Unit 5: Reporting Research Findings

The contents are

 Writing a Research Report
 Oral Presentation

1
 Objectives

After completing this unit, you should be able to:

 Write a research report using appropriate
layout
 Present orally the research report to the
audience in the right way.

2
 5.1 Writing a Research Report
Once the researchers have completed their data
collection and data analysis, the next important work is
reporting the research findings.
As a matter of fact even the most brilliant hypothesis,
highly well designed and conducted research study, and
the most striking generalizations and findings are of
little value unless they are effectively communicated to
others.
The purpose of research is not well served unless the
findings are made known to others.

3
 Layout of the research report
The research report must necessarily be conveyed
enough to the readers regarding its general scientific
context, the adequacy of the methods employed and
how the findings analyzed & discussed, and conclusions
inferred. For this purpose there is the need of proper
layout of the report. A comprehensive layout of the
research report should comprise the following parts.
a) the preliminary pages
b) the main text (body) and
c) the end matter (supplementary)
4
 I. The preliminary pages
The contents of preliminary pages are
1) Title page
2) Table contents
3) List of Illustrations
4) Acknowledgements
5) Abstract

5
 1. Title page

The title page includes the title of your paper,

author’s name, advisor’s name (for thesis), the
author’s institutional affiliation, the date of
submission, etc.
If the report is a 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 Hawassa
University for the degree of Master of Science in …

6
Title: Keep your title short enough to avoid
confusion about your research, but not so short
that it fails to convey the topic of your paper. The
recommended length for a title is no more than 12
words. Title should accurately reflect the content
of the paper. A specific and concise title is part of
the paper’s life.
Capitalize the first letter of the first word and of all
subsequent words (except for articles,
prepositions of three letters or less, and
conjunctions).

7
Avoid using words that add little to the
meaningfulness of your title (for example, “An
Experimental Investigation of . . .” and “A
Correlational Field Study of . . .”).
A typical structure for a good title should be like:
"Effect of X on Y in Z“
where
X = Independent variable you manipulated
Y = Dependent variable you observed or measured
Z = population and material on which you did the
work

8
 2. Table of contents

In this section is listed the contents of the report,

either in chapter or section headings with sub-
headings, if relevant and their page numbers.

9
 3. List of Illustrations

This section includes title and page number of all

graphs, tables, illustrations, charts, etc.

10
 4. Acknowledgements
Researchers may wish to acknowledge persons
who have professionally contributed to the
research (like thesis advisor), research
participants, tutors, employers and/or funding
body, persons who assisted non-professionally
also.

11
 5. Abstract
The abstract is a concise summary of your paper.
In most cases, the length of your abstract will be
between 200 and 300 words.
The content of your abstract will depend on the
nature of your paper.
the abstract of a study should include:
 problem under study
 purpose and scope of the study
 methods employed
 main findings and discussion
 Conclusions, implications and applications

12
 A potential reader will use your abstract to
decide whether to read your paper as part of a
literature search.
 If your abstract is poorly written, readers may
fail to understand the significance of your work
and may pass it by.
 Thus, you should put effort into writing a clear,
concise, accurate, coherent and readable
abstract.

13
 II. Main text (body)
The body of your report should incorporate:
 Introduction
 Literature review
 Methodology/research methods
 Results/findings
 Discussion/interpretations/implications
 Conclusions/Inferences
 Recommendation
 Future research

14
 1. Introduction
The text of the paper begins with the introduction. The
primary function of the introduction is to describe the
problem studied and your research strategy. The purpose
of the introduction should be to provide sufficient
background information to allow the readers to
understand and evaluate the results of the present study
Your introduction should include the following
information:
 Background of the topic under study
 A statement of the problem addressed by the research
(identifying an area in which knowledge is incomplete)

15
 A rationale for your research
 Objectives of your study
 Significance, contributions, scope and limitations of
your study
 A brief review of the research findings and theories
related to the topic
 Research questions addressed and the methods
used to address them
 A summary of the report structure

16
General to specific organization of an introduction

17
 2. Literature Review
In some disciplines, the literature review is incorporated
into the introduction.
This review need not be exhaustive, the researcher
should summarize only those studies which are most
relevant to the current study.
All literature reviews should be accurate, concise and
relevant.
The main points of each study such as hypotheses
tested, sample, methods, finding and implication should
be summarized.

