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Research Report It is a channel of communication between research findings and the readers of the report A report is a statement of results, events, conditions, progress or interpretation of information 2

Essay Report Establish a proposition or responds to a question or proposition Has linked and fluent paragraph structure Uses fluent sentence structure to express ideas. Investigates, presents and analyzes information to help make decisions or account for decisions. Has defined sections with (sub)-headings and numbering Uses lists and bullet points for clarity and brevity 3

Ideally, completely text based Supporting information is woven into the text Includes diagrams, tables and graphs Large amounts of supporting information are included in appendices. Essay Report 4

Types of Report Informational Decision report (begin with problems, ends with decisions and action problems) Research report 5

Technical report - Insists on 1.Methods employed 2.Assumptions made 3.Detailed presentation including limitations and supporting data Popular report 1.Simplicity 2.Attractiveness 6

Categories of report Reports categorized by FUNCTION - Informational reports - Analytical reports Reports categorised by TIME - Progress reports - Periodic reports - Special reports Reports categorised by FORM - Memo - Letter - Manuscript 7

1.Logical analysis of the subject-matter 2. Preparation of the final outline 3. Preparation of the rough draft 4. Rewriting and polishing 5. Preparation of the final bibliography 6. Writing the final draft Steps In Report Writing 8

Aspects of report Substance/ theme/content - Adhere to the study objectives - Selective and objective Format (layout) Presentation - Purpose - Duration - Audience - Place - Area - Cost - Message 9

Stages of report writing Organization of the report Writing-up of the report Documentation of the report - A good report must be properly documented in terms of notes, appendices, references and bibliography. 10

Layout of the Research Report A)Preliminary pages B) Main text C) End matter 11

Preliminary section Title page Declaration Certificate Abstract Table of contents List of tables List of figures List of abbreviations 12

Main body of the report a) Introduction and description of the study Introduction Statement of the problem Significance of the study Scope of the study Definition of important terms used in the study Objectives Hypothesis Period of study Geographical area of the study Limitations of the study Chapterisation 13

b) Review of literature - Critical analysis of the previous research c) Design of the study - Procedure used - Methods of gathering data - Description of data Main body of the report continues….. 14

d) Presentation and analysis data - Text - Tables - Figures - Analyses - Results - Interferences e) Findings and Suggestions - Brief restatement of the study - Description of procedure used - Main findings and suggestions - Recommendations for further research Main body of the report continues….. 15

Reference section Bibliography Appendix or appendices Index 16

REFERENCING References defined as “A set of data describing a document or part of a document, sufficiently precise and detailed to identify it and enable it to be located. (British Standards Institute (1990) p3) * Major source: University of Southampton,

When should you use references in your reports? When quoting directly from someone else’s work. When paraphrasing the work of another author When using something as background reading, but where it still has influenced over your thinking towards your piece of work... (*In your future research: When referring to previously published work of your own.) 18

REFERENCES FOOTNOTES/NOTES BOOKS Maan, R.S., ‘Social Change and Social Research’, New Delhi: Concept Publishing House, 1998, P.27 Ibid, P.28 Maan, op. cit., PP (Previous Reference) 19

EDITED BOOKS Michel, V. P., ‘Ethical Issues in Business Research’ (Edited), Rose J., ‘Business Research in Developing Countries’, John Wiley & Sons, 1998, PP

JOURNALS Drucker, Peter F., ‘What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits’, Harvard Business Review, 4, July-August, 1998, PP

NEWS PAPER ARTICLES Kumar Naresh, ‘Exploring See for Economic Progress’, The Economic Times (Bangalore) August 7, 1989, P.5 22

THESIS DISSERTATION Aggarwal B.P., ‘A Study of Organisational Effectiveness Through R & D Programmes’, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Rohtak, IMSAR, MDU, 1986, PP

QUOTING FROM SECONDARY SOURCE William, G.S., ‘A Study of Organisational Capital Structure and Level of Profitability’, Department of State Bulletin, 59, 1986, quoted in Michel, P., Economic Development through Liberalisation, New York, Longman, 1981, PP

