NICMAR

GUIDELINES ON WRITING ASSIGNMENTS/ LONG PAPERS AND CASES

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH

GUIDELINES ON WRITING ASSIGNMENTS/ LONG PAPERS

INTRODUCTION In part fulfillment of the curricular requirements for the various CODE courses, a student is required to submit assignments on topics given to him/her. This requirement is based on the assumption that writing a report in an academic st le is an essential part of the professional training of an e!ecutive. The primar responsibilit for planning wor", organi#ing data collection and writing the final report rests with the student concerned. $n acceptable $ssignment/%ong paper should conform to the following minimum requirements&' (. %ength ' )ot less than *+ thesis si#e double space t ped pages. ,$'- si#e. for a %ong /aper and (+ such pages for an $ssignment. 0. /resentation ' The assignment should be bound in a cover and material should be presented in an academic st le. 1. Evidence of "nowledge with the theor and practice of the sub2ect assigned. RESEARCH PROPOSAL If ou were building a house or a fl over, ou need a blue print spelling out the design plans and la out to be followed, details of the amount and t pe of material to be used, and the nature of tools and equipment etc. to be emplo ed as well as estimates of costs and time. %i"ewise, without specif ing all these details, ou cannot start building. $n assignment or a %ong /aper should start with a blue print. 3ithout it, ou can4t write efficientl or economicall . 5pend more time on wor"ing out the blue print, thin" out all conceptual and practical details and plot out the approach, strateg and procedure in details. DATA COLLECTION Data collection is a ver laborious tas" and unless done meticulousl , ma lead to serious faults in results. In general, there are three t pes of data with the students, namel . 6uantitative ,facts, figures, etc.. 6ualitative, and ,reports, notes, documents, etc.. 6uotations, etc.

The quantitative data is generall the bul"iest. This raw data is converted into the usable form. This is done b presenting it in the form of Tables, and from there on to illustrations of various "inds. If the student has done his blue print well, he will "now what to do with the data, most often he will ma"e dumm Tables in advance to be filled in. $lternativel dumm Tables should be made before processing the data. Increasingl , data processing is being done on computers for which the right software pac"age should be selected. 6uantitative data helps to build the s"eleton of the report. 7lesh and muscles are formed out of the qualitative data. $nd quotations etc. are used to add additional support, curves and attractiveness to the form of a report. There are no hard and fast rules in regard to the use of qualitative data. If the student "now what he wants, i.e. has done his blue print well, he will "now how to use qualitative information. $lthough drafting follows a personal st le of the writer, there are certain ground rules for writing academic reports. 3hatever be our st le and method of writing, ground rules

will prove a useful aid 8 the should be followed. 5ome of the more important rules are stated below& 1. GENERAL Develop our report first in outline. If ou wor" as ou should, it is probable that ou will spend much more time in outlining than in actuall writing the final manuscript. /lan in terms of two outlines. $ssemble our material and loo" it over. If it is in the form of good reading notes, this can be done ver convenientl and effectivel . Consider main headings, perhaps three or four, certainl not man more. 9loc" out sub'heads under the main heads as ou need them. :ere, of course, ou are shaping up the s"eleton organi#ation. It is a ver important thing to do. )othing centres an 2ob of writing better than an e!act "nowledge at all times of 2ust what topics or sub'topic is being treated, and of what its precise relationship is to ever thing else in the report. This ma"es for precise thin"ing, which in turn e!presses itself in writing. 9loc" out our general outline carefull and, when it is done do not be in too much of hurr to press on. ;ive it a chance to mature in our mind. <er li"el after a da or two ou will see the need for some changes. =our general outline is the wor"ing device which can give ou valuable guidance. 5pace our main points widel on the sheets so that there is plent of rooms for interlined notations. The ne!t stage is the full or wor"ing outline. It fills, it amplifies and probabl some e!tent modifies the general outline, and it is the basis for actual writing. to

During the outline stage, do not write more than one paragraph on one sheet. This helps ou to arrange, re'arrange sequence of paragraphs. The problem is automaticall ta"en care of if ou are wor"ing on a /.C. This procedure will save much time and labour in the following wa s& i. ii. iii. It sets out ever thing in its proper and orderl place and et it enables ou to retain great fle!ibilit and free dom. It enables ou to retain mental fle!ibilit until far along in our wor". It brings our 2ob of writing down from the world of dreams into the world of realit . 3hen ou have made our full outline, ou have the whole thing before ou on paper in concrete form. =ou can do focali#ed, intensive and fruitful thin"ing about an detail or aspect of it.

