Research Report Writing

Session 24: Research Report Writing

Total Session Time: 120 minutes

Prerequisites

 None

Learning Tasks

By the end of this session students are expected to be able to:

Resources Needed

 Flip charts, marker pens, and masking tape

 Black/white board and chalk/whiteboard markers

 Computer and LCD Projector

SESSION OVERVIEW

Activity/

Step Time Content

Method

1 05 minutes Presentation Introduction, Learning Tasks

Presentation The Main Components of a Research Report

2 15 minutes

Brainstorming

40 minutes Presentation An Outline of Research Report.

3 Group

discussion

4 30 minutes Presentation Drafts of Report in Stages.

5 10 minutes Presentation Checking the Final Draft for Completeness

10 minutes Recommendations for Action Based on Research

6 Presentation

Findings

7 05 minutes Presentation Key Points

8 05 minutes Presentation Evaluation

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SESSION CONTENTS

STEP1: Presentation of Session Title and Learning Tasks (5 minutes)

READ or ASK students to read the learning tasks and clarify

ASK students if they have any questions before continuing

STEP 2: The Main Components of a Research Report (15 minutes)

Activity: Brainstorming (10 minutes)

Ask students to brainstorm on the following question:

 What are the main components of a research report?

ALLOW few students to respond?

WRITE their responses on the flip chart/ board

CLARIFY and SUMMARISE by using the content below

order:

o Title and Cover Page

o Summary of Study Design, Findings and Recommendations

o Acknowledgements

o Table of Contents

o List of tables, figures (optional)

o List of abbreviations (optional)

o Introduction (statement of the problem in its local context, including relevant

literature)

o Objectives

o Methodology

o Research Findings

o Discussion

o Conclusions and Recommendations

o References

o Annexes (data collection tools; tables)

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small Roman Numerals (For example: i, ii, iii, iv, v…).

most substantial part of the report, which has to be written from scratch.

o Create an outline

o Write Introduction

o Write the Objectives

o Write the Methodology

o Write your Findings

o Discuss your Findings

o Write conclusions and recommendations

o References

o Annex

o Summary

o Acknowledgement

o Table of contents

o Title and Cover page

STEP 3: An Outline of Research Report (40 minutes)

Activity: Small Group Discussion (20 minutes)

DIVIDE students into small manageable groups

ASK students to discuss on the following question

ALLOW students to discuss for 10 minutes

ALLOW few groups to present and the rest to add points not mentioned

CLARIFY and SUMMARIZE by using the following contents

o Cover page

 The cover page should contain the

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Health) and

o Abstract/Summary

 The summary should be written only after the first or even the second draft of the

report has been completed. It should contain:

o Acknowledgements

 It is good practice to thank those who supported you technically or financially in the

design and implementation of your study.

 Also, your employer who has allowed you to invest time in the study and the

respondents may be acknowledged.

 Acknowledgements are usually placed right after the title page or at the end of the

report, before the references

o Table of contents

 It provides the reader a quick overview of the major sections of your report, with page

references

 List of tables, figures

 List of abbreviations (optional)

 The table of contents and lists of tables, figures, abbreviations should be prepared last

o Chapter 1: Introduction

 Contains

 Background information

 Statement of the problem

 Literature review collected during the implementation of the study

o Chapter 2: Objectives

 The general and specific objectives should be included as stated in the proposal.

 You can adjust them slightly for style and sequence.

 If you have not been able to meet some of the objectives state them in the

methodology section and in the discussion of the findings.

o Chapter 3: Methodology Should be described in detail and include a description of:

 The study type

 The study population(s), sampling method(s) and the size of the sample(s)

 Major study variables

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 Data-collection techniques and tools used for the different study populations

 Ethical consideration

o Chapter 4: Research findings

 The systematic presentation of research findings in relation to the research objectives

is the crucial part of a report.

 The description of findings should offer a good combination or triangulation of data

from qualitative and quantitative components of the study

 There are two different ways in presentation of findings:

o As you listed all data by objective this should be easy.

o These integrated presentations will be a compilation of tables, graphs,

narrative interpretation and illustrative quotes from in-depth interviews or

FGDs

Presentation of data by research instrument

o Analyze the data by instrument and integrate the findings only in the

discussion.

o Separate analysis is indicated for objectives that are covered by distinct study

populations using specific instruments

o The list of data by objective will help you to decide how to organise the

presentation of data.

o When all data have been analysed, a detailed OUTLINE has to be made for

the presentation of the findings. This will help the decision-making on how to

organize the data

o Chapter 5: Discussion, the findings can now be discussed by

 Objective or by cluster of related variables or themes,

 The discussion should also include findings from other related studies that support or

contradict your own

o Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations

 They should follow logically from the discussion of the findings

 Conclusions should be short

 It should follow the sequence in which the findings have been presented.

