Purpose, Types and Components

of Research Report
PRESENTED BY: AVINASH KAUR SAMA(21-303)
MANINDER KAUR(21-307)
RAHUL MITTAL(21-315)
Definition
Report
"A report is a statement of collected and considered facts, so drawn-up as to
give Clear and Concise-information to persons who are not ready in possession of
the full facts of the subject matter of the report" .

A Research Report is:

A written document or oral presentation based on a written document that
communicates the purpose, scope, objective(s), hypotheses, methodology,
findings, limitations and finally, recommendations of a research project to others.
Purpose of Research Report
Basically, research report communicate the problem, the method, facts and
the conclusions.
It serves as reference for Future use.
It provides systematic knowledge on the problems and issues analysed.
It also reveals the research ability of researcher.
Characteristics of Research Report
Accuracy
Simplicity
Conciseness or Brevity (shortness)
Grammatically mistakes should not be there
Readability
Consistency
Attractive in Appearance
Logical content
Planning and organizing
Completeness
REPORT PREPARATION AND
PRESENTATION PROCESS
Problem Definition, Data Pre-report
Research Design Analysis
and Methodology Writing
Activities

Interpretation of
Research
findings

Report
Report
Preparation Writing
Activities

Oral
Presentattion

Post
RESEARCH Reading of the
FOLLOW-UP Report by the Report
client Writing
Types of Research Report
Types of Report

Oral Report Written Report

• Technical Report
• Popular Report
• Interim Report
• Summary Report
Oral Report
Oral presentation is considered as an effective approach as it provides medium of
interaction between a listener and a speaker. This leads to better understanding of
findings and the implications. But its main drawback is lack of any permanent records
related to research.

Written Report
On the other hand, written report is mostly being used in every business operation.
Organizations write business letters and business reports. But it require a lot of hard
work. Before you begin writing, it is important to know the objective, i.e., the purpose of
writing, collection and organization of required data.
1. Technical Report:
A technical report (also called scientific report) is a document that describes the process,
progress, or results of technical or scientific research or the state of a technical or
scientific research problem. It might also include recommendations and conclusions of
the research. 
Its target audience is researchers, research managers or other technical peoples.

Features of Technical report are:

 Summary of results
 Nature of the study
 Research methodology
 Details of data
 Analysis of data & preparation of findings
 Conclusions
 Bibliography ,Technical appendices and Index.
2. Popular Report:
A popular report is formulated when there is a need to draw conclusions of the findings
of the research report. One should keep in mind while formulating a research report it
must be simple and attractive. It must be written in a very simple manner that is
understandable to all. It must also be made attractive by using large prints, various sub-
headings.

General outline of popular report:

Findings and their implications
 Recommendations for their follow-up
Objective of the study.
Methods employed 
Results
Technical appendices.
3. Interim Report:
In projects, an interim report is often compiled to analyze how the project is
proceeding, before its final completion.
This short report may contain either the first results of the analysis of some aspects
completely analyzed.
 
It facilitates the sponsoring agency to take action without waiting for the full
report.
It helps to keep alive the agency's interest in the study and prevent
misunderstandings about the delay.
This repot also enables the researcher to find the appropriate style of reporting.
 Interim analysis is important in medical trials, to ensure that the patients are not
exposed to unnecessary danger during the trial.
4. Summary report
Summary report usually contains a brief statement of the problem or proposal
covered in the major document(s), background information, concise analysis and
main conclusions.

It is intended as an aid to decision-making by managers and has been described

as possibly the most important part of a business plan.
They must be short and to the point.
 It just contains a brief reference to the objective of the study, its major findings
and their implications.
It size is so limited as to be suitable for publication in daily newspaper.
Report Structure or Layout of the report

Preliminary Pages

Main Text

End Matter
Components of Research Report
1.The Preliminary Part
These must be title of the research topic and data. There must be preface or
foreword to the research work. It should be followed by table of contents. The list
of tables, maps should be given.
 Cover
 Title
 Acknowledgement
 Abstract
 Table of contents
 List of tables
 List of charts/figures
Preface of Research Report: Acknowledgement:
 If you are writing a research paper, a book or even a  While carrying out the research, the researcher would have
short story, a preface helps to introduce your subject received help from different persons and organizations. So, all
those helps should be acknowledged under this heading. In an
matter to a reader.
academic research, a sample list of people who are to be
 It should be brief, and it comes before anything else acknowledged is as follows:
you've written.
 The purpose of a preface is to persuade your reader  Research supervisor
why she should read the rest of your written work.  Organizational head
 Writing a good preface will incorporate your personal  Colleagues of the department who rendered their valuable
reasons for exploring your written subject while, at the suggestions and criticism during the research period.
same time, persuading your reader to continue reading.  The executives in different organizations who provided data
and literature for the research.
2