18
A literature review should be more than a rote
recitation of the previous research studies and it must
also contain analysis and synthesis.
The researcher is obligated to discuss the relevance of
the past work to the current study such as theoretic
developments, major conclusions recurred, some
common problems, and answers of the questions relate
to the current study.
The ultimate aim of the review is to show how your
study evolved out of past efforts and how the prior
research provides a justification for your study.

19
The research should carefully structure carefully the
findings of literature review.
 Chronologically: the previous findings should be
discussed from the earliest to the latest research,
placing your research appropriately in the chronology.
 Thematically: it is outlining the various themes that
you discovered in the research regarding the topic.
Again, you will need to state where your research fits.
 Methodologically: here, the focus is on the methods
of the researcher, for example, qualitative versus
quantitative approaches.
20
 3. Methodology or methods
This section answers the question; how did you study
the problem? Description and justification the chosen
methodology and research methods is mandatory in this
section.
The researcher must include all the practical
information for the reader(s) who will need to evaluate
your work i.e. he/she must provide explanations what?
Why? And How? question regarding selected:
 Independent and dependent variables
 Your research design

21
 Sampling size and sampling methods
 Data collection methods and instruments
 Data analysis methods and statistical tools
 Research participants
 Research approaches
This will allow the reader to assess whether you have
properly planned and executed the research project.
Methodology part is usually written in a passive voice
and past tense.

22
 4. Results/Findings
This is where you indicate what you found in your
research. You should present all relevant data
summaries and analyses, but do not interpret them.
A detailed presentation of the findings of the study in
the form of tables, charts, graphs, figures and analytical
models together with a validation of results.
The investigator should clearly state whether the
results supported the hypotheses or whether the
research questions were answered.
The result section should contain statistical summaries
and reductions of the data rather than the raw data.

23
All the results should be presented in logical sequence
and divided into readily identifiable sections.
The content of this section will depend on your chosen
methodology and methods.
If you have conducted a large quantitative survey or
experimental research, this section may contain tables,
graphs, charts, mathematical models and associated
statistics.
If you have conducted a qualitative piece of research
this section may be descriptive prose containing lengthy
quotations.

24
5. Discussion/Interpretations/Implications
This is where you discuss the relevance of your results
and how your findings fit with other research in the
area.
It relates back to your literature review and your
introductory thesis statement.
You should interpret your results and relate your
findings to previous research or theory or hypotheses.
The structure of discussion reverses that of the
introduction; rather than moving from general to
specific, it moves from specific research findings to
general implications.

25
Begin your discussion section with a brief restatement
of your hypotheses. Next, briefly indicate whether your
findings were consistent with your pre-experimental
hypotheses.
Use the remainder of the discussion section to integrate
your findings with previous research or theory or
hypotheses. Discuss how consistent your findings are
with previous work in the area or theory.
If the findings contradict or do not support the current
theory or hypotheses, the researcher should provide
some explanations the current pattern of the findings.

26
Specific to general organization of a discussion

27
 6. Conclusions/Inferences
This is a summary of the most significant
results/findings i.e. it summarizes and recapitulates the
main points of the study.
The conclusion drawn from the study should be clearly
related to the hypotheses/research questions that were
stated in the introductory section.
You should not include any new material in this section.
Sometimes you could indicate some areas where your
research has limits or where further research would be
useful.

28
Conclusions may have three aspects as stated below:
1) A statement of the inferences drawn from the
present study which may be expected to apply in
similar circumstances.
2) The conditions of the present study which may limit
the extent of legitimate generalizations of the
inferences drawn from the study.
3) The relevant questions that still remain unanswered
or new questions raised by the study along with
suggestions for the kind of research that would
provide answers for them.

29
 7. Recommendations
This includes suggestions for what needs to be done
as a result of your findings. Recommendations are
usually listed in order of priority.
Some academic reports will not need this section.
However, if you are an employee who has conducted
a piece of research for your company, this section
could be the most important part of the report.

