RESEARCH

By: Melanie A Lumampao

Teacher I
 OBJECTIVES
• Determines the objectives and
structures of Research Report
• Designs, tests and revises survey
questionnaires
• Conducts surveys, experiments, or
observations
What is a Research Report?
• One good example of report that you should
know which is commonly used in the field of
hard sciences.
✓ Use a standard scientific report format
describing methods,
✓ results and conclusions to report upon an
empirical investigation
What is a Research Report?
• The purpose of a science report is to clearly
communicate your key message about why
your scientific findings are meaningful.
• In order to do this, you need to explain
✓ why are you testing a hypothesis,
✓ what methodology you used,
✓ what you found, and
✓ why your findings are meaningful.
What is a Research Report?
• This requires a clear link between your
introduction and your analysis/discussion.

• The different parts of the research report

include the following:
What is a Research Report?
1. Introductory Phase
2. Review of Literature
3. Research Methodology
4. Body of the Report
5. Conclusion
6. Recommendation
1. Introductory Phase
• Introduction is as important as the main
parts of a research report.
• It contextualizes and sets the tone and
direction of research writing.
• It is like a road map that guides you in your
research journey.
1. Introductory Phase
• According to Reidman (2001), it answers the
following questions:
✓ What was I studying?
✓ What did we know about this topic before
we study?
✓ And, how this study advance new
knowledge or new ways of understanding?
1. Introductory Phase
• This section indicates not just the context but
the significance of research.
• The introduction encapsulates background
information about the topic as it provides
✓ discussion on the purpose of the study,
✓ research problem with hypothesis and
research questions
1. Introductory Phase
• It also covers discussion on how paper is
organized.
• As suggested by Silverman (2006), research
report starts with four elements including:
✓ title;
✓ abstract;
✓ list of contents, and
✓ introduction.
 Research Title
• A research title has to get the attention of the
readers.
• In other words, it must be “catchy.”
• Being catchy does not mean sacrificing the
main message or idea of your report.
• Hence, according to Silverman (2006, 339)
choose “a title that catches the reader’s
attention while properly informing them
about the main focus on your research.”
 Research Title
• Silverman (2006, 206) is suggesting a “two-
part title” containing
✓ a stimulating title applying a present
participle signifying action and
✓ a subtitle which is more descriptive.
• Example:
• Stimulating title: Have you ever experience
being bullied?
• Descriptive title: A study on the perception of
the victims of bullying in the primary schools
 Research Abstract
• A research abstract is a vital component of a
report as it provides the readers with a snap
view of what you will expect from it.
• The abstract gives a synopsis of the
objectives and results of the report to be
described in detailed from in the body of the
report.
• Silverman (2006) identified what an abstract
should contain:
 Research Abstract
1. research problem
2. significance and value of the problem
3. data and methods utilized
4. main findings
5. implication in the light of other research
• A research abstract has a word limit. The
most common word limit is 100.
• This is a challenging part of writing a report
because it is difficult to write the many things
that you want to impart in just a few words.
 List of Contents
• A list of contents is a useful component of a
report as it guides the readers to find their
way through the different parts of the report.
• Hence, the consistency of the page
numbers with the parts of the report is vital.
• Inconsistent page numbering would result to
the reader’s confusion.
 Introduction
• The introduction acquaints the readers with
the what, why and how of the report.

• According to Murcott (1997, p. 1) as cited in

Silverman (2006), answering the questions
below would lead you to the development of
the introduction:
 Introduction
1. What is the research all about?
2. Why have you chosen this topic rather
than the other topics?
3. Why are you interested in this topic?
4. How will you undertake the research?
5. What kind of research approach will you
utilize?
6. What are your research questions or
problems?
 Review of Literature
• The Review of Related Literature (RRL)
provides study background and
environment.
• The intention of the RRL is to locate the
study in its area of discipline and reveal its
relevance and significance in the
environment.
• The RRL would indicate if your topic is
building on previous researchers or if it
is a new area of inquiry.
 Review of Literature
• Silverman (2008) recommends the
following points:
• Focus only on studies that are vital and
relevant in defining your research problem.

• Organize what you say in the form of an

argument rather than a simple
description of other studies.
 Research Methodology
• A description of the research strategy.
• Silverman (2008) pointed out that the
readers would be interested to know the
following:
1. Research topic
2. Case (s) you have studied
3. Research methods you have chosen to use
4. How you have analyzed the data
 Research Methodology
• This part of the research report is sensitive
hence must be dealt with caution. In order
for you to answer questions such as:
1. Is your methodology appropriate for the
research problem?
2. How did you reach that conclusion?
Silverman suggested that to be able to answer
methodological questions, you have to be familiar
with and knowledgeable about the following:
 Research Methodology
• Data you have studied
• How you obtained those data
• What claims you are making about the data
• Methods you have used to gather the data
• Why you have chosen these methods
• How you have analyzed your data
 Writing Your Data
• The most essential part of the report is
writing about the data collected through
your research.
• There are two important areas of
consideration in the writing up of the data,
namely,
• data analysis, and
• data presentation
 Writing Your Data
• In the data analysis, there is no right or
wrong way. Creswell (1994, 153) only
requires the researcher to:
1. “be comfortable with developing
categories and making comparisons and
contrast”
2. “be open to possibilities and see contrary
or alternative explanations for the findings”
 Writing Your Data
• To assist the researcher in the data
analysis, attention must be given to

(a) sorting information into categories,

(b) formatting the information into a story or
picture,
(c) actual data analysis and write up.
 Writing the Conclusion
• How do you characterize conclusions?
Conclusion are inferences, deductions,
abstraction, implications, interpretations,
general statements, and/or generalizations
based on findings
a) An example of which is: “All the teachers were
qualified to teach in the high school but the
majority of them were not qualified to teach
science. ” (Khemer, 2009).
 Writing the Conclusion
• A good conclusion answers the specific
questions identified at the introductory
phase of the research.
a) For example, if the question identified is, “How
adequate are the needs and the facilities for
teaching science? And then the findings reveal that
the facilities are less than the needs of the students,
the answer and the conclusion should be: The facilities
for the teaching of science are inadequate. (Khreme,
2009).
Writing the Recommendation
• A part of the paper where you make
suggestions about some resolutions as a
response to the research problem.
• It must be consistent part of the conclusion.
• It proposes specific solutions connected with
the findings and must be supported by
relevant data and specific data from the
findings.
Writing the Recommendation
• Below are some tips from Teljlingen (2011)
on how to write recommendations:
• “You should not recommend anything that
you have not previously discussed in the
discussion. The rule ‘no new material’ in
your conclusion is also applicable to your
‘Recommendations.’”
Writing the Recommendation
• Recommendations are not the same as
conclusions. Consider recommendations
go one step further than conclusions as
• (a) ‘something’;
• (b) ‘someone; and
• (c) ‘needs to do.’’”
Writing the Recommendation
• There may be different levels within your set
recommendations: for
• (a) academic (i.e., research is needed into…),
• (b) for policy-makers (e,g., data protection act
needs to change to accommodate…); for
• (c) practitioners (i.e., managers in local
government need to consider the mental well-
being of their staff); or recommendation for
• (d) training/education.