Research Rundowns >Writing > Writing a Research Report 1. · PDF fileResearch Rundowns...

ResearchRundowns>Writing>WritingaResearchReportThisreviewcoversthebasicelementsofaresearchreport.Thisisageneralguideforwhatyouwillseeinjournalarticlesordissertations.Thisformatassumesamixedmethodsstudy,butyoucanleaveouteitherquantitativeorqualitativesectionsifyouonlyusedasinglemethodology.Thisreviewisdividedintosectionsforeasyreference.TherearefiveMAJORpartsofaResearchReport:

1. Introduction2. ReviewofLiterature3. Methods4. Results5. Discussion

Note:Asageneralguideforlength,theIntroduction,ReviewofLiterature,andMethodsshouldbeabout1/3ofyourpaper,Discussion1/3,thenResults1/3.Section1:CoverSheet(APAformatcoversheet)optional,ifrequired.Section2:Abstract(abasicsummaryofthereport,includingsample,treatment,design,results,andimplications)(≤150words)optional,ifrequired.Section3:Introduction(1‐3paragraphs)

• Basicintroduction• Supportivestatistics(canbefromperiodicals)• StatementofPurpose• StatementofSignificance

Section4:Researchquestion(s)orhypotheses

• Anoverallresearchquestion(optional)• Aquantitative‐based(hypotheses)• Aqualitative‐based(researchquestions)

Note:Youwillgenerallyhavemorethanone,especiallyifusinghypotheses.Section5:ReviewofLiterature

▪ Shouldbeorganizedbysubheadings▪ Shouldadequatelysupportyourstudyusingsupporting,related,and/orrefutingevidence▪ Isasynthesis,notacollectionofindividualsummaries

Section6:Methods

▪ Procedure:Describedatagatheringorparticipantrecruitment,includingIRBapproval▪ Sample:Describethesampleordataset,includingbasicdemographics▪ Setting:Describethesetting,ifapplicable(generallyonlyinqualitativedesigns)▪ Treatment:Ifapplicable,describe,indetail,howyouimplementedthetreatment▪ Instrument:Describe,indetail,howyouimplementedtheinstrument;Describethereliability

andvalidityassociatedwiththeinstrument▪ DataAnalysis:Describetypeofprocedure(t‐test,interviews,etc.)andsoftware(ifused)

Section7:Results▪ RestateResearchQuestion1(Quantitative)▪ Describeresults▪ RestateResearchQuestion2(Qualitative)▪ Describeresults

Section8:Discussion

▪ RestateOverallResearchQuestion▪ Describehowtheresults,whentakentogether,answertheoverallquestion▪ ***Describehowtheresultsconfirmorcontrasttheliteratureyoureviewed

Section9:Recommendations(optional,generallyrelatedtopractice)Section10:Limitations

▪ Discuss,inseveralsentences,thelimitationsofthisstudy.▪ ResearchDesign(overall,theninfoaboutthelimitationsofeachseparately)▪ Sample▪ Instrument/s▪ Otherlimitations

Section11:Conclusion(Abriefclosingsummary)Section12:References(APAformat)