30
 8. Further Research
It is useful in both academic reports and work-related
reports to include a section which shows how the
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 you
are not trying to cover up something which you feel
may be lacking from your own work.

31
 III. End matter (supplementary)

1) References or Bibliography - This includes all

references used in your report or referred to for
background information. This must be done using
the referencing convention specified by your field of
study.
2) Appendices/Annexes - These should add extra
information to the report. If you include appendices
they must be referred to in the body of the report
and must have a clear purpose for being included.
Each appendix must be named and numbered.

32
 5.2 Oral Presentation
Another method of presenting your research findings is
through an oral presentation.
For an oral presentation, you are usually given a limited
amount of time to present your information. In that
brief period of time, you must communicate to your
audience the rationale behind your study, your
methods, results, and conclusions.
Because your time is extremely limited, it is helpful to
your audience if you have a written summary of your
paper to distribute at a paper session.

33
Many researchers find that it is better to provide both
a written report and an oral presentation as this is the
most effective way of enabling a wider audience to
find out about the research.
The presentation software like the commonly used
MS-PowerPoint makes the task of preparing, editing
and displaying slides much more facile and user
friendly.
You can enhance your presentation with animation,
artwork and diagrams which make it more interesting
for your audience.

34
 I. Preparing an oral presentation
When preparing for an oral presentation, you should
follow a few general rules. You use appropriate visual
aids whenever possible.
Also you have to organize your presentations and
your self in advance to make interesting and attractive
your presentation.

35
 a. Slide preparation
The slide should be clearly visible and legible to the
audience members sitting at the very back of the room.
You must choose appropriate background color of the
slide and the color of the text. Stick to your choice and
use the same background throughout the presentation.
Small case letters are easier to read than CAPITALIZED
letters.
Select a font type and size that is easily legible and has
sufficient spacing between letters.
Adjust the font size particularly for titles, graph legends,
etc.

36
You should limit the use of text only to state the
problem, frame the problem in the appropriate
context, summarize results and state major
conclusions.
 A slid with more than a few lines of text will bore
your audience.
 State key concepts in bulleted phrases or short
declarative statements.
 Do not write every single word on their slides in full
sentences.

37
 b. The presenter
Presenting yourself as the person who conducted the
research project is very crucial besides presentation of
the body of your work.
 So you should pay attention to your own present-
ability as you do your work.
 Primary among these is physical appearance.
 Try and dress appropriately.

38
 c. Organization
 A well-organized oral presentation is smooth and
effectively communicates the core concepts of the
presentation to the audience.
 The entire your presentation should be related to
topic thesis, hypotheses, objective or question you
are addressing

39
 II. Practicing an oral presentation
You have take some time to rehearse and practice
your presentation, perhaps in front of some
colleagues.
This will allow you to tell whether the length of your
presentation is appropriate, whether you are
communicating clearly, and whether you left out any
elements.
Feedback from your colleagues during a practice
session can be valuable in identifying the strong
points and weak points of your presentation.

40
Prepare opening remark, you may say “Thank you
everyone for coming to this presentation.” or “I am
happy to have this opportunity to deliver this
presentation.”
Moreover, include transition sentences that will make
the move from one slide to the next a natural
progression.
Also prepare closing remarks for the conclusion of the
talk. Sentences that start with phrases such as “In
conclusion …”, “In summary …” or “The final point I
would like to make …” indicates to your audience that
the talk is nearing an end.

41
Have an ending remarks such as “Thank you for your
attention, does anyone have any questions?” or “That
concludes my talk, I will be happy to take your
questions.”
The practice exercise will strengthen your confidence
about the impending presentation, thus lowering your
anxiety to a manageable level.

42
 III. Delivering an Oral Presentation
 First, organize your talk. Do not go before a room
full of professionals and try to “wing it.” Instead,
develop an outline of your talk and stick to it.
 Second, do not read your paper. Store what you
want to say in your head. Use your notes only as a
guide.

Making presentations: dos and don’ts

43