Structure of the project report
The structure of the project report of CSC is as follow
- Cover page - The cover page should contain the title of your project written on the top in large font. The title should be short and crispy yet should give a rough idea of the project. It should also contain the name of your state and district, name of the Institution you are representing, name of the Group Leader and the names of the co-workers, Guide. You may use sketches, photographs, cartoons etc. to make the cover page attractive. If you are writing your report in language other than English, write in English also.
- Title of the project
- Name and address of Group leader and co-workers (including name of the District and State).
- Name and address of guide
- Form - A ( Registration form) - ) which you had submitted to the District Co-ordinator at the time of Registration written clearly in English only. This form should be in a single page. You can use a photostat copy of the form also.
- Abstract - in 250 words for lower age group and 300 words for upper age group (The English translation of the abstract must be given if you write the report in any other language)
- Contents- list of chapter with detail heading and sub-heading, list of table, chart, maps, etc. along with references against page numbers
- Introduction- Write the title of the project on the top. The title of the project, however, normally does not give much idea on the project, so you have to give an introduction to the project. The introduction is a general discussion on the topic and what you are planning to do. You may also write about the outline of the report.
- Aims and objectives of the study - When you start a work you shall surely expect some result out of it. In this chapter explain in short what you intend to get as the result or the outcome of your work. Note, it may vary from the final outcome. Try not to exceed one page for this chapter.
- Hypothesis - Here you need to explain what assumptions you had made. Remember to validate your assumptions while coming to the final conclusion.
- Need statement - Justify why you selected this project in 50 to 100 words. Also justify how your work is related to the main theme/sub-themes of the congress.
- Work plan - Write in short about the scheme of work to complete the project. You may represent it graphically through flow charts. Remember, your scheme may vary later. N.B. The chapter (A)-(E) must be written well before your actual project work.
- Methodology - It is the base of the project so proper design of the experiments or the questionnaire is very necessary. In this chapter you should write how you have done the project, when you did (month day etc.) and how you have selected samples. However this chapter should not contain the collected data or analysis of data. Maps, blank sample survey form(s), etc. should be given here. A low-cost project yet very effective is highly appreciated.
N.B.: Maintain Log Book showing the day to day activities which has to be submitted at the national level Children’s Science Congress also.
- Observations - Here you need to present the data that you have collected. Collection of data either as responses, observations of experiments should be done meticulously. The data collected should be sufficient enough to be scientifically validated.
- Data analysis and interpretation - Here you have to make an analysis of the data that you have collected through survey or experiments.
- Results - Now it is time to interpret the data you had collected and analysed. Present the results of the analysis. Relevant maps, figures such as graphs, tables may be used judiciously to represent results. They should be understandable to all and should be systematically represented. Take care to make your presentation as simple as possible. Do not draw conclusions here. In fact, upto this chapter you are not supposed to give your own opinion or interpretation. This is very important as the data you got may mean one thing to you and something else to others.
- Conclusions - Now it is time to draw conclusions. Include your suggestions that you think can solve the problem. You should not generalise your observations/conclusions or derive big conclusions as you are working in a small area with a small sample size.
- Solution to the problem - Once you implement a permanent (more or less permanent) solution to the problem write down the steps of implementation and how you have solved it. Figures, photographs, maps, letters, articles published for sensitization may be given along it.
- Future plan - Action plan for follow-up actions is always expected. The work that you have carried out needs to conveyed to the general masses. What type of action you have planned for it.
- Acknowledgement - Acknowledge the help and co-operation you got from various individuals and organisations. Remember that, you should record your thaks/gratefulness to all those who have helped you or encouraged you, it does not matter how small the help may be or how less important the person may be. However, this chapter preferably should not be more than a page.
- References - This is the last chapter of your project report. Here you should quote all study materials used (e.g., books, articles, new paper, personal interviews etc.) You should write references in a specific order. We shall stick to writing them in alphabetical order of the names of new papers). For example-
In case of books:
1. Lamb, Marjorie, Two minutes a day for a Greener Planet, pp 50-60, Harper Paperbacls, New York, 1991.
2. Mazumder, Paramananda (Ed), Asomat Bigyan charchar dhara, pp. 10-15, Priyabala Prakashan, Tinsukia (Assam), 1995. i.e., Name of author(s)/editor(s), name of the book (underlined), Page nos. (used), publisher, place of publication, Year.
In case of News Papers:
1. Name of the News Paper (underlined), Page No. (used) Issue No., Volume No., Date, Place of Publication, Year.
In case of Articles:
1. Author(s), “Name of the article” (in inverted comas), Name of the Book/Magazine/News paper (underlined), page nos. (used), Issue No., Volume No., Date/month,Year, Publisher, Place of Publication, Year.
In case of personal interviews:
5. Rao, Dr. M.N.K., (Personal Interview), Date, place of interview, year.
Some projects may not be possible to be reported in the manner as discussed above in the Structure of the Project. For example, a project on “Modified form of daily used household items or machines”. In this project the chapters, ‘Data Analysis’ and ‘Solution to the problem’ may be replaced by a chapter ‘Description of the Equipments/Kits’. This chapter will contain descriptions of the equipmets/kits and theories involved, how to make them and their possible uses/utilities. Also you have to write a comparative analysis on old and new items/machines. Above all a slight modification has to be made depending on the project but the main work should be the same.
The word limit for the written report for the lower age group is 2500 and that for the upper age group is 3500. The written report can be substantiated by including limited number of photographs, sketches, illustrations and / or drawings, etc.