PREPARATION OF RESEARCH

REPORT
RESEARCH REPORT
A report is a detailed description of what has been done and how it has been
done with respect to a particular area or topic. The purpose of the written
report is to present the results of your research, but more importantly to
provide a persuasive argument to readers of what you have found.
It is the end product of a research activity. It is highly skilled work it is the
final stage of the research work.
DEFINITION
A research report is an oral presentation and /or a written statement that has
the purpose of communicating research findings, recommendations for
courses of action, other findings to management or other audiences.
(William G Zikmund)
NEED FOR RESEARCH REPORT
 The aim of research is the search for knowledge.
 A research report is needed to evolve a theory or a principle.
 Reporting is a process through which a basic ground is prepared for exchange of
ideas or thoughts.
 Reporting helps the researcher to make specific recommendation for course of
action.
 The research ability of a candidate is revealed through the final report he presents.
 A research report is highly useful for policy formulators, practitioners, general
public and others.
FUNCTIONS OF RESEARCH REPORT
 Research report serves as a means for presenting the problem studied, methods
and techniques used, findings, conclusions and recommendation in an organized
manner.
 It serves as a reference material for future use in the same or related area.
 It serves as a means for judging the quality of the research project.
 It is a means for evaluating research ability.
 It provides systematic knowledge on problems and issues analyzed

TYPES OF RESERCH REPORT

1. Oral Report.
Reporting may be done to an administrator either orally or in written form Oral report has
an important place in USA while reporting to government or industries. But it is not
developed in India. The oral report is helpful to communicate continuously to fellow
workers.
2. The written report.
The written report may he three types
A. Popular report
Popular report is a report prepared for a layman. It is prepared to those persons who are
not interested in technical aspects of the study.
It is intended to explain the broad facts, findings and recommendations. It is prepared in a
lucid and simple style.
B. Report submitted to an administrator
This report is prepared for the use of administrator or executive or for fellow researcher. It
is intended for taking decisions. The Administrators require only the essence of the
research study. So in this type of report, some technical details and supporting data are
included. It will follow the summary and important recommendations of the study.
C. Technical Report
Technical report is a report prepared for specialists who are interested in understanding
the technical aspects of research methodology, and research findings.
They are interested in hypothesis for the study, logical and statistical details that led to the
conclusions. 'the report is prepared in technical language. It will 1.1e helpful the reader to
refer them further. The technical report may be detailed report or an article published in a
journal or a hill technical report.
It should contain the following four aspects.
a) The nature of the problem.
b) The research methodology adopted for study.
c) Analysis of data and the results.
d) The inference drawn front the results.
FORMAT OF RESEARCH REPORT
The research report may be presented either in the form of dissertation or in the form of
thesis. These specifications allows the writer to include his own contribution within a c
conventional frame work which is both chronological and reasonable.
The mechanical format of a research report consist of three parts.
1. The preliminaries
2. The text
3. The reference materials.
1. THE PRELIMINARIES.
a) Title page
b) Letter of transmittal
c) Acknowledgement
d) Letter of authentication
e) Table of content
f) List of table
g) List of figures or illustrations.
2. THE TEXT
(a) Abstract
(b) Introduction
(c) Research procedure
(d) Results
(e) Discussion
(f) Conclusion and summary
3. THE REFERENCE MATERIAL
A) Bibliography
B) Appendix/appendices
C) Index( if any)
The title page
The title should reflect the content and emphasis of the project described in the report. It
should be as short as possible and include essential key words. It should show the
following details
1. Title of the research report.
2. Name of the researcher
3. Name of the person to whom the report was prepared.
Letter of transmittal
It is included in the final report. Its purpose is to release the report to the recipient. It may
include the purpose of conducting study by the researcher, a brief resume of background,
scope and general nature of the research upon which the report is being based and
acknowledgements.
Acknowledgments
The acknowledgement recognize the persons to whom the writer is indebted for guidance
and assistance during the study and credit institutions for providing funds to implement
the study or the use of personnel, facilities and other resources.
Letter of authorization
This is a letter given to the researcher authorizing him to do the investigation on particular
business problem. It also indicates what resources are available for research. In majority
of cases only a reference is made about the letter of authorization in the letter of
transmittal.
Table of contents
The table of contents is prepared to show an analytical view of the material included in
the study together with the sequence of presentation. It includes the major divisions of
the thesis such as introduction, chapters with their sub sections, bibliography and
appendix.
List of tables
After the preparation of the table of contents the writer is required to prepare a list of
tables. The list of tables is to be centered on a separate page. A specimen of the list of
tables is given below,

List of figures
The list of figures appears in the same form as the list of table.
