How to Write a Good Research Report

The following are some of the prime requirements of a good research report:

Clarity and Precision of Expression

Clarity and precision of expression are fundamental preparation of a good research report. The report itself must be clear and definite(no generalisations). To be able to do this, the writer must have a clear understanding of the subject matter of his presentation.

A great deal of what is called poor English in reports derives from faulty and unclear thinking rather than from any lack of familiarity with the rules of grammar and rhetoric. You can read more similar posts on our research page of the site.

Completeness

The material included in the report must be complete and carefully selected. Many reports are unsatisfactory because some of the items of information necessary for a clear understanding of the discussion are omitted. However, the report must also be concise, i.e., all irrelevant materials not needed for the clear, complete, and correct exposition of the subject matter should be excluded.

Proper Organisation of the Material

The subject matter must be chosen carefully and must be properly organised. The discussion should be developed systematically. Each division should derive from the discussion that precedes it and should lead sequentially to the discussion that follows. Within each division, the material should be presented in a logical order.

Correctness of Presentation

The report should be written in correct English. Each paragraph should be constructed coherently. Words should be carefully chosen to present the writer’s meaning clearly and concisely. Accepted rules of grammar, punctuation, and spelling must be observed, and proper consideration should be given to sentence structure such that the report flows smoothly.

Use of Appropriate Style

The use of the report must be written in a formal or scholarly style; personal pronouns and active verbs should be avoided. The sentence should be well-constructed, and each sentence should contain only one major idea. It should be reasonably short, not exceeding fifteen typewritten lines in most cases. Unnecessarily long sentences are prone to grammatical errors. They also tend to inhibit comprehension.

Use of Technical Language

Ample use of specialised terms of the particular field is generally acceptable as long as they convey a precise meaning to readers.

Judicious Use of Illustrations

The use of suitable forms of illustrations, such as graphs, charts, and photographs, to amplify and/or enhance discussions is expected.

Five-step Approach to preparing a good Research Report

The following is a five-step approach to preparing good research:

• Assemble and analyse data, i.e., collect and collate all necessary data and information.
• Prepare an outline showing the proposed organisation of the report, the order of presentation, the types of illustrations to be employed, etc.
• Prepare a preliminary draft of the report.
• Revise and correct the draft, checking for the logical arrangement of facts, irrelevant statements, errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.
• Prepare the report in its final form, i.e., produce the final report in conformance with the stipulated format.

Using Illustrations

It is essential to provide ample illustrations in the report. The following rules guide the presentation of illustrations in technical reports of this nature:

Tables

The following rules must be observed when constructing a table:

• Give each table a clear, bold title that provides adequate information to each table.
• Give each table a number.
• Place the title and number of each table at the top.
• Make the headings of the columns and rows clear and concise.
• Ensure that reference is made to each table in the text.
• Arrange tabulated data according to the purpose of the table,e.g., according to size or importance, chronologically, geographically, or alphabetically.

Section 2

• Place data to be compared in parallel columns, preferably adjacent to each other.
• Provide units of measurement employed in full and accurately,e.g.hours per day.
• When numbers less than unity are presented, they should always be preceded by a zero and a decimal point,i.e., the number 0.1234 should never be listed as 1234.
• Do not crowd the page with numerous tables. In most cases, a maximum of two tables per page is alright.
• Place each table directly after the page in which reference is made to it,i.e., do not place the table too far from the reference page or lump all tables together at the end of the report.,
• Use footnotes only when

I. Pointing out a change in the basis of arriving at the data.

ii. the data.

iii. Clarifying something in the table.

iv. Providing information on the source, in the case of secondary data.

Graphs

Graphs are used to show the relationship between dependent and independent variables. When interested in the rate of change of data rather than the actual absolute changes, the data is plotted on semi-logarithmic scales instead of arithmetic scales.

