Chapter-7-Writing-a-research-report

Chapter7Writingaresearchreport/paperHuangYingI.Whyareportorpaper?Toletthegeneralpublicknowourresearchfindings.Wecandisplayourresearchfindingsinmultipleways:posters,oralpresentations(PowerPointslides),papers.II.SevensectionsofaquantitativeresearchpaperTherearesixsectionsofaresearchreport:title,abstract,introduction,method,results,discussion,andreferences.2.1TitleUsethefewestpossiblewordsthatadequatelydescribethecontentsofthepaper.Thetitleshouldpredictanddescribethecontentofthepaperasaccuratelyaspossible.Lengthofthetitle:asconciseaspossible.Titlesoftencontainwastewords,whichappearrightatthestartofthetitle,suchas“Studieson”,“Investigationson”,and“Observationson”.AnopeningA,An,orTheisalsoa“waste”word.Avoidquestiontitles.Note:Thetitleisalabelratherthanacompletesentencewiththeusualsubject,verb,objectarrangement.Thefollowingtitlecouldbeunacceptable,thoughsomejournalsdopermitatitletobeasentence:Oct-3isamaternalfactorrequiredforthefirstmouseembryonicdivision(Cell64:1103,1991).Analysis:unacceptableontwogrounds.First,theverb(is)isawasteword,inthatitcanbereadilydeletedwithoutaffectingcomprehension.Second,inclusionoftheisresultsinatitlethatnowseemstobealoudassertion.Ithasadogmaticringtoitbecausewearenotusedtoseeingauthorspresenttheirresultsinthepresenttense.Don’tuseabbreviationsandjargon.Titlesshouldalmostnevercontainabbreviations,chemicalformulas,proprietary(ratherthangeneric)names,jargon,andthelike.2.2AbstractTheAbstractshould1)statetheprincipalobjectivesandscopeoftheinvestigation,(2)describethemethodsemployed,(3)summarizetheresults,and(4)statetheprincipalconclusions.Mostabstractsarebetween80-150words.TheAbstractshouldbetypedasasingleparagraph.(Somemedicaljournalsnowrun“structured”abstractsconsistingofafewbriefparagraphs.)Writingkeywords:Keywordsareusuallynouns,notverbs.Fourorsixkeywordsaretheaverage.Keywordsusuallycomefromthetitleand/ortheabstract.2.3IntroductionTheintroductionshouldcontainareviewoftheresearchliteraturethatisrelevanttothecurrentinvestigation.Inaddition,specifically,theAPAPublicationManualsuggeststhatwriters:(1)statewhytheproblemisimportant,(2)linktheresearchmethodtobeusedtotheareaofinquiry,and(3)describethetheoreticalimplicationsoftheproposedinvestigation.Attheendoftheintroduction,thehypothesesofaquantitativestudyshouldbestated.2.4MethodThisisthehow-tosection.Inmostcases,themethodportionofapaperhassubsections.ThefirstsubsectionisusuallylabeledParticipants.ThesecondsubsectionisoftenlabeledMaterialsorApparatus.ThefinalsubsectionisusuallycalledProcedure.2.5ResultsTheresultsthatyoureportshouldbedirecttestsofthehypothesesthatyoustatedearlier.Becausetheresearchhasalreadyoccurredwhenthemanuscriptiswritten,themethodandtheresultssectionsarewritteninthepasttense.2.6Discussion/ConclusionThediscussionusuallybeginswithabriefnarrativesummaryofthesupport(orlackofsupport)forthehypotheses.Thediscussionsectionisalsowhereyouacknowledgethelimitationsofyourstudy.Anothercomponentofthediscussionsectionisthesuggestionofavenuesforfutureresearch.Perhapsthemostimportantsectionofthediscussionistheexplorationoftheimplicationsofyourresearchfindings.Note:SomepapersdonothavethesectionofConclusion.Butthisisnottosaythattheydonothaveaconclusionatall.Ortheotherwayaround,theyhavethesectionofConclusion,buttheydonothaveaconspicuoussectioncalledDiscussion.2.7ReferencesEveryresearchpaperincludesareferencesectionorbibliographythatprovidescompleteandaccuratecitationsofallsourcesmentionedinthepaper.NotethatthedirtyandmonotonousworkofformattingreferencescanbedonebyusingsomeprofessionaltoolssuchasEndnoteorReferenceManager,andthelike.III.PresentingyourqualitativeresearchinawrittenreportAbstract:Theabstractservesthesamefunctionsandincludesthesameessentialinformationinthewrite-upofbothqualitativeandquantitativeresearchstudies.Introduction:Theintroductionofaqualitativeprojectshouldincludeareviewoftherelevantliterature,similartotheintroductionofaquantitativestudy.Method:Identifyanddescribethequalitativemethodologyandtechniquesusedinyourstudy.Forexample,themethodologymightbeethnographyandthetechniquemightbeobservation.DataAnalysisandInterpretation:Theresultsofaqualitativestudyarepresentedinasectionlabeled“DataAnalysisandInterpretation”orsomevariationonthattheme.Conclusion:Thefinalsectionofaqualitativereportmaybelabeled“Discussion,”“Conclusion,”“Implications,”“Recommendations,”or“Applications,”dependingonthenatureoftheresearch,theaudienceforthereport,andthepurposetheresearchreportwillultimatelyserve.IV.StyleandtoneStylereferstothetypesofwordschosenbythewriterandthelengthandformofsentencesorparagraphsused.Toneisthewriter’sattitudeorrelationtowardthesubjectmatter.Researchreportshaveaformalandsuccinctstyle.Thetoneexpressesdistancefromthesubjectmatter;itisprofessionalandserious.Avoidmoralizingandfloweryerylanguage.Thegoalistoinform,nottoadvocateapositionorentertain.V.PlagiarismPlagiarismisusingothers’ideasandwordswithoutclearlyacknowledgingthesourceofthatinformation.Toavoidplagiarism,youmustgivecreditwhene