 The recommendations should be summarized according to the groups towards which

o References

 APA

o Annexes or Appendices

 They should contain any additional information needed to enable professionals to

follow your research procedures and data analysis. Examples:

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STEP 4: Write Drafts of study Report in Stages (10 minutes)

o The cover page should contain the title, the names of the authors with their

titles and

positions, the institution that is publishing the report, (e.g. Pharmacy Council

of the MOH Tanzania), the month and year of publication.

o The title could consist of a challenging statement or question, followed by an

informative subtitle covering the content of the study and indicating the area

where the study was implemented.

o The summary should be written only after the first or even the second draft of

the report has been completed.

o It should contain:

 A very brief description of the problem (why this study was needed)

 The main objectives (what has been studied)

 The place of study (where)

 The type of study and methods used (how)

 Major findings and conclusions, followed by

 The major (or all) recommendations

only)

part of your study that will be read.

whole.

o If you collaborated with various groups during the drafting and implementation

of the

research proposal, then consider writing different summaries for each of these

groups.

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o For example, you may prepare different summaries

 For policy makers and health managers

 For health staff of lower levels

 For community members

 For the public at large (newspaper, TV)

o In a later stage you may write articles in scientific journals

o Thank those who supported technically or financially in the design and

implementation of your study.

o Acknowledgements are usually placed right after the title page or at the end of

the report, before the references.

o A table of contents is essential

o It provides the reader a quick overview of the major sections of your report,

with page

references, so that she/he can go through the report in a different order or

skip certain

sections.

o If there are many tables or figures, then they may be listed in a table of

contents type of format with page numbers.

o If abbreviations or acronyms are used in the report, these should be stated in

full in the text the first time they are mentioned

o If there are many, then they should be listed in alphabetical order as well

o The list can be placed before the first chapter of the report.

o The table of contents and lists of tables, figures, abbreviations should be

prepared last

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o A t this time include the page numbers of all chapters and sub-sections in the

table of

contents.

o Should contain relevant (environmental/ administrative/ economic/ social)

background data about the country, the health status of the population, and

health service data which are related to the problem that has been studied.

o The statement of the problem should follow

o Relevant literature collected during the implementation of the study.

o It should contain a paragraph on what you hope to achieve with the results of

the study.

o The general and specific objectives should be included as stated in the

proposal.

o If you have not been able to meet some of the objectives this should be stated

in the

methodology section and in the discussion of the findings.

o The objectives form the HEART of your study. They determined the

methodology you chose and will determine how you structure the reporting of

your findings.

o The methodology you followed for the collection of your data should be

described in

detail. This section should include a description of:

 The study type;

 Major study themes or variables (a more detailed list of variables on which

data was collected may be annexed);

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 The study population(s), sampling method(s) and the size of the

sample(s);

 Data-collection techniques used for the different study populations; how

the data was collected and by whom;

 Procedures used for data analysis, including statistical tests (if applicable)

o The systematic presentation of the findings in relation to the research

objectives is the

crucial part of your report.

o The description of findings should offer a good combination or triangulation of

data from qualitative and quantitative components of the study.

o Prepare an outline for the whole report, taking the main components of a

research report as a point of departure.

o An outline should contain:

 The headings of the main sections of the report

 The headings of subsections,

 The points to be made in each section

 A list of tables figures and/or quotes to illustrate each section

o Example of the outline of the chapter 4 on Research Findings

education, social economic status, of mothers; age and sex of children

weight/measured by research area).

 4.2 Extent and seasonal variation of malnutrition in district X

 4.3 Possible causes of malnutrition

 4.3.1 Limited availability of food

 4.3.2 Non-optimal utilization of available food

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 4.3.3 High prevalence of communicable diseases

 4.3.4 Limited access to Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) and

weaknesses in RCH/nutrition services

o The system of numbering is flexible and can be extended according to need

with further headings or subheadings.

o The outline for the chapter on findings will predictably be the most elaborated.

o The first section under findings is usually a description of the study population.

o If different study populations have been studied, then provide a short

description of each group before presenting the data pertaining to these

informants.

o Depending on the study design, provide more information on the problem

studied (size, distribution, characteristics).

o In an analytic study, the degree to which different independent variables

influence the problem has be discussed.

o Tables and figures in the text need numbers and clear titles.

o Include only those tables and figures that present main findings and need

more elaborate discussion in the text.

o The first draft of your findings is never final.

o Therefore, you might concentrate primarily on content rather than on style.

o Nevertheless, it is advisable to structure the text from the beginning in

paragraph

.

o The findings can be discussed by objective or by cluster of related variables

or themes, which should lead to conclusions and possible recommendations.

o The discussion may include findings from other related studies that support or

contradict your own.

