PSG 2110 SLEEP PATTERN AND WELL-BEING REPORT WRITING

GUIDELINES

DATE DUE: 31ST JULY 2022

Number of Pages: 8 excluding the references and appendices

All reports must be typed in Microsoft Word, Times New Roman, font 12 with 1.5 spacing

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD REPORT

Writing a good report takes time. Report writing is an important skill in academia and is also
widely used in the workplace. It also helps your lecturers assess what you have learnt from
your reading, research or experience.

A well written report will demonstrate your ability to:

• understand the purpose of the report and adhere to the guidelines;

• gather, evaluate and analyse relevant information;
• structure material in a logical and coherent order;
• present your report in a consistent manner according to the report guidelines;
• make appropriate conclusions that are supported by the evidence and analysis of the
results and
• make thoughtful and practical recommendations where required.

In order to write a good report, it is important to follow the steps below:

I. Sourcing for Information

1. Identify credible sources of information. Consider the nature of the material, is it
scientific or is telling a story? Do not use information on the internet that does not have
references.
2. Read as many as materials as possible to identify main ideas and supporting details.
3. If possible, find more than one source for each idea to check for accuracy.
4. Use information that is backed by evidence.

II. Organising and Analysing Information

Planning your work is important before you start writing your report. To do this, you have to:

- Classify information you gather as you conduct your research

- Synthesize information from different sources and mediums, and
- Create an outline of the information as it should appear in the report.
1. Classifying Information
As you read about your topic, identify information that has similar characteristics and
organise the information into categories/groups. Add facts to the categories as you

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 continue your research. Once you have classified the information, look for patterns and
relationships among the facts.
2. Synthesising Information
When using more than one source of information for a report, you need to synthesise
or combine the information. Look for connections and relationships among different
sources. Combine the information so that each source adds to the understanding of
your topic.
3. Outlining Information
Use outlines to help clarify and organise your thoughts, to decide what main ideas to
include, and add details to the main ideas. A good outline summarises information and
shows how ideas and facts are connected. In an outline, information is arranged in three
categories – main ideas; subtopics, or parts of each main idea; and supporting ideas.
Outlines begin with broad ideas, followed by more specific ideas.
Put your information in order. Determine what information will be part of the
introduction, the body, and the conclusion of your report. Use main ideas as headings
in your outline. Use supporting details as subheadings under the appropriate headings
in your outline.

III. Writing your Report

1. After working on your outline, write a draft of your report strictly following the
format provided in the assignment.
2. Edit the draft. Reorganise information if necessary, and use standard grammar,
spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation.
3. All sources of information should be acknowledged and referenced using the APA
format (See APA Citation Handout).

PARTS OF THE REPORT

ABSTRACT

The abstract should stand out from the rest of the report by either using a different font or
indenting it. The abstract is a skeleton of the main features of the whole report. It should
include the aim or purpose of the practical, the method, the main findings/results
and conclusion. (¼ page, a maximum of 250 words)

1. INTRODUCTION
Introduce the topic by giving some background to the topic. Start with a brief overview
of the relationship between sleep and well-being. Discuss the sleep patterns among
young people and the importance of having adequate sleep. Include information on sleep

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 time and well-being and the importance of good quality sleep. Use evidence from
research to back up you argument. The introduction should lead to an overview of what
the study was about.
Aim of the study -state the main aim of he study
Objectives- state the specific objectives if any
Hypothesis/research questions- state the hypothesis or research question.
Definition of terms
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Conduct a systematic review of literature and review at least four studies related to sleep
and well-being. In your review include the aim of the study, method, findings and the
conclusion. Add your own opinion of the reviewed studies. Read enough articles to give
you a good understanding of the topic and any controversies in theory and research.
Purposefully select studies that will show what researchers have found. Present the
information in a logical and coherent manner so that the reader can easily interrelate all
the studies.
This section involves critically thinking about the articles one is reading. Elements of
critical thinking include the following:
• Identifying the source- who is the author, when was the article published and
where was it published- is it in a refereed journal or non-refereed journal?
• Analysing the arguments-are the arguments based on sound theory and
evidence? Does the article present both sides of the argument and are the
hypotheses appropriate?
• Examining the methodology
• Evaluating the results- are the analyses appropriate? Are they clearly presented?
Do the results support the hypotheses?
• Evaluate the conclusions and implications- are they anchored in logic and
evidence?
3. Examining the research methodology

(Maximum 2 page)
4. METHODOLOGY(1½)

Under this heading you should include the following subheadings

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 a) Study/practical design- describes the formal structure of the study. And answers the
following questions:
• Was the study experimental with manipulated variables? Was it an
observational study, a correlational study or a cross section study
• What were the variables measured in the study?
b) Participants and sampling method- Include the following
• How many people were in the study?
• Where they were recruited from?
• Any demographics if any
• Include anything that shows the uniqueness of your population

c) Materials/ Apparatus/Instruments

Describe the materials you used for the practical in detail. Avoid including
descriptions of irrelevant items.

d) Procedure

Describe exactly what happened from the beginning of the study to the end.

e) Data Analysis-

Describe how the data was analysed. Clearly indicate the variables involved and the
type of analyses used.

5. RESULTS

Your results must be well presented and you can use tables, charts, or graphs to help you
present your findings. (1 page)

Answer the following questions in this section.

1. What was the most frequent bedtime for the students in the study?
2. What was the mean number of hours students spent sleeping?
3. What was the mean score for quality of sleep?
4. (a) Calculate the standard deviation for number of hours spent sleeping.
(b) how many participants are two standard deviations below the mean?
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 5. Draw a graph of the quality of sleep and comment on the distribution of the scores.

6. Correlate the number of hours spent sleeping and well-being.

7. Is there a relationship between time of sleep and the quality of sleep.

8. Does the last activity participants engage in just before sleeping influence the quality
of sleep?

.Attach your calculations as an appendix. If you use SPSS to do your calculations,

attach the SPSS output.

4. DISCUSSION

This is the main body of the report and it carries about 20% of the marks. The main purpose
of this section is to discuss your findings. This is where you interpret your results and discuss
what the results mean Your arguments should be arranged in a coherent and logical order
beginning with the most important to the least important point.

Your discussion should start with stating the hypotheses of the practical and the key
results(state w. Results must be related to the original aim of the practical. Compare your
results with your reviewed literature. Are your results similar to or different from other
studies? What accounts for your results? How would you explain the relationship among the
main variables? Why are these results important? What do these results imply? How can you
apply your findings in real life?

As with the whole report, all sources of information should be acknowledged and
correctly referenced using the APA format. (2 page)

5. LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION(3/4 page)

Limitations

What were the limitations in this practical?

Recommendations

Are there any recommendations that you can make?

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Conclusion

The conclusion is the final comment on your report. It should arise from the work you have
done. Summarise the overall findings. What was significant about what you discovered?

REFERENCES

1. The list of references must be complete. Use the APA format as shown in the
attached document. The reference list also carries some marks.
2. The list of references should be on a separate page.
3. List the references in alphabetical order and do not number the references.

6. APPENDICES-attach the following:

a. Your filled in template for the raw data
b. Your Calculations or SPPSS output

NB:Plagiarism and collusion will be severely penalised.