Exploring Intergenerational Co-living Feasibility as a Housing Option for Singapore’s Elderly and Youth

1. Overview

This course aims at developing students’ capability in undertaking a Final Year Academic Exercise. It provides real estate students with an opportunity to propose and undertake an independent case study or a business study that is related to an issue or specific problem relevant to the real estate industry or profession. Students are expected to submit a Final Year Academic Exercise report of no more than 6,000 words for examination.

The student is expected to pursue investigations relevant to the chosen topic and to communicate the findings clearly, concisely and with detachment. Reproduction of material from other sources, particularly unacknowledged, will not be accepted.

In the above context, “independent” is taken to mean that the supervisor should act only as a mentor (advisor) to the student in relation to all aspects of the project. The student is expected to select his/her own topics to study, formulate a hypothesis and present the results.

2. Research

The student should consider the requirements stated below in making their submission.

2.1 Introduction and Definition of Research Problem

The initial parts of the Final Year Academic Exercise should include:

• A statement of the problem and objectives of the Final Year Academic Exercise;
• Definition of research hypothesis where appropriate.

2.2 Methodology

The methodology adopted in the research should be appropriate to the subject of the research. It should be clearly stated. This should include:

• Research design – the overall logic, general strategy and basic plan of approach;
• Research methods – the process of obtaining information.

An empirical study is required to verify the hypothesis(es). It should not be merely descriptive. It should include:

• A critical analysis of the data;
• A scholarly interpretation and discussion of the results of the data analysis to show their theoretical and practical implications;

Unproductive attempts, which the student might have made to collect data, should be indicated to make it clear that efforts have been made to collect data of that nature from particular sources.

Students who acquire primary data by implementing a survey, and who do not envision a publication of their research report either on Scholarbank or any other public outlet, will not need ERC/IRB approval. Supervisors’ support/clearance is required and should be clearly indicated in the report submitted for examination, with the following statement:

“The author of this academic exercise report acknowledges that the supervisor has supported and cleared the survey methodology that was used to obtain the primary data used in the research.”

2.3 Processing and Presentation of Material

The research problem should be discussed and elaborated upon. The data gathered should be analyzed, processed, and interpreted to underpin the discussion. There should be clear evidence of original research, and of reference to relevant published works. Appropriate inferences should also be made. The student should show that the topic has been exhaustively covered and that some analysis of empirical data has been made.

2.4 Discussion of Results and Conclusions

The discussion and analysis of the material should ideally involve testing of the hypothesis(es) that might have been formulated at the outset. The student should demonstrate analytical skills, making relevant quantitative or qualitative assessments, and developing and presenting the results and findings.

Conclusions and recommendations arising from the work form an important part of the research and discussion.

2.5 Physical Presentation

The student should pay particular attention to the presentation of the whole Final Year Academic Exercise (including abstract, bibliography, and appendices).

The importance of a clear and lucid writing style, good grammar, neatness and completeness of presentation cannot be over-emphasized. Tables, diagrams and illustrations should be used to good effect to present or clarify ideas.

3. PRESENTATION

The required format for the presentation of the Final Year Academic Exercise is outlined below.

3.1 Language

The Final Year Academic Exercise report should be written in clear and precise English in a formal style (avoiding the use of slang) and free of grammatical, syntactical and spelling errors. The Final Year Academic Exercise report should be written in the third person throughout.

3.2 Words, Phrases and Statistics

All words used in the Final Year Academic Exercise report are to be in ARIAL font size 11. Repetitive use of words and phrases should, as far as possible, be avoided. Such repetition tends to debase the quality of the Final Year Academic Exercise report and indicates a weakness in the student’s vocabulary and writing style. Additionally, the use of “mundane” statistics, which serve no useful purpose, should be avoided.

Commonly accepted abbreviations can be used where necessary but only after they have been properly introduced e.g. Housing and Development Board (HDB). If a number of these are used in the Final Year Academic Exercise report, a list of Abbreviations should be included in the pages preliminary to the introductory chapter.

3.3 Grammar

The student is advised to note that severe penalties will be imposed if the presentation is not of a high standard.

3.4 Metric Units

All measurements are to be in a metric format.

