Step 7: 1

Research Report
Writing
 Research Report Writing 2

 “Research reports are detailed and accurate accounts of the

conduct of disciplined studies accomplished to solve problems or
to reveal new knowledge.” (Busha and Harter, 1988).
 Research report writing is the oral or written presentation of the
evidence and the findings in such detail and form as to be readily
understood and accessed by the reader and as to enable him to
verify the validity of the conclusions..
 …Research Report Writing 3

 Its purpose is to convey to interested persons the whole result

of study in sufficient detail and to enable each reader to
comprehend the data and to determine himself the validity of
the conclusions. It
 Covers disseminations,
 Presents the conclusions for the information and knowledge
to others,
to check the validity of the generalizations,
to encourage others to carry on research on the same or
allied problem.
 Structure of Research Report 4

 Generally,a research report, whether it is called

dissertation or thesis, has to have the following
structure
1) The Preliminary i.e. preface pages
2) The Text of the report / Main body of the report
3) The Reference material.
 PRELIMINARY SECTION 5
 Title page
 Certification
 Candidate Declaration
 Preface including Acknowledgements
 Table of Content
 List of Tables
 List of figures
 List of Abbreviation
 CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION 6

1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
1.2 Problem Statement
1.3 Purpose and objective of the study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Definition of Terms
1.6 Significant of the study
1.7 Conclusion
 CHAPTER 2-LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.0 Introduction
2.1 Body of the literature
2.1.1 General area of research
2.1.2 Underlying theory
2.1.3 Variables used from previous literature
2.2 Theoretical Framework
2.3 Hypotheses
2.4 Conclusion
 CHAPTER 3 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 8

3.0 Introduction
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Variable and Measurement
3.3 Questionnaire design
3.4 Population and Sample
3.5 Scope of the study
3.6 Data analysis method
3.6.1 Goodness of data
3.6.2 Inferential analysis
3.7 Conclusion
 CHAPTER 4- DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS 9
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Goodness of Measure
4.2.1 Representativeness of data
4.2.2 Validity test
4.2.3 Reliability test
4.3 Inferential analysis
4.3.1 Descriptive analysis
4.3.2 Test of difference
4.3.3 Test of relationship
 Correlation analysis
 Hypothesis testing
4.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5-DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 10

5.1 Recapitulation of major findings

5.2 Discussion
5.3 Implication
5.3.1 Theoretical Implication
5.3.2 Practical Implication
5.4 Limitation
5.5 Recommendation for future research
5.6 Conclusion
 REFERENCE MATERIAL 11
The reference material is generally divided as follows
1. References
2. Bibliography (APA Style or ..)
3. Appendices (SPSS output)
4. Glossary of terms (if any)
5. Index (if any)
 Types Of reports 12

 Technical Report
 Popular Report
 The Report for the Administrator
 Oral Report
 How to report Findings 13

 Once you have completed your research (analyzed your data), there
are three ways of reporting the findings
 Written reports
 Journal articles
 Oral presentation
 Written report format 14

 Traditional written reports tend to be produced in

the following format.
 Title of the page
 This contains the title of the report,
 The name of the researcher
 The date of publication.
 If the report is dissertation or thesis, the title page
will include details about the purpose of the report
 for example “A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements of for the degree of Masters of Science in
Information Technology ”.
 If the research has been funded by a particular
organization, details of this may be included on the
title page.  sponsors
 15

1. Contents page - list the contents of the report either in

chapter or section headings with sub headings if relevant and
page numbers
2. List of illustrations – this section includes, title & page number
of all graphs, tables, illustrations & charts etc.
3. Acknowledgements – Some researchers may wish to
acknowledge the help of their research participants, tutors,
employers and/or funding bodies
 Political/Religious Affiliations/ acknowledgements
 No need to criticize others who made problems
 16

4. Abstract/Summary –This tends to be a one page summary of the

research, its purpose, scope, methods, main findings / Results and
discussions/conclusions.
5. Introduction- This section introduces research ,settings out the
aims and objectives, terms and definitions. It includes the
rationale for the research and summary of the report structure.
6. Background - in this section is included all your background
research, which may be obtained from literature, personal
experience or both.
 17