Graphs plotted on semi-logarithmic scales are also known as ratio-scale graphs or semi-logarithmic graphs. Examples of situations in which the use of semi-logarithmic graphs is appropriate include the following:

• Comparison of the fluctuations in the prices of different commodities
• Comparison of outputs of various machines, departments, etc.
• Comparison of the efficiency of machines or efficacy of treatments.
• Estimation of future trends in sales, performance, etc.
• Comparison of a firm’s production performance with the overall industrial performance.

Charts, Diagrams, and Photographs

The following rules should be observed when presenting a chart, graph, or photograph:

Section 1

• Provide concise, reasonable titles for all charts, graphs, and/or photographs. These must be cross-referenced in the text.
• Give each chart and diagram a number
• Place the title and number of each chart, graph, or photograph below it.
• Provide appropriate legends for all charts, graphs, and/or photographs, footnotes and provide subtitles and/or footnotes.
• Indicate units of measurement employed fully and accurately.
• References should be made to charts or diagrams in the text.
• Do not crowd the page with numerous charts or diagrams. In most cases, a maximum of two charts or diagrams per page is ok.

Section 2

• Place each chart or diagram directly after the page in which reference is made to it,i.e., do not place the table too far from the reference page or lump all tables together at the end of the report.t,
• Label all graphs. Ensure that all coordinates are labelled consistently;i.e., don’t use all uppercase on one coordinate and mix upper-and lower-case on the other.
• If numerical values of variables are graphed, make sure that each coordinate has scale markings and that each label for a variable includes the units for that variable.
• Maintain the same unit system for all variables, i.e., do not mix English and SI units.
• Do not include too many curves in one graph. When more than one curve occurs on the same graph, these must be clearly distinguished by using differentiated lines, different colours, or captions.

Section 2

• When differentiating curves by line or colour, provide a legend/key.
• When a graph is concerned with absolute changes in quantities, the zero line must be shown; otherwise, the graph will give a false impression.
• Enlarge your graphs and space them out.
• Use scanned photographs instead of pasting the original printed versions or photocopies.

Citing of References in the Report

A comprehensive list of all the reference materials consulted and properly cited in the body of the report should be provided.

Section 1

• All illustrations-tables, charts, and photographs. Adapted and borrowed from different sources, should be referenced
• All direct quotations must be placed in inverted commas so that there is no risk of mistaking them for paraphrases. The spelling and punctuation of the original material must be maintained.

Section 2

• All published works -books, journal articles, monographs, conference proceedings, special reports, etc, and unpublished works – project reports, dissertations, theses, personal communication,etc.-from which concrete ideas and useful items of information were obtained in the course of preparing the report, should be cited.
• When a publication appears in an edited book, the name of the author (s)rather than that of the editor(s) should be cited.

Citing References

In citing references, the ‘Harvard’ or “Name and Year” system may be used, i.e., authors’ names must be mentioned in the text in citing papers. The following rules are applicable regarding how to cite references using this system:

Section 1

• For a work authored by an individual, the surname alone should be mentioned, without either the initials or the other names, along with the year when the work originally appeared,d e.g., “Bade(1998)”.
• If there are two authors, the surnames of both authors should be mentioned, without either the initials or the other names, along with the year when the work originally appeared, e.g., “Jones and James (1999)”.
• Where a work has three or more authors, the surname of only the first author must be mentioned, without either the initials or the other names, along with the year when the work originally appeared. The abbreviation et. a, meaning “and others,” should be used for the second and subsequent authors. The abbreviation is usually italicised, e.g.,” Jones et. al.(1999)”.

Section 2

• If a work was published anonymously or the author’s name is not known, the abbreviation “Anon” should be used along with the year when the work originally appeared.
• Where the author of a document is an organisation10 or institution, the name of the establishment, or the acronym if it is a well-known organisation, should be mentioned, along with the year when the work originally appeared.
• If an item of information was obtained from a secondary source,i.e., one author quoting another author, it is acceptable to either quote the primary source, particularly if the item of information is significant and its origination is directly traceable to that source, or quote the secondary source. Better still, the two authors may be quoted simultaneously, e.g., “Shield in (1999), quoting Suleman (1994) observed that…..”