3.5 Typing

All typing must be double spacing between lines, unless otherwise stated (e.g. in quotations). The left-hand (binding) margin should be 40 mm and the right-hand margin 20 mm.

3.6 Length

The maximum length of the Final Year Academic Exercise report is 6,000 words, which does not include Tables, Charts, Graphs, Diagrams, Figures, Maps, Schedules, Illustrations, Cases, Appendices, Bibliography and Acknowledgements. The actual number of words must be clearly stated on the ‘contents’ page. The student is advised to ensure that their Final Year Academic Exercise report do not exceed the 6,000-word limit, as there will be severe penalties against works infringing this rule.

3.7 Structure of the Final Year Academic Exercise Report

3.7.1 Overview

The chapters should follow a logical development process starting from the problem defined and ending with a concluding chapter that summarizes the findings of the work and its significance in the broader context, and makes recommendations for adoption of these findings and for further work. The whole Final Year Academic Exercise report should be fully integrated.

3.7.2 Preliminaries

• The Title Page – Vide specimen layout (Attachment A)
• Abstract – This should be limited to 250 words typed on one page (see 3.7.5)
• Acknowledgement
• Table of Contents – Vide specimen (Attachment B)
• List of Tables
• List of Charts
• List of Graphs
• List of Diagrams
• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• List of Schedules
• List of Illustrations
• List of Court Cases
• List of Appendices

3.7.3 Title

Titles should be kept brief whilst still preserving their meaning and ensuring that they adequately describe the work. The title of a research project does not need such expressions as “A Study of”, “A Comparative Study of”, “An Analysis of” etc as these are already implied.

3.7.4 Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements of a religious or personal nature, and words of gratitude to, or appreciation of the assistance of, the supervisor and other staff members should not be included in the Final Year Academic Exercise report submitted for examination.

3.7.5 Abstract

An abstract should be included at the beginning of the Final Year Academic Exercise report. The abstract should outline the nature and objective of the work and summarize the main findings and conclusions. It should generally epitomize the entire Final Year Academic Exercise.

3.7.6 Structure of Chapters and Appendices

3.7.6.1 Chapter and Appendix Headings

Each chapter and appendix should be given a number (e.g. Chapter One, Chapter Two; Appendix One, Appendix Two) and a short title. Chapter and Appendix headings are to be typed in capitals. Sub-headings should not be capitalized.

3.7.6.2 Dewey System of Classification

Within each chapter there may be a number of distinct elements. These should be numbered (say, for Chapter Four: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 etc.). Should further sub-numbering be required then decimal sub notation should be used (e.g. 4.2.1, 4.2.2. etc.). By way of illustration, these notes are set out using the Dewey System.

3.7.6.3 Titles in Text

The following should be enclosed in single quotation marks (not underlined): titles of articles and essays, of chapters and sections of books, and of unpublished works such as theses. The following should be underlined (or typed in italics): titles of published books, plays, pamphlets, periodicals, classical works (except books of the Bible), if separately published.

3.7.6.4 Court Cases

The parties to a decision are underlined but the connecting v. (and) between the parties is not underlined. The year of the court case is next entered after the parties concerned. Particular emphasis must be given to the brackets that enclose the date. Square brackets [ ] and round brackets ( ) used according to the status of the law report or journal. The approach adopted by the law report or journal must be followed. The source document is then referred to in the reference. Usually the volume precedes the report reference and finally the commencement page of the report. Finally, if a portion of the decision is quoted the page reference is shown in the footnote as shown in the last example below.

A reference could appear as:

Port of Spain Corporation v. Gordon Grant & Co Ltd. [1955] A.C. 389.

In Re an Arbitration Auckland Farmers Freezing Co-operative Ltd. (A.F.F.C.O.) and The Dilworth Trust Board (1977) 23 The N.Z. Valuer 480 at 481.

The Law Reports or Journals may be abbreviated as in the first instance above, but a comprehensive list of abbreviations must appear with the table of contents.

3.7.6.5 Quotations

Quotations should be separated from the body of the text, and should be indented by five spaces from the left margin and typed single-spaced. Quotes of only a few words can be included within the text with the appropriate quotation marks. If materials are omitted within a quotation three spaced periods should be inserted between words. To show an omission at the conclusion of a sentence three spaced periods should be used in addition to a sentence period (i.e. a total of four periods).

