Reporting research
In the "wheel" of the research process (see link), reporting the research comes in sixth place following the stage of evaluating the results. To be able to report a research, you need to have all the information on the research handy and your conclusions clear. Depending on where your research is going to be reported, the contents of the report may slightly vary. Nevertheless, most research will include more or less the same sections.
Writing research
The research report is basically composed of the following sections: title, author, abstract, problem background or literature review or introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, and references. Each section has guidelines.
For guidelines on writing abstracts refer to the link.
For guidelines on writing introductions refer to the link.
For guidelines on literature review refer to the link.
For guidelines on the methods section refer to the link.
For guidelines on the results section refer to the link.
For guidelines on the discussion section refer to the link.
For guidelines on the reference section refer to the link.
For guidelines on other sections including tables and diagrams refer to the link.
For guidelines on better English writing and grammar refer to the links below.
Presenting research
If research is presented in a conference or another academic arena, care and attention should be given to the techniques and requirements of presentation. Check the link on presentations for more discussion and guidelines regarding oral and written presentations.
The following items are topics for discussion during this lecture. Students should prepare their thoughts and ideas around these topics.
Parts of a research report
Proper citation techniques
Criteria for good research reporting
Writing skills
Sommer, B. & Sommer, R. (2002). A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research: Tools and Techniques, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Chapter 20, pp.290-304, Writing and reviewing a research report).
Back to top | Previous lecture
Copyright © 2000 by Hisham S. Gabr. All rights reserved.
This page last revised: 17/03/04
