Chapter 5

Writing Research Reports

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 5.1 Report Writing

What is Report writing ?

• A report is a clearly structured document in which the researcher
identifies and examines issues, events, or findings of a research.
• Writing of report is the last step in your research study.
• It requires a separate set of skills to write reports.
• May seek the assistance and guidance of experts for the purpose.
• Written reports give scope for future references
• It is essential to share the results of our findings.
• Research costs and those who supply the money must get something
of value in return.
• It is through research that the totality of the human body of
knowledge increases.

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 Cont.

Types of research articles:

Research results may be published in many ways. These are some of
the more traditional ones:
1. A journal article
2. A conference paper
3. An article in a trade
or scholarly periodical
4. A thesis
5. A research report

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 Significance Of Report Writing
• Research report is considered a major component of the research study
for the research task remains incomplete till the report has been
presented.
• The purpose of research is not well served unless the findings are
made known to others.
The task of report writing must be accomplished by the researcher with
most care and he may seek the assistance and guidance of the experts.
IMRAD is an acronym that stands for the common sections of a scientific
research or lab report : Introduction, Method and Result Discussion
Introduction : What was the question?
Methods: How did you try to answer it?
Results : What did you find?
Discussion : What does it mean?

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 5.2 Elements of a research report
• Title page • 1.4.2 Specific objectives
• Executive summary / Abstract • 1.5 scope of the study
• Acknowledgements
• 1.6 limitation of the study
• Table of contents
• List of tables
• List of figures
• CHAPTER 2. Literature
review
• Acronyms
• CHAPTER 3. Methodology
CHAPTER 1. Introduction
• 1.1 Background • CHAPTER 4. Results and
• 1.2 Statement of the problem Discussion
• 1.3 significance of the study • CHAPTER 5. Conclusion and
• 1.4 Objective of the study Recommendation
• 1.4.1 General objective • 6. References
• Appendices
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 Title

• The title of your research proposal should state your

topic exactly in the smallest possible number of words.
• Good title: Concise title that gives reviewer a general
sense of what you are investigating.
• Bad title: Too long and technical of a title will not gain
the reviewer’s attention or interest.
Abstract
• You should take the writing of your abstract very
seriously, because it is your readers‘ first impression of
your work (and first impressions count).
• An abstract is a shortened version of a research article,
thesis, review paper, conference proceeding, or any in-
depth analysis of a particular subject and should contain
all information necessary for the reade.
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 Cont.…

The Abstract consists:

(1) Background
(2) Motivation or problem Statement
(3) What the objectives of the study were
(2) How the study was done
(3) What results were obtained
(4) and the conclusion or significance of the results
• Its purpose is to provide a summary of the whole report or thesis.
• Frequently, readers of a scientific journal will only read the abstract.
Thus, it should be written carefully to have the greatest impact in as
few words as possible.
What does a good abstract do?
– Sparks interest in your project
– Provides a concise description of your research project
– States in a clear and simple way the main points of your project
– Stands alone 7
 Cont.

• 3rd Acknowledgements- thanking all who enabled to

develop and implement this study.
• 4th Table of contents
• 5th List of tables
• 6th List of figures
• 7th Acronyms
• All the above discussed contents pages can be writing
by roman numbers.

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 Introduction

• The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary

background or context for your research problem.
• How to frame the research problem is perhaps the biggest problem in
proposal writing.
• The introduction typically begins with a general statement of the
problem area, with a focus on a specific research problem, to be
followed by justification of study.
The introduction generally covers the following elements:
• State the research problem
• Provide the context and set the stage for your research question in
such a way as to show its necessity and importance.
• Clearly indicate why it is worth doing.
• Briefly describe the major issues and sub-problems to be addressed
• Identify the key independent and dependent variables of your
research
• State your hypothesis or theory
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 Objectives

• The objectives of a research project summarize what is to be

achieved by the study.
• It should be closely related to the statement of the problem.
• General objective states what is expected to be achieved by the
study in general terms.
Specific objectives
• These are a breakdown of the general objectives.
• Systematically address the various aspects of the problem.
SMART Objectives
– Specific
– Measurable
– Achievable/attainable
– Realistic
– Time bound

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 Literature review

• “ A Literature Review Surveys scholarly articles, books, and

other sources (e.g., dissertations, conference proceedings)
relevant to a topic for a thesis or dissertation.
• Its purpose is to demonstrate that the writer has insightfully
and critically surveyed relevant literature on his or her topic in
order to convince an intended audience that the topic is worth
addressing” (Irene L. Clark)
A literature review serves several purposes in your thesis :
• A good literature review shows that you are aware of what is
going on in the field, and thus your credentials
• That there is a theory base for the work you are proposing to
do
• how your work fits in with what has already been done
• that your work has significance
• that your work will lead to new knowledge
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 Methods for organizing the Literature Review

• By subject (if lit review covers more than one subject)

• Chronologically
• By theme, idea, trend, theory, or major research studies
• By author
• By argumentative stance
Note : In all methods, relationships between elements (e.g.,
subject, theme, author, etc.) must be shown.

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 Result and Discussion

Result:
• Narrative interpretation of findings.
• Presentation of corresponding tables and graphs for each narration.
• First base line characteristics of the study population/situation are
presented followed by other results.
• The order of presentation of result should be in line with the order specific
objectives and from simple to complex.
• What did you find out from the method you had employed ?
• The core of the research work.
• Often includes tables, figures, or both.
• Should present results but not comment on them.
To write effective result section:
• Determine which results to present by deciding which are relevant to the
question presented in the Introduction.

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 Cont.…
• Organize the data in the Results section in either chronological order according
to the Methods or in order of most to least important.
• Determine whether the data are best presented in the form of text, figures,
graphs, or tables.
• Summarize your findings and point the reader to the relevant data in
the text, figures and/or tables.
• Describe the results and data of the controls and include observations not
presented in a formal figure or table, if appropriate.
• Provide a clear description of the magnitude of a response or difference.
• Make sure that the data are accurate and consistent throughout the report.
• Use the past tense when you refer to your results.
• Number figures and tables consecutively in the same sequence they are first
mentioned in the text.
• Provide a heading for each figure and table.
• Write with accuracy, brevity and clarity.

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 Cont.…
Discussion:
• Can be discussed in the order of the objectives
• Comparison findings with findings of other related studies
• Reasons for difference or similarity
• Implications of the findings.
• The “Discussion” section is where the researcher interprets and evaluates
the results.
• The interpretation should logically follow from the presentation of the
results.
• Otherwise the results section would need further adjustment.
• Significance, Limitations, and Implications.

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 Conclusion and Recommendations

• Conclusions and recommendations should follow the

same order as the discussions.
• The “conclusion” section briefly restates the findings and
relates them to the previous work.
• Conclusions could be short summary of the discussions.
• It also discusses any open questions or future research
that might follow this work.
• The groups towards which the recommendations are
directed should be specified.

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 References
• Each reference must include the names of all authors (in the same
sequence in which they appear in the research proposal or thesis), the
article and journal title, book title, volume number, page numbers, and
year of publication.
• The exact format for depicting references within the body of the text
and as well as the end of the research proposal varies from one
discipline to another
• The information you give in the reference list must be enough for
readers to find the books and papers in the library or a database.
• Reference : Harvard or Vancouver system
Annexes or appendices
• The annexes should contain any additional information needed to enable
professionals to follow your research procedures and data analysis.
Examples of information that can be presented in annexes are; Tables
referred to in the text but not included in order to keep the report short;
Questionnaires or checklists used for data collection.
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