Section 3

• If an item of information was obtained orally, usually from an expert, the surname of the informant as well as the year the information was obtained should be mentioned.
• When two or more publications of the same author that appeared in the same year were consulted, they should be mentioned in a sequence, e.g., Bade (2001a,2001b,2001c).

Preparing the List of References

This is a listing of all the published and unpublished documents, reports, and monographs that were consulted in the course of preparing the report and were cited in the body of the report. The list may be arranged using the Alphabetical Ordering System, i.e., the list may be prepared in alphabetical order, e.g.

Areola, O.2001.Deforestation in Nigeria: The Pressures at the Grassroots Level. In “Deforestation, Environment, and Sustainable Development- A Comparative Analysis”, Vajpeyi, D.K.(Ed.), Praeger, Westport, Connecticut, USA., pp.173-196.

CBN,1992. Annual Report and Statement of Account. Published by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lagos, Nigeria. 50 pp.

Damodaran, K.,1996.Technology for Sawing Small-Diameter Hardwood Logs. Wood News 5(4):34-39.

Appendices

An appendix should contain relevant information appropriate to be included in the body of the report, such as technical data, elaborate procedures too cumbersome to be accommodated in the body of the report, detailed calculations, designs and drawings, etc.

Typing: The report should be typed on an appropriate-sized paper, e.g., quarto or A-4 paper, using a computer word processor and an appropriate font type and size. The most commonly used and acceptable font is Times New Roman, font size 12.

Pagination: The report should be paged. Page numbers may be inserted in any of the following places: the centre, on the right or left-hand side of the top or bottom of the page.

Binding: The final copy of the report must be properly bound.

Editing a Research Report

The following tips are useful in editing a research report:

• Prepare the first draft as quickly as possible (not a week after to submission date) so that you can have ample time to improve on it.
• Proofread the report to minimise all kinds of errors-grammatical, typographical, etc.
• Check for conformance to the stipulated format in terms of appropriate font size, paper size, colour of cover material, etc. Check for, and guide against the following:
• Inadequate margins
• Corrections by hand
• Deleting typed lines with marking ink.
• Poor quality drawings
• Poor quality photocopying
• Poor quality binding

Use the following checklist to evaluate the content, form, arrangement, and style of the report:

(1) Content

• Is the title brief, meaningful, and appropriate?
• Is the abstract well-written and well-positioned?
• Is the table of contents appropriate, showing a list of the main divisions of the report and their page numbers? Are the items in the table identical to the headings in the text?
• Does the report fulfil the aims stated in the abstract and/or introduction?
• Are all the materials in the report relevant?
• Are the tables, figures, etc, accurate? Is the technical information contained in the report up to date?
• Have all borrowed ideas been acknowledged by referencing them appropriately in the body of the report, enclosing direct quotations in quotation marks?
• Have equations in the body of the report been numbered appropriately?
• Have all drawings been prepared professionally?
• Are the references complete and correct, including only the books and articles used in the final writing of the report?

(2) Form and Arrangement

• Are all elements of a research report-title page, table of contents, list of tables and figures, appendices, and references present?
• Is the arrangement of the chapters and materials within the chapters logical?
• Is the report properly typed and paged?

(3) Style

• Does the language conform to the prevailing standards of usage in terms of grammar, spelling and punctuation?
• Is the style of writing employed lively, interesting, and at the same time serious, objective, scientific, and accurate?
• Is the report written without assuming too much about the level of knowledge of the readers?
• Is the style coherent, with the best possible use made of transitional devices?
• Is the tone of the report courteous without condescending to the reader?

Conclusion

Oftentimes, many people tend to short-change themselves by not paying adequate attention to how they write their research reports. It is hoped that the clues given in this paper will go a long way in assisting all participants in preparing their reports in the future.

Bibliography

Day, R.A.(1979). How To Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. ISI Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.        

Olorunnisola A.O.(2003). Some Essentials of Scientific Research Planning and Execution. Jimson Educational Publishers, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Olorunnisola, A.O.2004. Introduction to Technical Report Writing. Foresight Educational Publications, Ibadan