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o The conclusions and recommendations should follow logically from the

discussion of the findings.

o Conclusions can be short, as they have already been elaborately discussed in

chapter 5.

o As the discussion will follow the sequence in which the findings have been

presented

(which in turn depends on your objectives) the conclusions should logically

follow the

Specific objectives

o The recommendations may be summarized according to the groups towards

which they are directed, for example:

 Policy-makers

 Health and health-related managers at district or lower level

 Health and health-related staff who could implement the activities

 Potential clients

 The community at large

o Remember that action-oriented groups are most interested in this section.

o In making recommendations, use not only the findings of the study, but also

supportive information from other sources.

o The recommendations should take into consideration the local characteristics

of the health system, constraints, feasibility and usefulness of the proposed

solutions.

o They should be discussed with all concerned before they are finalized.

o If the recommendations are short (roughly one page), include them all in the

summary

and omit them as a separate section in Chapter 6 in order to avoid repetition.

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o The references in your text can be numbered in the sequence in which they

appear in the report and then listed in this order in the list of references

(Vancouver system).

o Another possibility is the Harvard system of listing in brackets the author’s

name(s) in the text followed by the date of the publication and page number,

for example:

o The annexes should contain any additional information needed to enable

professionals to follow your research procedures and data analysis.

o Information that would be useful to special categories of readers but is not of

interest to the average reader can be included in annexes.

o Examples of information that can be presented in annexes are:

 Tables referred to in the text but not included in order to keep the report

short;

 lists of hospitals, districts, villages etc. that participated in the study;

 Questionnaires or check lists used for data collection.

o When a first draft of the findings, discussion and conclusions has been

completed, all

working group members should read it critically and make comments.

o The following questions should be kept in mind when reading the draft

 Have all important findings been included?

 Do the conclusions follow logically from the findings?

 If some of the findings contradict each other, has this been discussed and

explained, if possible?

 Have weaknesses in the methodology, if any, been revealed?

 Are there any overlaps in the draft that have to be removed?

 Is it possible to condense the content?

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 In general, a text gains by shortening. Some parts less relevant for action may be

included in the annex Check if descriptive paragraphs may be shortened and

introduced or finished by a concluding sentence.

 Do data in the text agree with data in the tables?

 Are all tables consistent (with the same number of informants per

variable), are they numbered in sequence, and do they have clear titles

and headings?

 Is the sequence of paragraphs and subsections logical and coherent?

 Is there a smooth connection between successive paragraphs and

sections?

 Is the phrasing of findings and conclusions precise and clear?

first

sentences of each paragraph. If this gives a clear impression of the organization

and

results of the study, then one may conclude that you did the best you could.

STEP 5: Checking the Final Draft for Completeness (10 minutes)

o The data are appropriate, trustworthy adequate for drawing inferences;

o The data reflect good homogeneity;

o Proper analysis has been done through statistical methods

o Weaknesses in logical development or presentation.

 See whether the material, as it is presented, has unity and cohesion;

 The researcher should give due attention to the fact that in his rough draft he has

been consistent or not.

 The researcher should check the mechanics of writing—grammar, spelling and

usage

 The report being written in a concise and objective style and in simple language,

 Vague expressions has been the researcher has to avoid abstract terminology and

technical jargon

 Checking whether the format has been followed

o When a first draft of the findings, discussion and conclusions has been completed, all

working group members and facilitators should read it critically and make comments.

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o The following questions should be kept in mind when reading the draft:

 Have all important findings been included?

 Do the conclusions follow logically from the findings?

 Have weaknesses in the methodology, if any, been revealed?

 Are there any overlaps in the draft that have to be removed?

 Is it possible to condense the content?

 Do data in the text agree with data in the tables and figures? Are all tables and

figures consistent (with the same number of informants per variable), are they

numbered in sequence, and do they have clear titles and headings?

 Is the sequence of paragraphs and subsections logical and coherent? Is there a

smooth connection between successive paragraphs and sections? Is the phrasing of

findings and conclusions precise and clear?

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STEP 6: Drafting Recommendations for Operational Research Findings

(10 Minutes)

o They should follow logically from the discussion of the findings

o It should follow the sequence in which the findings have been presented.

o The recommendations should be summarised according to the groups towards which

they are directed (specific), e.g.

 Policy-makers, managers, communities, students etc.

STEP 7: Key Points (10 minutes)

planned report, and its intended audience

STEP 8: Evaluation (10 minutes)

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Hardon A, Boonmongkon P, and Streefland P. et al (2001). Applied Health research,

Anthropology of health and health care, (3rd Ed) Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Het

Spinhuis Publishers

Beaglehole R, Bonita R and Kjellstrom (1993) Basic epidemiology: Geneva, Switzerland:

World Health Organization,

Kothari C.R (1985). Research Methodology – Methods and techniques, (2nd ed); New Delhi,

India; Wiley Eastern Limited

Stewart A (2001). Basic Statistics and epidemiology, A practical guide,; London, United

Kingdom: Radcliffe Medical Press,

Varkevisser, C. M, Pathmanathan, I and Brownlee, A (1991). Designing and Conducting

Health Systems Research Projects, Vol. 2 Part I: Ottawa, Canada: IDRC

Polit, D. F and Beck, C. T (2004). Nursing Research – Principles and Methods, (7th Ed):

Philadelphi, USA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins,

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