FORMATTING THE REPORT

Research Methodology – Unit 7

CONTENTS

Formatting a report

Developing the final draft

Preparing the citation and referencing

Making an oral presentation of a report

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

2

RESEARCH REPORT

Crucial part of the research that includes solutions

and recommendations of the research problem.

If the report is not made properly, then all the efforts

of the researcher would become useless and futile.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

3

RESEARCH REPORT

Parts of Research

Report

Written report

Oral presentation

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

4

RESEARCH REPORT

The written report should be powerful in

presentation and provide the exact information that

the researcher wants to convey to the reader.

The aim of the written report would not be fulfilled

till the findings or recommendations are not

implemented.

An oral presentation provides a quick overview of

the research.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

5

WRITTEN REPORT

The most common purpose for writing a report are as follows:

Providing Information Refers to gathering information about a subject. Sometimes, a

report is written only to provide information about a topic. Such type of report is very focused and follows a narrowed down approach.

Generating idea Refers to devising idea from the information provided in the

report. The reports that aim to generate an idea are detailed in nature and include elaborated information.

Finding solutions Refers to identifying alternative solutions to address a

problem. The reports that intend to find different solutions of a problem include past and present data and findings and recommendations.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

6

WRITTEN REPORT

Audience of a ReportOne who wants the research to be done.

The researcher should know the composition, background, and interests of the target audience before commencing the research.

The length, composition and details in a research report vary as per the target audience.

Types of ReportsTechnical report Lays emphasis on the method employed in conducting research,

assumptions made during the research, the detail about the topic under study, and findings and recommendations.

Technical reports are full-fledged reports and generally long in nature. These reports involve a detailed description of the research work. The target audience of technical reports is students, government bodies, special commissions, and other organizations that need an in-depth analysis of the topic.

Popular report

Steps in Writing a Report

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

7

WRITTEN REPORT

Popular report Refers to the reports that are non-technical in nature. Popular

reports lay emphasis on simplicity and attractiveness in the presentation of information.

The content of a popular research should be simple, clear, and less technical in nature.

Information should be explained with the help of simple charts and graphs instead of mathematical equations.

The popular reports should be attractive in terms of layout, fonts, figures, prints and use of subheadings.

It is important to note that popular reports focus on findings and recommendations of the research work.

A popular report is less comprehensive, as the audience is interested in knowing the results of the research work. Not the entire analysis part.

Steps in Writing a Report

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

8

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

The report of research should be written in such a

format that is easily comprehensible for the audience.

Writing a report is a process that involves sequential

steps mentioned below:

Analysis of a subject matter

Final outline

Rough draft

Review of the rough draft

Bibliography

Final draft

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

9

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

Analysis of the subject matter

Refers to determining what kind of development pattern should be adopted to write a report for a particular research.

Two kinds of development patterns are mostly used in research reports: logical development and chronological development.

In logical development, the researcher makes logical decisions by using mental thoughts and links between one topic and the other.

The logical thinking is mostly based on the study that the researcher has done during the research work. In logical development, the subject matter moves from simple to complex.

In chronological development, the subject matter is sequentially structured. That is, if you want to study one topic, then you should have gone through the previous topic to gain better understanding of the next topic.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

10

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

Final outline

Refers to the stage of writing in which the researcher makes a

structure or outline of the report.

It consists of a brief description of the topics to be covered in

the report.

Final outline also provides information about the points to be

stressed in the research.

This helps the researcher not to miss out any topic to be

studied/covered in the report.

Final outline is also considered as the framework of the report.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

11

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

Rough draft

Refers to the stage in which researchers start writing a report.

In this stage, they organize their thoughts and start writing

about the methods used for data collection, analysis

techniques, major findings of the research, and limitations

faced by the researcher during the study.

The recommendations of the study are also described in this

part.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

12

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

Review of the rough draft

Refers to the stage in which the researcher checks the rough

draft for the logical corrections.

The researcher also checks whether the report is conveying

the intended message of the researcher or not.

He/she also has to see that the report is convincing and

appropriate according to the audience of the research.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

13

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

Bibliography

Refers to the stage in which the bibliography of the research

report is prepared.

Bibliography is the section of the report that contains the

sources of secondary data collection.

It includes names of books, journals, magazines, and other

sources of print media from where the data is collected.

It also contains the Internet links used in the preparation of the

research report.

There is a proper pattern to write the name of the source from

where the data is collected.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

14

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

Bibliography

For books and pamphlets, the order of writing is as follows:Last name of the author, title of the book, place, publisher name, date, number of volumes.

For example:

1. Sekaran, Uma, Research Methods for Business, Noida, Sheela Print-N-Pack, 2010, IV

2. Chandra, R.K., Quantitative Methods, New Delhi, Vikas Publications Pvt. Ltd., 1999, I.

For magazines and newspapers, the order of writing is as follows:Last name of author, first name of author, “title of article”, name of periodical, place, number of volumes, date of issue, pagination.

1. Fran, Dmarlo, “Buying behavior of consumer in supermarkets”, The Marketing Biz, London, Vol. II, 1992, p.890.

2. Disilva, Mathew, “Benefits for SME”, Financial express, Newyork, Vol. VI, 1992, p.900.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

15

WRITTEN REPORT

Steps in Writing a Report

Final Draft

Refers to the last stage in which the researcher gives a final

touch to his/her report.

Final draft is prepared keeping in mind the objective of the

study.

It should be simple, concise, and convincing.

In this stage, it is examined whether all the portions of the

study is covered or not.

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

16

INTEGRAL PARTS OF REPORT

Title page

Table of content

Preliminary pages

Acknowledgement

Preface

Executive Summary

Chapter I - Introduction

Chapter II – Literature review

Chapter III – Research Methodology

Chapter IV – Analysis

Chapter V – Conclusion and Recommendation

Bibliography and appendices17

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“An executive summary, sometimes known as a management summary, is a short document or section of a document, produced for business purposes, that summarizes a longer report or proposal or a group of related reports in such a way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with a large body of material without having to read it all. It 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”.

“An executive summary differs from an abstract in that an abstract will usually be shorter and is intended to provide a neutral overview or orientation rather than being a condensed version of the full document. Abstracts are extensively used in academic research where the concept of the executive summary would be meaningless. "An abstract is a brief summarizing statement... read by parties who are trying to decide whether or not to read the main document", while "an executive summary, unlike an abstract, is a document in miniature that may be read in place of the longer document".

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_summary

18

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

In the form of presentation slides

Duration of an oral presentation is maximum – 30 mins.

The researcher should be able to explain his/her entire research work in the given time.

He/she should sound convincing and effective to gain the attention of the target audience.

In addition, the researcher should handle the queries of the audience very patiently and should be well-prepared for the presentations to minimize the chances of errors.

He/she should not get irritated or frustrated while answering the queries.

19

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7

End of Unit 7

20

Rese

arc

h M

eth

od

olo

gy -

Unit 7