Interpretation and Report Writing: Data Interpretation,

Techniques of Interpretation, Steps in Writing Report,

Generic layout of a Research Report

Application of Research in the Functional Areas of

Management: Marketing, Production, HR and Finance.

Sunil Kushwaha
• MEANING OF INTERPRETATION
Interpretation refers to the task of drawing inferences from the collected facts after an analytical
and/or experimental study. In fact, it is a search for broader meaning of research findings

WHY INTERPRETATION?
Interpretation is essential for the simple reason that the usefulness and utility of research findings lie
in proper interpretation. It is being considered a basic component of research process because
of the following reasons:
(i) It is through interpretation that the researcher can well understand the abstract principle that
works beneath his findings. Through this he can link up his findings with those of other
studies, having the same abstract principle, and thereby can predict about the concrete world
of events.

(ii) Interpretation leads to the establishment of explanatory concepts that can serve as a guide for
future research studies; it opens new avenues.

(iii) Researcher can better appreciate only through interpretation why his findings are what they are
and can make others to understand the real significance of his research findings.

(iv) The interpretation of the findings of exploratory research study often results into hypotheses for
experimental research and as such interpretation is involved in the transition from exploratory
to experimental research.

Sunil Kushwaha
• TECHNIQUE OF INTERPRETATION: The task of interpretation
is not an easy job, rather it requires a great skill and dexterity on the part of researcher.
Interpretation is an art that one learns through practice and experience.

The technique of interpretation often involves the following steps:

(i) Researcher must give reasonable explanations of the relations which he has found
and he must interpret the lines of relationship in terms of the underlying processes
and must try to find out the thread of uniformity that lies under the surface layer of
his diversified research findings.
(ii) Extraneous information, if collected during the study, must be considered while
interpreting the final results of research study, for it may prove to be a key factor in
understanding the problem under consideration.
(iii) It is advisable, before embarking upon final interpretation, to consult someone
having insight into the study and who is frank and honest and will not hesitate to
point out omissions and errors in logical argumentation.
(iv) Researcher must accomplish the task of interpretation only after considering all
relevant factors affecting the problem to avoid false generalization. He must be in no
hurry while interpreting results, for quite often the conclusions, which appear to be
all right at the beginning, may not at all be accurate.

Sunil Kushwaha
 INTRODUCTION

• It is important for any researcher to present the research material in a

systematic and predefined manner.
• A good research is diluted if it is not presented well by the researcher.
• There exists a difficulty in communicating the researcher’s mind to a
common person or a person who does not have a solid research
background.
• A proper balance between the thinking of the researcher and the
requirement of the sponsoring agency is of paramount importance.
• In a nutshell, the report must contain all the important ingredients of
the research in a systematic and predetermined manner.

Sunil Kushwaha
 ORGANIZATION OF THE WRITTEN REPORT

1. Title page
2. Letter of authorization
3. Table of contents (including list of figures and tables)
4. Executive summary
4.1 Objective
4.2 Concise statement of the methodology
4.3 Results
4.4 Conclusions
4.5 Recommendations

Sunil Kushwaha
ORGANIZATION OF THE WRITTEN REPORT (Cont.)

5. Body
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Research objective
5.3 Research methodology (sample, sample size, sample profile, sampling
techniques, scaling techniques, questionnaire, test statistic, and fieldwork)
5.4 Results and findings
5.5 Conclusions and recommendations
5.6 Limitations of the research
6. Appendix
6.1 Copies of data collection forms
6.2 Statistical output details
6.3 General tables that are not included in the body
6.4 Bibliography
6.5 Other required support material

Sunil Kushwaha
 1. Title Page

An attractively laid out title page is important for

making a good first impression on the reader
(Parasuraman et al., 2004).

Title page

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 2. Letter of Authorization

• A letter of authorization is issued by the research-sponsoring

agency to the research- conducting agency before the actual start
of the research.
• It is a formal letter that authorizes the research conducting agency
to conduct the research.
• It generally includes the name and title of the person(s) who
authorizes the researcher to conduct the research.
• It may include a general description of the nature of the research
project, the completion date, the terms of payment, and any special
condition of the research project requested by the client or
research user (Burns & Bush, 1999).

Sunil Kushwaha
 3. Table of Contents

• The table of contents presents the list of topics included in

the research report and the corresponding page numbers.
• It helps the researchers in locating the required information
through relevant page numbers. The title page, letter of
transmittal, letter of authorization, and table of contents are
generally numbered with roman numerals such as i, ii, iii, and
so on.
• Arabic numerals are used from the executive summary part of
the research report.

Sunil Kushwaha
 4. Executive Summary

• Very often, executives go through the executive summary only.

• As the first part of the executive summary, the objective of the research work
must be clearly highlighted.
• As the second part, in the category of concise statement of the methodology
sampling, the sampling technique, the research design, or any other procedural
aspects must be incorporated in one or two paragraphs.
• As the third part, the results should be incorporated in a brief format. It is really
difficult to summarize the results.
• In the fourth category, conclusions of the study should be arranged.
• Conclusions are merely statements of what the research generated and what
meaning can be attributed to the findings (Hair et al., 2002).
• Recommendations are included as the next item in the research report.