TEXT
In this section the researcher presents his arguments. He should devote full attention for as
careful organization and presentation of his findings or general argument. This section
explains everything related to the study. It consists of the following.
1. Abstract
The abstract should, in the briefest terms possible, describe the topic, the scope, the
principal findings, and the conclusions. It should be written last to reflect accurately the
content of the report. The length of abstracts varies but seldom exceeds 200 words. It is
given at the beginning of the report.
The primary objective of an abstract is to communicate to the reader the essence of the
paper. The reader will then be the judge of whether to read the full report or not.
2. Introduction
This section should describe clearly but briefly the background information on the problem,
what has been done before and the objectives of the current project. A clear relationship
between the current project and the scope and limitations of earlier work should be made
so that the reasons for the project and the approach used will be understood.
The introduction should be written with due care. Usually the introductory part contains
the following.
1) A lucid, complete and concise statement of the problem being investigated.
2) A description of the scope of study.
3) An explanation of the need for study and importance.
4) A resume of the historical background and present importance of the problem.
5) A brief statement with regard to the source of data, the technique used for analyzing
data, the assumptions used in the analysis and the technical terminologies used in the
study.
6) The reference which we made to other books and other articles, if relevant for our
study should also be given.
3. Research Procedure
The methodology describes what was actually done. The reader is interested to know how
the study was carried out. The means he wants to know, the basic design, experimental
manipulations, methods of data collection, asked questions, experience of interviewer,
etc. The researcher should also give the accounts of the sample used. The researcher also
gives information about the statistical tools used for study.
4. Results
In this section, relevant data, observations, and findings are summarized. Tabulation of
data, equations, charts, and figures can be used effectively to present results clearly and
concisely. Schemes to show reaction sequences may be used here or elsewhere in the
report.
5. Discussion
The crux of the report is the analysis and interpretation of the results. Results and
Discussion sections are interrelated, they can often be combined as one section.
6. Conclusions and Summary
A separate section outlining the main conclusions of the project is appropriate if
conclusions have not already been stated in the "Discussion" section. Directions for future
work are also suitably expressed here.
A lengthy report, or one in which the findings are complex, usually benefits from a
paragraph summarizing the main features of the report - the objectives, the findings, and
the conclusions,
References
Literature references should be collated at the end of the report. All references should be
checked against the original literature.
PLANNING REPORT WRITING
There are mainly three stages in preparing a research report.
I. Organizations /structure
II. Write up
III. Documentation
1. ORGANIZATIONS /STRUCTURE
The first phase in a research report is ordering the parts and planning in writing. It is done
after collecting the data and analysis. The organization or structure of the research report
forms the base for preparing the research report. The researcher is required to plan how
to arrange his ideas in a logical and sequential order. A well created form will help to
overcome wrong emphasis.
The organisation or plan adopted depends upon the research problem, nature, the
purpose of study, the availability of time for investigation etc.
2. WRITE UP
Proper presentation of the report is an integral part of the whole project. Colloquial,
conversational or other modes of expressions (as in short stories) are not suitable in a
report. The personal pronouns such as I, we, you me, my, our and us should not he used
except in quotations. It should be written in past tense.
Exaggerated statements should be avoided. Quotations must be accurately cited and
suitably acknowledged. The report should be clear. The clarity of the report depends upon
the language command of the writer, his knowledge about facts and techniques, and the
data and documentation.
CONTENTS OF THE RESEARCH REPORT
The technical report should include the following points.
i) Introduction. It deals with the statement of the problem to be studied and the scope
of the study.
ii) Methodology, the study design, the nature of the sample, data and data collection
methods, and the statistical tools used for analysis.
iii) The results of the study.
iv) The inference drawn from the
A. INTRODUCTION
Generally a research report begins with an introduction. A good introduction is a clear
statement of the problem or project and why you are studying it. The introduction leads
into the main subject matter by giving the necessary background of the report, its aims,
premises, scope, limitations, approach intended audience, possible benefits and any
instructions that may be useful for the reader. In introductory part, the researcher deals
i) The nature of the problem
ii) The scope of the enquiry.
iii) The reasons for study and its place within the theoretical context.
Main objectives of introduction
 To introduce the problem in a suitable context
 To arouse the readers interest
B. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The first step in every research report is the formulation and development of a research
problem. The researcher should give enough evidence to the reader why he has
selected such a problem for study. The statement of the problem should mention the
hypothesis of study if any were formulated and the definitions of the major concepts
employed.
If it is presented as a chapter. then the researcher should explain the scope of the study
and point out the limits or limitations in study in clear terms in this. The limitations may
be the finance, time and restrictions of length in reporting etc.
C. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The technical personnel or reader needs to know technical aspects of the study in detail.
They want to know how the study was carried out. This chapter should mention the
following details.
