WRITING A RESEARCH

REPORT
Writing Research Report
• Last step in the research process is writing a report to
communicate the findings of the study
• The report is what will be read by others
• Clear and logical
• Accurate and concise
• Developing a thematic draft outline
Steps in Writing Research Report
1. Logical analysis of the subject matter
2. Preparation of the final outline
3. Preparation of the rough draft
4. Rewriting and polishing of the rough draft
5. Preparation of the final Reference List
6. Writing the final draft
Developing an outline
• Dividing the report in different chapters
• Planning what goes into each chapter
• Geared towards the study and its objectives
• Chapter titles to reflect its content
• Content and methodology of each project is different
• How will findings be communicated?
Structure of report outline
• Introduction and rational for the study
• Literature review
• Objectives of the study
• Methodology
• Findings and discussion
• Problems and limitations
• Conclusions and possible explanations /
recommendations
Writing about a variable
• Why is it important to study the variable? (This is about
providing a rationale for studying the variable)
• In the case of a cross-tabulation, what relationships have
other studies found between the variables that will be
analysed? (This is where the literature review is
integrated into the findings of the study)
• What is the expected outcome between the two
variables? (Stating hypotheses)
• What has the study found out? (Reporting results, e.g. as
tables, graphs or text.)
Writing about a variable
• What does the data show? (Interpreting the findings of the
analysis)
• What conclusions can be drawn? How do the conclusions
drawn from this study compare with those from similar
studies in the past? Does the study support or contradict
them? (Linking results to existing literature)
• What explanation can be provided for the findings of the
study? (Linking results to existing theories)
Referencing / Citing
• Providing the information about the source is called
referencing or citing
Why should you reference?
• Acknowledge that you have used the words or ideas of
another writer. (else considered plagiarisim)
• Show that a statement or argument you have made is
supported by evidence and allow readers to assess the
validity of that evidence.
• Allow readers to locate the source if they want more
information.
When should you reference?
• You should provide the source (ie. provide a reference, or
citation) when you:
1. Quote someone else’s words (written or spoken), i.e.
copy the words exactly.
2. Re-word (paraphrase) or refer to someone else’s ideas
or findings (written or spoken).
3. Use factual data (eg. facts, statistics, information from
graphs) from other sources.
4. Reprint a diagram, chart or other illustration.
5. Use someone else’s way of organising or presenting
information (e.g. a design format, a model).
6. Need to show the reader that you have evidence for a
statement or argument you have made.
Referencing systems and Style
APA Style
• Give the surname(s) of the author(s) and year of publication, in
parentheses, before the full stop.
The differences between the scales are significant (Kuenapas,
1981).
• If you have included the author’s name as part of the sentence,
only the date is included in parentheses, immediately after the
author’s name.
Arthur (1997) proposed a quantitative model with timber
production variables.
• If you refer to the same source several times within one
paragraph, you can omit the date in the second and later
references so long as there could be no confusion with other
studies cited in your essay.
The differences between the scales are significant (Kuenapas,
1981). According to Kuenapas, the use of …
APA Style
• If the source relates to only one part of the sentence, place
the citation at the end of that section of the sentence.
• If, for instance, you are making more than one point in your
sentence, you need to make it clear to the reader to which idea
the citation refers.
• Alcohol abuse is linked to genetic factors (Smith, 1991) as well
as to environmental factors(Dwyer, 1992).
• When you paraphrase information, you do not usually need to
include a page number in the citation. However, sometimes you
might choose to provide page number(s) to help the reader
easily locate the information in the original source (for example,
if you are paraphrasing information from a specific part of a
long source).
• Reflexivity, in the sense of anthropologists, operates in a
different terrain than cognitive reflexivity (Beck & Giddens,
1998, pp. 102-103).
Writing a bibliography (APA)
• Each reference should include:
• Author’s surname and initials (or company name for
corporate authors)
• Year of publication
• Title of book, chapter, or serial
• Place of publication
• Publisher’s name
Writing a bibliography (APA)
• In some cases, you may also need:
• Editor’s initials and surname
• Day & month of publication
• Volume & issue number
• Edition number
• Page numbers
• DOI (Digital Object Identifier) number
• Name of database
• URL of homepage
Examples of reference list entries
• Book:
• Author’s surname, initials. (Year of publication). Title of
book, with only first word and proper nouns capitalised.
City of publication: Publisher’s name.
Examples of reference list entries
• Article or chapter in edited book:
• Surname and initials of author of article or chapter. (Year).
Title of article or chapter. In initials and surname of editor
(Ed.), Title of book (page numbers). Place of publication:
Publisher’s name.
Examples of reference list entries
• Journal article:
• Author’s surname, initials. (year). Title of article. Title of
Serial, Volume number (issue number), page numbers.
doi: DOI number.
Examples of reference list entries
• Web page:
• Author’s surname, initials. (n.d.). Title of page. Retrieved
month day, year of retrieval, from URL