Research Method and Presentation

By
Mr. Henok Seifu
Chapter Four: Preparation of Research Reports
Contents:
 Basics of Research Report
Steps in Writing Research Reports
Layout of Research Reports
Component of Research Reports
Type of Research Report
Mechanism of writing Research Report

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Preparation of Research Reports

Research
Reports

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Preparation of Research Reports
:basics
Is considered a major component of the research study for the research task

The purpose of research is not well served unless the findings are made known to

others.

should be accomplished by the researcher with utmost care

May seek the assistance and guidance of experts for the purpose

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Preparation of Research Reports: Steps in
writing report
The Usual steps involved in writing research Reports

 Logical analysis of the subject matter

 Preparation of the final outline

 Preparation of the rough draft

 Rewriting and polishing

 Preparation of the final bibliography

 Writing the final draft

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of Research Reports

 Front parts: Cover page, Abstract, acknowledgement , Table of

content, list of figure , list of table, list of symbols, and
Abbreviations )
 The main(body) part: (Introduction, Method and Materials,
Result and Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations for
Future work) and
 The Back part: References, Appendixes( sample information:
questionaries), and the like ones

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of
research report: front parts
 The cover page should consist of:
Logo, the name of the university, The college,
department name, the title of the project(the research
title), the name of students, Advisor name date and
place(the month and the year followed by the location).

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report : front parts

University logo

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research
report: front part
Acknowledgement: Whom to be acknowledged?
 Acknowledged people or institutions: Who have
professionally contributed to the research work.
Technical support
Financial support

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research
report : front parts
Abstract:
 Write the abstract of the thesis only after the conclusion is written.
 Provide the short summary of the thesis/report
introduce the topic
Research gap
Describe how you did the research
Discuss the results of what was done
Explain the implications of the results

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report :Body parts

Introduction:

 Provide sufficient background and supporting information

 No need to include everything!

 Introduce the relevant past work clearly and fairly

 Reference of all statements

 Describe the problem and the relevant scientific work up to the present

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report :Body parts

Introduction:

 Give the aim of the study and a broad(brief)outline of the approach (the method

used)

 Don’t give your results here

Note: Generally it includes: back ground, problem of
statements, objectives, methodology, contribution and
organization.

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report: Body
parts
Research Methodology:

 Discuss the experimental design and system model :

mention all methods/instruments

 Describe in details on how and with what means you accomplished your work

 Discuss methods, materials & assumptions

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report :Body parts
Results:

 Answers to the objectives

 Omit superfluous results

 Present your data as clearly as possible

 Use tables and figures

 When Discuss data in tables discuss only the main points

 Don’t just repeat in the text what is already clear in the table/figure

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report: Body parts
Discussion:

 What do the results mean?

 Are my results compared with other previous work?

 Don’t repeat results

 Conclusions

 As general rule, present your result first then compare with other results

 Give credit to other researchers

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report :Body parts
Data Interpretation:

 How important are your results?

Be careful with your data interpretation

Assign the correct(honest) degree of importance

Don’t exaggerate(too much!) the possible impact of your results to you results

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report: Body parts
Conclusions:

 Summarize the implication of your research findings for policy makers, practitioners, or other researchers

 Mention the limitations

 Identify potential for future researcher

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report: Body parts
Paper End(Recommendations)

 End on a strong(or at least positive) note

 May require a summary sentence

 Identify potential for future researcher or indicate the direction for future studies

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Preparation of Research Reports: layout of research report: End parts
References:

 Each journal has its own style(e.g. IEEE)

 Reference manger “software greatly simplifies the process “

 Software can automatically prepare reference list from articles cited in the text.

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Preparation of Research Reports: Component of
Research Report
Cover page 1.3.Problem statements
Approval page 1.4.Objective(general and specific objectives)
Acknowledgement 1.5.Significance
Abstract 1.6.Scope and limitation
Table of contents 1.7.Thesis organization
List of figures Chapter 2:Literature Review
List of tables Chapter 3 :Methodology
System Design
Methods and materials
Abbreviation/Acronym Chapter 4:Result and Discussions
Chapter 1 :Introduction Chapter 5:Conclusions and Recommendations
1.1.Background References/Bibliography
1.2. Motivation Appendices

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Preparation of Research Reports: Type of research Reports

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Preparation of Research Reports: Type of research Reports

Technical report:

 Is a document that contains information on the process, progress, or results of

technical research, and it also describes recommendations and conclusions of the

research.

Suitable for target audience of researchers, research managers or other people familiar

and interested in the technicalities research design sampling methods, statistical details

etc.…
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Preparation of Research Reports: Type of
research Reports
General or popular type of report
 Is a document that contains information on outcomes, results, and efficiencies, and other

things that are directly related to the companies/groups success.

 Supposed to include facts but they are not technical.

 Suitable for: More general audience, interested in mainly in research finding as it is non

technical in nature

 Writing style is designed to facilitate easy and rapid reading and understanding of the

research findings and recommendations

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Preparation of Research Reports: Mechanics Of Writing A Research Report

definite and set rules which should be followed in the actual preparation of

the research report or paper

 Size and physical design: A margin of at least one and one-half inches should be

allowed at the left hand and of at least half an inch at the right hand of the paper.

There should also be one-inch margins, top and bottom. The paper should be neat and

legible. If the manuscript is to be typed, then all typing should be double-spaced on

one side of the page only except for the insertion of the long quotations .

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Preparation of Research Reports: Mechanics Of Writing A Research Report

 Procedure: Various steps in writing the report should be strictly followed.

 Layout: Keeping in view the objective and nature of the problem, the layout of the

report should be thought of and decided and accordingly adopted

 Treatment of quotations: Quotations should be placed in quotation marks and

double spaced, forming an immediate part of the text

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