2250 words in 8 hours

Planning a research report Page 1

Adapted from work by Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Darryl Coulthard and Department of Management

Introduction The information in this document will assist you in the preparation work required to write a research report. Emphasis is placed upon your ability to be critical of articles you refer to in your research report, and the need for you to demonstrate knowledge of the findings and views of researchers in the field and those engaged in the business world. These are essential skills for writing a research report which will present a reasoned, well substantiated argument or analysis of a topic or issue.

General planning strategy of your research report Analysing the topic/issue of your report

In the question, topic or issue look for:

 key words which define the area or concepts on which the research report should focus; and

 what the task involves, such as analysis, argument, description (refer to the glossary of terms on the last page).

Ensure you are aware of reader/marker expectations

Keep in mind that your tutor or marker will expect your research report to be:

 focused on the topic/issue and requirements of the assignment;

 based on wide, critical research of academic and business articles and other sources (the assignment requirements may advise you on what type of articles you can use and not use);

 present a reasoned argument which is explained and supported using articles you find;

 logically structured with an introduction, main body and conclusion; and

 in accordance with academic convention for citations, referencing and format.

Brainstorming ideas for your report

Before you begin any search for articles:

 generate ideas on the topic/issue – just create ideas at this stage;

 evaluate and select the best ideas related to your topic/issue;

 note any questions or areas you are not sure about which will require further research; and

 make a preliminary plan for your research report (e.g. identify search terms).

Conducting research into your topic/issue In your research report you must demonstrate a sound knowledge of the topic, issue or question. Doing thorough research into the topic/issue and presenting these findings in your report will enable you to gain and demonstrate this knowledge. Some points to help you in your research follow:

 Make use of books, journal articles and interviews/surveys of organisations (depending on what the assignment requirements state are appropriate for your report). You should use online databases such as EBSCOHost via the Deakin Library website, and also Google Scholar. The goal is to find high quality and credible articles for a research report.

 Do not use articles which contain opinions of individuals (e.g. web articles). Web articles should only be used if they are written by authoritative people or organisations (e.g., experts in the field, academics, large consultancy/research firms like Gartner Group) or presenting the findings of research studies (e.g., case studies, surveys, etc). Wikipedia is generally not acceptable.

 Avoid relying unduly on only one or two texts, or one or two journals, etc.

 Take notes in your own words to avoid plagiarism. Do not cut-and-paste information from articles.

 Record the full citation of any material used, so that you do not have to search for this later when documenting your work.

Planning a research report Page 2

Adapted from work by Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Darryl Coulthard and Department of Management

 The quality of the research report is highly dependent on the quality of the books, articles and other sources you use. You can assess quality by considering, for instance, whether:

o the sources come from credible people such as researchers or experts in the particular field. Experts are those individuals who are recognised worldwide as experts, not people in organisations who just work in the area. The expertise of CEOs of large organisations should be considered with caution, since their views will be very biased and relate only to their own organisation; and

o the authors provide evidence to support their findings, conclusions, etc. This evidence would take the form of findings from research of many organisations such as through case studies of organisations, surveys and interviews.

 The reader of your research report will be asking: Why should I believe this author which has been cited by the student? Is it because all other writers on the topic agree with the author? Is it because the author is an expert in the field? Is it because the author’s ideas/conclusions are the result of research or studies into the topic or area? You can demonstrate this using approaches such as:

o “Lim (2002) has shown, through her survey of 1,000 Singaporean small businesses, that …”

o “Research consistently shows that … For example, Mcleod’s (2001) found in his study of a large manufacturing firm in Scotland that … Tam and Lee (2002) discovered the same to be true in their survey of 500 manufacturing businesses in Maylasia…”

o “John Smith, viewed widely by researchers as an expert in this specialised field (see, for example, Jones 1999; Yip 2002; Zimmerman 2002), believes that …”

o “Jennings (2002) and Taylor (2002), who between them interviewed 10 Fortune 100 CEOs, report that the general consensus held is that…”

Planning your research report Based on the research articles and other sources you find, you can now plan your report. The following points will help you carry out this planning:

 From your research notes, identify key points related to the requirements of the assignment.

