SECTION 2
WRITING A RESEARCH REPORT
UNIT 5
I.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCING RESEARCH REPORTS
1. Brief overview
Research reports are formal written reports of major projects that include research into new
developments in a field, explorations of the advisability of launching a new product or an
expanded service, or an end-of-year review of developments within an organization.
The scope and complexity of the project determine how long and how complex the report is.
Most formal reports which are long and complex require a carefully planned structure that
provides the reader with an easy-to-recognize guide to the material in the report. Such aids to
the reader as a table of contents, a list of tables and figures, and an abstract serve to make the
information in the report more accessible. Making a formal topic outline, which lists the major
facts and ideas in the report and indicates their relationship to one another, should help you to
write a well-organized report.
Most formal reports are divided into three major parts – front matter, body, and back matter –
each of which, in turn, contains a number of elements. Just how many elements are needed for
a particular report depends on the subject, the length of the report, and the kinds of material
covered.
The data used in the reports can be secondary based or primary based.
Primary data do not exist until they are created by researchers or people who collect data as
part of their jobs. Sources of primary data include questionnaires, interviews, experiments,
observations, etc.
Secondary data are comprised of materials such as books, chapters in books, articles in
newspapers, magazines and journals, encyclopedias entries, statistical bulletins, computer
software, electronic databases, and charts, etc. Secondary data are easier and cheaper to gather
than primary data, but they may be too general, or too out of date.
2. Typical format for research report
FRONT MATTER
Cover page
Title page
Abstract
Table of contents
List of figures/tables
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BODY
1. Introduction
Rationale
Aim and objectives
Literature Review
Research questions/hypotheses
2. Method
Subjects/Participants
Instruments/Materials (Data collection methods)
Procedures
3. Findings/Results Charts, tables, and/or figures accompanied by verbal
descriptions
4. Discussion of findings
5. Recommendations and Conclusion
BACK MATTER
References
Appendices
Glossary (if any)
II. WRITING INTRODUCTION SECTION
1. Brief overview
The Introduction generally provides the reader with a starting point for your report by
presenting ALL or SOME of the following:
brief background to the issue you are reporting on
definition of relevant terms if necessary
rationale of the research
purpose of the report
outline of the theories or ideas which are being drawn upon for the report (in some
instances this will be included in a separate literature review section)
- research questions/hypotheses
-
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2. Sample introduction and analysis
Read the following authentic introduction and answer the following questions
1. Identify the required features in the sample introduction.
2. Is the in-text referencing appropriately used?
3. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the sample
(N.B. See the Assessment checklist for more details).
Introduction
Ever since the economic reform package of “Renovation” was introduced in 1986,
Vietnamese economy has experienced rapid growth. One manifestation of this
development is the increase in the country’s income per capita from US$ 98 in 1990 to
US$ 729 in 2006 (Do 2007). This rapid increase, in turn, brings about new concern among
Vietnamese regarding personal financial management – a field which had once been
neglected as the result of an underdeveloped economy.
An area in personal financial management that is quite complex but seldom looked into
with seriousness is that of university students. These academic years in universities
represent the transition between teenagers and young adults – a period full of changes
and alterations, many of which are apparent in the balance of students’ income budget and
outgoing expenditure each month. To further the complexity of the issue, there is also the
separation of the students into two categories: those from local cities and those from other
areas.
Ironically, up until now there have been few formal investigations into students’ finance.
Admittedly, numerous journalists have tried to approach the subject through the articles,
but each of them usually reflect only one point of the issue, either the income, or the
outgoings. On the contrary, materials concerning personal finance in general are available
and proliferate. In “Strategy for Personal Finance”, Larry stated that financial planning
comprises four main parts: firstly, “developing & managing your income”, secondly,
“consumer expenditures”, followed by “safeguarding your resources” and last, “building for
your future” – a conceptual definition mostly agreed upon by today’s economists.
Larry’s above mentioned concept formed the basis of this project team’s research.
However, when the pilot survey was conducted, it turned out that safeguarding and future
planning are both areas quite beyond the scope of a normal student, on account of their
young age. Consequently, it was decided that these two be merged into a more general
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and practical issue, namely, budget planning. Therefore, this paper, as the result of our
research, aims to answer three questions: what are the sources of students’ income?;
what are the usual items on the spending lists?, and how do they plan their budget?
Furthermore, in each problem, there would be highlights of the contrast between local and
boarding students, along with possible solutions to students’ financial problems.