3hen the wor"ing outline is completed ou can get a bird4s e e view of the 2ob in advance, and see prett much how it will shape up in final form. This enables ou to as" ourself honestl , and to answer concretel the great and ultimate question that should command the mind of ever writer& E!actl what am I telling m reader> $ 3ord of Caution& In writing a summar , there is often a temptation to claim more than was performed. This occurs because the student alwa s find man ?suggestive? data. DO )OT be afraid to discard material that is not to the point/relevant. 2. STYLE 3rite simpl and directl . The report need not be longer than is strictl necessar for clearl presenting what is significant for our stud . $void unnecessar repetition.

9e consistent in itself.

our use of tenses& use the past tense referring to the stud $void

@se an impersonal st le without its becoming mechanical or stilted. colloquialism or the e!cessive use of professional terminolog . Aeports filled with numbers ma be ver strictl to the rules regarding their use& i.

confusing unless the writer adheres

ii. iii.

iv.

)umbers less than one hundred, and round numbers, are usuall spelled out. )umbers larger than one hundred, e!cept round number, are usuall given in futures. $ fraction is alwa s spelled out for e!ample, one twelfth unless it is part of a large number. )o sentence should being with figures. )umbers with four or more digits, e!cept dates and page number, must have commas inserted to point off thousands from millions, or la"hs and crores. Do not use both and spell out the words at first to establish which terms ou are using. )umbers indicting percentages are usuall given in figures although these ma be smaller than one hundred. The words ?per? and ?cent? are not lin"ed together.

Abbreviati !" )o abbreviations should be used in the te!t though the are frequentl called for in footnotes. E!ceptions are titles such as Br., Brs., Dr. In case of repeated reference mention the full name first and indicate the nature of abbreviations. #. FORMAT The format of the $ssignment is written in the indicated sequence& i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. H $t Title'page Table of contents., %ist of Tables ,if an . %ist of 7igures ,if an .. This ma be subdivided into charts, groups, maps, illustrations, etc. Bain Te!t 9ibliograph / Aeferences $ppendices $rite %ib&i 'ra()*/F t! te" be used in the

The natural order of surname following the given name ma footnotes. 9ibliographical entries as illustrated below&

%undberg, ;eorge $.C 5ocial Aesearch& %ongman4s ;reen 8 Co., )ew =or", (DD-. Abbreviati ! )o abbreviations should be used in the main te!t of the report. Tab&e" Each Table should have a number and a title at the top.

Fi'+re" $ figure ma be a chart, diagram, drawing, graph, photograph, /hotostat, map, histogram, blueprint or an t pe of illustration. Bost frequentl , the total number of all these various "inds of illustrations is small. In this case all of them are grouped together as one series and are called 7igures. 3hen, however, there is a large number of an one "ind, it is proper to call the group b its specific name and to call the other 7igures. P&a,e-e!t . Tab&e" a!/ Fi'+re"

5ince a Table or a 7igure is supposed to contain material that will be discussed in the te!t, or that is essential to a clear understanding of interpretation of what has been written, the Table should be placed as near as possible to the discussion in the manuscript that relates to it. T*(i!' R+&e" i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. /ages must be of uniform colour and si#e. /ages should be numbered on right hand corner one inch from top of page and one inch from right edge. There should be a margin of ( ? on left hand side ' ( ? from top ' (? from right hand edge. Double'spacing should be retained through out e!cept in quotations which are centered in the page, or in the foot 'notes. One side of page is to be t pes onl . 7ootnotes are to be set off from the page content b a line e!tending at lest (/1rd of the wa across the page from the left margin. 7ootnote custom is to be followed strictl .

)ew paragraphs begin with a line indented seven spaces from the left margin. 7or long single 'spaced quotations, a new margin with a four space indentation is established between the regular left'hand margin of the te!t and the line of indentation. CASE $ case is a situation given to the students. The situation has to be anal #ed b the students, appl ing his thought, derive conclusions through logic reasoning and present a solution.