1. Research Skills

2. Front Cover
This should include the title of the report, your name, the words of your course title, date

3. Abstract – 100 words approx
This is not included in formal word count!!!
This should be a brief summing up of the research and its conclusions.
Aim for two to three paragraphs.
It should include; a concise statement of the subject of your research; discussion of what your research set out to do; the research method used; the conclusion reached.

4. Table of Content
The table of contents should be set out in two, neat vertical lines, one with the title of each section and the other with the corresponding page number for example
Abstract 1
Introduction 2
The sections that you will need to include are:
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Recommendation
Reference List
Appendices

5. Introduction – 10% State your research question or hypothesis.
Your aims, objectives,
Clearly defined and discussed briefly
brief discussion of why you became interested in the topic of your research
An outline of the contents of your report.

6. Literature Review – 20% The Literature Review is NOT a book Review .
You should pick out particular points that are of relevance to your research project.
This includes reviewing all the literature that you have read surrounding you title.
This will include all the work you have done in the secondary phase of your research.

7. Literature Review
you should compare and contrast ideas, theories and/or views relevant to your proposed research topic.
Select and discuss critically books and articles etc that relate directly to the research topic
This section can be divided into subsections

8. Methodology – 20%
Discuss the research with regards to how you have collected your data and the strategies that you have used.
discuss how the methods you have chosen have enabled you to gain access to data.
set out how you have achieved answers to your research questions

9. Methodology A discussion of your sample population /sample frame
How you selected your sample/techniques used
How you established access to or recruited participants
How you collected the data e.g. which methods you used and why they were the most appropriate – don’t forget to refer to literature on the subject of methodology to support your decisions. Remember to justify your choice of methods – referring to validity and reliability.

10. Methodology – 20% An explanation about how you will analyse your data
A discussion about the context in which the research took place, taking care to explain ethical issues such as maintaining confidentiality and anonymity of participants

11. Results
if you have collected quantitative data this will be presented in table, figures, graphs etc.
qualitative data the finds will be presented as text.
Do not offer any explanation about the results at this stage – that will come in your discussion section

12. Discussion – 30%
This must explain what the data shows and what conclusions you have come to.
Discuss the data and show how you have led to the conclusion you have come to.
restating the original aims, hypothesis or research question that you outlined in your introduction.
Use subheadings.

13. Discussion
compare and contrast the research findings of previous studies to your own research findings and look for similarities and differences.
It is crucial that you read your Literature Review again as a reminder of the contents in particular the theoretical approach you have taken.
Make links in this section between the principle ideas in the Literature Review with the evidence obtained in your own research.

14. Discussion
What is particularly important or significant about my findings?
How do my findings differ from other research findings on this subject?
To what extend does the theoretical approach I have taken help me to understand my findings?
To what extent do my primary and secondary source findings provide
answers to my research questions or to what extend do these findings
provide evidence to support or refute my hypothesis?
What is the significance of any unexpected findings?

15. Conclusion – 10% pull all aspects of the work together
The aim is to show you have selected a meaningful topic, identified an important aspect of it, analysed this well and produced interesting conclusions that add to our knowledge and could provide ideas for future work.
evaluate the effectiveness of your research
summarised all the main conclusions of the report
Conclusions must be justified