Lecture-8-Writing and Presenting Project Report
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Transcript of Lecture-8-Writing and Presenting Project Report
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Lecture 8
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Create time for your writing
Writing requires sustained concentration, so create time for writing
Write when your mind is fresh
Find a regular writing place One cannot write in unfamiliar surroundings. Find a place where you cannot be
interrupted, so remove all distractions including TV, magazines, computer
games, etc.
Set goals and achieve them
Use word processing
Generate a plan for the report
Finish each writing session on a high point So that it is easy to restart next time
Get friends to read and comment on your work Ask friends to read to point out difficult things that are not easy to
understand, along with all omissions, spelling, punctuations and grammaticalerrors
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Suggested structure
Abstract
Introduction
Literature review Method
Results
Conclusions
References
Appendices
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The abstract should contain four short paragraphs
that answer the following questions:
1. What were my research questions and why werethey important?
2. How did I go about answering the research
questions?
3. What did I find out in response to these questions?4. What conclusions can be drawn?
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Smith (1991) lists five principles for write a goodabstract:
1. It should be short; to a maximum of two sides of A4 or may
range between 300 500 words in case of a research report; a
quarter to one-third of a page in case of a technical research
article for a journal
2. It must be self-contained, meaning that it summarize the
complete content of the report
3. It must satisfy the readers needs; reader must be told about
problem (or central theme) addressed, the method adopted to
pursue the issue, and results found and conclusions drawn
4. It must convey the same emphasis as the report; the reader
should get an accurate impression of the reports contents
5. It must be objective, precise, and easy to read; stick what is in
the report; ensure to convey the contents of the report in as
clear and brief as possible
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The introduction should give the reader a clear
idea about the central issue of concern, and why
it was thought worth studying.
It should include full statement of research
questions and research objectives. If research is about some organization,
introduction should then also include some
details of the organization, including its history,
size, product and services. Introduction should also include a route map to
guide the reader through rest of the report
including brief on content of each chapter.
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The contents and organization of literature review
should be such that: It helps to set your study in its wider context;
it helps to explain how your study supplements the
existing work;
it helps to develop hypotheses;
it helps to identify and finalize your research
methodology; and
It helps to provide materials to give references inintroduction, as well as, in discussion where
references are needed to quote in support of or
against the researchers findings.
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This should be a complete section/chapter - giving
readers complete info - to make an estimate of the
reliability and validity of methods used
It should include information on four major points,
namely: a. research setting,
b. research participants,c. research materials and
d. procedures
a. Research setting:1. What was the research setting?
2. Why did you choose the particular setting? Its Justification?
3. What ethical issues did come out, and how were these
addressed?
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b. Participants/sampling:1. How many? Sample size?
2. How were they selected? Sampling techniques?
3. What were their characteristics?
4. How were refusals/non-response handled?
c. Materials:
1. What tests/scales/interview or observation schedules/
questionnaires were used?2. How were purpose-made instruments developed?
3. How were the resulting data analysed?
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d. Procedures1. What were the characteristics of the interviewers and observers,and how were they trained?
2. How valid and reliable do you think the procedure were?
3. What instructions were given to participants?
4. How many interviews/observations/questionnaires were there;how long did they last; where did they take place?
5. When was the research carried out?
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Two important points should be kept in mind
while writing results: The first purpose of this section/chapter is to present the facts
discovered. So you will narrate facts only, and will not includeyour opinions on the facts in this chapter/section; you will do thatin next section on conclusions.
The second purpose is to communicate the answers to yourresearch questions in a clear, logical and easily understoodmanner.
An easy way to do so is: return to your research objectives
and let these dictate the order in which you present yourfindings
Or alternatively
You may report your results thematically, in descending
order of importance.
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Saunders et al. (2009)
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* This section/chapter provides the second major
opportunity to researcher to shine, and demonstrate
the real originality of thought; he gets the firstopportunity to shine and demonstrate real opportunity
of thought when he chooses the research topic.
* The difference between the Findings chapter and
Conclusion chapter is that you make judgements in
the latter while you report facts in the former.
* For each finding, there should be at least one
conclusion. Answering the research questions,meeting the objectives, and supporting or otherwise
the research hypothesis is the main purpose of the
conclusion chapter.
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* There are practical implications of the findings; those
may form the part of conclusion chapter. Even if you donot specify any practical implications, you may
comment on what your research implies for any future
research.
The purpose of the conclusion:
To answer the research question(s)
To meet the research objectives
To consider the findings
To present any contributions to the topic displayed in
the literature
To reflect on any implications for future research
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Start your References section at thebeginning of the writing process, and
add to it as you go along; it wouldbecome a very tedious, boring and time-
consuming task if you left it until youhave completed the main body of test.
Cite all sources referred to in the text.
Check all citations to prevent plagiarism.
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Appendices should be kept to the minimum.
If material is essential to know, then it should beincluded in the main body of the report. If it isinteresting to know, then it should be includedas appendix.
Include blank copies of questionnaire, interviewor observation schedules as appendices.
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PREPARING DATA FOR QUANTITATIVE
ANALYSIS
ENTERING DATA, TAKING RELIABILITY
TEST AND GENERATING VARIBLES: A RECALL
&CHECKING FOR OUTLIERS
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SPSS Exercise (a)
We have already gone through theSPSS exercise for entering datacollected through Likert-scale
questionnaire, checking this data for
reliability, and generating variousvariables of our interest (like JS, DJ,PJ, IJ and InJ).
Today, we are going to check whetherthere are certain observations/dataon the newly generated variables,
which fall in to the category of
outliers.
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SPSS Exercise (b)
What is an outlier?
An outlying observation, or outlier, is anobservation that is much different (either very
small or very large) in relation to the
observations in the sample. More precisely, an
outlier is an observation from a different
population to that generating the remaining
sample observations. The inclusion or
exclusion of such an observation, especially ifthe sample size is small, can substantially alter
the results of regression analysis.
(Gujarati, 2007; p.399)
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SPSS Exercise (c)
Lets use the following SPSS commands,
which may help us to identify certain outliers
in our data set.
ANALYZE.....DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS.....EXPLORE......Take JB to right-hand Dependent List box and go to
Statistics, and click.....STATISTIC.....OUTLIER......
CONTINUE......PLOT.....cllick on.....Stem & Leaf, Histogram
and Normalty Plot with test.......CONTINUE.....(on-display,pick on).....BOTH....OK.
Evaluate the output in light of my attached notes on
The outlier: exploring the data