I. The basic design of the study
If study is an experimental one, the experimental treatments are to be mentioned in the
report. But if the study is done by using questionnaire. the questions, nature and kind of
interview etc. should be stated
II. Nature of the sample
If samples are used for study, the class of the sample, the selection procedure of the
sample, the number of samples selected for study etc should be stated.
III. Data collection techniques
Its source and feature is also explained. If a field survey is conducted to collect data, the
manner of conducting, repose rates, validation and representativeness of the sample etc
are to be explained in detail. If the researcher uses secondary data for study. he should
explain how far original sources are checked for suitability of the data for study
IV. Statistical tools
Technical experts or scientific readers are interested to know the statistical tools used for
study the problem. In general, the techniques used are mentioned simply in the report.
But if the technique is a new one, the formulas are to be given.
D. FACTS PRESENTATION
The next step is the presentation of data and its analysis. In the case of fields work, the
findings should be continued by supporting statistical tables, charts, diagrams and so on. If
it is a bibliographical research, the findings should be followed by sufficient reference of
the source.
E. THE FINDINGS
The findings are the important part of the research report. The findings may be positive or
negative. Whatever may be the findings, the basic rule in presenting it is that to give all
the evidence relevant to the research problem, whether the results are in accordance
with the investigator's views or not.
While presenting the findings the followings points are to be considered
 The findings presented should be simple and understandable
 It should be written in a sequence order.
 It should be clear and precise.
 Simple language should be used to present findings.
F. THE INFERENCE
A mere presentation of findings is not enough to convey its meaning to its readers. The
reader is interested to know the implications of the study. In general. it includes the
following aspects.
 A statement which shows the inferences drawn from the findings which can be applied
for similar circumstances.
 The researcher should remind the reader of the features of the sample he selected for
study and the possibility of its difference with the population from which it is selected.
 It also includes the unanswered questions or the new questions or problems which
arise from the study.
G. THE CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions are drawn from evidence, analysis, interpretation and evaluation presented in
the report. The researcher has to look back the work done with the facts, findings and
implications and look forward to the application of the findings and implications.
H. RECOMMENDATIONS
These are the suggestions put forward by the researcher On the basis of the study. It may
be acceptable or not Sometimes it may not be correct.
I. SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
It is better to include a brief summary of the outline problem, the procedures, the major
findings and the major conclusions drawn from them. The abstract (also known as the
Summary) is a concise summary presentation of the essential elements of the report,
from the introduction through to and including the recommendations.
It should include a summary of details such as Purpose, Scope, Achievements, Main
points, Conclusions and Recommendations.
It will enable the leader to get an overall view of the work within a few seconds. New idea
or facts should not be indicated in the summary.
REPORT WRITING STAGES
1.Understanding the report brief
The researcher should be Confident that he understands the purpose of the report as
described in the report brief or instructions.
2.Gathering material and data
Once the researcher has a clear picture about the purpose of the report, he needs to
begin to gather relevant information. All the material required to write the report should
be collected. The information may come from a variety of sources, but how much
information the researcher will need will depend on how much detail is required in the
report.
3. Make overall format
The researcher should make an overall format of the research report before starting to
write the first draft of the report. lie should take time to consider arid make notes on the
points the lie will make use the facts and evidence which he have gathered. He should
consider the following at the time of making an overall format of the report,
1. What should be the heading?
2. The introduction of the problem
3. Mentioning what methodology he used for study.
4. It which way the report is to be presented?
5. What conclusions can be drawn from the material?
6. What are the limitations or flaws in the evidence?
7. Do certain pieces of evidence conflict with one another?
4. Make a detailed out line
The material should be organized into suitable sections and headings. The business researcher
can formulate an outline of the report by choosing the major and supporting ideas, developing
the details, and eliminating the unnecessary data the researcher had already collected.
The outline becomes the basic structure of the report, The outline organizes and prioritizes
information in preparation for writing The three parts are the introduction, body and
conclusion
Introduce, explain, present, comment and conclude
5, Drafting of the report
Various defects may occur while writing the research report. So to make the research
scientific and attractive, the report has to be written in three times. After finalising the
outline of the research report, the next step is to draft report. There are three steps
First Draft
In the first draft, the researcher's main concentration is for substances. That means the
report should be full of facts. Less importance is to be given to language and form in the
first draft report. The first draft should be re-written a number of times. The first draft
should be written for the following purposes.
1. To avoid blank paper fright.
2. To attain overall balance of the report
3. To knit the material together for clearing the connections between facts.
The first draft can be written in two ways
 Written from one’s own head
 Write up from the notes
The following steps are the first draft
 shamble the notes and put them in order
 Expand the notes and outline
 To mention fundamental points in each chapter, section and paragraph
 To read the notes slips repeatedly to depict its full significance and to unite facts and ideas.
