Report writing

Question 1

What is the abstract and what does it include

Answer 1

short summary that includes all the major elements of a study. ​

• Aims and hypotheses​
• Method/procedure​
• Results​
• Conclusions

Question 2

What does the introduction include

Answer 2

• A literature review of the general area of investigation, which will summarise studies that are related to the current study
• beginning broadly and gradually becoming more specific until the aims and hypotheses are presented

Question 3

What does the method include

Answer 3

Split in to several sub-sections and needs to be detailed enough so that other researchers are able to precisely replicate the study if they wish.

• Design – The design is clearly stated and justification for choice
• Sample – How many participants, their biographical/demographical information (as long as it doesn’t compromise anonymity) and the sampling method and target population
• Apparatus/Materials – Any assessment materials used​
• Procedure – It is a list of everything that happened in the investigation from the beginning to the end. This includes a verbatim record of everything that was said to participants: briefing, standardised instructions and debriefing.​
• Ethics – An explanation of how these were addressed within the study

Question 4

What do the results include

Answer 4

-summarise the key findings from the investigation. This will feature descriptive statistics (tables, graphs and charts etc)
​-Inferential statistics should include reference to the choice of statistical test, calculated and critical values, level of significance and final outcome
​-Raw data and calculations will appear in the appendix rather than the main body of the report. ​

Question 5

What does the discussion include

Answer 5

​

• Summary of the findings in verbal, rather than statistical form.
• limitations of the present investigation​
• Wider implications are considered. This could include real-world applications and what contribution this research has made to the existing knowledge base within the field. Suggestions for future research may also be discussed

Question 6

Why do we reference

Answer 6

enables others to research the references

Question 7

How do you do a reference

Answer 7

Surname, first name initial, year, title, place of publish, publish company