All quotations should correspond exactly to the originals including errors in the spelling, punctuation etc. These errors should be indicated by the notation (sic) or other explanations within square brackets.

Where not indented, all quoted material should be indicated by a single quotation mark except for quotations within quotations where double quotation marks are needed.

3.7.6.6 Footnotes

Footnotes and endnotes are NOT recommended.

3.7.6.7 Pagination

The preliminary pages should be numbered in lower case. Roman numerals centred at the bottom of the page, the first page counted being the title page, although this should be left unnumbered. The body of the Final Year Academic Exercise report, starting from the first page of the first chapter should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, centred at the top of the page throughout the whole report.

3.7.6.8 Tables, Charts, Diagrams (etc)

Tables, charts and diagrams should be numbered in each chapter (Arabic numerals in serial order e.g. 4.1, 4.2, etc) with a heading at the top. Only the first letter of the first word and of all significant words is to be capitalized. Tables, charts and diagrams should be placed where pertinent to the discussion involved, i.e. as immediately as possible after they are introduced or referred to in the text. They should not only help to improve the presentation but more importantly, they should be relevant and assist in illustrating issues raised in the narrative.

3.7.6.9 Bibliography

The bibliography should consist of a list of principal references, including journal papers and source books consulted in the course of writing the Final Year Academic Exercise. It should not be limited to works actually quoted within the text but may include general background reading for the purposes of the research.

Works cited in the bibliography must be arranged in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname (See Attachment C).

3.7.6.10 Appendices

An appendix may be considered an extended footnote i.e. a section that expounds on an area of the text, but cannot be conveniently included in it without burdening the reader and distracting him/her from the main sequence. Appendices should NOT contain information other than short explanatory notes and essential graphs, tables and computer printouts, the latter being particularly restricted to information in summary form.

Appendices, if included, should not include Acts of Parliament and other published materials. Nor should they include a copious amount of information such as newspaper and magazine cuttings; suitable references to these should be sufficient. No more than 20% of the number of words in the main text should appear in appendices (if any).

The use of coloured paper in appendices is not permitted.

The letters of introduction given to the student or one written by the student to request data should not be included in the appendices.

3.7.6.11 References

References in the text should be quoted in the following manner:

• Hague (1969) – single author
• Strunk and White (1979) – two authors
• Jones et al. (1999) – more than 2 authors

All references should be collected in the Bibliography (see section 3.7.6.9). If references to the same author have the same year, they should be differentiated by using 1969a and 1969b etc.

4. Submission

The Final Year Academic Exercise report has to be submitted based on the requirements below.

4.1 Submission Deadline

The Final Year Academic Exercise report should be submitted as soft copy in Canvas as per the given timeline in the briefing slides. Penalties for late submission are also stated in the Final Year Academic Exercise briefing slides.

4.2 Submission Documents

4.2.1 Final Year Academic Exercise Report

A softcopy Final Year Academic Exercise report, including contents page, all chapters, bibliography and appendices, should be submitted. As this will be the version of the Final Year Academic Exercise report that will be assessed for the purpose of the final examination, students should pay particular attention to the standard of presentation. The acknowledgement page should NOT be included.

4.2.2 Turn-It-In Similarity Index Report

A softcopy Turn-It-In Similarity Index report should be generated and submitted to the administrator. The Turn-It-In Similarity Index report should only encompass the abstract and all chapters of the Final Year Academic Exercise report. The contents page, bibliography and appendices should NOT be included.

4.2.3 Supervisor’s Certification Form

A softcopy Supervisor’s Certification Form should be submitted together with the Final Year Academic Exercise report. Your supervisor’s approval and signature should be sought and indicated on the Supervisor’s Certification Form.

Important Note: ALL the above documents are required for the Final Year Academic Exercise submission to be complete and accepted.

5. Note

These instructions are not altogether comprehensive or exhaustive. Students are advised to refer to their supervisors for assistance in cases of doubt or difficulty. However, in cases of conflict or contradiction, the formats set out in sections 1 to 4 above will take precedence and should be followed.
Finally, keep this document handy, as it will prove useful throughout the Final Year Academic Exercise

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