1. Research Question/Hypotheses
Title
Your Name
Mentor Name (if applicable) Sonoma State University
Note: This template is meant only to provide suggestions for a study that follows a typical data collection/analysis/results design. Adapt/change/modify the template to fit your study as appropriate.
Background
Provide background information about your topic and support for the study hypotheses/research question. What do we already know about this topic, based on previous research and/or other sources?
Some possibilities of what to include here:
--literature review
--tables, charts, graphs, from outside sources
--definitions of key terms
--research objective(s)
--good questions to answer in the background section: -What is the significance of this study? -Another way to consider that question: what does this study mean for people, animals, or the environment?
-Where does it fit in within the broader discussions of this topic?
Research Question/Hypotheses
Include central question or hypothesis and any related questions. You may also include a research objective or a “why?” for your study here.
Results
This section is just the factual results of the research you conducted.
Here are some things to include in this section:
--tables, charts, graphs
--photos, if they visually represent your findings
--key ideas that came out of the research (don’t offer any commentary in this section—commentary is for the discussion section)
--themes from interviews
Discussion
In your own words, summarize your results and discuss the implications. Here is where you can offer your commentary and/or interpretation of the results.
You may also include study limitations and/or questions for future research here.
Methods
Give a detailed description of your method and procedure(s). Some things you might include here, as applicable to your project:
--Study location
--Number and demographics of participants
--Data collection methods
--Data analysis methods