(By Khuat Thi Le Lan and Le Luu Ly, 2TC.06, FSD)
III. WRITING LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Brief overview
The Literature Review is a section which summarizes the main findings of previous writers
and researchers on your topic and shows the lecturer that you have read and understood all the
major research on the particular topic.
It is not necessary to summarize the whole article or book, but only the point or information
included in that writing which is relevant to your thesis. If your conclusions are new, then your
literature review should highlight the gap in currently available publications that your paper
will fill.
The following features can be seen in a literature review:
(1) a historical overview of views and texts which lead up to the current situation and
prompted the hypothesis. This is especially true if the hypothesis is not well documented at
the time of writing.
(2) an overview of the alternative views and discussions on the hypothesis if there are any.
(3) a conclusion which shows how the current paper offers a new contribution to the field by
exposing a gap in current research.
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smooth transitions between descriptions of texts to show how the pertinent ideas in
each text are linked or flow on logically.
-
present tenses to describe recent texts and to describe past texts which are still
pertinent at the time of writing. Past tenses used to describe texts whose ideas have
been superseded.
2. Language notes
2.1. Citation and tense
Tense choice in reviewing previous research is subtle and somewhat flexible. The following,
therefore, are only general guidelines for tense usage. Several studies have shown that at least
two-thirds of all citing statements fall into one of these three major patterns:
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§
Pattern 1: Past – researcher activity as agent
Pattern 1 refers to single studies in the past. Attention is given to what previous researchers
did (investigated, studied, analyzed, etc.). By and large, in these cases, the past is obligatory
and the main verbs can refer to what a previous researcher did.
o Jones (1997) investigated the causes of illiteracy.
o The causes of illiteracy were investigated by Jones (1997).
However, the main verbs can also refer to what the previous researcher wrote or thought
(stated, concluded, claimed, etc.). With this kind of reporting verb, tense options are possible.
o Jones (1997) concluded that illiteracy can be related to ...
o Jones (1997) has concluded that …
o Jones (19970 concludes that …
The differences among these tenses are subtle. In general, moves from past to present perfect
and then to present indicate that the research reported is increasingly close to the writer in
some way: close to the writer’s own opinion, or close to the writer’s own research, or close to
the current state of knowledge.
The present tense choice is sometimes called the citational present and is also used with
famous or important sources.
o Plato argues that …
o Confucius says that …
o The Bibles says ..
o The Constitution states …
Comparable opinions exist in the subordinate clause.
o Jones (1997) found that illiteracy was correlated most closely with poverty.
o Jones (1997) found that illiteracy is correlated most closely with poverty.
The first sentence shows that the writer believes that the finding should be understood within
the context of the single study. In the second, the writer implies that a wider generalization is
possible.
§
Pattern 2: Present Perfect – researcher activity not as agent
Pattern 2 refers to areas of inquiry with present perfect tense. Attention is given to what
previous researchers have done.
o The causes of illiteracy have been widely investigated (Jones 1997; Ferrara 2000;
Hyon 2004).
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o There have been several investigations into the causes of illiteracy (Jones 1997;
Ferrara 2000; Hyon 2004).
o Several researchers have studied the causes of illiteracy.
§
Pattern 3: Present – no reference to researcher activity
Pattern 3 refers to a state of current knowledge at present time with the focus on what has been
found.
o The causes of illiteracy are complex (Jones 1997; Ferrara 2000; Hyon 2004)
o Illiteracy appears to have a complex set of causes.
Notes: Different areas of scholarship have somewhat different preferences. Patterns 1 and 2
are most common in the humanities and least common in science, engineering, and medical
research. However, all three patterns tend to occur in many extensive literature reviews since
they add variety to the text.
2.2. Variation in reviewing the literature
There are of course some other citation patterns.
o According to Jones (1997), the causes of illiteracy are closely related to poverty.
o Jones’ research shows that illiteracy and poverty are interrelated (Jones 1997)
Good writers of literature reviews employ a range of patterns in order to vary their sentences.
2.3 Negative openings
The review of previous research is often ended with a conclusion which shows that the
research story so far is not yet complete. This functions as a mini-critique.
o Apart from a chapter in Foster (1997), this series has been little discussed by
critics or art historians. For example, these pictures were ignored by Jones in her .
o Little is, however, known about participants’ views of university – community
collaboration.
Little / few
Uncountable
However, little information/ attention/work/data/research ….
Countable
However, few studies/investigations/researchers/ attempts …
You prefer to avoid negative comments. In such cases, a useful alternative is to use a
contrastive statement.
o The research has tended to focus on ……………, rather than on …….
o These studies have emphasized ……….., as opposed to ………….
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o Although considerable research has been devoted to … rather less attention has
been paid to …
Two other strategies are quite common.
