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Educational Research

Educational Research. Chapter 21 Preparing a Research Report Gay, Mills, and Airasian. Topics Discussed in this Chapter. General guidelines for writing a research report Outlining General writing rules Format and style Common components of a research report. Outlining Material.

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Educational Research

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  1. Educational Research Chapter 21 Preparing a Research Report Gay, Mills, and Airasian

  2. Topics Discussed in this Chapter • General guidelines for writing a research report • Outlining • General writing rules • Format and style • Common components of a research report

  3. Outlining Material • Imposes organization, sequence, and clarity on the report • Characteristics • Involves the identification and ordering of major topics • Differentiates each major heading into logical subheadings Objective 2.1

  4. General Writing Rules • Provide an accurate description of the study for the reader • Write clearly, simply, and in a straightforward style • Avoid abbreviations • Exceptions include commonly used terms like IQ or GPA • Acronyms must be identified in parentheses after the first use of the reference • American Psychological Association (APA) • American Educational Research Association (AERA) Objective 2.2

  5. General Writing Rules • Refer to authors by last name only • Richards (1982) not Sam Richards (1982) • Kirby (2002) not Dr. Kirby (2002) • Anderson (2001) not L.W. Anderson (2001) • Express numbers in words only if • they are less than 10 • they are the first word in a sentence • Proof the report carefully at least twice Objective 2.2

  6. Format and Style • Definitions • Format – the general pattern of organization and arrangement of the report • APA format • MLA format • Style – the rules of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and word processing • Follow APA format and style unless otherwise directed Objective 2.3

  7. Components of a Report • Three major sections • Preliminary pages • Set the stage for the report to follow and indicate where each component, table, and figure can be found • Main body of the report • Information about the topic, literature reviewed, hypotheses, participants, instruments, procedures, results, discussion, and references • Appendices • Data and information pertinent to the study but not important enough or too lengthy to be included in the main body of the report Objective 1

  8. Components of the Preliminary Pages • Title page – indicates the major focus of the study • Acknowledgements – expresses appreciation to people who have contributed significantly to the completion of the report • Table of contents – an outline of the report which indicates the page of each major section Objective 1.1

  9. Components of the Preliminary Pages • List of tables and figures – identifies the location, number, and title of each table and figure • Abstract – describes the most important aspects of the study • Topic • Participants • Instruments • Data collection procedures • Results • Conclusions Objective 1.1

  10. Main Body of the Report • Introduction • Statement of the problem – indicates the variables examined in the study • Review of the literature – indicates what is known about the problem • Statement of the hypotheses • Quantitative - states the relationships between variables in operational terms • Qualitative – sense of what the study might show • Significance of the study – explains why the study is important Objective 1.2

  11. Main Body of the Report • Method • Participants • Quantitative - describes how the subjects were selected, the population they represent, the sample size, and major characteristics of the subjects • Qualitative – includes information about the site and the participants • Instruments - describes all data collection procedures and protocols indicating their purpose, application, and technical characteristics (i.e., validity, reliability, and scoring) Objective 1.4

  12. Main Body of the Report • Method (continued) • Design – describes the rationale for the selection of a specific design, a description of the threats to validity, and steps taken to minimize these threats • Procedures – describes chronologically the steps followed in conducting the study in sufficient detail to allow for replication Objective 1.4

  13. Main Body of the Report • Results – describes the statistical techniques applied to the data and the results of these analyses • Discussion – interprets the results, draws conclusions, states implications, and makes recommendations • Discussions of the results in terms of their relation to the topic studied • A conclusion is not a result Objective 1.2

  14. Main Body of the Report • References – alphabetically lists all the relevant information for the sources used in the report by authors’ last names • APA format for references • Different formats for different types of sources • Journal articles • Books • Papers • Personal communication • Electronic sources Objective 1.2

  15. Appendices • Appendices – includes information and data pertinent to the study but not sufficiently important or too large to include in the main body of the report • Raw data • Tests • Questionnaires • Cover letters Objective 1.2

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