RESEARCH REPORT

WRITING
 REPORT WRITING
WHAT IS A REPORT?
A report is a very formal document that is written for a
variety of purposes in the sciences, social sciences,
engineering and business disciplines.
The final and the last step in any research is to make report
of the findings to make the research and the study accessible
to all.
By this report, the research sponsors, government,
students, academicians can get to learn and understand the
research related work.
 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 and/ or written.
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 utmost care and he may seek the assistance
and guidance of the experts.
 DIFFERENT STEPS IN WRITING REPORT

The usual steps involved in writing report are

1. Logical Analysis of the subject matter
2. Preparation of the final outline
3. Preparation of the rough draft
4. Re- writing and polishing
5. Preparation of the final bibliography
6. Writing the final draft.
1. Logical Analysis of the Subject Matter: It is the first step
which is primarily concerned with the development of the
subject.
2. Preparation of the final outline: The next step in writing a
research report is to outline or to make a frame upon which
long written works are constructed.
3. Preparation of the rough draft: The researcher prepares
a rough draft of his research work. He will have to put his
work in pen and paper now so that he can ask his critics to
comment upon it.
4. Re-writing and polishing: The careful revision makes the
difference between a mediocre and a good piece of
writing. In this step, the researcher should check the report
for weakness in logical development or presentation.,
5. Preparation of the final Bibliography: The
bibliography is a list of books which are used as a reference
for the preparation of the report. It should contain all those
works which the researcher has consulted. The bibliography
should be arranged alphabetically and may be divided into
two parts. The first part may contain the names of the books
and pamphlets, and second part may contain the names of
the magazines and news paper articles. Also the page
numbers of the books being referred and the edition and the
volume of the magazine being referred must be mentioned.
6. Writing the final Draft: The final draft should be written
in a concise and objective style and in simple language,
avoiding vague expressions. Also the researcher must avoid
abstract terminology and technical words.
 MECHANISM OF WRITING A REPORT:
1. Selecting the topic
2. Planning the paper
3. Developing the statement of purpose
4. Gathering the Information
5. Connecting your thoughts
6. Giving credit where credit is due
7. Quoting, Summarizing
8. Citations (Crediting Sources within the paragraph)
9. Editing and Proof reading
10. General guidelines for reference listings
 LAYOUT OF THE RESEARCH REPORT:
The person who is reading the report, must necessarily be
conveyed enough about the study.
The layout of the research report should compromise
A. Preliminary Pages
B. Main Text
C. The End matter
Preliminary Pages:
The report should have
• The title with the date
• Acknowledgement in the form of Preface or the Foreword.
• The table of contents (list of tables and illustration)
Writing a Research Report

• A research article, paper, or report generally takes a structure

or form that seems difficult but is intended to help make
reading it or using it for research quick and efficient.
• A research report has seven components:
1. Abstract or Summary
2. Introduction
3. Review of Literature
4. Methods
5. Results
6. Conclusions and Discussion
7. References
• Note: Qualitative research reports will vary from what is
presented here.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

1. Abstract or Summary
The abstract or summary tells the reader very briefly
what the main points and findings of the paper are.
• This allows the reader to decide whether the paper
is useful to them.
• Get into the habit of reading only abstracts while
searching for papers that are relevant to your
research.
• Read the body of a paper only when you think it will
be useful to you.
Writing a Research Report

A research report has seven components:

1. Abstract or Summary—an example
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven

components:
2. Introduction
The introduction tells the reader what the
topic of the paper is in general terms, why
the topic is important, and what to expect
in the paper.
• Introductions should funnel from general
ideas to the specific topic of the paper
• Introductions are sometimes folded into
literature reviews
Writing a Research Report
A research report has seven components:
2. Introduction—an example
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

3. Review of Literature
The literature review tells the reader what other
researchers have discovered about the paper’s
topic or tells the reader about other research that
is relevant to the topic.
• A literature review should shape the way readers
think about a topic—it educates readers about
what the community of scholars says about a topic
and its surrounding issues.
• Often what students call a “research paper” is
merely a review of literature.
• Along the way it states facts and ideas about the
social world and supports those facts and ideas
with credit for where they came from.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

3. Review of Literature
• If an idea cannot be substantiated by the
community of scholars, the literature review
makes clear that the author is speculating, and
the logic of the speculation is detailed.
• Irrelevant information is not discussed.
• The literature review has its own voice. The
sources of information are not extensively quoted
or “copied and pasted.” Instead, the author puts
facts and ideas into his or her own words while
pointing out where the information came from.
Think about how you tell family members about
the exciting things you learned in classes…or
think about how you discuss sociology at cocktail
parties. You make claims in you own words…you
don’t quote word for word or cut and paste what
you learned.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

