Capstone project

What Goes into the Background Section?

The Background is your introduction to your Capstone problem. In the Background section, you create a clear picture of your Capstone: what the problem is, why it is important, and what is your unique position on addressing that problem.  Most importantly, you present your thesis statement.

Before writing this section, you should narrow your topic down and create a problem statement. The problem statement sets up your thesis statement, and the thesis statement guides your entire capstone. Every section of the Capstone, every paragraph, every idea should relate to or support the thesis statement.

The context of your problem, problem statement, thesis statement, and related research question(s) are all included in the Background section.

To help you define your problem, consider these questions:

· What is the context/background for the problem regarding the industry? What is the anchor statistic that defines your problem?  Why is this issue important?

· What is the central research question related to the thesis statement?

· Have you pointed the reader clearly to your thesis statement?

· Have you determined your audience?

· What is your approach to analyzing the problem and what do you predict you will find (i.e., the problem statement)?

· How will you evaluate or measure the viability and effectiveness of your proposed solution?

The background is not a long section, typically 750 words, but it sets the stage for the rest of the project. Your goal is succinctness and clarity. Review your work for organization and flow while following all format and documentation requirements.

The Anchor Statistic

The anchor statistic or statistics are relevant data that describes the problem. The anchor statistic should compel you as the researcher and writer to develop a solution. The anchor statistic should bring your problem to life for your readers and drive interest in your solution. Examples of anchor statistics include:

· The healthcare industry experiences twice the number of cybersecurity attacks as other industries - Capstone Project focused on developing a cybersecurity protocol targeted at the health care industry. 

· Less than 25% of lost pets are reunited with their families - Capstone Project exploring the use of blockchain technology coupled with RFID microchips to find and return lost pets. 

· Testing and associated rework can consume 50% of all software development costs, yet high impact bugs still escape - Capstone project that explored a method to more accurately test SQL database queries

· Ten percent of the world's population lives with a disability, making the disabled the worlds largest minority group. A Capstone devoted to making accessibility and ease of use part of the initial design process. 

In order to define your problem, research and begin with your anchor statistic. As always, properly cite and reference your source for your anchor statistic.

Thinking Ahead

The Background section must transition to the Literature Review section. As you gather scholarly evidence for the Literature Review, make sure it builds on elements identified in the Background section.

Approach

 

You can find much of the information in this Approach section in the Capstone Instructions. Any method you use to determine your process or criteria you use to develop your solution is your Approach. Questioning yourself will help you write this section. Only you know WHAT you considered and HOW you evaluated the information to create your solution. In the Approach section, you explain that process to your audience. Bear in mind that if you describe your exact steps and criteria for determining what evidence to use, your audience should be able to repeat the process and obtain the same result.

For some students, this is a difficult section to write because their research process is very intuitive and few students examine their process. There are many different methods to approach a problem or issue and to evaluate a proposed solution or predict a result for that problem. Now, you must make your internal process of gathering and analyzing data explicit. Because, the way that you approach the problem or issue determines the kinds of data you look at, how you analyze that data, and how the analysis results in a solution or supports, or doesn't support, a solution to the problem.

In the Approach section, you describe the method you take to analyze the problem. You do not predict or include your actual results and solution in this section. You do not detail each step you take in finding sources but indicate where you may find the best sources and why the sources provide the most reliable and credible evidence/data. You are focusing on how you conduct the analysis of information to evaluate the position you have taken in your thesis statement and used that to create a solution. Do not focus on where you will find the information, rather describe what information you need to find. 

 

Processes and Criteria

You should consider the following questions when writing the Approach:

· What steps do you take? Ask yourself what do I need to know? What questions do I need to answer?

· What types of data should you use to build your case (not a list of those sources, but a discussion on the kinds of data used)?

· How do you structure your research to build your case and arrive at a solution?

· What is the framework established in your Background through which you determine what information to analyze and how you interpret the results?

 

In your research and analysis you might include any of the following approaches: 

1. Concerns about spatial relationships (ex. rural to city to county to state to national to global)

2. Causal impact ranging from cause of a problem to its effect or effects to the cause

3. Research and study examples of how others have faced the problem

4. Incorporate “best practices” as exemplars

5. Establish a logical method of separating the issue and dealing with individual aspects

6. Find personalized examples of how people overcame a problem

7. Develop and weigh the pros and cons of an action

8. Experiment

9. Chronological advancement of a problem (not a historical narrative)

10. Pose actions—what would happen if we did x, y or z?

11. Identify favorable results and discuss if others can replicate the results

12. Revise historical examples for current actions

Write the Approach in the past tense. "The approach to analyzing this issue was..." Remember that your approach must be appropriate for both your central research question and the position you take in your thesis statement. The depth and scope of your problem determine the length of the Approach section. However, most students complete this section in 2 pages.