 Think about the aim of your argument or analysis, and how your key points can be used to support the argument or analysis.

 Think about the ways in which the key points might be combined and explained in a logical order. Just following the order of the assignment requirements is not appropriate, unless otherwise stated in the assignment requirements.

 Consider the articles you will use to argue your key points, and match articles with these key points.

 Think critically about the articles and other sources you have read. Are they realistic? Do they contain mostly hype or marketing brochure type information? Are there any inconsistencies or contradictions in what you have read, such as some authors arguing or finding research results showing one thing, and other authors arguing or finding research results which show the opposite? Or are all the research/findings stating the same thing? Ask yourself if what you are reading is believable and justified by the authors. Is there any proof presented in the articles?

 Articles and other sources which are not believable or which do not justify their views should not be used (see the assignment requirements) or used with caution/critique in your research report. For example, the following text demonstrates cautious use of low quality articles from journalists:

“Journalists in business magazines (see, for example, Dinh 2002; Phillips 2001; Widjaja 1999) believe that this approach will benefit organisations, but they do not provide evidence that these benefits are achievable. This is in contrast to the findings of researchers (such as Yeong 2001; Thomson 2002) who have found in detailed case studies of companies that using these approaches have not resulted in the anticipated benefits.”

 Prepare an outline of the main sections of your research report, listing the key points and sub-points to be included in each section.

Planning a research report Page 3

Adapted from work by Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Darryl Coulthard and Department of Management

Drafting your research report It is now time to start drafting your research report. These reports will have an introduction, a body and a conclusion. The assignment requirements may state whether you are expected to use headings (like the ones used in this document) to break up the text of the report, or whether you are expected to write an essay which may not have headings. Either way the following will outline how to draft these report parts.

Drafting the report introduction

The assignment requirements may state what you need to include in the introduction, but at a minimum it should normally achieve the following:

 Clearly state the topic/issue of the research report and establish a link between the assignment requirements and your report (i.e., what are you analysing/arguing and why?).

 Indicate the approach to the topic/issue you will take. This is important because there are often various ways to approach a topic/issue, including what aspects of the topic/issue are included or excluded and why, which aspects might be covered in more depth and why, and so on.

 Indicate the broad order in which your main ideas will be developed in your analysis/argument.

Drafting the body of the report

The body of the report will include multiple paragraphs and, if appropriate, these might be broken up into sections and sub-sections. Keep the following points in mind as you draft the body of the report:

 Each section (or group of paragraphs in an essay) should focus on one major key point you identified during the planning stage. Each paragraph should only cover one sub-point within the broader key point.

 If section headings are to be used, ensure the headings break up your research report into logical parts. A rule of thumb for lengths of sections is between one quarter to one page (single spacing). The heading itself should summarise the major key point which will be covered by the section. There should be at least two sub-sections under a section, not just one.

 If appropriate, provide a brief background or interpretation of the topic/issue and/or define any terms in the first (or towards the start) of the report.

 Explain the main points of your argument or analysis, and substantiate or provide evidence for each part of the argument or analysis using citations to your research articles.

 If appropriate, make reference to relevant theories.

 If appropriate, refute, or comment upon, any points or views contrary to your argument. It is often essential to counter the opposing arguments before your own argument will be convincing.

 Remember to cite all sources used in your writing and include full references in your reference list. A research report is an analysis/argument based on research evidence, so it is typical that most sentences in your report will have citations. This means you are required to provide a citation after each and every sentence in your research report in most cases. If you have many sentences or paragraphs without citations, it is likely your report will not achieve the assignment requirements.

 It is not sufficient to provide a citation at the end of a paragraph – especially long paragraphs. If an entire paragraph (or more than one sentence) is being paraphrased from one source, then make it explicit. For instance, “Yip (2001) conducted studies into companies … She found that all organisations … She also discovered …”.

Further information about referencing and citations can be found at:

http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support/referencing

Planning a research report Page 4

Adapted from work by Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Darryl Coulthard and Department of Management

Drafting the report conclusion

The assignment requirements may state what you need to include in the conclusion, but at a minimum it should normally achieve the following:

 Draw together and summarise the main points you have made to support your argument.

