Research reports are essential when it comes to presenting your ideas to other people. They can help you summarize and backup your results when it comes to researching a problem or hypothesis. Great research reports must be complete, accurate, and clear to be the most effective.
Completeness
– Provides all the information readers need in a language they understand.
– Only include the results that really matter.
– Figure out what should be left out.
– Think carefully about the reader.
Accuracy
– Review for accuracy (review math, confusion between percentages and percentage points, review grammar, make sure terminology is clearly defined.)
Clarity
– Clear and logical thinking.
– Precision of expression.
The report must be well organized. Clarify the purpose of the report and why you are writing it. Make an outline of the major points. Tell the reader what you are going to cover in the report. Use short paragraphs and sentences. Don’t be evasive or ambiguous.
Research Report Outline:
- Title Page
- Includes the subject/title of the report; name of the organization, department, or individual for whom the report was written; the name of the organization, department, or individual submitting it; and the date. Include contact information of the person writing the report.
- Table of Contents
- Include headings and subheading with page references.
- Executive Summary
- Contains the most essential information within a single page. Who authorized the research and the specific research problems. How the data was collected, including response rate. Include only the most important results of the study in bullet points, then go over conclusions and recommendations.
- Introduction
- This contains background information for readers. Include the nature of the issue being studied, specific research problems being addressed by the research and define the market and name the competitors
- Method
- Include the research design, data collection methods, sampling procedure & analysis techniques that were used. Do not use technical jargon. Include whether it was exploratory, descriptive, or causal research. Tell the reader why the design chosen for the specific problem was the best choice. You can add separate sections for different research methods if necessary. Are the results based on primary or secondary data? How where the questionaries administered. What was the unit of analysis (individuals, families, or businesses). What was the sampling frame and its source. What was the type of sample drawn, the size of the sample, and response rate?
- Results
- Present the results of the study in detail Including supporting tables & figures. Address the specific research problems posed. The results must be presented with some logical structure. Omit irrelevant results. Explain what the tables and charts mean. Tables are often the better choice for presenting results. Point out limitations & possible biases.
- Conclusions and Recommendations
- Conclusions are based on interpretation of the results while recommendations are suggestions for appropriate future action. Include a conclusion for each problem with recommendations to follow. Make sure that the conclusions and recommendations are straightforward and can lead to a decision. Depending on the audience reading your report, you may want to leave out your recommendations and let the audience make their own.
- Appendices
- Appendices are too detailed, complex, or specialized for the text. Include a copy of the data, calculations, and bibliography. Include raw data of the project. This is good archival data, as this research many need to be re-used or revisited in the future. This information also helps other researchers to be able to double check your work for accuracy or re-create the research on their own.
The Oral Presentation
- There is usually an oral presentation of the research report that is needed to communicate your results to other. The reports should be presented in a professorial and confidence Inspiring Manner. Presentations are especially important if you are using the data to inform decision making and strategies for the future. What does the data suggest with respect to marketing actions? To deliver a professional presentation you must be organized, passionate, engaging, natural, and confident. Take time to understand your audience and practice
- Organize Your Presentation
- State the general purpose of the research problems being addressed.
- Present the results of the research.
- Back up the results with evidence.
- Share your conclusions and recommendations.
- Alternate Organization
- State the general purpose of the research problems being addressed.
- Share your conclusions and recommendations.
- Present the results of the research.
- Share your conclusions and recommendations.
- It is essential to develop an effective visual aid like a PowerPoint to go with your presentation. This will help to keep your audience engaged and better able to understand the results. Make sure to keep the visuals simple so they are not too distracting. Keep to one point per slide, so you can have more slides as you talk. Highlight significant points so that the audience knows that they are important. Keep the visual aid easy to read. limit the number of colors you use and minimize distract backgrounds. Build complexity sequentially with one concept building onto another across multiple slides.
Writing a report can seem like a lot, but there are many tips to making sure your research report is professional, clear, concise, and effective.