Raising a question
o However, it remains unclear whether …….
o It would thus be of interest to learn how …
o If these results could be confirmed, they would provide strong evidence for ………
o The findings suggest that this approach might be less effective when ………..
o It would seem, therefore, that further investigations are needed in order to …..….
Extending previous knowledge in some ways
The authors draw a conclusion from their survey of the previous research, indicating how
some findings in the immediate research literature can be extended or applied in some way.
o These recent developments in computer-aided design clearly have considerable
potential. In this paper, we demonstrate …
o The literature shows the Rasch Analysis is a useful technique for validating
multiple-choice tests.
o This paper uses Rasch Analysis to …
3. Sample literature review and analysis
Read the following literature review and answer the following questions.
1. Identify the required features in the sample literature review.
2. Is the in-text referencing appropriately used?
3. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the sample.
(N.B. See the Assessment checklist for more details).
Though there have been no studies on e-commerce in Vietnam, numerous newspaper
articles have been written on this topic. Many of the authors have doubts about the ability
of Vietnam to implement e-commerce. In his article entitled ‘Dreaming of a day wired with
the fast download’, Tu Hoang is skeptical about the situation. According to him, in order to
simply order something on-line, “Firstly, you have to be one of the privileged few with
access to a computer and enough money to afford costly on-line charges. Secondly, you
need to have enough spare time not to worry about the snail pace. Thirdly, you need to
find a bank that will issue you with a credit card and last but not least you have to find a
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business offering the service’ (Hoang, 2000). Many authors share this attitude with
Hoang, examples are Tu Giang in ‘Domestic firms fail to warm e-commerce’ (Giang 2000)
and Dang Kim Long in ‘TMDT- Buc Tranh Toan Canh’ (E-commerce - A Panorama).
Some other authors, however, seem to be more optimistic. Khanh writes in his article
‘Prospects of E- commerce in Vietnam’ that the difficulties do not “prevent us from
pursuing e-commerce” (Khanh 2000). He reports that the government has recently
allocated VND 1 billion for a project aiming at preparing for e-commerce in terms of public
awareness, legal framework, electronic payment systems and the like. Le Anh in her
article ‘Not to be late’ also thinks positively about the situation, giving the fact that there
have been two dot.com companies (MeetVietnam.com and VietnamThink.com) recently
set up in Vietnam. She however thinks that the development depends on ‘the attention
and acceptance of local businesses” (Anh 2000).
Overall, whether being optimistic or pessimistic, most writers seem to describe the
situation rather than give a systematic analysis of the situation. The information given,
therefore, is fragmented and seems to stay at a superficial level. Furthermore, the
concept of e-commerce has not been profoundly understood in Vietnam. Many authors
write of e-commerce as simple “buying on-line”. This can be seen in both Khanh’s article
Prospects of E- commerce in Vietnam and Hoang’s article ‘Dreaming of a day wired with
the fast download’.
Notes: The following abstract of the paper which contains the above literature review is
attached to provide the readers with a better understanding of the purpose of the paper, and
hence better analysis of the sample.
Abstract
The introduction of E-commerce is commonly recognized as the most significant and
exciting development in business around the world. This paper, based on secondary
research, discusses Vietnam’s level of readiness to develop e-commerce. In particular,
three areas of business practice in Vietnam are explored: company and consumer
attitudes, payment methods and finally Vietnamese legislation pertaining to the operation
of e-commerce. The findings of the research indicate that companies and consumers in
Vietnam are not interested in e-commerce and the country lacks the payment system
and the legal framework necessary to promote the operation of e-commerce. Finally,
based on the findings, the paper draws the conclusion that Vietnam is not ready to
develop e-commerce.
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ASSIGNMENT
WRITE THE INTRODUCTION FOR YOUR RESEARCH REPORT
CHECKLIST FOR INTRODUCTION SECTION
Work with another pair and use the checklist to evaluate your introduction. Then
rewrite your introduction based on the comments given.
CHECKLIST
Yes / No
1. Do you provide sufficient background information to give the readers a
clear idea of the topic you are studying?
2. Do you present a clear reason for why you have chosen to study the topic?
3. Do you present the related theories and ideas which are being drawn upon
for your report?
4. Do you make logical and proper research questions so as to fulfill the
purpose of the study?
5. Does your introduction contain facts or opinions obtained from official
and reliable sources?
6. Are the cited facts and opinions appropriately quoted without plagiarism?
7. Is the language appropriately used without mistakes in grammar and
mechanics?
8. Does the introduction have unity and coherence?
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