 Emphasise the strengths of your argument.

 State your conclusions and link them back to the topic/issue.

Overall considerations when drafting the report

There are two broad considerations you need to focus on when drafting your report.

First, a clear structure to your research report is essential. Does each paragraph and section in your report following logically from the previous one? You can ensure there the link between paragraphs/sections in your report is clear by stating explicitly or indicating the link in the first sentence of a paragraph.

Second, when writing the draft of your research report it is essential that the report is critical of the literature you are reporting. For instance:

 Do the articles provide evidence of the conclusions or points being made? If so, state in the report what this evidence is, why the evidence is significant/believable.

 Does all the evidence (such as research presented in the articles) support the conclusions or points being made? Or do some articles support different conclusions? If so, describe these contradictions, perhaps why they might exist and, more importantly, the implications for the analysis/argument in your report.

 Do the articles describe how they did the research, the number of participants (for instance, individuals, organisations, etc)? If not, criticise the articles and explain whether or not the results and evidence should still be believed.

 If the articles do not present evidence, do all authors of all the articles say the same thing? If so, state this and provide numerous examples (or citations) which demonstrate this consensus. Why should these authors be believed if they do not present any evidence?

See ‘Conducting research into your topic/issue’ above for examples on addressing some of these points.

Further information on how to draft a research report can be found at:

http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support/academic-resources/writing-an-academic-assignment

Editing your research report Writing a good quality research report requires drafting, editing and then further cycles of drafting and editing before you submit the final version. Once you have drafted the report, you need to:

 Check your draft against the checklist provided in the next section.

 Make adjustments where necessary.

 Rewrite the draft as necessary.

 Check and proofread the second draft, and edit as necessary.

 Then proofread again, if possible, after a couple of days. You will find that you can be much more critical of your own writing if you leave it for a few days and go back to report.

During your proofreading it is essential to make sure that you write clearly. Even if your ideas and argument is good, a reader who is struggling to understand your sentences (due to grammar and punctuation problems) will not be able to concentrate on the content of your report. You will need to master this skill in order to be successful in the business world.

If English is not your first language, ask a native English speaker to proofread your report. Please note that your tutors and lecturer will not have time to proofread your reports. If you require help in this area, please contact the Academic Skills Unit to find out how to access academic skills development services (see also http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support).

Planning a research report Page 5

Adapted from work by Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Darryl Coulthard and Department of Management

Checklist (review and correct) The following table offers a checklist which summarises the key points above. Work your way through this checklist during the editing process to identify problems you need to fix in the report.

Also make sure that you have gone through the Feedback and Assessment Criteria Rubric, which will be a useful checklist that is more specific to your assignment requirements.

Consideration Points to consider Addressed? Scope and focus  Have you answered all aspects of the topic/issue/question and

assignment requirements?  Have you incorporated relevant and important areas covered in

your reading?  Have you included any irrelevant material? If so, remove the

irrelevant material.  Have you evaluated and analysed your research material, or

merely described it? A research report requires you to evaluate and analyse (critically) what you have read.

Introduction  Does your introduction establish a link with the topic/issue/ question and assignment requirements?

 Does it focus the reader’s attention upon the main themes of your research report?

 Does it state clearly your conclusions on the topic/issue/question resulting from your analysis of articles?

 Does it give an indication of the order in which your ideas will be developed?

Report body  Have you defined any essential terms/assumptions?  Is your argument or analysis consistent?  Are your ideas arranged logically?  Have you established clear connections between one point and

the next, one paragraph to the next, and one section to the next?  Does each paragraph include only one main idea and is it

explained and supported with research evidence? All your statements and ideas in the research report should be supported by articles.

 Have you placed too much emphasis upon one section, and/or upon one aspect of your topic/issue? Reports should normally be balanced rather than too narrow on a single aspect.

 Have you achieved a balance between your discussion of theory and concepts, and your use of examples (if applicable)?

Conclusion  Have you used your conclusion to draw together, and emphasise, the main points you have made to support your argument?

