Research is a process of systematic investigation to study about anything. All of the research work is documented to through research report writing. A research report helps do further research on the same topic or problem. It is that research report that lets you know about the gaps in a research. All of the information within a research report is precise. Its basic features make it different from other types of reports. Its structure, writing style, data collection, and analysis increases its worth. The aim of this article is to discuss about characteristics of research report writing. Let’s discuss different aspects and characteristics of the research report in detail.
Types of Research Report
There are many types of research report writing. Each type has a different goal to achieve. You can say that research report writing is divided based on its goals. Following are the types of the research report;
- Internal report
- External report
- Proposal reports
- Functional reports
- Informational report
- Analytical report
- Formal report
- Informal report
- Long report
- Short report
- Periodic report
In every type of research report writing, you have to focus on writing norms. Make sure you follow the right structure. Similarly, you need to ensure that your document has all the characteristics of a good research report. As per the type of report, your targeted audience also varies. You need to work on your strategies to attract the audience. Write the report in such a way that it calls the targeted audience for action.
Contents of Research Report
The content of research report writing can vary as per the required guidelines. You have to see what set of guidelines you have for it. For example, you are asked to write a research report in American Psychological Association (APA) style. Afterwards, your report will contain the following sections in detail;
- Executive summary
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Literature review
- Methodology
- Findings
- Conclusion
- References
- Appendix
It is better to write an executive summary and abstract with help of a cheap dissertation writing service at the end of the report. The sections of the executive summary and abstract are added at the very start of the report. It is the summarization of what you have done in the whole report. In the section of the introduction, you have to describe your topic and its background information. Here you need to set an objective for your report. In the section of literature review, add data of past research that is relevant to your topic. Based on past studies, mention the gaps in your study. In methodology, you need to mention the whole procedure of research in detail. In this way, it becomes easy for the reader to understand every component of research report writing in a clear way.
Besides, you have to write different things in the section of findings and conclusion. Some researcher takes it as the same thing which is wrong. Finding is all about the results you get from the analysis. You have to write results as it is, but the section of conclusion includes many other things. Here you need to write if you have achieved your research objective or not. In the same way, you need to write about recommendations for future research and limitations of your research.
Do not forget to cite and add all the references. Without references, your research report writing is of no use. The appendix is also an optional section in report. Here you can add tables and figures.
What are the Five Characteristics of a Good Report?
Following are the main characteristic of a good research report;
Structure
A proper structure in research report writing matters a lot. You need to see which section is best to discuss at the start. Similarly, you have to see if everything is going in the right direction or not. As we have just discussed about the contents of a research report, you need to follow the same sequence here. To ensure the right structure, plan everything beforehand. Make sections and outlines for each section. While writing a research report, you must keep that planned sequence in front of you. In this way, you can come up with a good structure of research report.
Easily Understandable
Another characteristic of research report writing is clarity. The purpose of a research report is to make technical aspects easy to understand for most of the readers. If your report is not understandable for the reader, it means you have not written a good piece of a research report. In order to make your report easy to understand, try to avoid long paragraphs. Also, there should not be any irrelevant thing in the report. Every irrelevant discussion breaks the flow of reading and it cause confusion for the reader.
Positive Effect
Try to discuss everything in a positive way. Everything has some positive and some negative aspects linked with it. Your aim should be to avoid the negative effects. If you do not focus on positive impacts, it will cause a bad impression on a reader. Also, it can divert the attention of the reader from the main point. The reader can misinterpret the rest of the things.
Approach
In a research report writing, you have to be very careful about the writing approach. Here you need to see if the report is supposed to have direct or indirect speech. Direct speech report should be based on personal observation. On the other hand, you have to discuss everything in an indirect speech when the source of information is a third person.
Presentation
Research report writing is not all about data accuracy. Your presentation also matters a lot. No doubt your data is precise enough but the poor presentation can ruin all of your efforts. So you need to be very careful about writing style, punctuation and grammar mistakes. The presentation of data must be attractive for the reader.
Final Thoughts
If you have worked on all of the above-discussed points, you will end up with a good piece of report writing. Research report writing requires special attention. You have to focus on every little aspect and make sure if it is accurate or not.
