Composing a Research Report on a Social Issue

Research Report Overview

• A research report is a document that presents research work in a systematic, coherent, and methodological manner.
• The aim of a research report is to clearly and concisely communicate the purpose and results of research to the reader.

Introduction

• Provides the purpose and importance of the report
• Gives background information on the research topic
• Includes a review of related literature (RRL)
• Describes the problem or situation, current state of research, and the gap or problem in the field
• Explains how the present research addresses the problem or gap

Methods

• Describes how the study was conducted
• Includes information on the method used, instrument, population, sampling technique, and procedure
• Provides details on data gathering and collection

Results

• Presents the findings of the study
• Directly answers the research question posed in the introduction
• Contains only the findings, without interpretation
• Includes labeled and numbered tables and figures

Discussion

• Summarizes and discusses the main findings
• Relates the results to other research studies
• Shows the implications of the results, with evidence
• Discusses the limitations of the study

IMRaD Format

• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion

Stages of Research Process

• Research
• Research Proposal
• Research Report
• Research Project

Sample Outline

• Title of Research Report
• Abstract
• I. Introduction
• II. Methods
• III. Results
• IV. Discussion

Title and Abstract

• The title should be brief, specific, and informative
• The title indicates the nature and scope of the report
• The abstract provides a brief overview of the entire paper, including the purpose, methods, results, and implications.