Page 171 - SREENARAYANAGURU OPEN UNIVERSITY

not necessarily be experts in the topic of study. Everyone should i. Title of the study
be able to access information, according to a well-known research ii. Name of the institution to which the report is being submitted ◆ Simple report for
paper. It is really clear writing that makes it simple to understand general audience
iii. Name of the candidate ( if desired , previous academic
the findings and suggestions. degrees may be listed after name)
The following are the general outline of a popular report iv. Date of submission of the report

i. The findings and their implications: Emphasis in the report ◆ Introductory notes
is given on the findings of most practical interest and on the b. Preface: The preface usually includes a brief statement of
implications of these findings. the purpose and scope of the report. A preface must also include
acknowledgements for those who gave the researcher substantial
ii. Recommendations for actions: Recommendations for guidance or assistance in the conduct of the study. If the researcher
actions on the basis of the findings of the study are made in this has little to say about the contribution of his research work,
section of the report. the preface can easily be omitted. In such a situation, the page
iii. Objective of the study: A general review of how the should be labelled as ‘Acknowledgements’ rather than ‘Preface’.
problem arises is presented along with the specific objective of Acknowledgement should be brief and simple.
the project under study. c. Table of contents: The table of contents includes the major
iv. Methods employed: A brief and non-technical description divisions of the report- the introduction, the chapters with their ◆ Divisions of the
of the methods and techniques used, including a short review of sub-sections, the bibliography and the appendix. Page numbers report
the data on which the study is based, is given in this part of the for each of these divisions and sub-divisions are given. The title
report of chapters and sub-divisions within chapters should correspond
v. Results: This section constitutes the main body of the report exactly with those included in the body of the report with correct
wherein the result of the study are presented in clear and non- page citation. The preface or acknowledgements, list of tables and
technical terms with liberal use of all sorts of illustrations such as list of figures are also entered in the table of contents. The table
charts, diagrams and the like ones of contents provides the reader a bird’s eye view of the report and
vi. Technical appendices: More detailed information on enables him to quickly locate each section of it.
methods used, forms etc. is presented in the form of appendices. B. Body of the report or main text
But the appendices are often not detailed if the report is entirely The main body of the research report usually contains four
meant for the general public. logical divisions. (a) Introduction (b) Design of the study
(c) Analysis and interpretation of the data (d) Summary and
4.3.3 Contents of Report conclusions. In a thesis or a dissertation these divisions comprise

chapters, while in a research paper they may consist of sections
For the purpose of presentation of a research report, some ◆ Nature and
universities, research organisation or journal boards have with suitable headings. significance of study
established their own format to which their theses, dissertations a. Introduction: The introduction of a research report should
or research papers must conform, but all formats are somewhat be lucid, complete and concise. It should introduce the research
similar to the following outline which comprises three main problem in the proper context and arouse and stimulate the reader’s
sections interest. In the introduction the researcher defines, analyses and
A. The Preliminary section states the nature of the problem and includes the significance of
the problem and the need for conducting the investigation.
B. The Body of the report or main content b. Design of the study: A reasearcher may present the

C. The End matters population, size of the sample, and the rationale for the size of
the sample. This should involve the method of sampling, when
A. Preliminary sections and what type of date were collected, tools and techniques used ◆ Methodology
for collecting data, along with their reliability and validity. The
a. Title page: Several pages of preliminary material are design and method of conducting the experiment should give full
presented prior to the body of research report. Generally, it details about the assumptions, classifications and manipulations
contains the following information: of variables and the nature of treatment. The type of analysis

SGOU - SLM - MCom Research Methodology 165