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS Government of India, ‘India 2003: A Reference Annual’, New Delhi: Publication Division, 2004, PP

INTERNET esis/2002/anilkhurana/professional growth of it industry.pdf esis/2002/anilkhurana/professional growth of it industry.pdf http = Hyper Text Transfer Protocol www = World Wide Web HTML = Hyper Text Markup Language PDF = Portable Data File 26

The audience Often 3 different audiences – The casual reader/big boss who wants the main message as painlessly as possible – The interested reader who wants more detail but doesn’t want to grapple with all the gory technical details – The guru who wants the whole story Important points to be remembered while writing reports 27

Important points to be remembered while writing reports remember the 5 Cs Clarity Conciseness Coherence Correctness Courtesy 28

–ACCURATE True facts, precise wording, supporting data, reference to sources –OBJECTIVE Content: include all the relevant information (do not be biased) impersonal style (e.g. do not use emotional words...) -PROFESSIONAL statistically correct, correctly spelled, produced with a decent word processor –WELL ILLUSTRATED illustrations that aid understanding, integrated with text Important points to be remembered while writing reports 29

Principles of theses writing Being direct Keeping tone appropriate Being specific Avoiding too much of passive voice Using verbs Using paragraphs to break text in to readable units Keeping structure short Watching the pace Putting qualifying ideas in separate sentences 30

Precautions to be taken Colloquial, conversational or other modes of expression- in appropriate Personal pronouns such as I WE, YOU, ME, OUR, and US should not appear A theses should not consist of reporting of Personal experiences Sentences should be in the patience The researcher should have a good reason for the use of present and feature No grammatical error No typing error Should be well document 31

Present well thought out ides Well organized works Clear assumptions justified with evidence No grammatical errors no spelling mistakes No obscure or too long sentences with out giving credit to sources No repetition No irrelevant information Strong and effective summary and conclusion Topic headings only identify the topics. Precautions to be taken continues….. 32

Conventional wordings/ Sentences used in Report Writing 1.The purpose of this report is to The report was requested by Mr Jasons, Sales Manager. 3.It was concluded that... 4.The recommendations are that... should be... 5.This report has been written because The objectives of this report are to The main findings were that... 8.It was to be submitted to the Sales Manager by 02 November This report examines (presents) respondents, chosen by the random sample method, were surveyed. Of these, 167 were invited for interview. 11.The findings indicated that The major finding of the investigation was that This report was requested on 14 October

Rewrite the following sentences to improve objectivity The enormous increase of 32 percent proves the sales department has done a superb job. The proposed procedure is bad because it would require 15% more employees. The enormous increase of 33 percent was a result of the amazing growth in city population of 10,000 during the past year. The horrible effect on employees from the change in parking regulations will be one of creating massive traffic problems. You can hardly imagine the effect of incentive pay on employee morale. I feel certain that the new plan is better than the old method. Most of us agree that a monthly status meeting will be helpful. 34

Blue words out, red sentences in The enormous increase of 32 percent proves the sales department has done a superb job. The sales department has increased sales by 32 percent during the past quarter. The proposed procedure is bad because it would require 15% more employees. The proposed procedure would require 15 percent more employee time. The enormous increase of 33 percent was a result of the amazing growth in city population of 10,000 during the past year. The city population increase of 10,000 during the past year represents a 33 percent growth rate The horrible effect on employees from the change in parking regulations will be one of creating massive traffic problems. The change in parking regulations will create additional traffic congestion. You can hardly imagine the effect of incentive pay on employee morale. Incentive pay improved employee morale in the following ways:... I feel certain that the new plan is better than the old method. The new plan is more effective than the old method for the following reasons:... Most of us agree that a monthly status meeting will be helpful. In the quarterly staff meeting 15 out of 18 members of staff supported having a monthly meeting. 35

Technicalities referencing (in-text and end of text) footnotes if necessary Paragraphing Times New Roman, 12, spacing:

Typical mistakes abstract (summary) vs. introduction unclear structure in the abstract referencing: unclear sources (in the text and in the references/bibliography) unreliable sources (Wiki?) spelling and grammar (spellchecker) insufficiently researched lack of objectivity (advertising or report?, writer emotionally attached → biased) out-of-date facts and figures Plagiarism - use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author 37

More Detailed Structure of a Report Title Executive summary / Abstract Table of Contents 1.Introduction – 1.1Purpose of the report – 1.2Issues – 1.3Research methods – 1.4Limitations and assumptions 38

39 Structure of a Report 2.Discussion – 2.1Literature Review Issue # Issue #2 – 2.2Method Procedure Sample Size – 2.3Discussion and analysis of data Issue # Issue # Reliability /accuracy of data

Abstract/executive summary Describes the problem and the solution in a few sentences. It will be all the big boss reads! Remember the 2 rules – Keep it short – State problem and solution 40

AGHHHH! He wrote Although solitary under normal prevailing circumstances, raccoons may congregate simultaneously in certain situations of artificially enhanced resource availability. He meant.. Raccoons live alone but come together to eat bait. 41

Tables Always label and give a caption over the table Be aware of rules for good tables: – avoid vertical lines – don’t have too many decimal places – compare columns not rows 42

I.First-level heading A.Second-level heading B.Second-level heading 1.Third-level heading 2.Third-level heading a.Fourth-level (1)Fifth-level (a)Sixth-level II.First-level heading A.Second-level heading B.Second-level heading Etc. One Option: Conventional Outline Form 43

1.0First-level heading 1.1Second-level heading 1.2.Second-level heading 1.2.1Third-level heading 1.2.2Third-level heading Fourth-level 2.0First-level heading 2.1Second-level heading 2.2Second-level heading. Another Option: The Decimal System 44

Organization of a Report on the History of Manufacturing in New York Organization by time I.Introduction II.Before 1750 III IV V.Etc. Main Heading Possibilities 45

Organization by place I.Introduction II.Northern region III.Eastern region IV.Southern region V.Etc. Organization of a Report on the History of Manufacturing in New York Main Heading Possibilities 46

Organization by quantity I.Introduction II.More than 500 employees III employees IV.Less than 20 employee V.Conclusion Organization of a Report on the History of Manufacturing in New York Main Heading Possibilities 47

Combination Division Forms First division by time; Second division by factor I.Introduction II.Before 1750 A.Food B.Chemicals C.Textiles D.Etc. III A.Food B.Chemicals C.Etc. IV.Etc. 48

MultiplePrefixSymbol TeraT 10 9 gigaG 10 6 megaM 10 3 kiloK decid MultiplePrefixSymbol teraT 10 9 gigaG 10 6 megaM 10 3 kiloK decid Too busy Better DO’S and DON’TS 49

MultiplePrefixSymbol teraT 10 9 gigaG 10 6 megaM 10 3 kiloK decid Horizontal hard to read Vertical easier to read Multiple Prefixteragigamegakilodeci SymbolTGMKd DO’S and DON’TS 50

Busy – too many DP’s Better Number of Processors Time (secs) Number of Processors Time (secs) DO’S and DON’TS 51

Q. A study produced data that showed United States college students to be far behind their comparable groups in European countries. The conclusion was made that the educational systems in these European countries are superior to that in the United States. A.The education systems are not comparable. The United States is committed to a system of educating the masses. Many of the other countries maintain a system of highly selective education. Logical Conclusion? 52

Beginnings and Endings good beginning... – States the subject of the report – Reveals what kind of data it is based upon – Indicates its likely significance to the reader good ending... – May summarize; or summarize and interpret; or summarize, interpret, and recommend— depending on the reader – Must make the informational “gist” clear – Must make the contents’ significance clear 53

Today we have discussed the title into two parts – Part A – Subject matter direct (Meaning, Report and Essay, Types of Reports, Categories of Report, Aspects of Report, Steps in writing report, Layout of the report, references, and its types. – Part B – General points to be remembered while writing report.( Audience category, Principles of Report writing, Precautions, Technicalities, Conventional wordings / sentences with few examples) 54

Thank you 55