Second Draft
In second draft stage the researcher is required to concentrate on form and language in
report. He can start editing the first draft to make it precise, concise and brief. Proper
emphasis should be given to the facts. So in this stage the researcher should make a critical
evaluation of the facts, findings, conclusion and suggestions. The following tips must be kept
in mind while making second draft of the report.
1. Make the research design simple.
2. Expand the condensed writing
3. Give emphasis on points in method, facts and findings.
4. Use simple words especially common words, Avoid complex sentences
5. Eliminate repetition of ideas,
6. Slash wrong uses and superfluous words.
7. Make the report as clear as possible.
8. Read and re-read the draft.
The Third Draft
Writing on a word processor makes it easier to rewrite and rearrange sections or
paragraphs in third draft. The third draft is the final report. It concentrates mainly on final
touch. That is documentation and polishes the report as far as possible to make the report
attractive and reliable.
6. Editing of the final Draft
After preparing final draft it is to be printed or typed, but before typing, it should be
edited thoroughly. It is the responsibility of the writer to see that the final draft is free
from spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. There should be proper punctuation,
capitalization, hyphenation and abbreviations.
Specifications to be observed
1. Headings should be in captions.
2. The headings given should be concise and informative.
3. The body of the text should be double spaced.
4. Numbering should be done in each page.
5. The preliminaries are to be numbered in Roman numerals such as
6. All other pages are numbered with Arabic numerals.
7. The margin to be maintained at the left of the page is 1 -1/2 inches.
8. Put one inch margin on right hand side of the page.
9. Maintain a margin of 1- 1/4inches at the top and bottom of the page.
7. Documentation
 The main purpose of documentation are follows
 To acknowledges facts and ideas borrowed
 To provide a reference to the sources
 To identify the quotation
It include name of the author, title of sources, pages of the sources of references, date of
publications
The documentation includes
a. Footnotes
b. Bibliography
c. Tables, charts and graph
d. Quotations
e. Appendices
Foot notes
They are intended to refer readers to the exact pages of the works listed in the Works
Cited, References, or Bibliography section. The footnotes are generally used in research
reports to
 Authenticate an argument or point
 Supplement the materials which are included in the main body.
Bibliography
A bibliography is a list of the sources used by the researcher to get information for
research report. It is an essential part of the report. It contains information about books,
reports, articles and other sources relevant to the investigation. The main purpose of the
bibliography is to guide the reader
KINDS OF BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Working bibliography
Generally it is formed at the starting stage of the enquiry. It may be prepared even before the selection
of the research problem, It helps the researcher to understand the problem. It also helps to start
investigation and to determine the hypothesis.
 Final Bibliography
it is prepared after the completion of the investigation or research report. It helps the researchers who
are interested to further study of the problem. It also helps to verify the facts and statements in the
report,
Forms of bibliography
1. Works cited: It includes a list of sources, which have been mentioned in the test part and foot notes
of the report.
2. Consulted sources: It includes a comprehensive list of books and papers which arc consulted for the
work.
3. Selected bibliography: It includes the resources cited in the work together with the more relevant
of the works which have been consulted.
4. Brief annotated bibliography: It is a list of references. Out of this some of them are followed with a
note on the content and usefulness of the references.
General guidelines to formatting a bibliography for a book
Author ( last name first), title of the book, city,: publisher, date of publication.
Quotations
While Liking note the researcher may copy the extracts from source verbatim. with the`
intension of incorporating it in final report. The copy of extract is known as quotations.
Appendices
In research reports, some relevant evidence or explanation in the body of the text should
only serve to clutter it up, rendering the text more difficult to read. Such explanations or
evidences can be put to an appendix, by which the thesis remain uncluttered. Usually the
copy of the questionnaire and the interview schedule used for collecting primary data are
included in the appendix.
8. Final word processing and publishing
The final task in a research project is reporting. It necessitates a word processing or
publishing program because the researcher will usually want to complement the results of
analysis with lengthy verbal comments and explanations, and he will then need powerful
tools for layout, cross-referencing, indexing, making the table of contents etc.
Word processing can be used for report writing. Word processing involves the use of a
computer to create, edit and print text (words, sentences, and paragraphs).
Advantages
 It is easier to make changes in the report. The researcher can move, change, delete,
save, and format all your ideas in one handy file
 it frees him to express ideas more clearly and to let his/her thoughts flow because
anything can be changed or deleted later
 It allows the researcher to organize all work or ideas together in a file. Instead of
deleting paragraphs that do not seem to fit an assignment, he can move them to the
end of the file where they can be used later or in another project,
 It is easy to share and store word processing files electronically