IMRAD

Introduction – Method – Results – and –

Discussion.
The IMRaD is a way of structuring a scientific
article. It is often used in health care and the
natural sciences. Unlike theses in the social
sciences, the IMRaD format does not include a
separate theory chapter.

Theses structured using the IMRaD are usually

short and concise. The language will be as plain
and as unambiguous as possible. There is no
place in this type of writing for personal views
and fanciful language.
Introduction
Use the introduction to show that
you are knowledgeable about your
field of study and existing research.
Your introduction should contain:
A summary of existing research on
the subject
Your thesis statement, hypothesis or
research question and
Theory (if relevant).
An introduction to the field, the current
situation or to prevailing practice
The introduction should explain what we
know, and what we are uncertain about.
It should explain and summarise, but it
should also ask questions, clarify,
compare etc. Everything you write here
must relate to your research question.
Method
Use your method chapter to show that you
arrived at your results by applying valid and
reliable methods.
Explain what you did; your research, treatment
or professional intervention, and how you did it.
Account for …
Document …
… for what you did and did not do
Your method chapter shows how you arrived at
your results
Results
A relatively large part of your
paper/thesis should be devoted to
your results (findings, data, empirical
evidence). In this section you should:
Present the findings
Organise, classify, analyse and (if
relevant) categorise.
Explain and interpret (e.g., differences
between various studies)
Assess and evaluate .
Your results = the essence of your
paper. The Introduction and Methods
chapter should build up to your
Results by showing how you arrived at
your results (Methods) and their
significance (Introduction).
Discussion
In this chapter you discuss the results of your
study/project.
Is it possible to generalise?
Make comparisons with other studies
Are there alternative explanations?
What are the strong and weak aspects of your
paper?
What are the practical implications?
Is more research needed?
Make recommendations (to be applied in
practice).
For your conclusion: What answer(s) have
you found to your research question? If
you have a hypothesis, has it been
strengthened, weakened or falisified? Do
not introduce issues here that have not
been mentioned earlier. If the results of
your study do not allow you to draw any
conclusions, you can end with a summing
up.
 RESEARCH
“Research is a systematic inquiry to
describe, explain, predict, and control the
observed phenomenon. Research involves
inductive and deductive methods.”
According to the American sociologist Earl
Robert Babbie.
Research is conducted with a purpose to
understand:
What do organizations or businesses really
want to find out?
What are the processes that need to be
followed to chase the idea?
What are the arguments that need to be built
around a concept?
What is the evidence that will be required for
people to believe in the idea or concept?
Characteristics of Research
A systematic approach must be followed
for accurate data. Rules and procedures
are an integral part of the process that
set the objective. Researchers need to
practice ethics and a code of conduct
while making observations or drawing
conclusions.
Research is based on logical reasoning and
involves both inductive and deductive
methods.
The data or knowledge that is derived is in real
time from actual observations in natural
settings.
There is an in-depth analysis of all data
collected so that there are no anomalies
associated with it.
Research creates a path for generating new
questions. Existing data helps create more
opportunities for research.
Research is analytical in nature. It makes use of
all the available data so that there is no
ambiguity in inference.
Accuracy is one of the most important aspects
of research. The information that is obtained
should be accurate and true to its nature. For
example, laboratories provide a controlled
environment to collect data. Accuracy is
measured in the instruments used, the
calibrations of instruments or tools, and the
final result of the experiment.
Types of Research Methods:

Basic research: A basic research definition

is data collected to enhance knowledge.
The main motivation is knowledge
expansion. It is a non-commercial research
that doesn’t facilitate in creating or
inventing anything. For example: an
experiment to determine a simple fact.
Applied research: Applied research
focuses on analyzing and solving real-
life problems. This type refers to the
study that helps solve practical
problems using scientific methods.
Studies play an important role in
solving issues that impact the overall
well-being of humans. For example:
finding a specific cure for a disease.
Problem oriented research: As the name suggests,
problem-oriented research is conducted to
understand the exact nature of a problem to find
out relevant solutions. The term “problem” refers
to multiple choices or issues when analyzing a
situation.
For example, revenue of a car company has
decreased by 12% in the last year. The following
could be the probable causes: there is no optimum
production, poor quality of a product, no
advertising, or economic conditions.
Problem solving research:
This type of research is conducted
by companies to understand and
resolve their own problems. The
problem-solving method uses
applied research to find solutions to
the existing problems.
Qualitative research:
Qualitative research is a process
that is about inquiry. It helps
create in-depth understanding
of problems or issues in their
natural settings. This is a non-
statistical method.
Qualitative research is heavily dependent on
the experience of the researchers and the
questions used to probe the sample. The
sample size is usually restricted to 6-10
people. Open-ended questions are asked in
a manner that encourages answers that lead
to another question or group of questions.
The purpose of asking open-ended
questions is to gather as much information
as possible from the sample.
The following are the methods
used for qualitative research:
• One-to-one interview
• Focus groups
• Ethnographic research
• Content/ Text Analysis
• Case study research
Quantitative research: Qualitative
research is a structured way of
collecting data and analyzing it to
draw conclusions. Unlike qualitative
methods, this method uses a
computational and statistical
process to collect and analyze data.
Quantitative data is all about numbers.
Quantitative research involves a larger
population — more people means more
data. With more data to analyze, you can
obtain more accurate results. This
method uses close-ended questions
because the researchers are typically
looking to gather statistical data.
Online surveys, questionnaires,
and polls are preferable data
collection tools used in
quantitative research. There
are various methods of
deploying surveys or
questionnaires.
Online surveys allow survey creators to
reach large amounts of people or
smaller focus groups for different types
of research that meet different goals.
Survey respondents can receive surveys
on mobile phones, in emails, or can
simply use the internet to access
surveys.
There are three purposes of research:

Exploratory: As the name suggests,

exploratory research is conducted to explore
a group of questions. The answers and
analytics may not offer a final conclusion to
the perceived problem. It is conducted to
handle new problem areas which haven’t
been explored before. This exploratory
process lays the foundation for more
conclusive research and data collection.
 Descriptive: Descriptive research
focuses on expanding knowledge on
current issues through a process of
data collection. Descriptive studies are
used to describe the behavior of a
sample population. In a descriptive
study, only one variable is required to
conduct the study.
The three main purposes of descriptive
research are describing, explaining, and
validating the findings. For example, a
study conducted to know if top-level
management leaders in the 21st century
possess the moral right to receive a
huge sum of money from the company
profit.
Explanatory:Explanatory research or
causal research is conducted to
understand the impact of certain
changes in existing standard
procedures. Conducting experiments is
the most popular form of casual
research. For example, a study
conducted to understand the effect of
rebranding on customer loyalty.