What is a research report?

A research report is a written report that

presents the results of a focused, in-depth
study of a specific topic.
 A. CHOOSING A SUBJECT
THAT YOU CARE ABOUT
One of the most important parts of doing a research
One way to approach the search for a research-report
topic is to first choose a general area of interest and
then focus on some part of it.
 B. DOING PRELIMINARY
RESEARCH
Here are a few suggestions:
Use Freewriting Techniques
Freewriting or clustering
Brainstorming
Questioning
Discussing
 C. LIMITING YOUR SUBJECT
TO A SPECIFIC TOPIC
Here are some criteria for judging a research topic:
1.The topic should be interesting
2. The topic should be covered in readily available sources.
3. The topic should be significant.
4. The topic should be objective.
5. You should not simply repeat material available in other sources.
6. The topic should be narrow enough to be treated fully.
 D. WRITING A STATEMENT
OF CONTROLLING PURPOSE
Statement of Controlling purpose
- is a sentence or pair of sentences that tells you that you
want to accomplish in your report.
- it is called a statement of controlling purpose because it
controls, or guides, your research.
Here are two examples of statements of
controlling purpose:
The purpose of this report is to analyze the impact of
the use of solar energy on pollution.
The purpose of this report is to contrast the
performance of the Upper House and the Lower House
in Congress from 2000-2006.
 E. PREPARING A LIST OF POSSIBLE
SOURCES (A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY)

Working bibliography
-list of sources that might be useful in writing a
research paper
Here are some good places to start looking for information:
1. Other people
2. Institutions and organizations
3. The government
4. The library/media center
5. Bookstores.
6. Bibliographies
7. On-line information services
8. Reference works
9. Other sources
 F. EVALUATING POSSIBLE SOURCES
The following questions will help you evaluate your source:
1. Is the source authoritative
2. Is the source unbiased?
3. Is the source up-to-date?
4. Is the work written at an appropriate level?
5. Is the source highly recommended?
 G. TAKING NOTES AND DEVELOPING A
ROUGH, OR WORKING OUTLINE
The following guidelines will help you improve your note taking skills.
1. Keep your topic, controlling purpose, and audience in mind at all times.
2. Make sure that the summaries and paraphrases accurately express the ideas in
your sources.
3. Be accurate
4. Double-check statistics and facts to make sure that you have them right.
5. Distinguish between fact and opinion by labeling such opinion as “Dr. Drake thinks
that...”or “According to Pedro Benoza..”
6. Quote only the important parts of the passage.
7. Always double-page page references.
 H. WRITING YOUR FIRST DRAFT
The Style of the Draft
-A research report is a type of objective, formal writing.
-Do not use such words as I, me, my, mine, we and our.
-Do not state opinions without supporting them with facts. Do not
use slang, informal language, or contractions.
-Use an outline as a guide. Explore each main point, supporting the
idea with evidence from your notes.
The Draft as a Work in Progress

Using Graphic Aids

- As you draft, think about using tables, map, charts, diagrams,
and other graphic aids to present a lot of information in a little
space. If you use graphic aid , or ifs use information from a source
to create a graphic aid, then from a source you must credit the
source.
 Writing the Introduction
The introduction of research report should accomplish two purposes:
1. It should grab reader’s attention
2. It should present the report’s main idea or thesis statement
3. It should define key terms and provide necessary background
information
Writing the Conclusion
The most common way to conclude a research report is to
restate the main idea and your main argument in support of
the idea.
 List of References
- This component demonstrates the extension of your learning as a
researcher and allows you to share information to your readers. It
demonstrates your ability to give due respect and importance to
other people's works.
-This also paves way for your readers to clearly discern which will be
your contribution and which ones will contribute to your work. And it
solidifies your credibility and authority of the knowledge you want to
impart.
There are several different styles of referencing:
APA
MLA
Oxford
Harvard
Chicago