Reporting research findings is the last phase of any type of research. It’s important to know how are you going to report your research findings? because there maybe some restrictions about structure, style and content of your report and it may affect the way you conduct your research.
One of the purposes of the reporting research findings is to convince people that you have done a great piece of research. The more professional is the reporting the more are the chances of success. There are three ways to communicate / report research findings i.e written reports, journal articles and oral presentations. Following are some of the details about these reporting techniques.
Written Reports – Reporting Research Findings
Usually a written report includes following sections:
- Title page
- Table of contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abstract / Summary
- Introduction
- Material and Methods
- Analysis and Results
- Conclusion
- Recommendations and Further Research
- References
- Appendices
Knowing the audience: their previous knowledge, interests and level of understanding maybe helpful in writing a useful and professional report. Try using plain and clear language while reporting but at some occasions you can use complex terms to convince people about your knowledge of the subject.
Disorganized work, grammatical mistakes, unjustified assumptions, repetition of statements, too much irrelevant information and weak summary / conclusions are some of the reasons why reports are failed or rejected.
Journal Articles – Reporting Research Findings
Writing an article in a journal is another way of reporting research findings. There are many academic journals and professional trade publications which publish research articles related to their specific field / domain. Following are some of the tips for journal article writing.
- Choose a topic relevant to the field / domain of your targeted journal
- Or find out which journal publishes articles related to your subject of interest
- Read the submission / author guidelines of the targeted journal carefully
- Write your article by following the guidelines proposed by the targeted journal
- Read previous articles of the targeted journal to get an idea of editor’s preferences
- Ask your supervisor, friends and colleagues to read the article and give their suggestions
- Ask some professional to proofread your article and correct grammatical mistakes before submission
Oral Presentations – Reporting Research Findings
Oral presentation is also another method of reporting research findings. This method is used at university or college level, research conferences and in work places. Following are some of the tips for successful oral presentations.
- Be prepared, arrive early and make sure that all equipment works properly
- Show your interest in the subject matter
- Grab the attention of the audience with the help of visual aids, altering tone, interesting questions, pitch and body gestures
- A paper or handout for the audience’s reference might be helpful
- Announce before about how and when to take questions
Conclusion / Summary
Reporting research findings effectively is an important phase of any type of research because it clarifies the outcomes of the research. Three types of reporting techniques include written reports, journal articles and oral presentations. An effective reporting is necessary to communicate the objectives, methods, results and conclusions of the research clearly so that the audience understand all the aspects of the research.