Sunil Kushwaha
 5. Body

• The body presents a broad and detailed study of the research. It consists
of six sections: background, research objective, research methodology
(sample, sample size, sample profile, sampling techniques, scaling
techniques, questionnaire, test statistic, and fieldwork), results,
conclusions and recommendations, and limitations of the research.
• The introduction section contains some basic background information
that describes the problem at hand.
There is no rigid guideline available to decide what should be
incorporated in the introduction part and this is left to the discretion of
individual researchers; what he or she feels is important to be included in
this part of the written report.

Sunil Kushwaha
 Body (Cont.)

• The research objective may be incorporated in the introduction

section or it can be a separate section. Specific hypotheses constructed in
relation to the problem must also be included in this section.
• The research methodology contains a detailed discussion of sample,
sample size, sample profile, sampling techniques, scaling techniques,
questionnaire, test statistic, and fieldwork.
• The results and findings section mainly discusses the outcome of the
statistical analyses performed to test different hypotheses.
• The conclusion is derived from the acceptance or rejection of the
hypothesis. The recommendations are generated from the critical
thinking of the researcher.

Sunil Kushwaha
 Body (Cont.)

• Some of the most common limitations of business research are

sampling bias, sample size, time and cost problems, and measurement
error, to name a few. The limitations of the research should not be
overemphasized rather the aim should be to aid the decision maker in
taking the appropriate action.
• Any information that is of significance to the researcher and reader but
cannot be placed in the body part of the research report is placed in
the appendix.
There is no fixed universally accepted rule regarding the information,
which should be included in the appendix, rather it is the researcher’s
discretion, what he or she feels is important to be included in the
appendix.

Sunil Kushwaha
TABULAR PRESENTATION OF DATA

Sunil Kushwaha
 GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION OF DATA

• Graphical presentation of data seems to be more appealing when

we simply want to convey the trend of data.
• Some of the basic and most commonly used methods of presenting
data in graphs and charts are as follows:
• Bar chart
• Pie chart
• Histogram
• Frequency polygon
• Ogive
• Scatter plot

Sunil Kushwaha
 Bar Chart

Table 19.3 shows the inflow of foreign direct investment

(FDI) in the food processing sector in India from 2000–
2001 to 2006– 2007. With the help of this data, prepare
a bar chart.

Sunil Kushwaha
FIGURE 19.3 : Minitab output (bar chart) for inflow of FDI in the food
processing industries sector in India from 2000–2001 to 2006–2007

Sunil Kushwaha
 Pie Chart

A travel and tourism company opened a new office in

Singapore based on the tourist arrival data from Singapore
to India in 2006. Table 19.4 exhibits data related to the
number of tourists who arrived from Singapore to India in
2006 (from April 2006 to December 2006). Construct a pie
chart for this data.

Sunil Kushwaha
FIGURE 19.4: Excel output (pie chart) for number of tourists who
arrived from Singapore to India in 2006 (from April 2006 to December 2006)

Sunil Kushwaha
 Histogram

The demand for tractors in India is zooming up. Many new

multinational companies are joining the race. Table 19.5 shows
the production of tractors in India from 1998–1999 to 2006–
2007. With the help of the data given in the table, prepare a
histogram.

Sunil Kushwaha
FIGURE 19.5 : MS Excel output (Histogram) for production of
tractors in India from 1998–1999 to 2006–2007

Sunil Kushwaha
 Frequency Polygon

In India, vanaspati oil prices have gone up as a result of rising

inflation. Table 19.6 gives the price of oil on some specific
dates from January 2008 to March 2008 in Delhi. Construct a
line graph to observe the trend of oil prices.

Sunil Kushwaha
FIGURE 19.6 : Minitab output (line graph) for the price of vanaspati oil
on specific dates between January 2008 and March 2008 in Delhi

Sunil Kushwaha
 Ogive

A construction firm has allowed its employees to participate in

a private consultancy in order to create an autonomous
environment. The firm has decided that the employees will
contribute 10% of their income earned from the consultancy to
the organization. After 1 year of launching this programme, the
data collected by the firm related to the additional income
earned by the employees is given in Table 19.7. Construct a
frequency polygon and an ogive with the help of this data.

Sunil Kushwaha
TABLE 19.8 : Cumulative frequency distribution

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FIGURE 19.7 : MS Excel-produced frequency polygon for
Example 19.5

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FIGURE 19.8 : MS Excel-produced ogive for
Example 19.5

Sunil Kushwaha
 Scatter Plot

HDFC Bank was incorporated in 1994 and operates in three core

areas: retail banking, wholesale banking, and treasury. By
2007, the bank increased its business in all functional areas
especially in the home loans segment. Table 19.9 gives the net
income and advertising expenses of the HDFC Bank from 2000
to 2007. Construct a scatter plot with the data given in the
table.

Sunil Kushwaha
FIGURE 19.9 : Minitab output (scatter plot) for net income and
advertising expenses

Sunil Kushwaha