3. Review of Literature
• Literature reviews have parenthetical citations
running throughout. These are part of a
systematic way to document where facts and
ideas came from, allowing the skeptical reader to
look up anything that is questionable.
Remember as a kid: “My Momma said…?”
Parenthetical citation is our way of substantiating
claims we made in our own words, without
breaking our flow.
• Each citation directs the reader to the references
where complete details on sources can be found.
• Citations consist of authors’ last names and the
year of publication. One finds complete
information on sources by looking up last names
and dates in alphabetized references—so there’s
no need to put all that information in the text.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

3.Review of Literature
• We have conventions that allow the reader to figure out
where information is coming from.
In text, just pointing out where info came from:
• blah blah (Author Year) or (Lee 2004).
In text, where you quoted someone:
• “Quote quote” (Author Year: Pages) or (Lee 2004: 340).
In text, more than one source:
• (Author Year; Author Year) or (Lee 2004; Seymour & Hewitt
1997)
In text, if you want to use the author’s name in a sentence:
• Author (Year) says that… or Lee (2004) claims that girls…
Quoting a person and using their name:
• Author (Year: Pages) says, “Quote quote…” or Lee (2004: 341)
says, “Girls are more likely to…”
Writing a Research Report

A research report has seven components:

3. Review of Literature—examples of citing
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

3. Review of Literature
• Note that if you want to explain why social events
occur as they do, you will use (and test)
explanations that have worked before. THESE
EXPLANATIONS ARE CALLED THEORIES.
• Most academic literature reviews have a guiding
theory that is used to:
• Frame (or help us understand) facts in the literature.
• Establish expectations (or hypotheses) for the research.
• Justify speculation when no evidence to justify an idea
exists in the literature.
• Sometimes the whole point of a research project is
to:
• Determine whether a theory works
• Pit two or more theories against each other to see which
works better
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven

components:
3. Review of Literature
• Quantitative literature reviews typically
end with statements of:
• Exactly what the researcher’s specific topic is
• Research hypotheses
• For example:
“Men will have higher investment income than
women even when controlling for education.”
“Older Americans will oppose abortion for a
woman who doesn’t want her baby because she
is poor.”
Writing a Research Report

A research report has seven components:

3. Review of Literature—examples of hypotheses
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

4. Methods
A METHODS SECTION MUST CONTAIN:
• Descriptions of Data
• Think in terms of: “Who, What, When, Where, Why and
How?”
• Target Population
• The Ways Data were Collected:
• Sampling
• Delivery Methods
• Response Rates
• Limitations of Data (Who is omitted, biases)
• Any analyses necessary to bolster claims the data are
appropriate
• Sample sizes through various decisions
• Such as:
• eliminating non-Christians from the sample
• using only white respondents
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven

components:
4. Methods
A METHODS SECTION MUST CONTAIN:
• Descriptions of Variables
• Statement of dependent and independent
variables
• Names for the variables—make them intuitive!
• Word for word description of the questions.
(sociology differs from psychology and
medicine here)
• The ways variables are coded
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

4. Methods
A METHODS SECTION MUST CONTAIN:
• Manipulations of the variables or data
• For example:
• recoding income from 23 uneven intervals to five
equivalent categories
• removing non-citizens if studying voting patterns
• Reflection on Adequacy and strength of sample
and variables for generalizing to the target
population
• The techniques that will be used to test your
hypotheses or research questions
Writing a Research Report
4. Methods
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

5. Results
The results section chronicles the findings of the
statistical analyses and assesses whether your
expectations (hypotheses) were correct.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

5. Results
The results section includes:
• Professional tables showing descriptive and
inferential statistics
• Narrative describing most relevant findings
• The narrative and tables are complementary.
• The narrative discusses ONLY VERY IMPORTANT
findings and refers to where information can be
found in the tables as different facts are discussed.
• The tables contain almost all statistical information
so that the author does not have to write a narrative
for every detail in the analysis.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

5. Results
The results section includes:
• Evaluations of the hypotheses. Were the research
hypotheses supported?
• Statements about new discoveries or surprises
encountered in the analyses
Writing a Research Report
5. Results
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven

components:
6. Conclusions and Discussion
This section assesses how one’s research
findings relate to what the community of
scholars knew already.
• You should summarize the most salient
points of your research (tell the reader
what you found out about your topic).
• Discuss the general significance of your
topic and findings.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven

components:
6. Conclusions and Discussion
• You should discuss the shortcomings of
your study and what implications these
have for your findings.
• Discuss things future researchers should
investigate about your topic.
• Leave the reader with the understanding
he or she ought to have about the topic
you spent so much time exploring.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven

components:
7. References
The references are just as important as any
other part of your paper. They are the link
to the community of scholars that will
permit your reader to assess the
worthiness of the claims you make in your
paper. References also make the research
process much more efficient because they
make it very easy to look up sources of
facts and ideas.
Writing a Research Report
• A research report has seven components:
7. References
Should be hanging indented, alphabetical on author’s last name (by
increasing year within same author) with information in order
determined by type of source:

