Ed 603 - Lesson 15 - Preparing the Research Report

Lesson 15 will consist of the following topics

· Text Assignment for Lesson 15

· Components of a Research Report

· Lesson 15 Assignment

· Lesson 15 Quiz

Text Assignment for Lesson 15

For lesson 15, read pages 507-530 in Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, Seventh Edition by L. R. Gay and Peter Airasian (2003, Merrill/Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-099463-4)

or read pages 514-526 in Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, Eighth Edition by Lorrie Gay, Geoffrey Mills, and Peter Airasian (2006, Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0-13-118534-9)

or read pages 287-296 in Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 3^rd Edition by John W. Creswell (2008, Merrill/Prentice Hall, ISBN-13: 978-0-13-613550-0)

Components of a Research Report

The authors of the text for this course (Gay & Airasian, 2000, page 544) suggest that the common components of a research report submitted for a degree requirement, consist of preliminary pages, the main body of the report, and the appendixes

Preliminary Pages

Title page - The title page usually includes the title of the report, the author's name, the degree requirement being fulfilled, the name and location of the college or university awarding the degree, the date of submission of the the report, and signatures of approving committee members. The title should describe the purpose of the study as clearly as possible.
Acknowledgements page - The acknowledgements page allows the writer to express appreciation to persons who have contributed significantly to the completion of the report.
Table of contents - The table of contents is basically an outline of your report that indicates on which page each main section (or chapter) and subsection begins.
List of Tables and figures - The list of tables and figures, which is presented on a separate page, gives the number and title of each table and figure and the page on which it can be found.
Abstract - Most colleges and universities require an abstract or summary of the study. The number of pages for each will be specified; they usually range from 100 to 500 words. The abstract should describe the most important aspects of the study, including the problem investigated, the type of participants and instruments, the design, the procedures, the major results, and the major conclusions.

Main Body of the Report

Introduction - The introduction section is the first section of the main body of the report and includes a well-written description of the problem, a review of related literature, a statement of the hypothesis, and definition of terms. The introduction also includes operational definitions of terms used in the study that do not have a commonly known meaning.

Statement of the Problem
Review of Related Literature - The review of related literature describes and analyzes what has already been done related to your problem.
Statement of the Hypothesis - A good hypothesis in a quantitative study states as clearly and concisely as possible the expected relationship (or difference) between two variables, and defines those variables in operational, measurable terms.
Significance of the Study

Method - The method section includes a description of participants, instruments, design, procedure, assumptions, and limitations.

Participants - The description of participants in a quantitative study includes a definition and description of the population from which the sample was selected and may describe the method used in selecting the participants. The description of participants in a qualitative study will include description of the way participants were selected, why they were selected, and a detailed description of the context in which they fucntion.
Instruments - The description of each instrument should relate the function of the instrument in the study (for example, selection of participants or a measure of the dependent variable), what the instrument is intended to measure.
Design
Procedure - The procedure section should describe each step followed in conducting the study, in chronological order, in sufficient detail to permit the study to be replicated by another researcher.

Results - The results section describes the statistical techniques or qualitative interpretation that were applied during data analysis. Information about the process applied during data analysis should be provided. Tables and figures are used to present findings in summary or graph form and add clarity to the presentation. Good tables and figures are uncluttered and self-explanatory; it is better to use two tables (or figures) than one that is crowded. Tables and figures follow their related textual discussion and are referred to by number, not name or location. Each research finding or result should be discussed in terms of its agreement or disagreement with previous results obtained by other researchers in other studies or hypotheses stated at the start of the study. Overgeneralization refers to the statement of conclusions that are not warranted by the results and should be avoided.
Discussion (Conclusions and Recommendations) - The researcher should discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings and make recommendations for future research or future action.
References (Bibliographay) - The reference or bibliography section of the report should list all the sources, alphabetically by authors' last names, that were directly used in writing the report. Every source cited in the paper must be included in the references, and every entry listed in the references must appear in the paper. The required style manual will guide the fomat of various types of references.

Appendixes - appendixes include information and data pertinent to the study that either are not important enough to be included in the main body of the report or are too lengthy - for example, tests, questionnaires, and cover letters, raw data, and data analysis sheets.

Note: The content of this lesson was taken primarily from Gay, L.R. & Airasian, Peter. (2000). Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application. Sixth Edition. Merrill/Prentice Hall, pages 544, and 550-551.