Writing the Research Report Why write a Report

Writing the Research Report

Why write a Report? • A research report is a written document that communicates the methods and findings of a research project to others • It is a record of the research process

The report includes the reasons for initiating the project, a description of the project’s steps, a presentation of data, and a discussion of how the data relate to the research question or topic.

The research report is a way of disseminating, distributing, knowledge.

Reasons for writing a report: • Binding together the scientific community • Fulfill a class or job assignment • Meet an obligation to an organization that paid for the research • Persuade a professional group about specific aspects of a problem • Tell the general public

The writing process • Your audience – Always know for whom you are writing – Write your report the audience that will be reading it – Use technical terms explicitly when appropriate, should not be used excessively or incorrectly

The writing process • Style – Refers to the types of words chosen by the writer and the length and form of sentences or paragraphs used • Tone – Is the writer’s attitude or relation toward the subject matter

The writing process • Organizing thoughts – Outlines can help: • 1) put ideas in a sequence • 2) group related ideas together • 3) separate the more general or higher-level, ideas from more specific ideas, and the specific ideas from very specific details

The writing process • Back to the library – Go back and review the literature – See what has been put out there during the time that you did your research

Be careful not to plagiarize.

Paraphrasing • Not using another’s exact words • It is restating another’s ideas in your own words, condensing at the same time • Paraphrasing is borrowing an idea, boiling it down to its essence, and giving credit to the source • You want to paraphrase instead of using direct quotes

Steps in Writing 1. Prewriting: prepare to write by arranging notes on the literature, making lists of ideas, outlining, completing bibliographic citations, and organizing comments on data analysis

Steps in Writing 2. Composing: Get your ideas onto paper as a first draft by free writing, drawing up the bibliography and footnotes, preparing data for presentation, and forming an introduction and conclusion

Steps in Writing 3. Rewriting: Evaluate and polish the report by improving coherence, proofreading for mechanical errors, checking citations, and reviewing voice and usage

Quantitative Research Report • Abstract • Presenting the problem • Describing the methods • Results and tables • Discussion • Conclusions • Limitations and future research

Qualitative Research Report • Abstract • Presenting the problem • Describing the methods • Findings of the field research, case study, interviews • Discussion • Limitations and future research