Writing RESEARCH REPORTS

MRS. A. KIM

Understanding the Research Report

The Research Process• Choosing your subject• Doing preliminary research• Limiting your subject to a

specific topic

Order

• Your topic must be approved by Ms. Kim

• Locate resources for your research report

• Bibliography must be turned in within a week.

• Outline: How your research report will look like (10-20 pages with illustrations)

• Planning Sheet: How you will present your report

• You must have: Questions, answers, activities, and a quiz)

The Research Process (cont.)

• Finding an angle and writing a statement of controlling purpose.

• Taking a list of possible sources (a working bibliography)

The Research Process (cont.)

• Taking notes and developing a rough, or working, outline

• Organizing your notes and making a final outline

• Writing your first draft

The Research Process (cont.)

• Writing your first draft

• Revising your draft

• Writing the final draft, with a complete list of works cited

Interest Inventory

• What subjects do I enjoy reading about?

• What topics that I have recently read about in magazines or seen on television would I like to know more about?

Interest Inventory (cont.)

• What subjects have captured my attention and interest in my classes?

• What do I wonder about? What aspects of my world would I like to know the origins or history of?

Ideas for Preliminary Research

• Read encyclopedia articles.

• List questions about the subject, and interview someone knowledgeable about it.

Ideas for Preliminary Research

• Brainstorm to find out the subject.

• Find a textbook that covers the general field of study to which your subject belongs.

• Read about your subject in that textbook.

Ideas for Preliminary Research

• Check the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature to find general articles on your subject.

• Choose books at random and look them over.

Using Prewriting Techniques

• Freewriting or clustering: write whatever comes to mind about the subject.

• Brainstorming: Write a list of topics that come to mind.

Evaluating Possible Topics

• The topic should be interesting.• The topic should be covered in

readily available sources.• The topic should be significant.• The topic should be objective.

Evaluating Possible Topics

• You should not be simply repeat material available in other sources.

• The topic should be narrow enough to be treated fully.

Finding and Recording Your Sources

• Other people / Bibliographies• Institutions and organizations• The government• The library/media center• Bookstores/ on-line information

services• Reference works (periodical

indexes, encyclopedia, almanacs…)

Preparing Note Cards

• A direct quotation- repeats the words of a source exactly. Quotation marks are used around the quoted material.

Preparing Note Cards

• A paraphrase states an idea expressed in a source, but not in the same words.

• A summary is a shortened statement of an idea in a source.

Effective Note Taking

• Keep your topic, purpose and audience in mind at all times. Do not record material unrelated to your topic.

• Make sure that summaries and paraphrases accurately express the ideas in your sources.

Effective Note Taking

• Be accurate. Make sure to copy direct quotations word for word.

• Double-check statistics and facts to make sure that you have them right.

Effective Note Taking

• Distinguish between fact and opinion by labeling opinions as such: “Dr. Lee thinks that…” or “According to Alexa…”

Effective Note Taking

• Quote only the important parts of a passage.

• Always double-check page references. It’s easy to copy these incorrectly.

Ways to Relate Ideas

• Chronological order: from first event to last event from last event to first event.

• Spatial Order: by arrangement in space.

Ways to Relate Ideas

• Classification: in groups sharing similar prosperities or characteristics.

• Order of degree: according to importance, value, interest, obviousness, certainty, or a similar quality.

Ways to Relate Ideas

• Cause-and-effect order

• Comparison-and-contrast order

• Analytical order: according to parts and relationships among the parts.

Ways to Relate Ideas

• Order of hierarchical order: from class to subclass (group within a class) or from subclass to class.

Revision Checklist

Content and OrganizationGeneral1. Does my report support or prove

my thesis statement?2. Does my report have a clear

introduction, body, and conclusion?

Revision Checklist

3. Does every idea follow logically from the one before it?

4. Have I used transitions to show connections between ideas?

Introduction

• Will the introduction capture my reader’s attention?

• Does the introduction present my thesis statement clearly?

Body

• Does the body of my report present evidence from a variety of reliable sources?

• Is information from my sources presented in a combination of summary, paraphrase, and quotation?

Body

• Are there any gaps in my argument that I need to fill by doing additional research? Are there any points that need more support?

Body

• Have I deleted all unnecessary material from my report?

• Have I cited sources for opinions presented in the report?

Conclusion

• Did I restate my thesis in the conclusion of my report?

• Does the conclusion summarize the main points that I have presented to support my thesis?

Conclusion

• Does the conclusion give my readers a sense of completion? (Are all the loose ends tied up? Have all the parts of the thesis been supported? Have all of readers’ most likely questions about the topic been addressed?

Style

• Have I varied my writing by using many kinds of sentences?

• Have I avoided wordiness? Have I deleted unnecessary words and phrases?

Style

• Have I used clear, concrete examples? Have I defined key terms?

• Have I avoided informal language? (slang)

• Are my sentences graceful, not awkward?

Preparing the List of Works Cited

Caldicott, Helen. If You Love This Planet: A plan to Heal the Earth. New York: Norton, 1992

Guidelines for Manuscript Form:Research Reports

• Margins: Use one-inch margins at the top, sides, and bottom of the page.

• Name and page numbers: Include your last name, a space, and the page number at the top of each page of the report.

Guidelines for Manuscript Form:Research Reports

• Spacing: Double-space the entire report, including headings, titles, quotations, and text paragraphs.

• Title

Guidelines for Manuscript Form:Research Reports

• Indentions: Indent the first line of each text paragraph five spaces from the left margin.

• Paragraphing: Do not leave a single line of a paragraph at the bottom or the top of a page.

Guidelines for Manuscript Form:Research Reports

• Binding and presentation: Do not staple your research report, and do not use rubber bands.

Oral Presentations

• Visual Aid (necessary)

• Notes

• You are not allowed to read your report to class

• You must teach the class

Oral Presentation

• While you present, the class will be taking notes.

• You will take the notes home and grade them (4,3,2 or 1)

• Bring them back to Ms. Kim to be recorded (Grade Book)