Article
Last Name, first name. Year. “Article title.” Journal Name Volume: 1st
Page- Last Page.
Lee, James Daniel. 2005. “Do Girls Change More than Boys? Gender
Differences and Similarities in the Impact of New Relationships
on Identities and Behaviors.” Self and Identity 4:131-47.
Chapter
Last Name, first name. Year. “Chapter Name.” Pages in the book in
Book Name, edited by first name last name. City of Publisher:
Publisher.

Book:
Last name, first name. Year. Book Name. City of Publisher: Publisher.
Writing a Research Report

• A research report has seven components:

7. References
Should be hanging indented, alphabetical on author’s
last name (by increasing year within same author)
with information in order determined by type of
source:

A website:
Last Name (if available), first name. Year (if available).
“Article or web page title.” Journal or Report Name
Volume (if available). http://address. Date
accessed.
Writing a Research Report

A research report has seven components:

7. References—an example
Writing a Research Report

Some General Points

1. Make accurate claims in your paper. Stake out

positions—a kind of, “I think I have the answer to this
issue,” position.

2. Cite facts to support your sociological claims.

3. If you can, use theories to support your sociological

claims.

4. Every declaration or “fact claim” must be cited or

overtly posed as speculation.
Writing a Research Report

Some General Points

5. Anticipate your reader’s questions as you write:

A. help the reader understand why your topic is important
B. demonstrate to the reader that you adequately
investigated your topic
C. help them anticipate what you’ll say next—everything
you say should seem reasonable to say

6. While writing, keep thinking “The point is to (1)

establish hypotheses (2) describe how to test the
hypotheses (3) give results of tests, and (4) discuss
what the reader should believe about the world.”
Writing a Research Report

Some General Points

7. There is no right answer in a research paper—Just

approximate representations of the truth that are
closer or further away from that truth.

• The truth is:

• From “Community of Scholars”:
What they said about your topic in the
journals, books, and other publications
• From you:
What your methods and analyses revealed
about the topic.
Writing a Research Report

Finally…Avoiding Plagiarism
• What is it?
• All knowledge in your head has either
been copied from some place or originally
discovered by you.
• Most knowledge was copied.
• This is true in most settings. General
knowledge is copied. Most teachers’
lectures are copied knowledge.
• Humans are naturally copiers, but this is
not what we would typically call
“plagiarism.”
Writing a Research Report

• The Elements of Style endorses imitation as a way for a

writer to achieve his own style:
• The use of language begins with imitation . . . The imitative
life continues long after the writer is on his own in the
language, for it is almost impossible to avoid imitating what
one admires. Never imitate consciously, but do not worry
about being an imitator; take pains instead to admire what is
good. Then when you write in a way that comes naturally, you
will echo the halloos that bear repeating.

Copied from: http://www.answers.com/topic/writing-style-1

Writing a Research Report

Finally…Avoiding Plagiarism
• What is it?
• Among other things, plagiarism refers to taking
others’ work and representing it as if it were your
own.

• In academics this is bad because with plagiarism:

• One cannot assess students’ development accurately
• The person who makes his or her livelihood by scholarly
pursuit is being robbed of credit
• It masks the lineage of ideas and facts.

“Plagiarism is to academics as Enron-accounting is

to corporate America.”
Writing a Research Report

Finally…Avoiding Plagiarism
Lineage of Ideas:
• Original sources of research are all the proof we have
for some facts. Without the “paper trail” of academic
thought:

• People could pass incorrect ideas off as facts

• We would have to keep “re-proving” things.

• The contexts that generated facts and ideas get lost.

• Research becomes highly inefficient as it becomes

incredibly difficult to find “full information” on a topic.
Writing a Research Report

Finally…Avoiding Plagiarism
• To avoid plagiarism:
1. Document every source for information that is not
“general knowledge”—this includes facts and ideas.
2. Cite every time a fact or idea is used unless it is
clear that one citation is referring to a group of facts
or ideas.
3. If you quote material, put quotation marks around
the quoted stuff and include a page number within
the citation.
4. It is alright to paraphrase material, but you still have
to cite from where the paraphrased material came.
5. When in doubt, cite the source.

Improper citing is grounds for failure on the

course paper.