Reporting Agricultural Research

COMMOM CORE/NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDERD ADDRESSED CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST a - Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Bell Work Why is scientific research important? What skills besides science skills will a scientist need when generating a report on their work? Who is your favorite scientist?

Student Learning Objectives. 1. Identify the major parts of a research report. 2. Explain the general guidelines for preparing a research report. 3. Explain how to properly include tables and figures in a research report.

Terms. Bar graphs Charts Circle or pie graphs Conclusions Dependent variables Drawings Figure Findings or results Graphs Hypothesis Independent variable Introduction Line graphs Procedures or methods References Related studies Research problem Tables Title page

What are the major parts of a research report? 1. Title Page —Name, title of research, date, class 2. Introduction—Need and justification for the study, background information

Major Parts 3. Research Problem —Specific question under investigation, specify variables 4. Research Hypotheses —One or more predictions about the relationships between two or more variables

Major Parts 5. Findings from Related Studies — Summary of similar, previous research findings from printed or informal sources 6. Procedures —Design, treatments, measurement techniques

Major Parts 7. Findings—Data tables and/or graphs with brief descriptive statements 8. Conclusions—Specific statements about the relationships between variables as shown in your experiment

Major Parts 9. Recommendations —Suggestions on how your results should be used; suggestions for further experimentation on this problem 10. References —Complete listing of all sources used in designing the experiment and preparing the research report

What are the general guidelines for preparing a research report? II. The physical appearance of a manuscript can enhance the research report’s effect or detract from it.

A well-prepared report looks professional A. Paper —Type the manuscript on one side of standard- sized (8½ × 11 in.), heavy, white bond paper. Do not use half sheets or strips of paper glued, taped, or stapled to the pages. B. Typeface or Font —Use a serif rather than a sans serif font. The size of the type should be 12 points. Do not use a compressed typeface. The type on paper must be dark, clear, and readable. It must also photocopy well. C. Line spacing —Double-space between all lines of the manuscript. Double-space after every line in the title, headings, footnotes, quotations, references, figure captions, and all parts of tables. D. Margins —Leave uniform margins of a least 1 inch at the top, bottom, right, and left of every page. E. Line length and alignment —The length of each typed line is a maximum of 6½ inches. Do not justify lines; use the flush-left style, and leave the right margin uneven.

Professional report F. Page numbers —After the report pages are arranged in the correct order, number them consecutively, beginning with the title page. Number all pages except those for artwork in Arabic numerals (ex: 1, 2, 3) in the upper right-hand corner. The number should appear at least 1 inch from the right-hand edge of the page, in the space between the top edge of the paper and the first line of text. G. Paragraphs and Indentation —Indent the first line of every paragraph and the first line of every footnote five to seven spaces. For consistency, use the tab key. Type the remaining lines of text to a uniform left-hand margin. The only exceptions to these requirements are: 1. Abstracts 2. Block quotations 3. Titles and headings 4. Table titles and notes and figure captions

How do I properly include tables and figures in a research report? III. Tables and figures are efficient, enabling researchers to present a large amount of data in a small amount of space. Tables usually show exact numerical values, and the data are arranged in an orderly display of columns and rows, which aids in comparison. A figure is any type of illustration other than a table. A figure may be a chart, graph, photograph, drawing, or other depiction. A. For several reasons it is worthwhile to be selective in choosing the number of tables. One reason is the reader may have difficulty sorting through a large number of tables 1. Rounded-off values 2. A reader can compare numbers down a column more easily than across a row. 3. Column and row averages can provide a visual focus

Professional report B. Carefully consider whether to use a figure. Tables are often preferred for the presentation of quantitative data. There are several different types of figures.

Common types of figures 1. Graphs are illustrations that show the relationships in a set of data. 2. Line graphs- used to show the relation between two quantitative variables. The independent variable is plotted on the horizontal or “X” axis, and the dependent variable is plotted on the vertical or “Y” axis.

3. Bar graphs - used when the independent variable is categorical. Solid horizontal or vertical bars each represent one kind of datum.

4. Circle or pie graphs or 100% graphs- used to show percentages and proportions. The number of items compared should be kept to five or fewer. Order the segments from large to small, beginning the largest segment at 12 o’clock

Common types of figures 5. Charts are illustrations that can describe the relations between parts of a group or object or the sequence of operation in a process. Charts are usually boxes connected with lines. 6. Drawings are selective illustrations that give the author the flexibility to emphasize any aspect of an image or idea. 7. Photographs have excellent eye appeal. They should be of professional quality and should be prepared with a background that produces the greatest amount of contrast

GOOD LUCK The END