Abstract:
 An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of
300 words or less, the major aspects of the entire paper
in a prescribed sequence that includes:
◦ The overall purpose of the study and the research
problem(s) you investigated;
◦ The basic design of the study;
◦ Major findings or trends found as a result of your
analysis; and,
◦ A brief summary of your interpretations and
conclusions.
2. Main Text
It provides the complete outline of research report along with all details. The title
page is reported in the main text. Details of text are given continuously as divided
in different chapters.
Introduction
Statement of the problem
Literature review
Objectives of the study
Limitations of the study
Research methodology
Conclusions
Bibliography
Appendices
Introduction: The introduction should begin with the Objective: The specific objectives of the research
background of the research topic and state of the art scenario need to be set forth clearly. The reader must know
in brief. exactly what the report is.
The origin and development of the research concept along with Based on the direction of the literature review, the
the most significant contributions in the past must be researcher should clearly spell out the objectives of
summarized in this chapter. the research and related hypothesis.
Introduction
Statement of the Limitations: The report should also point out
Statement of the problem: It highlights main
problem the main limitations of the research reported
theme of his study. It must be in nontechnical
Literature review therein. This can be helpful to the reader who
language. It should be in simple manner so
Objectives of the study can form his own opinion as to how far the
ordinary reader may follow it. The social
Limitations of the results are liable.
research must be made available to common
study
man. The research in agricultural problems
Research Methodology
must be easy for farmers to read it.
Findings &
Recommendations
Literature Review: A literature review is a summary
Conclusions
of the major studies that have been published on a
Bibliography
research topic.
Appendices
This focuses on the past literature in the field of
research and its classification under different
angles.
 Findings and recommendations: Findings are
the result of the study. This section makes up
Research methodology: Research
the bulk of the report. It is not just an
methodology aims to finalize the activities
assortment of statistical tables and charts but
of research design and data collection
an organized narrative of the results.
procedure.
Introduction The researcher can give recommendations
1. Research Design: Research design
Statement of the according to the findings made.
denotes the description of the research
technique. It defines exploratory, problem Conclusion: Conclusion should be drawn
conclusive and experimental design. Literature review with direct reference to the objectives of the
Objectives of the study study.
2. Data Collection methods: The
methodology reveals the methods of Limitations of the The chapter on conclusions summarizes
data collection. There may be primary study research findings, contribution of the study,
sources and secondary sources of Research Methodology limitations of the study, and scope for the
data collection. Findings & further research.
3. Sampling: In describing the sampling Recommendations
procedure, it is first necessary to Conclusions
indicate the nature of the universe Bibliography Bibliography: A bibliography is a list of the
studied. The exact sampling units, Appendices sources you used to get information for your
such as stores, consumers or business report.
executives, must be defined and the
geographical limit be specified. Appendix: An appendix refers to an extension to the research
4. Fieldwork: The researcher should paper, that contains information which is too detailed to put in
explain the quality and nature of the the main document or report.
field force. It includes graphics, tables, charts, statistics, figures, etc.
Successful Report Writing
Start writing early – important details about the study may be
forgotten if the write-up is left to the last minute.
Remember – a naive reader should be able to follow your
report and replicate your findings.
Read – reading journal articles and past dissertations will help
you with structuring your report and understanding the
required style.
Reflect – reflect upon the comments you receive on your
practical reports and essays – these are provided to help you!
Report Writing: General Style
 Reports should be double-spaced.
 Each major section (Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results and
Discussion) should start on a new page with the title of the section in
bold.
 All pages should be numbered.
 The last section is the Appendices and includes raw data, Ethics Approval
Form and other relevant information.
Most research reports include the following elements:
I. Title page XI. Research design
II. Letter of transmittal a. Type of research design
III. Table of contents b. Information needs
IV. List of tables c. Data collection from secondary sources
V. List of graphs d. Data collection from primary sources
e. Scaling techniques
VI. List of appendices f. Questionnaire development and pretesting
VII. List of exhibits g. Sampling techniques
VIII. Executive summary h. Field work
a. Major findings
b. Conclusions XII. Data analysis
a. Methodology
c. Recommendations
b. Plan of data analysis
IX. Introduction
a. Background to the problem XIII. Results
b. Statement of the problem
X. Approach to the problem XIV. Limitations and caveats
XV. Conclusions and recommendations
XVI. Appendix
a. Questionnaires and forms
b. Statistical output
c. Lists

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THANK YOU!!!