report.

(The author is Associate Professor Department of Business Management, Vaageswari College of Engineering, Karimnagar)

(Concluded)