 Have you used it to emphasise the connection between your answer and the question, topic or issue of analysis?

 Have you made sure that no new material has been introduced into your conclusion?

Expression  Have you checked your spelling, punctuation and grammar for accuracy?

 Have you expressed your ideas concisely? That is, can you say the same thing in less words?

 Have you avoided using slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations or contractions?

Referencing Have you complied with the referencing and citation requirements which follow?

Planning a research report Page 6

Adapted from work by Craig Parker, Marie Gaspar, Darryl Coulthard and Department of Management

Glossary of terms The following glossary of terms will help you determine the audience/marker expectations, so look for these terms in the report topic/issue/question provided in the assignment requirements.

Term Meaning of the term Analyse Consider the existence and relationships of various components of a particular unit of study. Argue Come to a conclusion about the view which should be taken on an issue or topic. Justify how the

conclusion was reached by considering and incorporating evidence from articles and research which shows or implies that the conclusion has merit. This will include exploring and discounting/criticising alternative conclusions and acknowledging the limitations of your conclusion and those of others.

Assess Make a value judgement, or appraisal, of an area after examining the various components or sides of an argument.

Compare Examine the sides of an argument to determine how different/similar they are. Contrast Examine the sides of an argument for the purpose of demonstrating their differences. Criticise Express your judgement about the merit or truth of the factors or views mentioned. Discuss the

limitations of each view, and show that you considered other authoritative sources and reviews in reaching your judgement.

Describe Give an account of a particular issue or problem. Discuss Examine, analyse carefully and give reasons pro and con. Be complete and given details. Distinguish Set out the differences between the sides of an argument. Empirical State what has actually occurred from observation rather than indicating what a particular theory would

predict. Derived from experiment and observation. Enumerate Write in list or outline forms, giving points concisely one by one. Evaluate Analyse the work of others and present your own opinion. This will have more weight if you support it

by reference to other writers, rather than saying “I think...” Explain Clarify, interpret and spell out the material you present. Give reasons for differences of opinion or of

results and try to analyse causal explanations. Explicit A statement that is precisely and clearly expressed, leaving nothing to implication. Glossary A list of technical or special words and their meanings. This section is an example of a glossary. Illustrate Use a figure, picture, diagram or concrete example to explain or clarify a problem. Implicit A statement that is not made in explicit terms, ie. with a hidden meaning (beating around the bush). Interpret Translate, give examples of, solve or comment upon, a subject, usually giving your judgement about it. Justify Prove or give reasons for decisions or conclusions to substantiate given case. List As in “enumerate”, write an itemised series of concise statements. Outline Organise a description under main points and subordinate points, omitting minor details and stressing

the arrangement or classification of things. Paraphras e

Run together someone else’s words/sentences. If doing this in a research report, you must give credit to your source in the body of your research report and the reference list.

Plagiarism The use of another author’s material without acknowledging the source. The unacknowledged use of published material, and other students work, both constitute plagiarism. Both must not occur.

Prove Establish that something is true by citing factual evidence or giving clear logical reasons. Reference List

A list of works cited or drawn upon in your assignment. Do not include work that you have read but not cited in the research report.

Relate Show how things are connected with each other or how one causes another, correlates with another, or is like another.

Research Investigation of a problem or hypothesis, normally preceded by an analysis of the literature on the subject. Different authors have different ideas, or theories, upon a topic, and these are sometimes contradictory; there are few fundamental truths. Your objective in research is to evaluate a cross- section of opinions or obtain confirmation of a particular viewpoint.

Review Examine a subject critically, analysing and commenting upon it. State Present the main points in a brief, clear sequence, usually omitting details, illustrations, or examples. Summarise Give the main points or facts in condensed form, like the summary of a chapter, omitting details and

illustrations. Synopsis A synopsis is also referred to as an abstract. It is a summary of the main arguments, findings and/or

conclusions. It is intended to let the reader know what you have found and the gist of your argument. It is not simply a broad table of contents, nor a repetition of the question asked.

Synthesise Combine ideas into a complex whole, taking relevant facts from a variety of sources to generate information.

Trace In narrative form describe progress, development or historical events from some point of origin.