Introduction to Educational Research (6th ed.)
Craig A. Mertler & C.M. Charles
Chapter 9
Preparing a Research Report
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Conventions in Research and
Reporting
• Conventions—agreed-upon procedures that help ensure
accuracy, validity, credibility, etc. of a research study
• Conventions of style:
» Title—should indicate clearly what report is about;
limit to approximately 15 words or less
» Person and voice—typically written in third person
and in passive voice
» Tense—generally speaking, final reports written in
past tense; proposals written in future tense
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Conventions in Research and
Reporting (cont’d.)
» Tentative versus definitive statements—conclusions
usually reported with tentative statements;
procedures and results of descriptive analyses can be
stated more definitively
» Simplicity of language—use plain, straightforward
language; don’t try to impress your readers…let
your research speak for itself!
» Consistency—consistency throughout the report is
essential
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Conventions in Research and
Reporting (cont’d.)
• Conventions of format:
» Major sections of reports—not always labeled as
such, but report is easier to follow if they are
◊ Introduction (Ch. 1 of thesis/ dissertation)—
includes statement of problem,
questions/hypotheses, limitations/delimitations,
assumptions
◊ Review of related literature (Ch. 2) —organized
from general to specific, older to more recent;
use research questions/hypotheses to guide
structure; end with a brief summary of the review
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Conventions in Research and
Reporting (cont’d.)
◊ Methods (Ch. 3)—includes description of
participants and how they were selected,
description of instrumentation, (including
validity and reliability), data collection
procedures, proposed methods of data analysis
◊ Findings or results (Ch. 4)—summarization of new
information discovered through analysis of the
data; may include tables and graphs; often
organized by research question/hypothesis
◊ Conclusions or discussion (Ch. 5)—presents
conclusions, implications, recommendations
resulting from interpretation of the findings;
only section where inclusion of researcher’s own
thoughts are appropriate
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Conventions in Research and
Reporting (cont’d.)
◊ Front material—includes title page, signature
page, acknowledgment page, dedication page,
table of contents, list of tables and figures, and
abstract
◊ Back material—includes references and
appendices
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Format of Thesis/Dissertations
versus Journal Articles
• Major differences with respect to:
» Length of paper
» Inclusion of front and back material
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Style Guides
• Many are available, including the two most commonly
used:
» Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (5th ed.)…“APA Manual” *
» The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for
Authors, Editors, and Publishers (14th ed.)
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Applying Technology…
Web sites & software to help write research reports
•
APA-Style Helper 5.0
(www.apastyle.org/stylehelper/ver5)
• *** Take Note! ***
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