Report

A reminder: on the title page, please type your name, student number, tutor’s name and the topic title.

Executive Summary

The executive summary needs to provide an overview of the whole report. The executive summary outlines the purpose, research methods, your findings based on your research, and main conclusions (200 words max – not part of the word count).

Introduction

In your introduction outline what you are going to do and the position you are adopting - please use your introduction as a map to cover the points you outline sequentially in the body of your report to stay on track. An introduction needs to include:

· the purpose of your report

· key terms that need to be defined

· context & background rationale (analysis of existing literature on the topic and how your project contributes to the field).

You also need to set limits on the research by identifying what you are going to cover and sticking to it (your road map).

The Study Method

Here you should outline how you went about collecting your data. You should explain and justify aspects such as:

· How many people you interviewed

· Their characteristics (e.g. age, occupational background, student, retiree, etc.)

· The average length of the interviews

· When the interviews were conducted

· How you went about your data analysis (e.g. thematic approach).

The Findings

In this section you will present your findings from the analysis of the interview data. You may choose to do this in terms of ‘themes’ found in your interviews, or a ‘narrative’ approach which tells the ‘stories’ of your research participants. You will want to present selective direct quotations that are illustrative of key themes which emerged from your data analysis. Remember, you do not need to present everything that your interviewees said. Be selective. When writing this section, think about:

· Does every reference to the data speak to the theme that I am discussing?

· Am I adequately telling a ‘story’ or simply summarising?

· Have I included a good combination of quotes and description?

· Have I focused on quality themes discussed in depth over a large number of themes that are briefly discussed?

Discussion

Together with the findings, this is the most important aspect of the report. In this section you need to discuss your findings in relation to the existing literature/research on your chosen topic. Your analysis and arguments must all be supported by your references - every comment you make that presents as a fact. Assertion or argument has to be substantiated with a good reference that is cited or quoted in the text. Marks are lost for unsubstantiated opinions. In fact, your opinion is not sought here . What we are interested in is your capacity to synthesise and communicate well-researched information and relate it to your own research findings. As you are writing your discussion, think about questions such as:

· What does the research tell us?

· How does our research findings relate to existing research?

· Does our research support, challenge or find something new in regards to existing research?

· Is there a theory that our research ‘speaks’ to?

Conclusion

This where you write what you have concluded based only on your research – this is where you can base your opinion on your research and express an opinion. The conclusion is not a summary. You may wish to make recommendations here based on your findings, and you should consider both the limitations and areas for further research arising from your research.

References