7. Citation  acknowledge
 You must indicate from where all the information to which you
refer has come, so remember to keep a complete record of
every thing you read.
 If you do not do this, you could be accused of plagiarism which
is a form of intellectual theft.
 When you are referring to a particular book or journal article,
find out the accepted standard for referencing from your
institution.
 18

8. Methodology and Methods- this section is set out a description of

,and justification for, the chosen methodology and research
methods.
 Thelength and depth of this section will depend up on whether you are a
student or employee.
 If
you are undergraduate student ,you will need to raise some of the
methodological and theoretical issues pertinent to your work.
 Ifyou are postgraduate student, you will need also to be aware of
epistemological and ontological issues involved.
 19

9. Findings/Analysis- this section should include your main

findings.
 The content of this section will depend on your chosen methodology and methods.
 If you have a large quantitative survey, this section may contain tables, graphs, pie
charts and associated statistics.
 If you have conducted a qualitative pieces of research, this section may be
descriptive prose containing lengthy questions .
 20

10. Conclusion- In this section you sum up your findings and draw
conclusions from them, perhaps in relation to other research or
literature.
11. Recommendations –Some academic reports will not need this
section.
 If you are an employee researcher ,this section could be the most
important part of the port.
 Inthis section is set out a list of clear recommendations which have
been developed from your research.
 21

12. Further research – It is useful in both academic reports and

work-related reports to include a section which shows how
a research can be continued.
 Perhaps some results are inconclusive ,or perhaps the research has
thrown up many more research questions which need to be
addressed
 It is useful to include this section because it shows that you are
aware of the wider picture and that your are not trying to cover up
some thing which you feel may be lacking from your own work .
 22

13. Reference –Small research projects will need only a reference

section.
 Harvard system or Vancouver style, ACS, APA, Chicago system

 This includes all the literature to which you have referred in

your project.
 The popular method is the Harvard system which lists the
authors surnames alphabetically, followed by their initials,
date of publication, Title of book in italics ,place of
publication and publisher.
 If the reference is journal article the title of the article appears in inverted commas and
the name of the journal appears in italics, followed by the volume number and pages of the
article.
 23

14. Bibliography - If you have read other work in relation to your research
but not actually referred to them when writing up your report ,you might
need to include in the bibliography,
 Journal Articles 24

 If you want your research findings to reach a wider audience, it might worth
considering producing an article for journal.
 Most academic journals do not pay for articles they publish, but many
professional of trade publications do pay for contribution, if published.
 However, the competition can be fierce and your article will have to stand out
from the crowd if you want to be successful.
 Oral presentations 25

 Another method of presenting your research findings is through an oral

presentation.
 This may be at the university or college to other students or tutors, at a
conference to other researchers or work colleagues, or in work place to
colleagues employers or funding bodies.
 Helps a wider audience to find out about a research.
 Considerations in Slide preparation 26

 Your slides should be clear, visible and legible to the audience

 Layout: consider background and text colors
 blue background with white/bright yellow text
 Background: consistency
 use same background color and style for all slides
 Font: size and style (capital, small letters)
 Delivering the oral presentation 27
 Have hard copies as a reserve in case no electric power/LCD
 Begin the presentation on time
 Familiarize your self to the room locations, switch, microphones
 Arrive early to the presentation hall so that you can discus with the
organizers
 Insure that Your sound is hearable comfortable for the audience
 Do not be nervous
 Make eye contact with your audience
 Draw the attention of your audience to important points
 Make sure that you do not block the view of the audience
 Mention owners of works in your literatures
 Finish on time
 Start the question/ answer session and welcome the audience
Difficulties or Problems in Writing a Report 28

1) The Problems of Communications

a. Technical terms should be properly explained.
b. Neither too simple nor too difficult expression
c. Level of Knowledge and subject-matter
d. Language and drafting
2) The problem of objectivity .
3) The Problems of expression of bitter truths and unpleasant
facts
 Preparation of reports 29

 For preparations or drafting of reports three steps are involved.

1) First Draft:
 Comprehensiveness or fullness of facts.
 Precision or Accuracy of Facts
 Coherence or logic of facts, and
 Movement or transition of facts and ideas.
 Characteristics of good report 30

1) Attractive
2) Clear Topic
3) Balanced Language
4) No repetition of facts
5) Statement of scientific facts
6) Practicability
7)Description of the difficulties and the shortcomings
 31

Many Thanks
Test Two-7% 32

1. Write research steps in sequential

order?