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ResearchReportsforBusinessandTechnicalWritingWayneLosanoAsurprisingamountofone'stimeasastudentandprofessionalisspentreportingtheresultsofone'sresearchprojectsforpresentationtoteachers,managers,andclients.Indeed,withoutbasicresearchskillsandtheabilitytopresentresearchresultsclearlyandcompletely,anindividualwillencountermanyobstaclesinschoolandonthejob.Theneedforsomeresearch-writingabilityisfeltnearlyequallybycollegestudentsinallfields,engineeringandscienceaswellasbusinessandthehumanities.Graduatestudyoftenmakesgreatdemandsonthestudent'sre-search-writingskills,andmostprofessionscontinuethedemand;educa-tion,advertisingandmarketing,economicsandaccounting,scienceandengineering,psychology,anthropology,thearts,andagriculturemayallrequireregularreportingofresearchdata.ELEMENTSOFTHERESEARCHPAPERThestandardresearchreport,regardlessofthefieldortheintendedreader,containsfourmajorsections.Thesesectionsmaybebrokendownintoavarietyofsubsections,andtheymaybearrangedinavarietyofways,buttheyregularlymakeupthecoreofthereport.ProblemSection.Thefirstrequiredsectionofaresearchreportisthestatementoftheproblemwithwhichtheresearchprojectisconcerned.Thissectionrequiresaprecisestatementoftheunderlyingquestionwhichtheresearcherhassetouttoanswer.Inthissamesectionthereshouldbeanexplanationofthesignificance-social,economic,medical,psychological,educational,etc.-ofthequestion;inotherwords,whytheinvestigationwasworthconducting.Thus,ifwesetout,forexample,toanswerthequestionWhatistheeffectofregularconsumptionoffastfoodsonthehealthoftheAmericanteenager?wemustexplainthatthequestionisthoughttohavesignificantrelevancetothehealthofthisseg-mentofthe'populationandmightleadtosomesortofregulationsonsuchfoods.Afrequentsubsectionofthisproblemsectionisareviewofpastre-searchonthetopicbeinginvestigated.Thiswouldconsistofsummariesofthecontributionsofpreviousresearcherstothequestionunderconsiderationwithsomeassessmentofthevalueofthesecontributions.Thissubsectionhasrhetoricalusefulnessinthatitenhancesthecredibilityoftheresearcherbyindicatingthatthedatapresentedisbasedonathoroughknowledgeofwhathasbeendoneinthefieldand,possibly,growsoutofsomeinvestigativetradition.ProceduresSection.Thesecondmajorsectionoftheresearchreportdetails,withasmuchdataaspossible,exactlyhowthestudywascarriedout.Thissectionincludesdescriptionofanynecessaryequipment,howthesubjectswereselectedifsubjectswereused,whatstatisticaltechniquewasusedtoevaluatethesignificanceofthefindings,howmanyobservationsweremadeandwhen,etc.Aninvestigationoftherelativeeffectivenessofvariousswim-strokeswouldhavetodetailthenumberofswimmerstested,thenatureofthetestsconducted,theexperienceoftheswimmers,theweatherconditionsatthetimeofthetests,andanyotherfactorsthatcontributedtotheoverallexperiment.Thegoaloftheproceduressectionistoallowthereadertoduplicatetheexperimentifsuchweredesiredtoconfirm,orrefute,yourfindings.ResultsSection.Thethird,andperhapsmostimportant,sectionoftheresearchreportisthepresentationoftheresultsobtainedfromthein-vestigation.Thebasicruleinthissectionistogivealldatarelevanttotheresearchquestioninitiallyasked.Although,ofcourse,one'snaturalten-dencymightbetosuppressanyfindingswhichdonotinsomewaysupportone'shypothesis,suchdishonestyisantitheticaltogoodresearchreportinginanyfield.Iftheexperimentsundertakenfailtoproveanything,ifthedatawasinadequateorcontrarytoexpectations,thereportshouldbehonestlywrittenandascompleteaspossible,justasitwouldbeifthehypothesisweretotallyprovenbytheresearch.DiscussionSection.Thefinalrequiredsectionofaresearchreportisadiscussionoftheresultsobtainedandastatementofanyconclusionswhichmaybedrawnfromthoseresults.Ofprimaryinterestinbusinessandtechnicalresearchreportsisthevalidityoftheresultsasthebasesforcompanydecisions:Willourplannedconstructionprojectmeetfederalenvironmentalguidelinesandbeapprovedforbuilding?Willthisnewprogramattractskilledpersonneltoourcompany?Willthisnewoilrecoverytechniquebefinanciallyfeasible?Thus,thediscussionsectionoftheresearchreportmustevaluatetheresearchresultsfully:weretheyvalidlyobtained,aretheycompleteorlimited,aretheyapplicableoverawiderangeofcircumstances?Thediscussionsectionshouldalsopointoutwhatquestionsremainunansweredandperhapssuggestdirectionsforfurtherresearch.STYLEOFRESEARCHREPORTSResearchreportsareconsideredformalprofessionalcommunication.Assuch,thereislittleemphasisonalivelystyle,although,ofcourse,thereisnoobjectiontowritingthatispleasingandinteresting.Theprimarygoalsofprofessionalcommunicationareaccuracy,clarity,andcompleteness.Theroughdraftofanyresearchreportshouldbeeditedtoensurethatalldataiscorrectlypresented,thatallequipmentislisted,thatallresultsareproperlydetailed.Asanaidtothereader,headingsindicatingatleastthemajorsectionsofthereportshouldbeused,andalldatashouldbepresentedundertheproperheadings.Inadditiontotheirfunctionofsuggestingtothereaderthecontentsofeachsection,headingsenhancetheformalappearanceandprofessionalqualityofthereport,increasetosomedegreethewriter'scredibilitybyreflectingalogicalandmethodicalapproachtothereportingpro